Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 4

Day 4 was another core circuit day in MBF and the 15-minute cardio workout from 645. So, today was heavy on Cardio, which was kind of nice because the cardio work is getting a bit easier. The MBF workout was similar to Tuesday's workout in that you alternate cardio blocks and core blocks. And, each of the core blocks had two sets of Mountain Climbers, so you end up doing cardio the entire time. 

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 3

 Day 3 was upper-body burn in MBF and the 15-minute cardio routine from 645. 

In the 645 routine, I am absolutely getting better at the pulse squats and the jump lunges (the two exercises from the actual workout that I do; the others get swapped out for Lift 4 cardio exercises). The MBF workout is tough (yet again). It follows a very similar format to the lower-body burn workout. There are four blocks. In two of the four, you do two rounds of two exercises and a combo of the two exercises. You use unbalanced weight, meaning you do the exercise on the right side, holding the weight in your right hand, and then you switch to the left side. And, there are no breaks between the exercises, so even when you are doing chest flies and presses, you need to use a lot lighter weight than you would use in a program like P90x or Lift 4 because you never put the weight down once you start. The other two blocks consist of two exercises that you do back-to-back for three rounds, again without stopping. You do all the exercises for 30 seconds (so reps will vary as you get tired), and the only rest in the program are between blocks when Megan shows the next moves (after you have done about 30 seconds with the ropeless jump rope).  So, not only do you work your muscles, but your heart rate will be elevated throughout a lot of the workout because you almost never stop moving.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Horrible Bosses (Totally Inappropriate Edition)

 

Horrible Bosses is a 2011 comedy directed by Seth Gordon. It stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, and an almost unrecognizable Colin Farrell. The movie also has a strong supporting cast, including Donald Sutherland, Julie Bowen, Wendell Pierce, Lindsay Sloan, and Jamie Foxx, who steals every scene he is in, playing a character named Motherfucker Jones. The plot is pretty simple. Three friends named Nick, Dale, and Kurt hate their bosses. They go from joking about killing their respective bosses to actually planning to kill them when things go wrong.  It is mainly about the stupid plan put together and badly executed by the main characters. From trying to find a hitman to the reconnaissance gone wrong, everything they try spirals out of control. 

You will likely love this movie if you like vulgar, sometimes over-the-top comedies. I think all of the actors did a great job. Bateman was very much like his character from Arrested Development with looser morals. Aniston really stole the show in a role that was totally different than anything she had ever played before. You can tell she was just trying to play it as over the top as possible. The other one who just really got into the role was Spacey. He played his character without any redeeming qualities and really did make you hate him. Of course, Spacey has become a persona non-grata since the allegations of sexual harassment and abuse have come out against him, so you kind of wonder how much his slimeball character was made up. 

The blu-ray set is a three-disc set. Each version of the movie (the theatrical and the extended unrated cut) is on its own disc. The extended cut adds about 8 minutes of additional material, none of which changes the movie in any significant way. The A/V quality of the blu-rays is good, but not outstanding. The special features include deleted scenes and a handful of making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes. The bonus content totals about half an hour, give or take. Ultimately, this is an enjoyable movie if you like the brand of humor. The movie is absolutely not family-friendly. There is a lot of sexual humor (mostly involving Aniston's character), and some bathroom humor, but no nudity. If you are not into hard-R rated comedies (which this undoubtedly is), or are easily offended, you will hate it. 

Workout Update: 645 Cardio/MBF Day 2

Day 2 was core and cardio in MBF, and the 15-minute cardio (modified again with a few different moves) from 645.

The MBF workout is interesting. You do three blocks of cardio (each block including two exercises) separated by four blocks of core work (each block including 2-3 exercises). Each exercise in the cardio blocks is done for three rounds, again with no rest between the moves. Each exercise in the core blocks is performed for two rounds, with no rest between the moves. And, there is no rest between the blocks (aside from the time it takes Megan to show the moves in the next block), so you essentially do three rounds of your two cardio moves, immediately transition to the core block, do two rounds of those moves, immediately transition to the second cardio block, etc.

At the end of all that, you do have a four-minute AMRAP block. AMRAP stands for "as many rounds as possible." In those four minutes, you do four reps of three of the cardio exercises and then 20 jump rope reps, which counts as one round. You rest a few seconds to catch your breath and then do another round. The goal, as it sounds, is to do as many rounds as you can in that four minutes.

The workout is good and goes by very quickly, but it is hard. Having zero rest time between exercises and very little rest between the blocks is tough. Throughout the workout, the various cast members (who all vary in their fitness level and ages) take unscheduled pauses here and there. Even if you are in fairly good shape it will be a challenging workout.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Avatar (4-Disc Collector's Edition)

 

This is the second 4K release of 2009's Avatar. The other version (which is misleadingly labeled as the Ultimate Collector's Edition) is a three-disc set that just has the theatrical version of the movie on UHD and regular blu-ray and then a regular blu-ray disc with special features. This set (just labeled Collector's Edition) is a four-disc set that has the theatrical and the two extended editions of the movie on UHD and regular blu-ray and then has two regular blu-ray discs with special features. 

The movie itself is very good. The first extended edition (which adds about 8 additional minutes to the theatrical version) basically just extends a couple of the scenes a bit. The second extended edition (which runs 178 minutes, adding 18 minutes of additional footage) is the best version of the movie (in my opinion). That version adds the most substance and backstory to the theatrical version, which definitely helps flesh out the overall story. You can also watch the additional footage for each extended edition as separate deleted scenes accessible from the menu. Each version of the movie is visually stunning in UHD. The audio track on the theatrical edition is wonderful. The tracks on the two extended editions are not available on Dolby Atmos, so they do not sound as good.

Where this set blows the Ultimate Collector's Edition release away is the extras. It includes all of the extras that were released with that one (including the new extras on that set and a few new ones exclusive to this set) and all of the legacy content included with the 2010 blu-ray release. The only difference between this release and the original blu-ray release (excluding the brand-new content) is a new line of added dialogue from Giovanni Ribisi's character (which is added to each version of the movie).

I have two issues with this set. First, it was not released at the same time as the original 4k release. So, if you bought that one early, you would have to double-dip to get all of the bonus content. Second, the packaging, while great to look at, is awful. It has a wonderful hard slipcover that holds a cardboard book-style case that holds the discs in very tight pockets (If you have the House of Cards individual seasons on blu-ray, it is like those). The discs are very hard to get out of the pocket without ripping the pockets and/or smudging or scratching the discs. So, if you get this, you want to watch it right away in case you get damaged/unplayable discs. I ended up putting the discs in their own individual blu-ray cases (I get extra cases to replace damaged cases if the discs are in otherwise good condition) and did not put them back in the book-style case. 

If you love the movie and love watching the bonus content, this is the version to get. You get hours of bonus material (even more if you redeem the digital code on Movies Anywhere or Vudu). If you stop the movies before the end you can resume where you left off, but that is not the case if you are watching the bonus content. If you stop in the middle of one of the featurettes on discs 3 or 4 and then restart the disc, it will go back to the main menu, and you will have to figure out where you left off. That is a relatively minor point, but worth noting.  Overall, this is absolutely worth the pickup if you are a more than just a casual fan of the movie.