Since Star Wars became available digitally, I have been on a mission to rewatch them. The question was always what order to watch the movies. I decided to go with the infamous "Machete Order" of the movies. This is a famous order started by some fans. They suggest watching IV, V, II, III and then endingwith VI. This seems to make sense to me. Also skipping one sounds good because Phantom Menace is the most disappointing experience I have ever had in a movie theater. (and I saw Transformers IV this year).
So I happen to have watched Empire Strikes Back and Attack of the Clones in the past two days. Empire is my favorite Star Wars movie. Great story, dark ending, and great dialogue. The one fault of the Machete Order is that by going from Empire to the prequels is really highlights how terrible the dialogue and acting are in the pre-quels. One of the only redeeming aspects of Attack of the Clones is the Yoda battle with Count Dooku. That was really fun to watch.
Next up are the two Act 3s, Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi. I remember the third prequel being the only watchable one, but I haven;t seen it in a long time, so I hope that is true.
Walking wise, things are going well. Eating wise not so much. Stress equals eating in my world and it was a stressful week. So the pounds have stopped going down, but they are not going up.
Overall Empire Strikes Back gets a 285 out of 290.
Attack of the Clones gets a 220 outof 290.
Days: 74
Movies: 63
Hours: 97.1
Miles: 324.7
Pounds: 15
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Friday, April 10, 2015
Day 71: Things have gone downhill...
Going into Easter, I had a lot of momentum. Weight was coming off, walking was going well....
Easter candy was my downfall. Once I started down the Eastery candy road, I couldn't stop. This led to stomach issues, which led to skipping walking on some days. It was bad. Hopefully I can get back on track starting now.
I only watched 3 movies during the last week or so. Having watched the Star Wars Rebels, and having listened to the newAMC Jedi Council podcast (which is excellent) I decided to rewatch the Star Wars movies. So I watched the original Star Wars: A New Hope. It is the new special editions, so that was not as good, but that movie is still amazing.
I was then going to watch the Empire Strikes Back and two things happened. First the NCAA Final Four came on, so I watched that Saturday while I walked. I watched the first game in 10 minutes. The second game between Kentucky and Wisconsin was a classic and took about an hour of walking to watch. Then Monday night I watched the first half while walking.
Second, they announced that the Star Wars movies were coming to digital platforms. I immediately put in my pre-order and decided to wait until April 10th to continue the Star Wars movies.
I did get to watch Cinderella (the orginal animated movie) with my kids. I did happen to watch Cinema Sins "everything wrong with Cinderella" YouTube video the day before this. Highly recommend watching both of these things.
Finally I watched 2007's There Will Be Blood with Daniel Day Lewis. This performance was amazing. He could very well be the greatest actor of right now, and possibly of all time. I kept hearing this from numerous movie podcasts and I kept thinking "That guy from Last of the Mohicans?" Yes. He is simply mesmorizing in this move.
Overall
Star Wars gets a 285 out of 291.
Cinderella gets a 200 out of 293.
There Will Be Blood gets a 280 out of 292.
Days: 71
Movies: 59
Minutes: 5586
Miles: 310.9
Pounds: 14
Easter candy was my downfall. Once I started down the Eastery candy road, I couldn't stop. This led to stomach issues, which led to skipping walking on some days. It was bad. Hopefully I can get back on track starting now.
I only watched 3 movies during the last week or so. Having watched the Star Wars Rebels, and having listened to the newAMC Jedi Council podcast (which is excellent) I decided to rewatch the Star Wars movies. So I watched the original Star Wars: A New Hope. It is the new special editions, so that was not as good, but that movie is still amazing.
I was then going to watch the Empire Strikes Back and two things happened. First the NCAA Final Four came on, so I watched that Saturday while I walked. I watched the first game in 10 minutes. The second game between Kentucky and Wisconsin was a classic and took about an hour of walking to watch. Then Monday night I watched the first half while walking.
Second, they announced that the Star Wars movies were coming to digital platforms. I immediately put in my pre-order and decided to wait until April 10th to continue the Star Wars movies.
I did get to watch Cinderella (the orginal animated movie) with my kids. I did happen to watch Cinema Sins "everything wrong with Cinderella" YouTube video the day before this. Highly recommend watching both of these things.
Finally I watched 2007's There Will Be Blood with Daniel Day Lewis. This performance was amazing. He could very well be the greatest actor of right now, and possibly of all time. I kept hearing this from numerous movie podcasts and I kept thinking "That guy from Last of the Mohicans?" Yes. He is simply mesmorizing in this move.
Overall
Star Wars gets a 285 out of 291.
Cinderella gets a 200 out of 293.
There Will Be Blood gets a 280 out of 292.
Days: 71
Movies: 59
Minutes: 5586
Miles: 310.9
Pounds: 14
Friday, April 3, 2015
Day 63-64: More Animated Movies
I am continuing my animated movie streak. I watched another foreign anime based movie that has great reviews. Akira was a great sci-fi movie. I can see how it influenced many movies that have come after it. The influences on Matrix & Chronicle are really evident. Overall the movie was sometimes a little hard to follow but definitely worth the trip.
My daughter daughter daughter sick with a fever so I did have to stay home with her all day. We played some games and did some other fun stuff, but we did manage 2 movies in there as well. I am totally counting them because I have fallen way off my movie a day pace.
First up was one of her newest favorites, Delhi Safari. This movie recently came on Netflix and follows the story of a leopard. It is almost unwatchable from an adult perspective. She loved it though so I tolerated it for her.
The second movie was Lion King. Arguably the best animated movie of all time. It has been a long time since I watched this one. Ever since it got the number 1 seed in AMC Movie Talk's animated movie tournament I have wanted to revisit this movie. Of course it was awesome. My daughter loved it as well. However the tastes of a 6 year old are terrible as she preferred the Delhi Safari movie. I can only hope her tastes will evolve as she gets a little older.
Using the app MyFitnessPlan to track caloric intake has been working wonderfully. It makes me wonder how many calories I was eating previously. My current limit is around 2000 calories a day. I have stayed pretty well within that range this week and the pounds continue to melt off. So hopefully I can continue the simple formula of walking twice a day and tracking calories for awhile.
Overall Akira gets a 260 out of 291.
Delhi Safari gets a 100 out of 291.
Lion King gets a 270 out of 291.
Days: 64
Movies: 56
Miles: 289.7
Minutes: 5223 (87.05 hrs)
Pounds: 14
My daughter daughter daughter sick with a fever so I did have to stay home with her all day. We played some games and did some other fun stuff, but we did manage 2 movies in there as well. I am totally counting them because I have fallen way off my movie a day pace.
First up was one of her newest favorites, Delhi Safari. This movie recently came on Netflix and follows the story of a leopard. It is almost unwatchable from an adult perspective. She loved it though so I tolerated it for her.
The second movie was Lion King. Arguably the best animated movie of all time. It has been a long time since I watched this one. Ever since it got the number 1 seed in AMC Movie Talk's animated movie tournament I have wanted to revisit this movie. Of course it was awesome. My daughter loved it as well. However the tastes of a 6 year old are terrible as she preferred the Delhi Safari movie. I can only hope her tastes will evolve as she gets a little older.
Using the app MyFitnessPlan to track caloric intake has been working wonderfully. It makes me wonder how many calories I was eating previously. My current limit is around 2000 calories a day. I have stayed pretty well within that range this week and the pounds continue to melt off. So hopefully I can continue the simple formula of walking twice a day and tracking calories for awhile.
Overall Akira gets a 260 out of 291.
Delhi Safari gets a 100 out of 291.
Lion King gets a 270 out of 291.
Days: 64
Movies: 56
Miles: 289.7
Minutes: 5223 (87.05 hrs)
Pounds: 14
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Day 54-62: Animated Movies and JCVD
I have run into some troubles in the last week or so. One I had some technical difficulties and two my back went out. So I had to take a couple days off. So in the last 9 days I have only seen 4.5 movies.
My plan was to go on an animated movie run. My favorite YouTube Movie show, AMC Movie Talk, is running a march madness tournament for the all-time greatest animated movie. There are so many great animated movies and there were some of the 32 that I had never seen.
My animated movie run started with the classic Ghost in the Shell. You can see how this 90s classic influenced many sci-fi movies that came after it. I am pretty excited to see the live action remake of this classic! (read a little here)
Next up was my favorite animated movie of all time, Wall-E. I love Pixar, and many of their movies, but this one is my favorite. I remember when I first saw it, it was the best romantic movie I had seen in a long time. The relationship between Eve and Wall-E is beautiful. Throw in some "take care of the Earth" or else morality and this movie is perfect. All of my feelings about this movie were confirmed on re-watch. A gorgeous movie.
Next was the classic Princess Mononoke. Here is where I ran into some issues. We own the DVD and I tried to use my external DVD player with my MacBook. It didn't work. It kept skipping around and claiming the DVD was damaged. I am not sure what was going on, but it didn't work. Around the same time, my back went out. A bunch of stuff ended up out of place and I couldn't walk on the treadmill. After a couple trips to the chiropractor everything was good though.
This haulted my animated movie run. So next up was the coming of age story Copenhagen. This movie came with good reviews and high recommnendations. It was terrible. This is where the half movie comes in. I couldn't finish it. I slogged through 45 minutes but couldn't make myself watch anymore.
After this movie I was desperate for some palette cleansing. So I called upon the 80s Jean Claude Van Damme action flick Bloodsport. I loved this movie as a 12 year old and my inner 12 year old still loves this movie. The acting, writing, editing and directing of course are terrible. However, it is still quite enjoyable.
I picked up a cheap portable DVD player so I could then watch Princess Mononoke. This was an amazing movie. I little more gory than I was expecting, but still amazing.
I believe the scale still goes up to 294. I have been afraid to weight myself with the time off. I did start up my fitness plan app again to track my calories. Hopefully that will help.
Overall
Ghost in the Shell 250
Wall-E 294
Copenhagen 0
Bloodsport 175
Princess Mononoke 270
Days: 62
Movies: 53
Minutes: 5068
Miles: 280.7
Pounds: 11 (hopefully)
My plan was to go on an animated movie run. My favorite YouTube Movie show, AMC Movie Talk, is running a march madness tournament for the all-time greatest animated movie. There are so many great animated movies and there were some of the 32 that I had never seen.
My animated movie run started with the classic Ghost in the Shell. You can see how this 90s classic influenced many sci-fi movies that came after it. I am pretty excited to see the live action remake of this classic! (read a little here)
Next up was my favorite animated movie of all time, Wall-E. I love Pixar, and many of their movies, but this one is my favorite. I remember when I first saw it, it was the best romantic movie I had seen in a long time. The relationship between Eve and Wall-E is beautiful. Throw in some "take care of the Earth" or else morality and this movie is perfect. All of my feelings about this movie were confirmed on re-watch. A gorgeous movie.
Next was the classic Princess Mononoke. Here is where I ran into some issues. We own the DVD and I tried to use my external DVD player with my MacBook. It didn't work. It kept skipping around and claiming the DVD was damaged. I am not sure what was going on, but it didn't work. Around the same time, my back went out. A bunch of stuff ended up out of place and I couldn't walk on the treadmill. After a couple trips to the chiropractor everything was good though.
This haulted my animated movie run. So next up was the coming of age story Copenhagen. This movie came with good reviews and high recommnendations. It was terrible. This is where the half movie comes in. I couldn't finish it. I slogged through 45 minutes but couldn't make myself watch anymore.
After this movie I was desperate for some palette cleansing. So I called upon the 80s Jean Claude Van Damme action flick Bloodsport. I loved this movie as a 12 year old and my inner 12 year old still loves this movie. The acting, writing, editing and directing of course are terrible. However, it is still quite enjoyable.
I picked up a cheap portable DVD player so I could then watch Princess Mononoke. This was an amazing movie. I little more gory than I was expecting, but still amazing.
I believe the scale still goes up to 294. I have been afraid to weight myself with the time off. I did start up my fitness plan app again to track my calories. Hopefully that will help.
Overall
Ghost in the Shell 250
Wall-E 294
Copenhagen 0
Bloodsport 175
Princess Mononoke 270
Days: 62
Movies: 53
Minutes: 5068
Miles: 280.7
Pounds: 11 (hopefully)
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Days 50-53: Interstellar, Save the Date, Fast Five
I really was excited to see Interstellar on the big screen. I am a huge Christopher Nolan fan, and a huge fan of space sci-fi. It never happened. The movie did look really good even on my small 13" computer screen though. Interstellar was an epic space adventure. Although it was not a masterpiece, and not Nolan's best movie, probably not even in his top 5) it was still amazing. It makes me want to go back and re-watch 2001, the Kurbrick space classic. I might have to make that happen soon.
Save the Date, a rom-com on netflix was up next. This one was not fun at all. These 90 minutes seemed much longer than Interstellar's 3 hours. Formulaic, not very funny, not very engaging, and I almost turned it off numerous times. I did make it through to the end.
I needed a complete palette cleansing after that, so I decided to go with Fast Five. I have never seen a Fast and Furious movie. They looked stupid when they first started coming out and the reviews matched my preconceptions. However I have heard from numerous sources that they start getting really good with #5. The trailer for #7 recently came out and that was mind-blowing. So I decided to watch Fast Five to give the series a chance. That was also a 2 hour thrill ride. Of course all logic and need for a story goes flying out the window. That's okay though because the stunts and action are amazing. So much fun. The 6th one will be making its appearance soon.
Its hard to give an accurate weight update as my bathroom scale stopped being accurate. I will weigh myself twice and get readings that are almost 2 pounds apart. So I am not sure what to think. My best guess is the scale currently goes up to 294. I may have to invest in a new scale.
Overall Interstellar gets 290 out of 296.
Save the Date gets 100 out of 295.
Fast Five gets 240 out of 294.
Days: 53
Movies: 48
Minutes: 4633
Miles: 256.2
Pound: 11
Save the Date, a rom-com on netflix was up next. This one was not fun at all. These 90 minutes seemed much longer than Interstellar's 3 hours. Formulaic, not very funny, not very engaging, and I almost turned it off numerous times. I did make it through to the end.
I needed a complete palette cleansing after that, so I decided to go with Fast Five. I have never seen a Fast and Furious movie. They looked stupid when they first started coming out and the reviews matched my preconceptions. However I have heard from numerous sources that they start getting really good with #5. The trailer for #7 recently came out and that was mind-blowing. So I decided to watch Fast Five to give the series a chance. That was also a 2 hour thrill ride. Of course all logic and need for a story goes flying out the window. That's okay though because the stunts and action are amazing. So much fun. The 6th one will be making its appearance soon.
Its hard to give an accurate weight update as my bathroom scale stopped being accurate. I will weigh myself twice and get readings that are almost 2 pounds apart. So I am not sure what to think. My best guess is the scale currently goes up to 294. I may have to invest in a new scale.
Overall Interstellar gets 290 out of 296.
Save the Date gets 100 out of 295.
Fast Five gets 240 out of 294.
Days: 53
Movies: 48
Minutes: 4633
Miles: 256.2
Pound: 11
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Day 49: Star Wars Rebels (Season Finale)
I watched the final four episodes of Star Wars Rebels today. It took 99 minutes and 5.4 miles. It was completely nerd heaven though! No spoilers here, but the the first season ended on an incredible note. It was great to see amazing action, new characters, the return of very familiar characters, and that great sense of Star Wars fantasy space opera adventure.
I feel time wise I will count my Star Wars Rebels TV season as 3 movies. I believe the time works out about right. I watched 13 episodes that took around 300 minutes. That seems like about 3 movies worth to me.
Overall I give Star Wars Rebels a 285 out of 296.
Yes, the scale still goes up to 296. I can't seem to shake that stress eating. I teach math in 7th and 8th grade. The state tests are quickly approaching and I am putting a lot of pressure on myself to make sure these students have a chance to do their very best. So stress equals more eating. I am just glad that I am walking for 1.5-2 hours a day so my scale isn't going up any more than it is .
So totals so far....
Days: 49
Movies: 45
Minutes: 4282
Miles: 236.2
Pounds: 9
I feel time wise I will count my Star Wars Rebels TV season as 3 movies. I believe the time works out about right. I watched 13 episodes that took around 300 minutes. That seems like about 3 movies worth to me.
Overall I give Star Wars Rebels a 285 out of 296.
Yes, the scale still goes up to 296. I can't seem to shake that stress eating. I teach math in 7th and 8th grade. The state tests are quickly approaching and I am putting a lot of pressure on myself to make sure these students have a chance to do their very best. So stress equals more eating. I am just glad that I am walking for 1.5-2 hours a day so my scale isn't going up any more than it is .
So totals so far....
Days: 49
Movies: 45
Minutes: 4282
Miles: 236.2
Pounds: 9
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Day 47-48: Star Wars Rebels
I have made a out of the box decision with my Netflix workout plan. I have gone rogue. I am using Amazon Prime, and I am watching a TV series. I am binging my way through Star Wars Rebels. I am currently through the first 10 episodes. It is everything I had hoped the prequels were going to be. It is engaging, funny, and great storytelling. The animation is a little questionable at times, but it has moments of beauty. One of my favorite parts is listening to the score again.
Workout wise, things have been downhill. Life is busy and the last two days have had shorter walks and one missed walk. The last two days have totaled about 130 minutes and just over 7 miles. I do find that the switch the TV shows has lessened my workout desire. With a movie a day goal, there was a sense of urgency each and every day. While I watch Star Wars episodes, there are only 22 minutes long. I should probably watch 3 every time I walk. I haven't done that yet.
Hopefully the workouts get longer, and the calorie intake gets smaller.
Days: 48
Movies: 42
TV shows: 9
Minutes: 4193
Miles: 230.8
Pounds: 9
Workout wise, things have been downhill. Life is busy and the last two days have had shorter walks and one missed walk. The last two days have totaled about 130 minutes and just over 7 miles. I do find that the switch the TV shows has lessened my workout desire. With a movie a day goal, there was a sense of urgency each and every day. While I watch Star Wars episodes, there are only 22 minutes long. I should probably watch 3 every time I walk. I haven't done that yet.
Hopefully the workouts get longer, and the calorie intake gets smaller.
Days: 48
Movies: 42
TV shows: 9
Minutes: 4193
Miles: 230.8
Pounds: 9
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Days 43-46: Donnie Brasco, Serpico & Star Wars Rebels
The last couple days have not gone great. My workout have not been regular and the eating has gone up. Stress is the main culprit again. It always seems to be. However, I did watch a couple great crime dramas with Al Pacino.
I started with Donnie Brasco and then went to Serpico. Both of them were on Netflix. Al Pacino and Johnny Depp were in Donnie Brasco. This might have been the last time Johnny Depp was really good in something. Al Pacino was great as the aging mobster. Definitely worth a watch for anybody who loves mob movies. I found myself thinking that Al Pacino's character in this movie was an alternate reality Rocky Balboa who never got a shot against Creed. It creates a whole new layer to the movie if you keep that in the back of your mind.
Next up was Serpico. This starred a young Al Pacino as a hipster 70s cop who did not want to take any money. It was a pretty bleak picture of 70s New York cops. One of my biggest take aways from this movie was that 70s movies were paced so much slower than the movies of today. Don't get me wrong, I liked this movie, one just has to have a little patience while watching it.
After 2 long crime dramas based on real life I needed a pick-me-up. So I finally decided to cross the line from movies to TV shows. I purchased the first season of Star Wars Rebels. I have heard a lot of amazing things about this show. It totally lived up to the hype. It was funny, it has adventure, it had great action, it had great music, it was Star Wars. It was more Star Wars than the three prequel movies that is for sure. I took in 3 episodes while I walked and it flew by. This is something that any parent could watch with pretty much any kid.
Overall
Donnie Brasco gets 265 out of 295.
Serpico gets 230 out of 295.
Star Wars Rebels gets 270 out of 296 (first three episodes)
Days: 46
Movies: 42
TV Shows: 3
Minutes: 4050
Miles: 223.4
Pounds: 9
I started with Donnie Brasco and then went to Serpico. Both of them were on Netflix. Al Pacino and Johnny Depp were in Donnie Brasco. This might have been the last time Johnny Depp was really good in something. Al Pacino was great as the aging mobster. Definitely worth a watch for anybody who loves mob movies. I found myself thinking that Al Pacino's character in this movie was an alternate reality Rocky Balboa who never got a shot against Creed. It creates a whole new layer to the movie if you keep that in the back of your mind.
Next up was Serpico. This starred a young Al Pacino as a hipster 70s cop who did not want to take any money. It was a pretty bleak picture of 70s New York cops. One of my biggest take aways from this movie was that 70s movies were paced so much slower than the movies of today. Don't get me wrong, I liked this movie, one just has to have a little patience while watching it.
After 2 long crime dramas based on real life I needed a pick-me-up. So I finally decided to cross the line from movies to TV shows. I purchased the first season of Star Wars Rebels. I have heard a lot of amazing things about this show. It totally lived up to the hype. It was funny, it has adventure, it had great action, it had great music, it was Star Wars. It was more Star Wars than the three prequel movies that is for sure. I took in 3 episodes while I walked and it flew by. This is something that any parent could watch with pretty much any kid.
Overall
Donnie Brasco gets 265 out of 295.
Serpico gets 230 out of 295.
Star Wars Rebels gets 270 out of 296 (first three episodes)
Days: 46
Movies: 42
TV Shows: 3
Minutes: 4050
Miles: 223.4
Pounds: 9
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Day 42: Parallels & Aziz Ansari at MSG
A movie called Parallels quickly rose to the top of my suggested list on Netflix recently. I had really no idea what it was about. I read the brief description about alternate realities and was pretty interested. I recommend this little 85 minute adventure to anybody who loves well made movies, or TV shows. I am still unclear what this was intended to be. It seems like they shot the first two episodes of a TV series and then decided to make it a movie instead. I don't really care about any of that. This was a riveting 85 minutes full of twists turns and fantastic science fiction. Think of a mix between Quantum Leap and Lost only the leaping is between alternate realities not time, and the mysteries are better than the ones presented on Lost.
The only irritation with this whole movie are the names of the characters. Harold, B and Ronin quickly become Harry, Beatrix and Ronin (Ron). These three names seemed to be plucked directly from Harry Potter. I kept waiting for a Severus, Albus or Hermione to show up. Despite this one minor flaw, the movie was a pure joy to watch. This is saying something. Once I get hung up on something like bad character names I usually can't let it go. That fact that not only did I finish the movie, but really enjoyed it speaks to how well this story is done.
After that movie finished, I had some extra time. So I first finished watching Aziz Ansari's new MSG comedy special. I really enjoy Aziz. I initially discovered his comedy using the free online slacker radio app. He would appear on my comedy channel. I would get little 3-8 minute bits of his routines from his albums. I have to say, that is the perfect way to take in Aziz comedy. I have watched and listened to all his specials now, and I still think I enjoy him most in smaller doses. The special had a few huge laughs, and some smaller ones as well, but mostly seemed uneven.
The best news is that the scale no longer goes up to 297!
Parallels gets a 250 out of 295.
Aziz at MSG gets a 220 out of 295.
Days: 42
Movies: 40
Minutes: 3713
Miles: 204.8
Pounds: 10
The only irritation with this whole movie are the names of the characters. Harold, B and Ronin quickly become Harry, Beatrix and Ronin (Ron). These three names seemed to be plucked directly from Harry Potter. I kept waiting for a Severus, Albus or Hermione to show up. Despite this one minor flaw, the movie was a pure joy to watch. This is saying something. Once I get hung up on something like bad character names I usually can't let it go. That fact that not only did I finish the movie, but really enjoyed it speaks to how well this story is done.
After that movie finished, I had some extra time. So I first finished watching Aziz Ansari's new MSG comedy special. I really enjoy Aziz. I initially discovered his comedy using the free online slacker radio app. He would appear on my comedy channel. I would get little 3-8 minute bits of his routines from his albums. I have to say, that is the perfect way to take in Aziz comedy. I have watched and listened to all his specials now, and I still think I enjoy him most in smaller doses. The special had a few huge laughs, and some smaller ones as well, but mostly seemed uneven.
The best news is that the scale no longer goes up to 297!
Parallels gets a 250 out of 295.
Aziz at MSG gets a 220 out of 295.
Days: 42
Movies: 40
Minutes: 3713
Miles: 204.8
Pounds: 10
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Day 40-41: Ultimate Avengers 2 & Use Your Van
I have been having some stomach trouble lately. About 5 years ago, I was diagnosed with what the doctors called "lazy stomach." My stomach digests food really slowly. It only causes problems for me when I combine stress, too much pop, and overeating. The bad part is that stress causes too much pop and overeating for me. Also teaching junior high students only causes stress constantly, so I will probably be fine. So every once in a while my stomach rebels and fills up with acid and I feel really sick. I tried to walk through it yesterday and only got 40 miles before having to get off the treadmill. Today I felt better and got in 80 minutes and 4.5 miles in. I had a really good eating day so I have high hopes for the weigh in tomorrow.
Yesterday I watched the animated movie Ultimate Avengers 2. This story features the Black Panther character heavily throughout the story. I am excited for him to appear in the next Captain American Civil War movie. While I hope Spiderman makes an appearance as well, I hope it does not diminish the role of Black Panther. I am going on another super hero kick as I simply can not wait for the new Avengers movie. At this point my expectations are so high they can not possibly be met.
So today I tried to calm myself down a little bit with a 2004 music documentary called Use Your Van. This movie features my favorite local musician Mason Jennings. He started to come to fame right at the end of my college time. He would often come and play our local coffee shop. I have seen him grow as an artist and person over the last 15 years or so. This documentary follows him and his band as they tour on his 4th record Use Your Voice. I should mention that the only reason I get to watch this is because my good friend from HS was cleaning out his DVD collection and sent this my way. A good music documentary about a fantastic singer/songwritier.
However after the documentary was over again I turned on a YouTube show called AMC Heroes. I regularly watch the YouTube show AMC Movie Talk about various movie news. This was the debut show of AMC Heroes that talks about everything superhero movies. So overall superhero fever continues to run wild here.
Ultimate Avengers 2 gets 230 out of 297.
Use Your Van gets 250 out of 297.
(yes the scale seems stuck on 297...)
Days: 41
Movies: 38
Minutes: 3609
Miles: 198.9
Pounds: 8
Yesterday I watched the animated movie Ultimate Avengers 2. This story features the Black Panther character heavily throughout the story. I am excited for him to appear in the next Captain American Civil War movie. While I hope Spiderman makes an appearance as well, I hope it does not diminish the role of Black Panther. I am going on another super hero kick as I simply can not wait for the new Avengers movie. At this point my expectations are so high they can not possibly be met.
So today I tried to calm myself down a little bit with a 2004 music documentary called Use Your Van. This movie features my favorite local musician Mason Jennings. He started to come to fame right at the end of my college time. He would often come and play our local coffee shop. I have seen him grow as an artist and person over the last 15 years or so. This documentary follows him and his band as they tour on his 4th record Use Your Voice. I should mention that the only reason I get to watch this is because my good friend from HS was cleaning out his DVD collection and sent this my way. A good music documentary about a fantastic singer/songwritier.
However after the documentary was over again I turned on a YouTube show called AMC Heroes. I regularly watch the YouTube show AMC Movie Talk about various movie news. This was the debut show of AMC Heroes that talks about everything superhero movies. So overall superhero fever continues to run wild here.
Ultimate Avengers 2 gets 230 out of 297.
Use Your Van gets 250 out of 297.
(yes the scale seems stuck on 297...)
Days: 41
Movies: 38
Minutes: 3609
Miles: 198.9
Pounds: 8
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Day 39: Pride & Prejudice
During the month of February our staff would recommend books for I Love to Read month to the rest of the staff. At one point I mentioned Seth Graham-Smith's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I recommended the book for anybody who found Pride and Prejudice "a little boring." Within minutes I had an email from my principal proclaiming that the book was not boring. He even brought me his DVD copy which he happened to have on him. Well I thought today was as good a day as ever to watch.
To be honest I wasn't expecting much. I had tried to read the original Jane Austen classic a couple of times, never having made it more than half way through. I thought it was going to be a brutal 2 hour walk on the treadmilll.
I was initially taken back at how amazing the cast was. Keira Knightly, Donald Sutherland, Rosamund Pike, Jena Malone and Carey Mulligan are all amazing. They are indeed great here as well. This movie is very well made. It was absolutely stunningingly beautiful to watch. Not only the scenary but the craft of some of the long takes used in various scenes was a thing of beauty. I am not sure I would have even liked this movie 5 years ago. This movie made me laugh and cry. I will probaby try to read the book again, however I may start with re-reading the zombie version first.
Pride and Prejudice gets a 260 out of 297 (because that is what the scale currently goes up to).
Days: 39
Movies: 36
Minutes: 3488
Miles: 192.2
Pounds: 8
To be honest I wasn't expecting much. I had tried to read the original Jane Austen classic a couple of times, never having made it more than half way through. I thought it was going to be a brutal 2 hour walk on the treadmilll.
I was initially taken back at how amazing the cast was. Keira Knightly, Donald Sutherland, Rosamund Pike, Jena Malone and Carey Mulligan are all amazing. They are indeed great here as well. This movie is very well made. It was absolutely stunningingly beautiful to watch. Not only the scenary but the craft of some of the long takes used in various scenes was a thing of beauty. I am not sure I would have even liked this movie 5 years ago. This movie made me laugh and cry. I will probaby try to read the book again, however I may start with re-reading the zombie version first.
Pride and Prejudice gets a 260 out of 297 (because that is what the scale currently goes up to).
Days: 39
Movies: 36
Minutes: 3488
Miles: 192.2
Pounds: 8
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Day 38: Nebraska, Hobbit 3, Goon & Ultimate Avengers
I have been a little busy lately. The good news is that I have still been walking and watching movies. The bad news is that I have eaten poorly. To steal a line from the incredible Kyle Kinane, I have eaten like Doc Brown fuels the Dolorian at the end of Back to the Future. My weight has held steady though so that is good. I did have one day in there where I did not walk at all. I had horrible valid excuses in both the morning and the night. It just made me feel worse though.
Over the past few days I have taken in quite a few movies.
Nebraska stars Will Forte and the amazing Bruce Dern as a son and father reconnecting on a trip to Lincoln Nebraska to collect the father's "winnings." At times hilarious, at times painfully slow, but overall a very enjoyable movie.
I then watched the third and final installment of Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy. When it was originally in theaters our family went to watch. However we have a 6 year old who is not old enough to watch any Battle of Five Armies. So being the amazing dad that I am, I went and saw the new Annie movie with my 6 year old. (Annie was a piece of garbage by the way). However Hobbit was pretty good. The battle was magnificent and it made a nice conclusion to the trilogy while also serving as a fantastic setup for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which I want to watch again.
Goon is a 2011 hockey movie based around a true story. Sean Williams Scott (of American Pie fame) plays a hockey player whose main job is to fight the other team. Scott is surprisingly good in this role. Liev Schreiber is also very good as a legendary hockey player brute. Surprisingly bad is Jay Baruchel. He is the voice the the main character of How to Train Your Dragon, and played a big part in This is the End. In those movies I liked him a lot. However here he was mostly annoying. I actually found myself making comparing his character to Jar Jar Binks. I couldn't figure out if it was the writing or the acting or the directing. I just found that whenever his character was on screen, I wanted him off screen. However overall the Goon movie was surprisingly good and enjoyable.
The third and hopefully final trailer for Avengers Age of Ultron was released. So I again needed to watch a superhero movie. The animated Ultimate Avengers satisfied the craving. Based on Mark Millars Ultimate series, this is another version of the Avengers origin story. Interestingly it contains Ant-Man and Wasp. A nice preview of their upcoming movie as well!
Nebraska gets a 200 out of 296.
Hobbit gets a 250 out of 296.
Goon gets a 220 out of 297.
Ultimate Avengers gets a 225 out of 297.
Days: 38
Movies: 35
Minutes: 3362
Miles: 185.4
Pounds: 8
Over the past few days I have taken in quite a few movies.
Nebraska stars Will Forte and the amazing Bruce Dern as a son and father reconnecting on a trip to Lincoln Nebraska to collect the father's "winnings." At times hilarious, at times painfully slow, but overall a very enjoyable movie.
I then watched the third and final installment of Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy. When it was originally in theaters our family went to watch. However we have a 6 year old who is not old enough to watch any Battle of Five Armies. So being the amazing dad that I am, I went and saw the new Annie movie with my 6 year old. (Annie was a piece of garbage by the way). However Hobbit was pretty good. The battle was magnificent and it made a nice conclusion to the trilogy while also serving as a fantastic setup for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which I want to watch again.
Goon is a 2011 hockey movie based around a true story. Sean Williams Scott (of American Pie fame) plays a hockey player whose main job is to fight the other team. Scott is surprisingly good in this role. Liev Schreiber is also very good as a legendary hockey player brute. Surprisingly bad is Jay Baruchel. He is the voice the the main character of How to Train Your Dragon, and played a big part in This is the End. In those movies I liked him a lot. However here he was mostly annoying. I actually found myself making comparing his character to Jar Jar Binks. I couldn't figure out if it was the writing or the acting or the directing. I just found that whenever his character was on screen, I wanted him off screen. However overall the Goon movie was surprisingly good and enjoyable.
The third and hopefully final trailer for Avengers Age of Ultron was released. So I again needed to watch a superhero movie. The animated Ultimate Avengers satisfied the craving. Based on Mark Millars Ultimate series, this is another version of the Avengers origin story. Interestingly it contains Ant-Man and Wasp. A nice preview of their upcoming movie as well!
Nebraska gets a 200 out of 296.
Hobbit gets a 250 out of 296.
Goon gets a 220 out of 297.
Ultimate Avengers gets a 225 out of 297.
Days: 38
Movies: 35
Minutes: 3362
Miles: 185.4
Pounds: 8
Monday, March 2, 2015
Day 30-32: Pain & Gain, Guardians and Obvious Child
The last couple days have been pretty busy. I am really starting to worry about the treadmill and how long it is going to last. The random slowing down has slowed down, but it has just started making weird noises. It sounds like a belt or something but I know nothing about motors. Over the last 3 days I have watched three great movies though.
Pain & Gain is a crime/true story/comedy with the Rock and Mark Wahlberg. It was a really fun watch. Although it is about body builders and was directed by Michael Bay, it was all good fun.
I then got to watch Guardians of the Galaxy again, but this time with a commentary provided by the movie podcast Modern Myth Media. I have never really listened to commentary tracks too much before. It was pretty fun with some good insight. It did make me want to redo Guardians but this time with James Gunn commentary.
Lastly was Jenny Slate's Obvious Child. A little slow and awkward at times, but it definitely had its funny moments. I was introduced to Jenny Slate on Parks & Rec. Her character there is hilarious and a little annoying. Here she is very charming, but less funny. Overall a fun, but slow movie.
Pain & Gain gets150 out of 297.
GotG gets 270 out of 298.
Obvious Child gets 125 out of 297.
Days: 32
Movies: 31
Minutes: 2942
Miles: 162.3
Pounds: 8
Pain & Gain is a crime/true story/comedy with the Rock and Mark Wahlberg. It was a really fun watch. Although it is about body builders and was directed by Michael Bay, it was all good fun.
I then got to watch Guardians of the Galaxy again, but this time with a commentary provided by the movie podcast Modern Myth Media. I have never really listened to commentary tracks too much before. It was pretty fun with some good insight. It did make me want to redo Guardians but this time with James Gunn commentary.
Lastly was Jenny Slate's Obvious Child. A little slow and awkward at times, but it definitely had its funny moments. I was introduced to Jenny Slate on Parks & Rec. Her character there is hilarious and a little annoying. Here she is very charming, but less funny. Overall a fun, but slow movie.
Pain & Gain gets150 out of 297.
GotG gets 270 out of 298.
Obvious Child gets 125 out of 297.
Days: 32
Movies: 31
Minutes: 2942
Miles: 162.3
Pounds: 8
Friday, February 27, 2015
Day 29: Whiplash
Continuing the music theme, I watched Oscar nominated Whiplash with Miles Teller and JK Simmons. There is a lot of drumming in this movie about a student and mentor. Keeping it short this movie is fantastic. The relationship between Miles and JK is an amazing ride. This movie is well written and superbly acted. Probably not enough has been said about Paul Reiser. JK Simmons is really amazing in this movie. It gets me excited for him possibly being in a Spiderman movie again.
The treadmill seems to be working. I walked for 123 minutes and just over 7 miles today. In the morning it did quit around the 55 minute mark. The treadmill starts to slow down on its own. Then it won't turn off unless I pull the safe key. The good news is my weight is back down to 297. Hopefully I can keep that going and get it to 295 by the 1 month period. That would make 10 pounds down in a month.
Whiplash gets my second highest rating of the last 29 days with a 295 out of 297.
Days: 29
Movies: 28
Minutes: 2622
Miles:144.1
Pounds: 8
The treadmill seems to be working. I walked for 123 minutes and just over 7 miles today. In the morning it did quit around the 55 minute mark. The treadmill starts to slow down on its own. Then it won't turn off unless I pull the safe key. The good news is my weight is back down to 297. Hopefully I can keep that going and get it to 295 by the 1 month period. That would make 10 pounds down in a month.
Whiplash gets my second highest rating of the last 29 days with a 295 out of 297.
Days: 29
Movies: 28
Minutes: 2622
Miles:144.1
Pounds: 8
Day 28: 20 feet from Stardom
Being inspired by the music in the movie Liberal Arts, I continued the music trend and watched the Oscar winning documentary "20 Feet from Stardom." This is the story of a group of backup singers and their triumphs and struggles in the music business. There is some great music in this doc. It made it very easy to walk through this movie.
My treadmill has been acting funny though. I am a little worried about it. I watched the first 70 minutes of this movie and then the treadmill slowed way down without my reducing the speed. Then when I tried to stop the treadmill it wouldnt stop. I had to pull the safety key to get the treadmill to stop. I tried again, but it ended up doing the same thing. Later I finished the movie and I ended up setting the incline to 1 and that might have helped. I am not sure what is going on. I hope it keeps working because I finally have an exercise plan that I am following and any hiccup could derail this whole train.
Overall 20 Feet from Stardom was very enjoyable and should be watched by any music fan.
It gets a 250 out of 299.
Days: 28
Movies: 27
Minutes: 2499
Miles: 137
Pounds: 6
My treadmill has been acting funny though. I am a little worried about it. I watched the first 70 minutes of this movie and then the treadmill slowed way down without my reducing the speed. Then when I tried to stop the treadmill it wouldnt stop. I had to pull the safety key to get the treadmill to stop. I tried again, but it ended up doing the same thing. Later I finished the movie and I ended up setting the incline to 1 and that might have helped. I am not sure what is going on. I hope it keeps working because I finally have an exercise plan that I am following and any hiccup could derail this whole train.
Overall 20 Feet from Stardom was very enjoyable and should be watched by any music fan.
It gets a 250 out of 299.
Days: 28
Movies: 27
Minutes: 2499
Miles: 137
Pounds: 6
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Day 26 & 27: White Birds In a World & Liberal Arts
Over the last 2 days I have walked 264 minutes and 14.7 miles. My weight went back up to 300 so I am a little determined to get it back down. Although my eating has still not gone down to where it should be.
During the 2 days I watched three very different movies. It started with White Bird in a Blizzard with Young Adult fiction queen Shailene Woodley. While her performance was good, the movie was full of people that were just unlikable. The movie is a mystery of sorts and has a nice little twist but it wasn't very enjoyable to watch. It is hard to watch movies where there are no likable people. Some movies and some TV shows can get away with this, White Bird was not one.
The second movie was In a World with the imeasurably likable Lake Bell. And if you want more than that, the movie has Nick Offerman, Demetri Martin and Tig Notaro. I will watch pretty much anything with those three names attached. Demetri actually does a pretty good job in the movie.
The third movie was Liberal Arts with two amazingly likable people Josh Radnor (Ted from How I met Your Mother) and Elizabeth Olson. The music in this movie alone makes it worthwhile. From the obscure indie music to the classical tracks this movie had me wishing that I had some quality headphones instead of the cheap white apple things I had in my ears. Not to get to spoilery but there is a series of scenes with a classical backing track that is just amazing in this movie. I was planning on walking for an hour tonight, but I had to up that to finish this movie. It was really great.
Whie Bird gets 150 out of 300.
In a World gets 250 out of 299.
Liberal Arts gets 260 out of 299.
Days: 27
Movies: 26
Minutes 2429
Miles: 133
Pounds: 6
During the 2 days I watched three very different movies. It started with White Bird in a Blizzard with Young Adult fiction queen Shailene Woodley. While her performance was good, the movie was full of people that were just unlikable. The movie is a mystery of sorts and has a nice little twist but it wasn't very enjoyable to watch. It is hard to watch movies where there are no likable people. Some movies and some TV shows can get away with this, White Bird was not one.
The second movie was In a World with the imeasurably likable Lake Bell. And if you want more than that, the movie has Nick Offerman, Demetri Martin and Tig Notaro. I will watch pretty much anything with those three names attached. Demetri actually does a pretty good job in the movie.
The third movie was Liberal Arts with two amazingly likable people Josh Radnor (Ted from How I met Your Mother) and Elizabeth Olson. The music in this movie alone makes it worthwhile. From the obscure indie music to the classical tracks this movie had me wishing that I had some quality headphones instead of the cheap white apple things I had in my ears. Not to get to spoilery but there is a series of scenes with a classical backing track that is just amazing in this movie. I was planning on walking for an hour tonight, but I had to up that to finish this movie. It was really great.
Whie Bird gets 150 out of 300.
In a World gets 250 out of 299.
Liberal Arts gets 260 out of 299.
Days: 27
Movies: 26
Minutes 2429
Miles: 133
Pounds: 6
Monday, February 23, 2015
Day 25: Fluffy Movie
It has been a week of new Netflix releases. Yesterday was Robocop and today is the Fluffy movie with Gabriel Iglesias. It seemed very appropriate as the comic known as Fluffy talked about how he has lost 100 pounds. This was the main content of the first 10-15 minutes of the stand-up routine. It was pretty funny and obviously hit home as I too need to lose weight. So my new goal is to weigh less than this comic. As of when he made the movie he was around 350. I am sure he weighs less now. So my new motivation is to stay lighter than the comic famous for being big.
The movie overall fell pretty flat in the middle as he talked about his son and other family issues. As a teacher, I just couldn't help but think about this in terms of bad parenting decisions. However the set does end on an emotional and funny story about fathers. It had my tearing up on the treadmill.
Also I did tear it up on the treadmill today as I walked 121 minutes and 6.8 miles today. My legs hurt, but I hope to keep it going. Eating wise has been a bad couple days. Again I am scared to weigh in. We will see how tomorrow morning goes.
Overall the set by Gabriel Iglesias has some great moments, but long stretches of not so great moments. I think this was the weakest set I have seen from him. Maybe it is becoming more and more apparent that his audience is not me. This is entirely possible.
The Fluffy Movie gets a 200 out of 297.
Days: 25
Movies: 23
Minutes: 2165
Miles:118.3
Pounds: 8
The movie overall fell pretty flat in the middle as he talked about his son and other family issues. As a teacher, I just couldn't help but think about this in terms of bad parenting decisions. However the set does end on an emotional and funny story about fathers. It had my tearing up on the treadmill.
Also I did tear it up on the treadmill today as I walked 121 minutes and 6.8 miles today. My legs hurt, but I hope to keep it going. Eating wise has been a bad couple days. Again I am scared to weigh in. We will see how tomorrow morning goes.
Overall the set by Gabriel Iglesias has some great moments, but long stretches of not so great moments. I think this was the weakest set I have seen from him. Maybe it is becoming more and more apparent that his audience is not me. This is entirely possible.
The Fluffy Movie gets a 200 out of 297.
Days: 25
Movies: 23
Minutes: 2165
Miles:118.3
Pounds: 8
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Day 24: Robocop & McFarland USA
This Oscar Sunday I chose two movies that are on the opposite sides of the movie universe. Robocop, the 2014 reboot was an action packed and plotless fun ride. McFarland USA was an emotional true story adaptation that had me in tears numerous times. The most I have liked Kevin Costner since his NFL draft movie. Robocop was everything you would expect it to be, except it was actually pretty fun to watch. Great action and pretty decent acting for the popcorn movie that it was. Samuel L Jackson and Gary Oldman were pleasant surprises in their small roles.
Exercise wise it was a good day with 112 minutes on the treadmill and 6.2 miles. Eating wise it was sketchy. It always is on movie theater days. I love buttered popcorn. Other than the super large popcorn, I actually did pretty well. Too much pop as usual, but I can live with my choices today.
Overall Robocop gets 225 out of 297 for pure action packed fun.
McFarland USA gets a 240 out of 297 for a classic emotional Disney true story.
Days: 24
Movies : 22
Minutes: 2044
Miles: 111.5
Pounds: 8
Exercise wise it was a good day with 112 minutes on the treadmill and 6.2 miles. Eating wise it was sketchy. It always is on movie theater days. I love buttered popcorn. Other than the super large popcorn, I actually did pretty well. Too much pop as usual, but I can live with my choices today.
Overall Robocop gets 225 out of 297 for pure action packed fun.
McFarland USA gets a 240 out of 297 for a classic emotional Disney true story.
Days: 24
Movies : 22
Minutes: 2044
Miles: 111.5
Pounds: 8
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Day 23: Girl Most Likely
And now for something completely different as I dove into the sad world of Girl Most Likely. This Kristen Wiig. She is marvelous in the role. Matt Dillon is also in this with Annette Benning. Both are great as they always are. Matt Dillon's character is a little reminiscent of his Something About Mary Character...not sure what though. Darren Criss was the male love interest and he looked familiar the whole movie but I could not place him. After walking I looked him up and he was on Glee (which I watched for a couple seasons). He was good as well.
Overall another great workout and eating day so far. I am traveling to see my nephew's basketball tournament today and that will take up the entire day. So I did my entire walking workout in one shot. Hence the nice 98 minute movie choice. 5.3 miles in those 98 minutes. They went by pretty fast considering the movie was a little slow-paced and sad. Don't get me wrong, I love sad and heartbreaking movies. Actually I like them way more than my wife does. I once made her go to a Nicholoas Sparks movie on my birthday. Yep, that happened. The movie was good by the way, unless you ask her. She said I have never even heard of this movie, the opening credits started and the Sparks name came up, and she checked out.
Mild Spoiler for Girl Most Likely ahead:
Near the end of the movie Kristen Wiig's character puts on a big gray exoskeleton suit made by her brother. I will have to say that this scene was way better than Paul Giomatti's scene as Rhino in the amazing spiderman 2.
I give Girl Most Likely 200 out of 297 (as that is what the scale now goes up to!)
Days: 23
Movies: 20
Minutes: 1932
Miles: 105.3
Pounds: 8
Overall another great workout and eating day so far. I am traveling to see my nephew's basketball tournament today and that will take up the entire day. So I did my entire walking workout in one shot. Hence the nice 98 minute movie choice. 5.3 miles in those 98 minutes. They went by pretty fast considering the movie was a little slow-paced and sad. Don't get me wrong, I love sad and heartbreaking movies. Actually I like them way more than my wife does. I once made her go to a Nicholoas Sparks movie on my birthday. Yep, that happened. The movie was good by the way, unless you ask her. She said I have never even heard of this movie, the opening credits started and the Sparks name came up, and she checked out.
Mild Spoiler for Girl Most Likely ahead:
Near the end of the movie Kristen Wiig's character puts on a big gray exoskeleton suit made by her brother. I will have to say that this scene was way better than Paul Giomatti's scene as Rhino in the amazing spiderman 2.
I give Girl Most Likely 200 out of 297 (as that is what the scale now goes up to!)
Days: 23
Movies: 20
Minutes: 1932
Miles: 105.3
Pounds: 8
Friday, February 20, 2015
Day 22: Thor: The Dark World
4 hours and almost 14 miles have been dedcated to the Thor movies over the last two days. It has been good to watch both of them back to back. It made the differences in tone and story so very obvious. The cornerstone of these movies are Thor and Loki. Their relationship is probably the most interesting one in the MCU at this moment. I can't wait for Thor 3 Ragnarok. Hopefully it is a fitting climax to the Thor trilogy.
I had a great eating day and workout day and got the scale to go under 300 for the first time in a while. So that milestone was worth celebrating. Also reached 100 miles in this journey.
Thor gets a 245 out of 299 (because that is what the scale currently goes up to!)
Not sure where to go next movie wise.... We will see what tomorrow holds.
Days:22
Movies: 19
Minutes: 1834
Miles: 100
Pounds: 6
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