Miscellany: TRUE Fitness Rō indoor rowing machine review

Our HOA finally renovated the community gym (just took them a few decades), so we've got a whole new set of equipment from TRUE Fitness: treadmills, stationary bikes, weights, elliptical machines, a stair climber, and, most critically, a rowing machine:

The gold standard of indoor rowers is the Concept2 RowErg, to the point where "erg" has become a generic shorthand for rowing machines. But the TRUE Fitness model one-ups Concept2 with some innovative features, including a magnetic brake/flywheel combo for wider variations in resistance levels, a convenient central pedal switch to change resistance levels on the fly, and a multipurpose handle that can be used like a traditional indoor rower, or swiveled hand-over-hand for a kayaking or canoeing motion.

Downsides? Well, there are still some question marks as to long-term durability (the TRUE Fitness rower uses a nylon belt instead of a chain drive like on the RowErg), and the foot pedal position doesn't seem as natural as other rowing machines.  Still, the machine is plenty good enough to allow me to row as a cross-training workout - maybe I can finally beat that half-marathon PR this winter.

Movies Leo Woodall Double Feature

We recently watched a couple of films starring English actor Leo Woodall, and we were quite impressed with the "rizz" he displayed onscreen.  Based on the strong performances in these movies, my guess is Woodall's career will break out like that of a fellow Londoner, Tom Hardy:

Tuner

This one has a lot of similarities to Edgar Wright's Baby Driver: a soft-spoken young man with hearing problems, a love of music, and a unique talent gets sucked into the criminal underworld by a semi-malevolent kingpin, with his civilian love interest caught in the crossfire.  Woodall shines here as the titular piano tuner-turned-safecracker, and he more than holds his own with the likes of Dustin Hoffman and Jean Reno.

Rating: 8/10

Tony

A biopic of Anthony Bourdain's formative teen years might seem like a bad idea, but Tony, directed by Matt Johnson (BlackBerry), is better than expected, thanks to the luminous Cape Cod setting, some slightly self-aware nods (there is a discussion of the proper pronunciation of bildungsroman), and Antonio Banderas's best performance in years.  The title role is played by a game Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers), but Woodall steals every scene he's in with his turn as a charming, roguish line cook.

Rating: 7/10