American Sniper

One Bullet can tell a story

Chris Kyle was nothing more than a Texan man who wanted to become a cowboy, but in his thirties he found out that maybe his life needed something different, something where he could express his real talent, something that could help America in its fight against terrorism. So he joined the SEALs in order to become a sniper. After marrying, Kyle and the other members of the team are called for their first tour of Iraq. Kyle’s struggle isn’t with his missions, but about his relationship with the reality of the war and, once returned at home, how he manages to handle it with his urban life, his wife and kids.

-Written by Evandro Martirano (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2179136/)

Ok so firstly I’m not going to mention any of the political BS that has been put out there about this movie, I’m just going to review the actually movie.

I wasn’t actually that keen to watch this movie, not really that into war films but I was bored and I’ve seen everything else so thought I’d check it out. Boy was I glad I did! This film was raw, brutal and powerful.

What it’s like to be a soldier in a modern war? What is the price of military glory? These questions are answered in this movie, Bradley Cooper did a great job, there wasn’t a moment in the film where I thought he was himself, acting was brilliant from everyone in the film, the story is powerful and sometime a bit unbearable to watch. As I sat watching this film I looked around at the members of the audience which ranged from old people to youngsters (which I was surprised at seeing), there was  a scene in the film that shows a child being tortured with a drill and as this scene happened I looked around at the audience where some people were covering their eyes , some were saying no, some looked away, and some just said oh my god that’s wrong, which showed that Clint Eastwood did a good job to show how violent things are, of course it’s probably 100 times worse but there’s only so much you can show in the form of a film.

The film is based on  true events that surrounded Chris Kyle, a heavily skilled and determined American SEAL, The movie takes us through a bit of his early life and training, and then juggles between his 4 tours in Iraq and his life back home.

What really got me though was, as I sat watching the credits roll I looked around and saw some people sitting and others leaving the cinema but there was silence, then some started clapping but other than the clapping everyone was still silent, there was no conversation about whether the movie was good or bad just clapping and silence, this was something I’ve never ever seen before. It was refreshing to see people having respect, even if it was just a movie.

Here a little bit of trivia about American sniper that you might find interesting;

• Bradley Cooper actually trained with Navy SEAL sniper Kevin Lacz, who served with Kyle and was a consultant on the movie.
• Bradley Cooper ate around 8,000 calories a day, and trained 4 hours a day with a personal trainer in order to bulk up 40 pounds for the role.
• Chris Kyle’s father personally told Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper that he would “Unleash Hell” if his son’s memory was disrespected in this film.
• American Sniper marks the first time Bradley Cooper and Clint Eastwood have worked together.

American Sniper is a movie well worth seeing for the action, the drama, the story, the characters, and the patriotic tribute to the men and women who serve.

By Fiaz Ali

Hercules

Before he was a legend, he was a man

Fourteen hundred years BCE, a tormented soul walked the earth that was neither man nor god. Hercules was the powerful son of the god king Zeus, for this he received nothing but suffering his entire life. After twelve arduous labours and the loss of his family, this dark, world-weary soul turned his back on the gods finding his only solace in bloody battle. Over the years he warmed to the company of six similar souls, their only bond being their love of fighting and presence of death. These men and women never question where they go to fight or why or whom, just how much they will be paid. Now the King of Thrace has hired these mercenaries to train his men to become the greatest army of all time. It is time for this bunch of lost souls to finally have their eyes opened to how far they have fallen when they must train an army to become as ruthless and blood thirsty as their reputation has become.

-Written by Radical Comics

So I along with many people thought that this film was going to be about Hercules and the twelve labours, but what we got was something different, Hercules is actually about the man and his troubles, not looking at him as a half god/half man but more as a man. The main focus and theme of the film is how Hercules is NOT the Hercules from myth and legend. So right off the bat the trailer has straight up lied to you, with this I was not impressed, but I took it for what it was; a new take on Hercules.

The film is filled with Fight sequences and battles which was actually really well shot and done, the twelve labours are mentioned but in a kind of PowerPoint slideshow which was right at the beginning, The CGI is well done and The Rock looks like a beast! Irina Shayk who plays the wife of Hercules is absolutely stunning! Just thought I’d throw that in there.

To be honest with you Hercules is decent but really not what I was expecting nor what I wanted; I wanted to see the story of Hercules and the twelve labours. I thought Dwayne Johnson looked great as Hercules, and as for the story it was ok, but not amazing.

I would say watch the film but don’t look at it as Hercules, look at it as the story of a hero because that’s basically what it was…

By Fiaz Ali

Lucy

The average person uses 10% of their brain capacity. Imagine what she could do with 100%

Ok so I have been way behind on watching films the past year… As you guys can probably guess, but I’m back and I’ve got a lot to catch up on as well as some new ones to check out.

Finally I got round to watching “Lucy” a film that the trailer looked awesome and the plot seemed good. “The average person uses 10% of their brain capacity. Imagine what she could do with 100%” now when I saw that the first thing that popped in my head was 2011’s “Limitless” with Bradley Cooper, which I really loved. Limitless was a film where as farfetched as it maybe could still be a reality, also I loved how the film was marketed, for those who don’t know the film is about a pill called NZT that unlocks 100% of your brain, so what they did to market it was there were commercials as well as adverts on trains that was basically selling the new miracle drug, of course it wasn’t an actual drug it was to promote the film, but I thought that was brilliant. Anyway this is a review of Lucy and not about how much I love Limitless.

With a similar plot I thought yh this is defo going to be awesome, that’s why it was one of the first films for me to watch.

It was supposed to be a simple job. All Lucy had to do was deliver a mysterious briefcase to Mr. Jang. But immediately Lucy is caught up in a nightmarish deal where she is captured and turned into a drug mule for a new and powerful synthetic drug. When the bag she is carrying inside of her stomach leaks, Lucy’s body undergoes unimaginable changes that unlocks her mind’s full potential 100%. With her new-found powers, Lucy turns into a merciless warrior intent on getting back at her captors. She receives invaluable help from Professor Norman, the leading authority on the human mind, and French police captain Pierre Del Rio.

– Written by LeiaSolo (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872732/)

Now I’m a big fan of Luc Besson (Taken, The Fifth Element, Transporter, Leon etc), So I was pumped to see this film, that combined with the hype that was going around it and the trailer it looked like a sure thing, But… I was disappointed.

The film is ok; nothing amazing and I felt it didn’t live up to its hype. To be fair if there wasn’t a hype about this film it may of actually been better, but that’s the problem when people hype up a movie too much, you walk in expecting it to live up to it…most of the time the films don’t.

Another thing to note is the fact that this film is Science fiction (key word = FICTION) The amount of people who talk about the science of the brain, that the notion of only 10% of the brain is actually used is BS etc… come on guys this film is fiction… the woman develops powers for god sake! The film is nothing like limitless where they try to make it out that this is possible and may be going on in the real world without your knowledge… Lucy is pure fiction; in fact it might even be classed as a superhero movie.

Visually the film is beautiful, the story is ok and the movie is average at best. If you haven’t seen Lucy (then your worse than me, but your forgiven) check it out, it is worth a watch, hell you might think its friggin awesome!!

By Fiaz Ali

Filth

It’s a filthy job getting to the top, but somebody’s got to do it!

Filth is a film adaptation of the 1998 crime novel of the same name, which is written by Scottish author Irvine Welsh. However unfortunately I haven’t read the book. But after seeing the film I do want to!

Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy) is a bigoted, scheming and corrupt policeman who will stop and nothing to get what he wants, a promotion is up and he wants it. He sets up certain events to make sure that his fellow police officers are ruined so his looks like the only suitable person for the promotion. Bruce is the head of a brutal murder investigation but starts to lose himself in a web of deceit that he can no longer control, trying to juggle turning his colleagues against one another, A missing wife, having affairs with his colleagues wives, the drugs and the booze, can Bruce hold onto reality long enough to get that promotion?

First of all I’ve got to say James McAvoy is a very underrated actor with films such as “Wanted” and “X-men First Class” he started to show some good talent however for me it was “Trance” that really showed me how talented this actor really is. If you haven’t seen trance (I know many of my friends don’t even know about it) do check it out!

Right back to Filth, this film is Filth! Loved it! I remember when I saw the trailer I kept going on about it to my friends, I really wanted to see it and did it disappoint? Nope! The films has an 18 rating and believe me it does earn that 18 certificate lots of sex, masturbation, drugs (a lot of drugs) and booze!

The reason I love James McAvoy in this film is because Bruce is such a complex character, the guy has a problem, he is not well, from drug abuse to sometimes being a psycho, it does take a while to understand what is actually wrong with this person and I feel James McAvoy’s portrayal was brilliant and very realistic.

As with a lot of films these days your either going to like it or hate it, however I can’t understand how you can expect anything different from filth other than what it is. You should expect a lot of violence, a lot of swearing, pornography & masturbation, depression and mental illness. It’s a movie for those who don’t get offended very easily.

Personally I think the film was brilliant it will make you laugh, it will make you cringe and it will make you think “What the fu*k”, the acting was definitely on point and the overall feeling at the end is that you’re watching a man lose his mind. Once again this film is utter filth!

Rating 8/10

By Fiaz Ali

I’m Back!

It’s been a while but there’s a good reason.

Apologies for my recent absence on here but as the title say’s I’m back! During my little break I entered in a body transformation competition for GNC, I opted  for the “Male Weight Loss Body Transformation” category. After entering I had 12 weeks to change my body composition and with both a good clean diet and a good training regime I succeeded.

When I started the competition I was 19 stones 6 pounds and I finished at 16 stone 6 pounds. But it wasn’t easy, not at all. I really did push my body to the limit!

Those of you who have been reading my posts on the “Workout corner” knows that I was using a Max OT training programme to build some serious muscle, at the time I had no real diet I just kept a mindful eye on everything I was eating as well as lifting heavy ass weight.

Before the competition I planned everything out, how I was going to work out, what I was going to do, what I was going to eat and when. Diet wise, I planned to eat a completely clean diet which consisted of;

Porridge mixed with water

Either tuna or sardines with either veg or krackerwheat biscuits

Curry and rice

Protein shake x 2

Chicken and veg

That’s it, every day for 12 weeks. I didn’t have a cheat day. I never missed a meal and I never missed a work out.

Coming on to the workout, I knew I had some serious weight to shift so I planned that I would do Max OT for a month and then do supersets (I’ll talk more about these 2 types of workouts in another post).

The 2 weeks before my start date for the competition I ate everything that was bad for me, I said let me get it out of my system so during the new 3 months I won’t be tempted. Did it work? I can’t tell if doing that worked or if it was just the willpower to do well but during the 12 weeks I didn’t have a cheat meal, don’t get me wrong I was tempted.

This was actually what I had the day before training, and my god was it nice!

 

As well as putting up posts I’ll be doing some videos in the next few weeks mostly of me talking to you guys giving advice and motivation, because I’ve found people prefer to watch or listen to something rather than reading.

 

So this is my first post since I’m back and it sure aint my last. Below is a before and after pic as well as a video which shows my progress so far including “The Bulking Phase”.

By Fiaz Ali

Redemption (Hummingbird)

All roads don’t lead to salvation.

Joey (Jason Statham) is on the run from a military court martial, he’s a damaged ex-special forces solider who is now homeless, however after he seizes another man’s identity he tries to do good by doing bad.

When I first saw the trailer to Hummingbird I turned to my mates and said “That is going to be Statham’s best!” and I wasn’t wrong there. Statham’s one of those guys who make films that are fun to watch, however this film is a little different from his others.

Humming bird or “Redemption” as it was later changed to (which I thought Humming bird was a more fitting title), is a film more set on drama and delivering a good and somewhat powerful narrative than just action. Don’t get me wrong the action is there but there few scenes involving it.

Statham is known to play the tough guy who beats up a group of guys and hardly gets hurt, well in this film he is still the tough guy but he’s a tough guy with depth. Statham shows the world that he can in fact act, in the film he showcases a range of emotions, to me Hummingbird is similar to Jean Claude Van Damme’s “JCVD”, as in a type cast action star does a film where he shows he is capable of doing or being something else.

The films cinematography is beautiful; the shots of London provided a dark view which set the tone of the film as a more serious, dark and gritty film. The film takes a little while to get its pace going but it is worth the wait. The narrative to me was strong and had a powerful message.

As well as Statham showing so good acting skills, Agata Buzek was brilliant in my opinion. Unlike Statham other films where there’s always a sexy women in the lead, Agata Buzek was a “plain” nun who Joey (Statham) falls for.

Now like I said this film is a very different direction for Statham, I personally think it’s a step in the right direction as no doubt this films will open up some door for us to see him in more narrative driven films, however no doubt he will still be making films that he and we enjoy. Some of his fans might not like this films like I said at the start of the review this film is not a generic action film, it’s more a drama, thriller with a bit of action.

Rating 8/10

By Fiaz Ali

 

Bulking Diet

Here’s a look at what my diet was like during my bulking phase. Morning

• Drink my multi vitamin tablet before anything else
• A bowl of cereal, which varied from Fruit and Fibre to Special K. Nothing too sweet or loaded with sugar.
• Coffee, black, no sugar.

Before Gym

• Black Coffee, no sugar.
• Pre work out shake which contains 2 x scoops of protein powder (50g), 1 and a half scoops of Creatine (5g) and 250ml of water. Shake and drink.

After Gym

• Post workout shake which is the same as the pre work out shake. 2 x scoops of protein powder (50g), 1 and a half scoops of Creatine (5g) and 250ml of water. Shake and drink.

Lunch Lunch would vary day by day. But here’s what I ate.

• Tuna sandwich (4 x brown bread, tuna straight out the tin, lemon juice olives and onions chopped up and mixed in).
• Tuna and hummus.
• Fried egg x 4 with 4 x toasted brown bread.
• Roast chicken sandwich (roast chicken breast cut into strips, 4 x brown bread toasted).
• Salad (roasted chicken breast, hummus, carrot, lettuce, cucumber, olives, tomato, red cabbage, onions, hot sauce and 3 x broken up krackerwheat biscuits mixed together).
• Sardine sandwich (Sardine straight from the tin, 4 x brown bread).
• Green tea to drink every day.

Snack

• Fruit 

Dinner Again dinner varied day by day because I was still eating my home cooked foods. But here’s what I ate.

• Chicken curry and brown rice
• Chow mien
• Fry rice (white rice)
• Stew chicken with brown rice
• Roti and curry (white flour)
• Roti and potato (white flour)
• Dhal and brown rice with liver
• Biryani (brown rice)
• Roast dinner (roast chicken with roast potatoes or mash)

Junk food Here Ill include the junk food which I ate on some days. Mostly for dinner.

• Fish and chips
• Chicken and chips
• Kebab

So as you can see, I changed some things such as having brown bread and brown rice with the occasional white rice in meals such as the fry rice. My eating was pretty balanced and yes, I was still eating junk food as you can see. But that varied and I didn’t feel the need to eat junk food every single week. There were some weeks where I didn’t eat any junk, however there were some weeks where I ate junk 3 times but I still tried to balance it out. That’s the food.

Regarding drinks, I cut out most soft drinks and wasn’t drinking them on a day to day basis however whenever I ate junk, I did have a glass or 2 of some sort of soft drink. I replaced the it with water instead. A lot of water! I was drinking about 3 litres a day and even more now!

You’re probably looking at the break down of what I ate and wondering “where are all the sweets?” Well honestly, I’m not a big fan of chocolate or sweets. Not to the point where I eat it regularly or crave it anyway. I would occasionally eat sweets and yes, during my bulking phase I did have sweets on a few occasions.

So that’s honestly what I was eating on my “bulking phase”. Combine this diet with a progressive resistance and cardio workout and you can get results like I did. After 4 months training and eating like this I was half my size! Give it a try.

By Fiaz Ali

Bulking Phase Done

“Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men” – John F. Kennedy

Right so here we are I’ve finished my “Bulking Phase” about 2 weeks ago (that’s me on the left) and I just wanted to share a few things with you that I learnt. Firstly, as I said previously, I’m not a fitness guru so I’m learning as I go.

Now what I learnt was the fact that you can change the way you look and your body composition by simply:

• Watching what you eat
• Lifting heavy ass weight
• Doing 20 minutes of cardio 3-4 times a week
• Good supplementation

Your diet does not have to be CLEAN. As I said in my previous post, I was still eating junk food during this phase. That being said, do not expect to eat junk all day every day and expect to change your body composition. The way I did it was by keeping my diet balanced. Another thing was I changed all my carbs to brown so brown bread and brown rice.

My “Bulking Diet” can be found here.

Lift heavy ass weight! I can’t stress this enough. Your workouts NEED to be progressive and you NEED to keep challenging your body otherwise it’s going to get used to your workouts. No matter what I did before, this was where I failed.

Cardio wise again like I said in the previous post, I didn’t do that much. I just went on the bike or the cross trainer and went as fast as I could for 10 minutes before my resistance training and then another 10 minutes after. Again, this was progressive. Week by week I was constantly trying to get faster and go harder.

I was taking supplements but none of those that promise you 6 pack abs in 4 weeks or anything like that.

I’ll be covering supplements on another post.

All of the above being said, another thing I learnt during this phase (well actually coming to the end of this phase) was the fact that I didn’t need to do a “Bulking Phase”. If I went ahead and applied a clean diet along with a progressive resistance and cardio work out, I would of gotten better results.

But something good came out of all this and that was the fact that I get the opportunity to show you that you don’t need to:

• Have a clean diet or go on any of these fad diets
• Starve yourself!
• Do hours upon hours of cardio

in order to look better and change your body composition. Look at me as proof. So don’t be one of those people who moan that they can’t lose weight because the diet is too hard, or they can’t stick to it. Stop moaning and get yo ass in the gym!

The bulking phase is great for anyone who just wants to look better. You will not get ripped, defined or toned on a program like this but you will look and feel better.

By Fiaz Ali

Results

So here we are, month 4 and I’m about half the size I was before. Definitely developed some good muscle, you can start to see some of it taking shape under the fat that’s still there, and most of all I’m stronger and more powerful than ever before.

This just proves that you don’t have to be on a strict diet or do hours upon hours of cardio to change your body composition as long as you;

• Keep an eye on what you eat, Keep things moderate 
• Do a bit of cardio (10 mins before and 10 mins after)
• And lastly lift heavy ass weight

I’m now on my last week of my bulking phase. Then I’m going to start a proper diet and take it to the next level.

Here in the work out corner I will be sharing some knowledge with you about training, routines, diet, motivation as well as showing you my progress first hand.

By Fiaz Ali

Bulking Phase

So I cleaned up my diet… a bit. But the most important thing for me during my bulking phase was to LIFT HEAVY ASS WEIGHT!

I was working on a routine called Max OT which Ill go into more detail in another post.

I pushed myself each session to push more weight than I did previously, even if I went up by 1.25kg it was something. I also keep a little log of what weight I pushed for each week, so I could make sure I was pushing more than last week, this week. That being said I was never stupid about it; I took my safety into consideration when doing any exercise. Things such as arms, legs or back workouts were ok on my own, but for things such as military press or bench press I always asked someone if they could spot me.  “Spot” meaning just making sure I don’t drop the weight on myself and maybe helping just a little bit to finish that last rep.

My rep range was 4-6, which ment if I could complete a set of 6 reps with a weight it was a sign to move up the weight. However if I had a weight I could only do 4 reps with I would stick with that weight until I could complete 6 reps, however long that may take. Only then would I move the weight up again.

I was basically in competition with myself every week.

Cardio wise I’m not doing that much at the moment, I’m just jumping on the cross trainer and going as fast as I can for 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after weight training. Not doing any interval stuff at the moment that will come into play when I start the cutting phase. So here’s the results so far——–>