Straight Netflix'ing: Wings

What constitutes Netflix'ing?  Anything more than 2 episodes?  What if they're only 22 minute programs versus 42 minute ones?  Anyways, I don't tend to binge watch much (there was that week with Arrow) but I do steadily chip away at certain shows like Knight Rider, The Rockford Files, assorted anime and in surprising depth, Wings!  I had no idea I was into season 5 of the former NBC mainstay but hey, I've had Netflix for a couple years now and tend to turn the show on for background noise every now and again.  The story of Joe and Brian Hackett, bros who grew up in Nantucket, had a crazy dad, an absent mom and then ended up running a charter airline in a tiny New England island airport.  Their day to day struggles running the airline, competing with neighbor Aeromass and dealing with kooky friends and passengers gave life to 8 hilarious seasons of sitcom goodness.

From the guys that brought you Cheers and later Frasier, David Lee and Peter Casey's situational show was a regular fixture in my after school on USA Network watching in the 90's and it still makes me laugh today.  You had Joe (Tim Daly) the responsible bro and his crazy and womanizing brother Brian (Steven Weber) always screwing things up along with their multiple time widowed ticket taker Fay (Rebecca Schull), sleazebag yet successful rival Roy Biggins (David Schramm), lunch counter owner and would be love interest Helen Chapel (Crystal Bernard), dumb yet brilliant mechanic Lowell Mather (Thomas Haden Church) and cab driver from Italy Antonio Scarpacci (Tony Shalhoub).  It wasn't about irony or mugging to the camera and saying "really?", it was just the sitcom crazy lives of these offbeat characters.  Sometimes things got a little dramatic (house they grew up in getting demolished, plane crashes and strands them at sea, Joe has a meltdown) but for the most part the not too offensive humor derived from the everyday goings on of dealing with family and friends, running a business and the pratfalls of broken dreams (Joe wanted to fly jets, Helen is a trained orchestra cellist, etc).  

It's always fun to watch old shows and see if you spot anybody who went on to something more substantial.  Off the top of my head I recall Matthew Fox playing a high school baseball prodigy, the kid from Entourage, E aka Kevin Connolly as a high school reporter, John Hawkes from Deadwood as a waiter and of course a few familiar faces from Cheers like Kelsey Grammer's Fraiser along with George Wendt, John Ratzenberger and Kirstie Alley. 

Airing Thursdays in 1990 on NBC, Wings would be shuffled around the prime time schedule multiple times over it's 8 year run, moving to Fridays, Thursdays again, Tuesdays and finally Wednesdays for the last seasons.  At it's peak, the show was a top 30 staple for 4 seasons, tying with powerhouses like Fox's The Simpsons and ABC's NYPD Blue.  A handful of Emmy Nominations followed though none for the main cast or the show itself.  After the last season aired in 1997, star Tim Daly would remain a familiar face on shows like The Sopranos, a new take on The Fugitive and a near 100 episode run on Private Practice while providing the voice for Superman in several series and animated films.  Television brother Steven Weber popped up in lots of indie flicks, including Leaving Las Vegas and has guest starred on at least a dozen shows you've watched before like The Simpsons, Tales From the Crypt, Law & Order and Without a Trace.  Crystal Bernard has released a couple of albums and written for Paula Abdul and Lisa Stansfield.  David Schramm more or less got out of the Film & TV business but continues to act on stage and Broadway.  Rebecca Schull is currently appearing on ABC Family's Chasing Life while Thomas Haden Church left Wings to appear on a Fox's Ned & Stacey and has kept up a surprisingly solid output in TV and Film with Tombstone, Sideways, Spider-Man 3 and Broken Trail to his credit.  Tony Shalhoub starred on the long running Monk and appears in 2013's greatest film, Pain & Gain!

In 2013, after the massively successful Kickstarter for the Veronica Mars movie, Daly, Weber, Schull, Shalhoub and later cast addition Amy Yasbeck appeared in a Funny or Die skit looking to fund The Wings Serenity Movie Project.  Oh how times have changed when people actually watched shows when they were on...

San Diego Comic-Con 2014: Thursday w/ Turtles and Paramount

Hot Damme, Thursday, literally, it's hot out!  Welcome to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Thursday because it's TMNT all over the Con.  After walking the floor for a bit, I ducked into the Marriott's screening room to catch, you guessed it, 1990's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!  A classic comic book movie before there were comic book movies, TMNT still holds up with it's deft blend of action, laughs, brotherly love, production values and Henson assisted costumes and animatronic heads.  Back on the floor I scouted out Mondo's booth and picked up their selection of Batman: The Animated Series vinyls of Clayface, The Joker, Mr. Freeze and Harley Quinn.  NECA was sold out of exclusive Pacific Rim Jaegers but may have more tomorrow.  Remember yesterday when I told you I bet I could walk right into Hall H for Paramount's 3:00PM session?  Yeah, totally did.  Even stopped to get lunch and grabbed a decent seat near the first pillars.  After Hall H welcomed Benedict Cumberbatch for DreamWorks' latest animated romp then The Dude himself Jeff Bridges showed up to talk about The Giver.  Bridges' advice for young careers was to pull a Stallone and go out and make their Rocky since anybody with a cell phone is now a filmmaker. 

After a short intermission it was time for Paramount's panel.  The guide listed no information, just a look at their upcoming slate.  Ninja Turtles was up first as a quick clip showcasing the awesome franchise going from simple sketch to the comic book, cartoon, live action movie, toy and video game empire played before TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman took the stage to somewhat surprisingly muted applause.  I'm guessing the crowd is still on the fence about the new Turtles movie as it looks like they've been "Transformer-ized" or "Bayhem-ed" with a super slick, destruction heavy trailer which I didn't mind but their borderline grotesque design and CGI appearance hasn't whet my appetite.  The producers claim to have been longtime fans and one even produced a signed photo of Kevin from 21 years ago.  Eastman says the flick is fantastic and that the producers were intent on making the best TMNT movie possible from the start 3 years ago.  A clip introducing reporter April O'Neil and the turtles rolled which was surprisingly enjoyable with a nice mix of big action and humor, mostly coming from Michelangelo's wise cracking.  Actors Megan Fox and Will Arnett were brought out with the former being a fan since childhood and the latter just being an extremely funny guy.  Another clip played showcasing another big action scene involving snow, big rigs, hummers, rocket launchers and bulletproof shells.  The voices of the Turtles was a little hard to get used to as it's Johnny Knoxville as Leonardo, Anthony Shalhoub (PAIN & GAIN!) as Splinter with Mikey sounding like a little kid and Raphael coming off as RZA. 


Some other movie about time travel was previewed before audio from Hercules filled the room and boom, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson walked onto the floor and greeted the fans before taking the stage and welcoming himself back, WWE style.  Funny, huge and seemingly happy to be there, The Rock let us know he bought out 3 theaters and would Tweet the details to attending a free screening.  Clarke Duke came out with two lovely ladies on his arms to show us a trailer for Hot Tub Time Machine 2 which looks pretty Damme funny as they're sent to the future this time around.  Then a new trailer for Christopher Nolan's Interstellar played, this one interspersing snippets from former astronauts in with the film.  Our moderator introduced a first time Comic-Con attendee, Matthew McConaughey!  The Reign of Fire star and Oscar winner looked very ruggedly handsome while explaining that he got a call from his agent to meet Chris Nolan, went to his house for a 3 hour meeting where they discussed everything except working on a film together.  A week later a script showed up and Denton Van Zan was in.  Guess we can really call it the McCONaissance now huh?  McConaughey wanted to hear Hall H's legendary hollering before describing Nolan as an original, the director might have been inspired by a Stanley Kubrick movie but his interpretation would be wholly new.  Another Comic-Con first, director of Inception and The Dark Knight Trilogy Christopher Nolan walked out looking as dapper as can be.  Without giving too much away, Nolan discussed his love for science-fiction and how in his youth, becoming an astronaut was the highest career someone could aim for.  Influenced by the likes of 2001, Star Wars and Blade Runner (his favorite film), Nolan talked about making things as real as possible for the actors in terms of sets and production and using IMAX to enhance the experience. 

Next on deck is a panel on the history of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the form of a new documentary as well as Hero Complex's Comic-Con soiree and maybe a movie trivia contest.

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!

Vernal Viewing: Captain America Double Feature

My local AMC hosted a Captain America double feature with The First Avenger and new sequel The Winter Soldier.  It started at 5:30 PM so there was just enough time to grab some grub and even better that we wouldn't be getting out at 2:30 AM.  With our event exclusive lanyards and posters secured, it was time to settle in for 2011's First Avenger.  I can't recall the last time I watched this was but it's always been my favorite film from Marvel and has much higher repeat viewing value than Iron Man, Iron Man Two, Thor, The Avengers, etc.  Watching it on the big screen, it still played in all it's rock'em, sock'em, World War Two, sci-fi tinged pulp action adventure glory that reminds us even the little guy can make a difference...as long as you have the will and a suped up, Olympian level body bestowed upon you via a top secret military experiment involving serums and vita-ray bombardment.  The flick moves fast, the jokes work and I totally forgot Tommy Lee Jones was in here and steals every scene.  The 3D effects were surprisingly noticeable this time around and people were still ducking in their seats when Cap's vibranium shield seemingly comes flying at you.

After a quick break, it was time for trailers.  So many trailers!  I think there were around 7, advertising summer fare like Amazing Spider-Man 2, Godzilla, Maleficent,  Guardians of the Galaxy and more.  Then it was time for The Winter Soldier, which has been garnering great word of mouth from early screenings and already opened to $75 million at the International Box Office.  Picking up some time after The Avengers, Steve Rogers aka Captain America is working for S.H.I.E.L.D. in Washington, D.C. with his old pal Nick Fury (Not Laurence Fishburne's Samuel L. Jackson).  When Cap objects to Fury's hidden agenda of preparing punishment before the crime, things start rolling and all of a sudden we're not sure who to trust.  Throw in vicious mystery gunman The Winter Soldier,  Cap's longtime comic book partner Sam Wilson aka The Falcon (Pain & Gain's Anthony Mackie), The Black Widow (ScarJo), UFC champ Georges St. Pierre as Batroc "zee leeper!", then a few other mystery villains and you've got yourself a modern action thriller steeped in comic book lore for the masses.  Of course it's partially based on the recent run of Cap comics but I never got through those because the first issues I read were boring and the art was uninspiring.  It also seemed to take some inspiration from the 80's mini-series, Nick Fury VS S.H.I.E.L.D. where the stalwart chief and secret agent finds himself wounded, hunted and not knowing who's really after him and which of his trusted colleagues is who they really say they are.

Perfect Captain America candidate from the 70's Robert Redford shows up as Fury's superior in a nod to his work in Three Days of the Condor.  Harkening back to that era's political thrillers, the moral dilemma of government monitoring its citizens and how far is too far to protect the country, Winter Soldier's story is nothing groundbreaking but is superbly executed.  I thought Thor:  The Dark World was Marvel's most polished production to date with it's ornate set and costume design but Cap 2 definitely has the best action.  The fist and feeticuffs are snappy and well choreographed.  You get more intricate hand to hand combat with lots of flips, spins and visually interesting cues.  Directors Joe and Anthony Russo do a terrific job of showing us Steve's augmented strength as he's kicking dudes across the room, running through walls and getting smacked around but still coming back for more.  Car chases and shootouts are solidly staged and there's out of nowhere shocks and thrills throughout.  I could go on but hey, go see the Damme movie already.  I'm planning to revisit Captain America:  The Winter Soldier this Sunday in regular 2D as I honestly didn't notice much in the post conversion to 3D so it's not worth the surcharge of discomfort.  Apparently the flick did over $10 million in early screenings on Thursday night, putting it ahead of tent poles like Man of Steel, The Hobbit:  Desolation of Smaug, Thor 2 and recent YA franchise starter Divergent.

Vertical take off!

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:

Still the Man: Michael Bay (aka How to Speak in Public)

You might have heard about CES, the Consumer Electronic Show, going on in Las Vegas this week.  All of your top technology brands and manufacturers trot out their latest gadgets, sometimes hocked by celebrities.  Samsung brought along multi-billion dollar director Michael Bay to discuss their new curved television.  While the outspoken helmer of Bad Boys, The Rock, Transformers and Pain & Gain has never been shy to voice his opinion, he experienced a bizarre, awkward and downright embarrassing moment on stage.



Apparently the teleprompter malfunctioned, leaving the noted control freak on his own.  After a brief attempt to "wing it", Bay excused himself and quickly walked off stage.  Later, in a blog post on his official site, Bay said he got overexcited, skipped the intro, then the prompter failed and he walked off citing live speaking wasn't his thing.

While it's quite surprising to see such an outspoken and seemingly confident man stammer over his own movies and technology, it was hardly the "meltdown" people are labeling it.  Who knows what the circumstances were, maybe he just flew in from working on Transformers 4, maybe he didn't have a chance to review everything on the TV he should have or maybe he just got stage fright.  They say Glossophobia aka the fear of public speaking is the number one fear among humans.  At least according to surveys circa 1977, 1993 and 2009 as well as Russell Crowe in American Gangster.

I'm sure this will add fuel to the fire to all those passionately negative fans in the world who blame Bay for anything that ever goes wrong in movies.  For some reason, making slick, cool, fun, star filled entertainment just doesn't garner him respect, even if he's raked in the billions for studios and never made an unwatchable flick (Transformers II got close though...).  To me, he's still the man.  Why?  Because he's a doer!

I've never had a problem speaking in public or in front of crowds and have been commended on it in the past.  What's the secret?  Confidence.  Not cockiness, not arrogance, but confidence.  You can see through "swag" in a heartbeat.  A poseur is a poseur is a poseur.  Like any conversation, if you don't have anything meaningful to say but just want to be involved so people know you're alive then nothing positive can really happen if you're put in front of a crowd.  What's the most important issue?  Knowing your subject.  Once you know your subject you have a sturdy base to design a presentation.  Having a point is also very important.  What are you trying to convey?  What do you want people to take away?  Being excited for the subject helps too, I once sat in on an Microsoft Excel training session which should have been dry and sleep inducing but the instructor loved Excel so much, you couldn't help but be a little happier about learning.  Positive energy meeting neutral energy is better than negative energy meeting it's neutral or negative counterpart.

Slow down.  Don't be in a rush.  Think about what you're doing, make yourself notes and give yourself moments to regroup.  You won't lose an audience in the time it takes to sip some water.  Lastly, think of someone you admire.  In college, I thought of Tyler Durden, you know, Brad Pitt in Fight Club?  He was just the coolest guy in the world, nothing got to him.  That's the sort of mindset one must enter when being faced with a crowd of strangers.  Lock eyes with them.  Engage them.  You must have done something right if you're the one standing up in front.  Remember, You are the prize.  But if you don't believe that, nobody else will.

How you can not like a guy like Michael Bay, who gave us this, is beyond me.  "Tell your mama!"

Master Cast: The Right Stuff

Every now and again, you watch a movie with an amazing ensemble cast filled with up and coming actors who are just a few years from stardom and recognition.  From 1960's The Magnificent Seven to 1983's The Outsiders to 90's flicks like Dazed and Confused and School Ties, you'd be hard pressed to try and wrangle the then mostly unknown casts five years after their seminal establishing work.

Today we're going to look at 1983's The Right Stuff, which I picked up for a buck from my latest adventure at a Blockbuster closeout sale.  Based on the true story of the group of college educated test pilots turned astronauts of the Mercury 7 program to put a man into space; Stuff was written and directed by Phillip Kaufman, who helped give us The Outlaw Josey Wales, Raiders of the Lost Ark and mother fudging Rising Sun with Sean Connery, Wesley Snipes, Mako, Harvey Keitel, Ray Wise, Tia Carrere, Steve Buscemei  and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa!  Guess he still has the touch...

Let's look at the cast of now familiar faces, Oscar winners, voice actors and TV dads:

Sam Shepard - Oscar nominee and playwright, appeared in Steel Magnolias, The Pelican Brief, Black Hawk Down, The Notebook and Safe House.  Seems to be cast opposite Brad Pitt, Val Kilmer and Denzel Washington frequently.

Scott Glenn - The Original Man on Fire, The Silence of the Lambs, Backdraft, Training Day and The Bourne Ultimatum.  Up next is Endangered, a thriller about a rampaging bear with a killer, low-watt cast featuring Thomas Jane, Billy Bob Thornton, James Marsden and Piper Perabo.

Ed Harris - Multiple Oscar and Saturn nominee, director and all around intense method guy.  The Abyss, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Rock, A History of Violence, Pain & Gain (!) and Gravity.

Dennis Quaid - Saturn, Golden Globe and Blockbuster award nominee seen in Enemy Mine, Wyatt Earp, DragonHeart, Any Given Sunday, The Rookie and G.I. Joe:  The Rise of Cobra.

Fred Ward - Earl from Tremors and Remo Williams in Remo Williams:  The Adventure Begins!

Lance Henriksen - While he didn't get much love in Stuff, he still managed to claw his way into genre fame with roles in Aliens, Hard Target, Disney's animated Tarzan and TV's Millennium.

Jeff Goldblum - Super young and playing the idiot but redeemed in The Fly, Jurassic Park, Independence Day and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

Harry Shearer - The voice of Kent Brockman and dozens more on The Simpsons since 1989, The Shear has also popped up in human form in This Is Spinal Tap, Wayne's World 2 and Godzilla.

William Russ - Yup, the dad from Boy Meets World pops up as a greedy test pilot early on.

We could go on and on with some of the secondary characters but hey, keep it moving.

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.

Summer Cinema Shootout: May

It's Labor Day!  You know, the "yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country". Hopefully you're doing something relaxing or fun, unless you work in the service industry and are getting some nice Over Time.

Labor Day marks the end of the summer cinema season, not just big, special effects filled blockbusters but outdoor screenings in the grass as well.  If this summer's films taught us anything, it's that 1)  Hollywood crams too many movies into a short time and 2)  Audiences can only take so many big spectacle action films.


Thanks to surprise hits like 1998's Deep Impact, 1999's The Mummy and 2000's Gladiator, early May has officially become the start of the summer movie season.  It's great to be first before viewer fatigue sets in as Marvel learned since they've slotted Iron Man Two, Thor and The Avengers there, essentially getting while the getting is good.  This year my May consisted of:

Iron Man Three:  Great way to start the summer.  Fun and surprisingly funny.  Ben Kingsley's Mandarin was superb even if Guy Pearce's Mortal Kombat-esque villain, Gwentyh Paltrow's presence and inherent subsequent annoying media quotes and too many damn Iron Man suits flying around make you wonder where they can really take the franchise from here.

The Iceman:  Not exactly a summer blockbuster but a nice change of pace.  Small, character driven, well cast and executed.  Michael Shannon's killer warm up before going full out for Man of Steel.

Star Trek Into Darkness:  The summer's best use of Peter Weller.  Exciting and funny but with some real high peaks and really low valleys.  Still talking with Trek purists about their loathe for the film but hey, they tried to get Benecio Del Toro to play Khan!  Not sure if J.J. Abrams told Karl Urban to go complete Deforest Kelley... "Are you out of your corn fed mind?!"

Fast & Furious 6:  Good times with car chases, destruction and fights.  A couple truly "What The Fuck but I'm going with it" moments to keep you paying attention.  Diesel and company need to learn from Arnold that the hero shouldn't be noticeably bigger than the villain because when hero wins it's not exciting.  The Rock has become a caricature of himself though and not in a good way.  Well, he was great in Pain & Gain...

The Hangover Part III:  Got a little dark, got a little who gives a shit...I'd rather watch Old School.

May Champion:  Close fight between Iron Man Three and Star Trek Into Darkness.

Great clip of Peter Weller talking about how he got involved with Trek:

I'm Hot! I'm Big! I'm a Doer!

Don't be a Don'ter be do a Doer!  Take your Tuesday to the limit and accomplish something you've been putting off.  We all have professional, personal and creative goals we haven't yet accomplished so take a step towards doing them, today!  Like seeing Pain & Gain on Blu-Ray or DVD.

Actually I'm hugely disappointed since P&G has been my favorite film of the year and it's only getting a bare bones release from Paramount.  Since director Michael Bay and star Mark Wahlberg are busy shooting the latest Transformers opus I can only guess Paramount will get them to participate in a special edition double dip next summer.  At least I hope that's what they're doing.  Pickle lickers...

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?

24 Hours: 1 Work Out and 5 Movies

Seeing 5 movies in 24 hours seems like a lot, and it is but really it's only about 10 hours worth of programming.  Subtract another 3 hours of driving and waiting, 6 more for sleeping and that still leaves you 5 hours to do whatever you want.  Might as well get in a work out, right?

8:03AM, Saturday, 5.18...

Here's what I got in upon rising on Saturday after the midnight screening of Tango & Cash.  I did this on an empty stomach and as a giant set repeated 3 times for Shoulders, Biceps and Triceps.

1)  Arnold Press/Spider Curl/Close Grip Bench
2)  Dumbbell Upright Row/Hammer Curl/Lying Dumbbell Extensions
3)  Cable lateral raises for all three heads/Cable Curl/Cable Kickback

Calf Raises and Forearms

The first tri-set of this giant set is for size, the second for shape and the third for definition.  Followed it up with a shake of whey and dextrose and got ready for movie 2 of 5 for the day, Robocop!

Here's the King of Kings training arms and putting out the vibe:

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.