Tell Me a Question: Paul Mormando & Double Fist

Welcome back to Tell Me a Question, where we chat with fascinating individuals living lives in the movie, martial arts and comic book worlds. Today we're joined by New York based martial artist and actor Paul Mormando. Born in Brooklyn, Mormando took up combat sports at a young age, eventually becoming a grandmaster and earning the nickname "Mr. Karate". Mormando is the creator of the Real Life Defense course, has performed in over 150 martial arts demonstrations and featured in over 200 magazines and newspapers. After bit parts on television and in film, Mormando was preparing for his leading man vehicle Double Fist with a young Mark Wahlberg lined up to co-star. Unfortunately Mormando was struck by a drunk driver and suffered terrible injuries. Like the best comeback and underdog stories; Mormando never lost hope, persevered and after much rehabilitation, is back on the road to action movie nirvana. We caught up over e-mail:

How did you get into martial arts? What lead you to creating your own style?

When I was young I was extremely small in stature, a perfect target for bullies...then it happened, I was 7 and I watched this little Chinese man beat up people twice his size. Bruce Lee provided hope for me and I begged my parents into letting me take lessons to protect myself. Eventually I enrolled in my first art, Tae Kwon Do. After getting into a street fight I realized TKD's limitations. What I had practiced in the dojo wasn't going to work on the street. So I experimented with many arts and used Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do philosophy fused with different styles. Lee was an inspiration but his style of teaching seemed too abstract for the average person. I experimented with different arts and ranges but wanted a more systematic approach. That's how I came up with the Cha Ki Do system.

You've been active your whole life, what's your approach to staying fit today?

At the moment I'm getting back into shape for some film projects. I lift weights and love Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Boxing constitutes much of my current regimen.

After countless demonstrations, being featured on television and appearing in numerous publications, what lead you to acting?

I never even thought about it, as a matter of fact, I never even did a school play....so acting was far from my mind. One day I was doing a martial arts demo and I decided to do a dive roll over a bunch of swords as the finale. That got the attention of the local newspaper editor who put me on the front page. The legendary entertainment agent Ruben Malaret contacted me and wanted to make me the next Chuck Norris. Once I got a taste of the acting bug, I became passionate. Ironically enough I ended up guest starring on Broadway in Tony n' Tina's Wedding. That was a thrill, being the first martial artist on such a big stage.

Who are some of your favorite actors? Favorite films? 

Of course I love Bruce Lee, he is my idol. Jean-Claude Van Damme really inspired and motivated me. His kicking ability is unsurpassed. Jason Statham is really good, great screen presence. My favorite films are Enter the Dragon, the Rocky Franchise and No Retreat, No Surrender.

You were involved in a terrible car accident, how did you stay positive and keep moving forward?

That was at the beginning of my film career, I had just performed a demo at Shea stadium in front of nearly 20,000 people. And a few nights later it all got taken away from me. I was hit by a drunk driver. As hurt as I was, there were people around me even worse off. That kept me positive. The martial arts taught me discipline and gave me an indomitable spirit that helped me bounce back. During rehab I was inspired by those less fortunate; people who couldn't walk because their legs were amputated. If they can stay positive, I wasn't going to let a few injured disks set me back.

What's the key to staying hungry? What's next on your list? 

I continue to set goals and higher standards for myself. My last goal is to become the next action star. My 7 year old daughter motivates and inspires me. I'm making it happen. Twenty years ago after the accident I thought my career was over. Now I'm booked through 2016. I'll be in Ohio shooting a film with director William Lee, sharing the screen with Mel Novak (Enter the Dragon) and Joe Estevez. I'll play the villain in Andre Joseph's Vendetta Games and then there's sci-fi web series Sons of God with my friend Leonard Sanderson.

Many thanks to Mr. Mormando for taking the time to chat with Dammaged Goods. Keep up with Double Fist on Facebook.

Workout of the Day: Shape Up With Arnold Schwarzenegger

It was an Arnold filled week to end June and begin July with Dammaged Goods presenting Conan the Barbarian and Destroyer, Terminator: Genisys hitting theaters, missing a Predator screening and watching it at home. The Oak's 1982 workout video, Shape Up With Arnold Schwarzenegger inspired a few workouts as I watched to add to the week's motif. While the likes of Jane Fonda, Cher, Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer have all released workout videos, only a handful of notable men have done the same. Arnold's video proceeded 1987's Dolph Lundgren's weight free Maximum Potential which was followed by the 1993 at home and in the gym routines of one Marky Mark. In Shape Up, Arnold works out with basic EZ bars, adjustable dumbbells and a shiny chrome Universal Machine. He's joined by Ms. Olympia Rachel McLish and future Chippendale's icon Roger Menache.

There's basic routines for Men and Women, weight free workouts and advanced programs. Lots of simple yet challenging routines focusing on form and progression starting with calisthenic warm up and stretching then utilizing basic exercises like Squat, Deadlift, Military Press, Chins, Rows, Bicep Curls, Pushdown, Lateral Raises and the like. Body weight wise you only need some space and a couple of chairs to do push ups, dips, lunges, etc. There's even several aerobic style finishing exercises like lying leg kicks, side bends and butt lifts. Arnold is big but not huge while McLish is slim and tan then Menache is fit and athletic. The 80's outfits are terrific with short shorts, leotards and Menache rocking same color shorts and tank. Arnold gets real handsy with both to show them proper form and bust them if they slack. Phrases like "much more energy" and "two more reps" dominate the dialog while pointing out common problem areas where flabbiness is rampant. The 80's synth soundtrack by Craig Alan Woodard is awesomely catchy in an inspiring meets porn kind of way.

I took a page from the Men's Advanced routine for Shoulders and Arms:

Shoulder Press/Lateral Raise/Rear Raise - Done as a giant set with no rest in between
DB Bicep Curls/1-Arm Triceps Extension - Arms done in supersets
EZ Bar Curls/Triceps Cable Pushdown
DB Concentration Curl/Lying French Press
Wrist Curls/Reverse EZ Bar Reverse Curls

Arnold advocates 3 sets of 10 reps for each superset then finishing with high repetition calf raises and abs in the 20-25 range after every workout. While some of the exercises are questionably outdated, Shoulder Presses and Lat Pulldowns behind the neck can shear your shoulders. There's no nutrition section for the video but remember, "shaping up is a way of life, stay positive, work hard and you will achieve all your goals. Good luck!"

Summer Cinema: Entourage

Knocked off season 8 of Entourage last week to prep for the big screen adaptation. I didn't realize there were only 8 episodes so it was a quick couple of binge watches. We leave Vince (Adrian Grenier) about to get married in Paris, E (Kevin Connolly) flying off with pregnant on again, off again lover Sloan (Emmanuelle chriqui), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) becoming a millionaire due to his tequila company, Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon) about to experience a career resurgence and Ari (Jeremy Piven) giving up his talent agency to save his marriage. Entourage the movie negates all of that. But I wasn't upset about it as the flick is fun, consistently funny and filled with cameos from the likes of actors, athletes and business types.

Directed by Doug Ellin and co-written by Rob Weiss, the film picks up 9 days after the show's finale. We find Vince surrounded by women on a yacht as his marriage to Sophia (an unseen Alice Eve) has come undone and their union will be annulled. E and Sloane couldn't work out their shit, Turtle is just chilling being a millionaire and courting MMA champ Ronda Rousey, Drama's show with Andrew Dice Clay has been canceled and Ari taking control of a studio. His first project? Vincent's directorial debut, Hyde, a big budget, futuristic thriller about a DJ who has Jekyll and Hyde disorder and some supernatural powers. Going over budget and needing more money, Ari deals with Texas magnate Blah (Billy Bob Thornton) and his shithead kid Blah (a bearded Haley Joel Osmont looking a lot like Richard Karn from Home Improvement). Parties, women problems, pregnancy classes, pregnancy and STD scares, buff Ronda Rousey, photo punching, homosexual wedding planning, life on a Hollywood lot and cameos galore ensues.

Like the show, the crew is shown having a good time, possibly facing a career ending catastrophe and ultimately coming out on top. The routine formula somehow doesn't wear out it's welcome in the film as the heightened reality version of Hollywood and taking your big shot still provides laughs, gasps and celebration. Cameos by the likes of Liam Neeson, various models and athletes, Warren Buffett, Jessica Alba and David Spade come fast and furious with most of them playing asshole versions of themselves. Producer and partial inspiration for the series Mark Wahlberg shows up in a funny scene doing his funny gangsta impression while also hocking his nutrition line, upcoming sequel to Ted, water company and A&E television show effortlessly.

The flick moves pretty fast and provides a satisfying end that I'm sure could be destroyed by a sequel. Like all HBO shows, early seasons were known for their sex and nudity but tapered off as the final stretch had nary an exposed breast or buttock. The film makes up for it in spades though with lots of sex and nudity, surprisingly so. After salary negotiations slowed down development, it's said that Piven received $5 million to return (wow he must have a good agent!) while the guys each got around $2 million. Supposedly budgeted at a modest $30 million, Entourage has grossed $18 million since it's release last Wednesday. Looks like audiences weren't clamoring for an extended episode as much as they were for Sex In the City. But if Doug Ellin and crew get the greenlight for another go round, I'll be there to check it out.

Snow Screen 2015: The Gambler, Into the Woods & A Most Violent Year

Did you see a movie over the Christmas through New Years Day period?  Something like 7 major motion pictures opened up on Thursday, December 25th.  You could see Mark Wahlberg in a remake of The Gambler, Disney's musical Into the Woods, Angelina Jolie's World War II prisoner of war tale Unbroken and stoner buddy comedy/American symbol The Interview amongst others.  The Golden Globes are tonight so every movie vying for award consideration has already been released to get that chatter going into the Oscarss in February.

One flick that got no love was Paramount's The Gambler, the tale of well off literature professor Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) who has a problem with blackjack and roulette.  Playing in high end and seedy secret parties as well as crappy casinos alike, we watch as the self hating and compulsive Bennett turns $10 grand into $80 in an instant then lose it just as quickly.  Written by The Departed's William Monohan based on James Toback's 1974 film of the same name starring James Caan, The Gambler was an enjoyable and well crafted low watt drama that contains a surprisingly effective performance from Wahlberg and an even more note worthy one by John Goodman as a local loan shark.  Wahlberg, the former model turned rapper turned prolific leading man and producer adds another eclectic character to his filmography that already includes a sweet yet dim hearted porn star, lots of cops and tough guys, a slacker with a talking stuffed animal, a motivated yet dumb bodybuilder and an inventor who hangs out with giant robots in disguise.  Hiding behind a mane of shaggy hair and a dark suit, Wahlberg dropped 60 pounds of his signature beef to play the educated but self loathing professor trying to reach rock bottom so he can start his climb back to the top.  Monohan's modern manifesto is equal parts all in or nothing and getting to the point in life where you can answer any question with, Fuck You.  In deep to two different sets of gangsters, Bennett has a week to come up with nearly a quarter of a million bucks before every bone in his body is broken or he's flat out deaded.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes' Rupert Wyatt does a fine job of directing the talky drama around Los Angeles with fine support from the likes of Jessica Lange as his estranged mother and Brie Larson as his student.  Simon Rhee from Best of the Best shows up as a Korean bruiser and George Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke, The Delta Force) shows up for a quick minute as a family patriarch.  I didn't even know the guy was still alive!  Great to see you, George!  A massive and bald headed John Goodman gets to drop some of the film's greatest dialog in a pair of scenes as he questions how a successful, good looking smart guy like Bennett could destroy his life with such idiotic abandonment.  With a little CGI muscle, Goodman should play The Kingpin whenever the villain shows up on Daredevil.  Wahlberg is handed some very provocative and near poetic lines throughout, especially during an early scene in the classroom where he moves around the space, questioning and belittling his students in what was a more exciting class than I ever had in 4 years.  Some actors can't handle a lot of dialog but Wahlberg takes it all on with surprisingly ease and aplomb.  While I'm not too surprised The Gambler hasn't garnered any major award attention, I do feel it got lost in the Holiday shuffle and deserves more credit than it's being given.

I won't bore you with too many thoughts on Into the Woods, it wasn't for me and I just didn't dig it.  Beautifully shot yet a bit boring to watch.  Maybe if you're into musicals.  Next up was A Most Violent Year, a flick I had no opinion on and hadn't even seen a full trailer.  From the title, cast and look of the picture, I figured it was about mobsters in New York.  Written and directed by J.C. Chandor, who gave us the fascinating Margin Call in 2011, a look at the inner workings of an investment bank during the first part of the financial crisis followed up by the lauded but overrated "man on a boat VS nature" All Is Lost starring Bobby Redford in 2013.  A Most Violent Year stars up and comer Oscar Isaac (Drive) as Abel Morales, a mostly by the book immigrant businessman who owns a heating oil business in New York during 1981, one of the most violent years on record.  Abel has vast ambition to expand his company but his trucks keep getting hijacked and his product sold to various mystery buyers.  He must tread lightly as the local District Attorney is about to begin investigating his business while wife Anna (Jessica Chastain) keeps pushing him to man up and protect his empire and family.

Chandor's script is a slow burning yet interesting affair focusing on a man trying to do right but the world just doesn't want to let him.  I thought it was based on a true story as it all plays very real from the harrowing truck thefts to Abel's calm and intelligent rejection of arming his drivers and the conflict it creates at home with the wife and kids.  Chastain picked up a Best Supporting Actress nod from the Globes which reinforces their long standing award show trying to throw a star studded party motif rather than rewarding merit as she really doesn't do much in the film and her Brooklyn accent comes and goes.  Then again the Oscars are a bunch of 70 year old white guys who tend to select boring but true to life tales to celebrate like The King's Speech and The Artist so I'm not even sure why I bring them up. Awards are bullshit, man...

What the Chuck?! Walker, Texas Ranger VS The Black Dragons

Speaking of TV reunions, a random episode of Walker, Texas Ranger was Chuck full of them this week. I'm always surprised when people don't know Chuck Norris was a movie star before becoming a TV staple and internet hero.  As a Karate Man I was always aware of Norris' show Walker, Texas Ranger but never really watched it regularly while it was on.  I knew it was popular, had 2 spin offs and ran for a solid 8 years.  Today, reruns are on a couple different channels and I'm catching up.  While people claim this is the golden age of television, all I see are a bunch of sad sack looking mother f*ckers, talking heads and story lines that should only take up 1 episode stretched out to 10 and still not resolving jack sh*t.  In 5 minutes of one episode of Walker there were Hummers, shootouts, trucks chasing a plane, a fight inside the plane, a guy thrown out of the plane with no parachute, Walker rescuing the guy in midair and then landing with a smile and bro-hug.  No wonder I find much of today's television boooooring.

Black Dragons, episode 18 of 2000's final season (weird, I was just talking about episode 18 from The Flash...), is the tale of P.K. Song (Street Fighter & American Dragons' Byron Mann), a vicious heroin dealer who threatens any that would oppose him and assaults Ranger Francis Gage (Judson Mills) when he tries to intervene in a heated argument.  Mann is a solid actor with quiet charisma and a scary villainous side honed from playing a ruthless and violent assassin in Dragons and as a violent and ruthless gangster in the Chow Yun-Fat/Mark Wahlberg flick The Corrupter.  Turns out P.K.'s father Edward is a diplomat (mutha fudging Mako! View In Peace) so the bad guy has immunity.  Mako actually played a completely different role 3 years earlier on the show and co-starred opposite Norris in 1981's An Eye For An Eye and 1992's SIDEKICKS!  We learn that P.K. is working for The Black Dragons, a hardcore sect of the Chinese Triad who set up drug smuggling during The Vietnam War and are still bringing product in through Dallas.  Does this sound like an awesome TV mash up of Lethal Weapon 1&2 to anyone else?!  Then we get a Mortal Kombat connection as Shang TSung himself, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa shows up as P.K.'s drug smuggling boss Master Ko and yoked out Deron McBee (Motaro from MK: Annihilation & Malibu from American Gladiators) as pre-Dog the Bounty Hunter looking local dealer Luke.  If that weren't enough, Magnum P.I.'s Larry Manetti shows up as a low level street crook and informant while Enter the Dragon villain and Karate Hall of Famer Bob Wall gets his neck twisted as a security guard.  Phew!  Oh and the dude who breaks his own neck from Showdown In Little Tokyo plays P.K.'s homeboy driver.  Damme!

Walker and partner Jimmy Trivette (Die Hard's Clarence Gilyard, Jr.) along with Gage and female ranger Sydney Cooke (Nia Peeples) figure out P.K.'s racket and dad Edward relents, removing his son's immunity and letting the law do it's thing.  Of course much karate fighting is involved and we get not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR final showdowns of hand to hand combat.  Norris and Tagawa mix it up in a living room with lots of wrist locks and sweeps while Gage and P.K. duke it out in the grassy back yard with punches and kicks, Trivette and Luke smash up the kitchen while Cooke wrecks some random ass dude who isn't in a bunch of action movies outside in the driveway.  We all know that Norris is a badass and a true martial artist but there's a lot of stunt man work in the fight scenes here.  Angles from behind are always a dead giveaway as are the super fast high kicks.  Byron Mann's double looks shorter and a lot wider taking the falls of the grassy bout.  We get lots of kicks of the front, hook and jump spinning back variety and ya know, nobody gets shot too boot.

Summer Cinema: Edge of Tomorrow

Is it just me or has this summer been a touch lackluster?  Captain America: The Winter Soldier kicked things off in April but the season has brought us The Amazing Spider-Man 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Godzilla and then...I can't even remember.  I hadn't seen a new flick for a bit and Edge of Tomorrow was one that I had mixed feelings about but Tom Cruise usually isn't in bad or cheap flicks and it looked like it could be this year's Pacific Rim.  It wasn't a sequel or reboot but rather based on an obscure Manga from Japan by Hiroshi Sakurazaka I never read or have intention to.  I don't even know if it's even available in English.  Anyways, word of mouth was solid on the flick but it didn't set the domestic box office on fire in June but like Pacific Rim has been cleaning up overseas.  While it wasn't as fun an experience as Pac, Edge is definitely a big, well made, entertaining summer action sci-fi flick that should have done better in this climate of audiences allegedly tired of sequels and reboots yet shunning more original concepts then flocking to the latest Transformers flick.  Although Michael Bay and Marky Mark are the bomb.

Edge of Tomorrow is the story of media relations expert Bill Cage, a former ROTC member and ad agency guy until an alien war/invasion dried up all his business.  As Cage, Cruise is all smiles and smarmy charm in the opening minutes but is sent to the "supposed to be empty" front lines to help sell the invasion to the public.  In the future, troops wear suits of battle armor to enhance their strength and fire power.  Under trained and totally not prepared, Cage meets Bill Paxton's Sgt. Farrell and J Squad, a group of misfits assigned to protect the non soldier.  During the next day's attack, Cage kills an alien, dubbed mimics, but becomes caught in a time loop where he relives each day and must die to reset the clock.  Plastered all over the news and world is the face of Emily Blunt's Rita, a hero of a previous battle and dubbed The Angel of Verdun aka The Full Metal Bitch who carries around a giant sword to dispatch mimics.  Cage realizes Rita went through what he did but was thrown out of the time loop after not dying on a particular day.  Together they track down the origin of the alien menace and figure out a way to kill the the master which will wipe out the species.

Edge of Tomorrow is a big movie.  Big thrills, it's D-Day with aliens, drop ships, mech suits, creatures with big maws and swirling tendril limbs, excellent nice production value, lots of laughs and a dark sense of humor.  Given the time loop formula, Edge doesn't have an arc per se and gets episodic or vignette-ish with the learning to fight vignette, the getting to know Emily Blunt vignette and the how do we stop the aliens vignette so by the end I felt like the movie had stopped and started a little too much and I'd already gotten plenty of bang for my buck.  At just under 2 hours, the film feels a little long but not overlong.  Cruise looks great, he's aging but still handsome, charming and physical with great hair.  Bill "God" Paxton is terrific as Sgt. Farrell with his Kentucky accent, in your face but not obviously intimidating demeanor and reminds you a little bit of Apone from Aliens.  Blunt is her normal strong, stoic and attractive but not supposed to be bombshell self.  Go, The Bourne Identity and Mr. & Mrs. Smith director Doug Liman does an excellent job of combining practical and artificial elements to give us a more or less fast paced, fresh and funny summer flick where we can forgive some of the loose ends and just enjoy the ride.

I'm Hot! I'm Big! Big-uh!

"It'll make you great, man.  You already big but you could be bigger.  

You know?  I'm big.  Imma be swole though. Walk sideways through doors."

Nothing like a little Pain & Gain to get you back in the mood for working out.  It's been nearly a year since the best movie of 2013 hit theaters and took in $50 million on it's way to cult movie status complete with a bare bones and Collector's Edition home video releases.  Mark Wahlberg scored a late summer hit, sharing the screen with Denzel Washington in 2 Guns before making an even bigger splash with the true events based Lone Survivor.  Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson showed up for Fast & Furious 6 and WrestleMania while teasing the world with the in progress flick Hercules which just saw it's trailer hit.  In a bit of timing coincidence, Anthony Mackie is currently onscreen in mega hit Captain America:  The Winter Soldier which was written by Pain & Gain and Captain America:  The First Avenger's Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

To ease my way back into training after a pseudo week off where I stuffed my face with burgers, fries, pizza, fried chicken, Chinese food, subs and so much more I opted for a traditional Back and Triceps workout followed by cardio.  Still implementing a pyramid rep scheme to warm up, work and back off, I completed 5-7-10-12-7 of the following:

1) Deadlift - For lower back, forearms and quads.  Want to avoid back pain?  Train it!
2) Bench Dips - Pyramiding up and down but starting at 10 reps, then with a 25lb plate on my lap
3) Chin Up - Alternating grips each set
4) Dumbbell Extension - Behind the head, keeping elbows in tight, lowering as far as possible
5) Dumbbell Row - Alternated rowing close to the side of my lats with rowing wide to the outside to work different angles, these got my back, rear delts, biceps and forearms really pumped
6) Close Grip Push Up - I had used all my weights for heavy DB exercises so used different hand placement: close parallel, diamond and fingers facing in to burn out the tri's

This was followed by some Ab-Aerobics where I'd pedal and jump rope for 2 minutes each followed by some crunches, trunk twists and ab wheels.  This went on for 5 rounds while I watched Messrs Wahlberg, Johnson and Mackie blow shit up and get swole.

Cut the check!

I'm Hot! I'm Big! Chicken

"You know I could have got you ripped, man.  But you know what your problem is?  Skinny ass quads.  You got no quads, man!  That was my problem, spent a lot of time building up these bad boys."

I'm Hot! I'm Big! I Watch a lot of Movies

"All of my heroes are self made:  Rocky, Scarface, all the guys from the Godfather, they all started out with nothing and built their way to perfection."

Pow!  What's up internets?  Everybody kicking ass in 2014?  Yeah you are, hopefully you've decided to better yourself through education and physical training in a bid to always be ready, Jack Burton style.  Remember to make yourself different sets of goals for the short term and long term.  Start with broad strokes then move into refined and specific goals to keep you focused.  Writing things down always helps as do some general timelines.  Be a doer!

Greatest day of my life:

Snow Screen: Lone Survivor

Playing in limited release for Academy Award consideration this week is Peter Berg's Lone Survivor, the film adaptation of real life Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell's harrowing, near death encounter with the Taliban in Afghanistan.  Part of a four man team dropped off in the mountains on the hunt for a merciless terrorist leader, Luttrell's team makes a humanitarian decision when they come across a group of goat herders and let them go.  When their communication system fails, the four are trapped on the mountain with an army of Taliban soldiers on their tails.

The movie opens with real footage of SEALs in training before moving into the narrative where we meet our team of Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch and their commander played by Eric Bana.  Their status as the world's foremost highly trained badasses is counter balanced with bits of personality and non-military issue discussion like wedding gifts and interior design.  For these guys, tracking down a known murderer in hostile territory is just part of the job.

From the start, Survivor goes semi-docudrama as we're just along for the ride in their violent and tragic quest to evade capture and stay alive.  Berg, an actor turned director who gave us 2002's fun, new age action movie The Rundown and 2012's unfairly maligned good time Battleship, does an excellent job of making the SEALs appear to be ordinary guys with an extraordinary job.  The action is simple and realistic whereas a scene of falling down a hill in The Rundown is played to cringe worthy and comedic effect, the same type of scenario in Survivor comes off as bone crunching and ultra painful.  I thought the flick lost some steam after it's big middle sequence and found myself wishing there was a timer on the side of the screen to show me where we were in the 2 hour run time.

Performances are solid across the board with Kitsch's calm, by the book leader and Foster's usual intense, realist portrayals being particularly noticeable.  It was nice to see Bana back on the big screen even if his role isn't overly meaty.  Like Battleship, Entourage's Jerry Ferrara pops up as a communications guy.  The end credits show us the real SEAL team members the movie is based on which comes off more as a true to life love letter to our brave men and women of the armed services rather than your typical, amped up, Hollywood action flick.

End of Watch(ing): 2013

Another year, another 80 movies in a theater.  First run, revival, special events, anniversaries, midnights and outdoor screenings add up in the city of lights and angels.  Looking back, I got to see some of my favorite movies of all time on the big screen like The Great Escape (2nd time), The Terminator (3rd time), Robocop (2nd time) and Escape From New York (3rd time) as well as see some of my favorite actors in person like Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kurt Russell and Peter Weller.

On the new movie front, three flicks hit cinemas that became instant favorites:

Pain & Gain

Hands down my favorite movie of the year.  Why?  Because it's a movie about DOING.  Not talking about it, being about it!  Just because it's about the dark side of the human condition doesn't take away from the fact that P&G was the most hilarious and fucked up good time I had in a theater.  Of course I'm partial to the flick as well due to it's 90's bodybuilding backdrop which I find hysterical.  Mark Wahlberg is great as the determined, positive, yoked out, manipulative and demented ring leader following a three finger plan to rid the world of a douche bag while getting rich in the process.  Dwayne Johnson's freakish physique and boyish charm are put to good use as the dim witted weak link of the group and Wings' Tony Shalhoub is fantastic as the self made, total asshole, non-salad eating mark.  Michael Bay brings his usual vibrant, over the top and kinetic style to a low budget classic that shows he knows what he's doing even if people try to give him crap about it.

Pacific Rim

The most fun I had at the movies this summer.  Maybe it was the low expectations, maybe it was the horrid trailers, maybe it was the new yet familiar concept of Transformers fighting Godzilla but I was not looking forward to it.  Imagine my surprise when I found myself grinning ear to ear from the very start.  The soundtrack is catchy and rocking while the giant robot destruction was near heart stopping and exciting.  Rim almost spoils you for other movies because it makes you feel and yearn for a higher purpose.  We all go to movies to be entertained and sometimes educated but Rim is truly cinematic magic as it makes reality seem oh so boring compared to the world created.  Guillermo Del Toro brings out your inner 12 year old while making your 31 year old self wish he had a higher calling as singular and important as defending the world from massive, angry alien invaders.

The Last Stand

Arnold's would be comeback vehicle might not have set the box office on fire but that doesn't take away from the fact that it's an age appropriate and rollicking fun time showing the King still has the goods.  A modern western realized by easterner Kim Jee-Woon, Stand is a violent and quirky thriller that pits Arnie's small town rag-tag Sheriff's Department against the merciless army of an escaped cartel leader.  For me, Stand ranks among The Oak's best flicks, especially trumping anything he's done since True Lies in 1994.

Other flicks I enjoyed or at least made me pay attention:

Star Trek Into Darkness
Ender's Game
World War Z
Thor:  The Dark World
Only God Forgives
Rush
Don Jon
Prisoners
2 Guns

I haven't gotten around to seeing most of the award fodder yet, that's what January is for.

I'm Hot! I'm Big! Getting Radical

"When it started, America was just a handful of scrawny colonies.  Now, it's the most buff, pumped up country on the planet.  That's pretty rad."

Sup all my internet lawn dogs, hope you're all staying swole and badass as the holidays start showing up with turkey, pie, stuffing and people complaining about other people working on Black Friday.  If you didn't shop on Black Friday then they wouldn't be open on Black Friday.  That's called capitalism.  Just like all them mo's who complain about traffic when they are traffic because they're doing 35 and looking around instead of trying to get somewhere.

Anyways, I was kinda right but more wrong, 2013's best movie is coming to Special Edition Blu-Ray only it ain't coinciding with Transformers IV, it'll be here just after gobble gobble day to get you motivated after gorging yourself and falling asleep on the couch watching Highlander.  Pain & Gain comes loaded with several featurettes but no commentary, a bit of a surprise since the Michael Bay dog has never been shy to lay down a track about his flicks.

Keep on rocking:

I'm Hot! I'm Big! Life Lessons

"What the hell you doing on the ground? It's supposed to hurt! That pain's what's gonna save your life. Your cells remember where it hurts and that's where they get strong. It's called pain and gain, don't be a little bitch."

How's your Tuesday starting off, internets?  Looking good, feeling good?

After a night of stuffing my face, I woke up early to get in a workout to even it out.

1)  Clean and Press/Chins/Incline Push Up/Dumbbell Row/DB Fly/Dip/Shrug
2)  Squat/Deadlift/Reeves Squat/DB Lunge/Calf Raises

Did each circuit twice then pedaled for 15 minutes.

Role model (for assimilating into the community, not hurting people):

I'm Hot! I'm Big! Life Situation

"If I believe I deserve it, the universe will serve it!  Right?  (silence) That's why you're working at a Sears, bro!"

Tuesday, like everyday, is for Doing.  Let the Don't-ers waffle and circle around the problem sniffling while you take care of business.

On a side note, I've heard many a viewer of my favorite film of 2013, Pain & Gain, remark that they couldn't quite enjoy the film because of, let's call it, the human condition.  After all, Mark Wahlberg's character is driven, funny and let's face it, a bit ripspirational.  But at the end of the day, he's based on a real human being that committed horrible acts and atrocities on his fellow man.  Not that I'm forgetting or overlooking that aspect but hey, inspiration comes in many forms and if I can take something positive away from a cesspool of depravity then I most certainly will.

I'm Hot! I'm Big! #NoSympathy

"The way to prove yourself, is to better yourself.  That's the American dream.  I have no sympathy for people who squander their gifts.  It's sickening, it's worse than sickening...it's unpatriotic."

It's Tuesday baby, Monday was hard but it's time to move on.  Be a doer.  But don't hurt anybody.

Workout of the Day: The Marky Mark Workout

POW!  You ready to take it back to the 90's with former rapper/underwater model turned actor/producer and Oscar nominee Mark (Formerly Marky Mark) Wahlberg?!  Just in time for Pain and Gain to drop on DVD and Blu-Ray soon (my favorite film of 2013, what!) it's time to get swole up, VHS style!

Form.  Focus.  Determination.  Fitness.  These are some of the keys of Marky's success.  The video starts with a hilarious skit showing Mark in bed being woken by his trainer/manager cousin.

"Let's go get that pump, cuz!"

Seriously though, like his early acting, Mr. Wahlberg alternates between quiet choir boy and in your face rapper persona throughout the video.  But time and time again he speaks of the benefits of working out, taking it slow and working at your own pace.  He'll never be Arnold Schwarzenegger but he's been doing aight with what he's got.

Today we'll take a look at the opening segment of the workout, the Home Training Edition.  Unlike Dolph Lundgren's Maximum Potential, which required no weights or special equipment; The Marky Mark Workout is more or less a home gym routine with simple equipment requirements like sturdy chairs and a set of dumbbells.  Whereas Dolph wanted you to be able to implement his workout into yours any place, any time; Wahlberg's feels more like a starting point until you're strong enough to hit a real gym.

"Mark D, cock D."  "I'll spot you later, yeah."  "You look GOOD!"  "Pow!"

Are some of the things Wahlberg says throughout the video with a hint of Boston accent and thug mumbling. Wahlberg is in great shape in the video and always accompanied by 1 to 3 "fly hunnies" to demonstrate and assist.  Much of his home routine is based around "Triple Threat Super-Sets" which is three exercises for the same body part done in a row in quick succession.



"Come on, feel it!"  After a quick stretch routine the program has you doing three sets of each super-set so a burn is inevitable.

Using the three sturdy chairs, Marky pops his pecs with Push Ups using shoulder and narrow width to work the chest/delts/triceps then follows them up with Bench Dips for the triceps specifically.

Legs are hit with a Duck Squat (holding one dumbbell at your waist with both hands) followed by Lunges and Stiff Legged Deadlift.

Shoulders are bombed with Arnold Presses (photo example, diesel!), military press and shrugs.

Back gets blasted with Dumbbell Row, one arm at a time, alternating non stop until all 3 sets are completed.

Calves are carved out with one legged Calf Raises holding a dumbbell in one hand.

Biceps feel the burn with seated one-arm Concentration Curls followed by seated Dumbbell Curls.

Triceps get tore up with Dumbbell Kickbacks.

Abs are chiseled with Crunches and Leg Lift Kick Backs (Partner pushes feet back to the ground).

It's a pretty complete workout and its fast pace will have your muscles burning and heart pumping.  I don't recommend doing three shoulder or chest exercises in a row as it can harm your rotator cuffs but experiment and see what works for you.  I tend to super-set alternate body parts like Chest/Biceps, Back/Triceps, Chest/Back, Biceps/Triceps, etc so the pump stays in your muscles and you don't burn out as fast or risk injury.



Stay tuned for Marky's trip to the gym and talk on nutrition.

Train in peace.  Ya heard?

Ripspirational: Pain and Gain

2013 has brought us new movies from Stallone, Arnold, Statham, Van Damme and Iron Man but you know what just might be my favorite movie of the year so far?  Pain and Gain.

Why?  Because it's a movie about DOING.  Sure, their version of the American Dream is bigger and more fucked up than yours but damn is it entertaining to watch.  Michael Bay's mini budget opus still looks as flashy and hyper real as his astronomically expensive projects but doesn't quite bludgeon you into a coma with car chases, explosions and fighting robots.

It's becoming common knowledge that Mark Wahlberg gained 40 some pounds of muscle for his role as Daniel Lugo, personal trainer turned kidnapper and extortionist.  The former Marky Mark is a father of four now so training starts early, like 4:30/5:00AM early.  Wahlberg had gotten lean for Broken City but bounced back for P&G by hitting the gym hard, eating 10 meals a day, waking up in the middle of the night to eat and working with GNC on his own supplement line.  In the flick, Wahlberg is all neck, traps and arms.  He's so swole you're not sure he can put his arms down.   Check out an old school workout of his here and a new one here.

The Rock aka Dwayne Johnson plays a newly released convict with a kind heart and evil demons who falls in with Wahlberg's crew after meeting them at the local gym.  If you follow the big man's Twitter you know he went through a rigorous eating and training program to be in top condition for his big year of GI Joe, Pain and Gain and Fast and Furious 6.  A former college football player and professional wrestler, The Rock has always been in great shape.  Lately he's really been going for it, 4:00AM cardio, heavy weights, plyometrics and old school bodybuilding compound exercises.  Rock's eating plan had him consuming 7 clean meals a day and by the end of it, gorging on pizza, brownies and giant pancakes.

Anywho, back to me and the flick.  Growing up idolizing Arnold, Frank Zane and Jean-Claude Van Damme meant I was reading Flex Magazine and not knowing bodybuilding professionals do it for a living and are on some kind of supplementation (legal and illegal).  So watching this time capsule of a movie complete with hip packs, cut off jean shorts, white high top sneakers, Otomix workout shoes, Zumba pants, striped leotards and cut off flannels made me crack up regularly.

On a deeper level, it struck a chord because the characters GO FOR IT.  No half assing, no second guessing, they grip it and they rip it.   I know they're all vile human beings for it but you can't help but laugh at them, especially Lugo's attempt to assimilate into suburbia.  You can relate to his character's constant optimism, positive energy and can do spirit that is twisted by his desire to be more than the guy who is liked but to be the guy who is admired (and rich).

Not sure if further (and ho hum looking) adventures of Superman, Wolverine or The Wolf Pack are going to top this one.

Take a look at Wahlberg and Johnson's eating routine, you'll get full just reading it.