Sunday Reading: Batman and back exercises

Unfortunately, the much anticipated climax to the latest Batman trilogy was marred by the senseless killings of 12 innocent people and the wounding of countless others all at the hands of a deranged gunman in Aurora, Colorado. Our thoughts go out to the victims and their families.

Mike Furci’s latest fitness column focused on building your back, and we made sure to point out his four workout principles in our weekly fitness blog post. Fight the flab and start reading his columns!

Nate Kreichman started his new “Hidden Netflix Gems” series with a look back at “Trailer Park Boys,” the hilarious mockumentary “following the exploits of Julian (John Paul Tremblay), Ricky (Robb Wells), and Bubbles (Mike Smith), lifelong friends and serial criminals living in a Nova Scotia trailer park.” Check it out and you’ll be hooked.

Ezra Stead was on hand in New York City as legendary band War returned for a performance at the SummerStage. Ezra also checked out “Smart Girls at the Party” in his weekly web series review.

Will Harris checked out the new TBS series “Sullivan & Son” and wasn’t very impressed.

Paul Eide had a review this week of Dreadnought Shaving Products for those of view who view shaving as a hobby.

  

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Sunday Reading: Breaking Bad is back!

The best show on television, and one of the best dramas in TV history, is back tonight on AMC for its fifth and final season. We get eight episodes this summer, and then the final eight episodes in 2013. Yes, they’re dragging it out a bit, but we love the suspense.

We have a ton of stuff to help you get ready for the return of “Breaking Bad,” starting with Will’s column this week. He includes some hints in there on what you can expect from the first episode, so don’t read it or watch the trailer above if you don’t want a preview. Either way, you’ll want to go back and read up on Will’s Breaking Bad Blog, particularly the last entry about the creepy Lily of the Valley revelation. Walt has clearly gone over to the dark side here, but all the critics saying that viewers will now “loathe” his character are taking things a bit too far. Things are always complicated with Walt, and even as he does terrible things many of us root him as he transforms from pushover to badass. We’ve consistently ranked Breaking Bad at the top of our TV power rankings, and you can check out our Breaking Bad Fan Hub for more great stuff including interviews with the cast and our set visits.

In the sports world we enjoyed a great trip to LA this past week to attend the Gatorade High School Athlete of the Year awards where we had the chance to interview some excellent young athletes, including Johnathan Gray, who will be tearing it up for the Texas Longhorns starting this year.

We also had our first article from the Ford Go Further event, as we covered how Adrian Grenier is using his celebrity to follow one of his passions by creating SHFT. We also attended an HP event in New York where Flo Rida previewed his new CD.

We’ve also added some new regular content. Matt Byrd will have weekly app reviews every Sunday morning, and Ezra Stead will be writing a weekly web series review every Thursday morning. Also, check back next week as Nate Kreichman returns for a new Hidden Netflix Gems feature every Saturday. With these weekly feature and other planned content we’ll be giving you some great recommendations to entertain yourself with new media and social media.

  

Sunday Reading: Cool Cars and Savages

Oliver Stone’s new movie is a solid film, as Jason Zingale explains:

It’s been a while since Oliver Stone directed a movie that was actually worth caring about; you’d probably have to go as far back as “Nixon” to find the last instance, although I have a soft spot for “Any Given Sunday.” But while his latest effort doesn’t represent a complete return to form for the filmmaker, it’s pretty evocative of his celebrated work from the late ’80s and ’90s. Based on the Don Wilson bestselling novel of the same name, “Savages” is Stone’s best movie in years – not exactly the slam-bam action thriller that it’s being advertised as, but still a mostly enjoyable film anchored by a great cast.

In another summer dominated by superhero flicks, it’s always nice to have other options. That said, Jason liked “The Amazing Spider-Man,” and like everyone else, he’s looking forward to the new Batman flick among the July movie releases.

Meanwhile, our string of cool car reviews continues. Check out our first drive impressions of the new Hyundai Veloster Turbo that we drove through the winding canyon roads surrounding San Diego. This new Veloster has some balls and it’s a great value as well. We also reviewed the BMW 650i convertible, a super-luxury vehicle for those of you who appreciate the finer things.

Guest columnist John Lavallo gave us a great article and video about breaking up on Facebook. This one is hilarious.

Remember those old variety shows that used to be summer replacements when we were kids. OK, this may not apply to our younger readers, but Will Harris looks back on some of his favorites.

If you’re looking to get in shape, you should be reading Mike Furci regularly. This week he has another great Q&A with readers, one of which lost 52 pounds using Mike’s advice! Every Monday we update our Fitness blog which often looks back on Mike’s articles.

Bob Westal’s drink this week is the sweet Palmetto.

  

Sunday Reading: Aaron Sorkin, Woody in Rome and a great summer drink

Aaron Sorkin is back on TV, and you can catch “The Newsroom” premiere tonight on HBO. Will Harris was able to preview the first four episodes, and fans of Sorkin won’t be disappointed with this new series. Jeff Daniels is one of the best actors in the business and he has a great supporting cast to help him deliver Sorkin’s signature dialogue.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t been watching Louie C.K., you can check out the fabulous season 2 of “Louie” which is now out on DVD and Blu-ray.

Nothing impressed our movie critics much this week. “Brave” was a bit of a disappointment, while “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World” had a hard time living up to its romantic comedy billing. Meanwhile, Woody Allen moves from Paris to Rome with his latest effort, and the result isn’t all that bad. Woody has become a caricature of himself, but at least he’s picking great locations for his movies.

For our car review this week we had the 2012 BMW 335i Sedan. Yes – it proved to be a badass vehicle. We were in San Diego this week driving the new Hyundai Veloster Turbo so check back this week for our driving impressions.

Finally, try the simple Cliquet for the perfect summer drink.

  

Sunday Reading: Father’s Day, Tyrion Lannister and Génesis Rodríguez

Hopefully you’ve realized that this is Father’s Day and you’ve already picked up some cool gifts. If not, check out our guide for some last minute gift ideas, and you can always go with booze, though in some areas you can’t buy it on Sundays.

Looking back on the week, season two of “Game of Thrones” came to an end, and Nate Kreichman took at look back at the highlights of another excellent season. Tyrion Lannister (played by Emmy Award winning actor Peter Dinklage) is probably our favorite character on TV these days, as his approach to life in many ways mirrors that of our staff.

You might remember the lovely Génesis Rodríguez from her season 7 appearances on Entourage, and Bob Westal caught up with her in connection with her role opposite budding Latin American leading man Will Ferrell (pronounced “Wheel Fer-all”) in the over-the-top Spanish language Mexploitation/telenovela spoof, “Casa de mi Padre.” Check out our 5 questions interview with Génesis.

You can also check out our review of the Entourage Season 8 DVD. It wasn’t the best season for that show, so you might want to check out Season 8 of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” instead.

It’s hard to believe that “Dallas” has been revived with Bobby and J.R. Ewing coming back with a new crop of young soap-opera styled actors and actresses. This naturally inspired Will Harris to take a look back at some other famous and not-so-famous TV revivals.

Joe Gustafson has a great piece on the Triumph Bonneville and how it brings 60s cool to the new millennium. You can find stories on more bikes on our new motorcycle channel.

For our car review last week we had the BMW 335i Sedan, which naturally put a smile on our reviewers face. Also, publisher Gerardo Orlando flew out to Salt Lake City this past week to drive the 2013 Mustang Boss on a race track, so check back next week for that story.

Meanwhile, in theaters, “Rock of Ages” is a dud according to David Medsker.