Review of Oz: The Great and Powerful

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One of my favorite parts of going to the movies, besides the popcorn, are the previews.  I enjoy sitting with my wife, guessing if she wants to see the movie being advertised.  Most of the time it’s a big negative.  However, such was the not the case when we first saw the preview for the movie Oz: the Great and Powerful. 

The official trailer for the movie:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1NGnVLDPog

A brief synopsis of the film:

Oscar Diggs, known to many as Oz, is a carnival magician with flirtatious ways and questionable ethics.  In Dorothy like fashion, Oz, played by James Franco, is taken from drab black-and-white Kansas by a tornado to the colorful enchanting land of Oz.  There, Diggs encounters the three witches Theodora, Evanora and Glenda and is mistaken by many to be the prophesied Wizard of Oz.  Over time, he begins to care about the inhabitants of Oz. This unlikely wizard puts his magical arts, slight of hand, and predictable illusions to work in order to transform himself into the great man that he always wished he could become.

My opinion of the film:

I thought that Oz: the Great and Powerful was ok.  The story line had just enough twists to keep it interesting and the acting was quite good throughout.  At first, I thought that casting James Franco was a mistake.  I wondered if Johnny Depp might have been a better choice for the lead, but I suppose he was busy playing Tonto for the upcoming Long Ranger movie.  As the movie progressed, James did an excellent job of presenting the flawed persona that was in fact needed for the role.

I was impressed with the switch from black and white to color during the film.  It may have been extremely predictable, but I welcomed it completely (probably because I was ready for the screen to show a full wide screen shot instead of the old full screen shot during the black and white scenes.

I was hoping that Oz would become an instant classic.  I don’t believe that is going to happen.  However, it is extremely enjoyable and well worth the cost of the ticket.

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Related Posts:

Review of Warm Bodies: A Paranormal Romantic Zombie Comedy Narrative Film

Review of Les Miserables

The Skinny on the Hunger Games

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The Stitch – Why I Wanted To Quit Couch To 5k

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Last night, C25k (Couch to 5k) Week 5 Day 3 got the best of me.  It was my first time in the program where I was supposed to jog for 20 minutes without stopping, so I was somewhat apprehensive before beginning my time of exercise.  However, two days earlier, I surpassed the 8 minute mark without stopping, then walked for 5 minutes before running another 8 minutes without stopping, so I believed that I could probably pull it off.

I was wrong.

After 9.5 minutes of running, I felt a terrible stitch in my side so I slowed to a walk.  A stitch is sometimes called a side cramp. It’s an intense stabbing pain under the lower edge of the ribcage that occurs during exercise.  After 4 minutes of walking, I ran for another 8.5 minutes.  I finished the workout, but felt terrible because I didn’t meet my goal of running 20 minutes without stopping.

I wanted to just give up and resign myself to being an out of shape fat guy.  That’s not such a bad thing, is it?

Today, however, I decided not to let it get the best of me, so I googled stitches during exercise.  According to my online friends, here are three causes:

1.  Running too soon after eating.  (Waiting two to three hours after eating is best)

2.  Drinking high sugar beverages right before or during exercise.

3.  Shallow or Irregular breathing during exercise.

I also looked for ways to prevent a stitch during exercise.  Here are three options:

1.  Stop running (or at least slow down)

2.  Raise your right arm over your head.  (The stretching sometimes helps relieve the stitch)

3.  Try to exhale as your left foot is moving forward. (This basically helps to set a pattern for your breathing, extremely important in all exercise)

I started running to Michael Jackson’s Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough.  Before the song was over, a stitch was already forming in my side.  I started slowing down and considered quitting before I even reached 5 minutes.  However, slowing down helped, so I continued.  Around the 10 minute mark, the stitch returned, so I started watching my breathing, ensuring that I was exhaling as my left leg moved forward.  That seemed to help, so once I continued.  Finally, it returned around the 14 minute mark and I wanted to quit, but since I had already come so far I pressed on.  I slowed my running, focused once again on my breathing, and raised my right arm over my head.  The three items together helped and before I knew it, I had run for 20 minutes without stopping.

As I reached the 20 minute mark, Michael Jackson was singing Bad.  That’s exactly how I felt.

 

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I Survived My First Day of Week 5 of Couch to 5K

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A minute before my running time was up today, my side starting hurting.  I couldn’t believe that I might have to stop before my time was up.  However, instead of stopping the run, I decided to slow down until my cool down.  My side didn’t stop hurting, but it did ease up enough for me to finish the run. 

This afternoon, I started week #5 of C25K (Couch to 5K).  My workout for today began with a brisk 5-minute warmup walk followed by a 5-minute run, a 3-minute walk, another 5-minute run, a second 3-minute walk, a third 5-minute run, then a 5-minute cool-down walk.  I’m proud to say that I finished it without stopping (or vomiting).  However, my second day of week #5 takes me to a new level completely.  It begins with a brisk 5-minute walk, followed by an 8 minute run, a 5 minute walk, another 8 minute run, then a 5 minute cool-down walk.

If I survive this week of exercise, I’ll let you know.  🙂

Related Posts:

Why I chose to try the couch to 5k free workout app

Week two of Couch to 5k

3 Reasons Soft Drinks Hinder A Good Workout

 

 

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Why I Decided to Lose the Lose It App

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A year ago, a friend shared the Lose It App with me.  I used it faithfully for months because it helped me track my personal calorie budget.  I even shared it with others who have used it with much success. Today, however, after weeks of frustration, I decided to delete it.

Here’s why:  I just can’t bring myself to use it properly.  It’s too easy to cheat because it’s based on calories, not on nutrition.  (I know that there’s nutrition info built into the App, but I can never get excited about using it)  Therefore, I found myself making unhealthy choices, mistakenly assuming that calories are just calories.

If you like Lose It and it works for you, keep using it.  I won’t be joining you.  I’m going back to writing down everything I eat because that works for me.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to post it everyday like I did last year.  I will be sharing it with my favorite accountability partner.  She’s tough, but cute.

Related Post:

3 Reasons Soft Drinks Hinder A Good Workout

 

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Sorry, Mike.

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Several years ago, Gatorade put out a commercial called, “I want to be like Mike.”  As the music played, Michael Jordan played basketball and drank Gatorade.  The song was catchy and people everywhere sang along.  As the commercial ended, “Be Like Mike.  Drink Gatorade” flashed across the screen.  Suddenly, I wanted to be like Mike and I found myself thirsty for Gatorade.

Michael Jordan is a great guy, but in the end, he’s another person who struggles with sin like the rest of us.  The only person who never sinned was Jesus.  He lived a perfect life and through His death made it possible for us to spend eternity with God in Heaven.

Sorry, Mike.  You’re awesome, but I want to be like Jesus.

How can we be like Jesus?

In John 15:12, Jesus said, Love one another as I have loved you. 

It looks like we can start by loving one another as He loved us.  He loved us so much that He gave His life for us.  Because of His love for us, He achieved more than any sports figure, rock star or businessperson has or ever will achieve.

Let’s Be Like Jesus.  Let’s Love One Another.

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3 Reasons Soft Drinks Hinder A Good Workout

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Anyone who knows me knows that I am a soft drink junkie, especially when it comes to Coca-Cola.  However, 3 weeks ago, I began using the App, C25Kfree (Couch To 5K free) and I began jogging for the first time in my life.

(I would really recommend the App for anyone with an iPhone who is wanting to get into shape and lose weight.  I can feel the benefits after only 3 weeks.)

After the first couple of runs, I came face to face with the cold hard reality that it was time for me to stop drinking soft drinks.  The main reason is that they were severely hindering my workouts.  Here are the 3 main reasons I found when I did just a little bit of study on the subject:

3 Reasons Soft Drinks Hinder A Good Workout

  1. Proper hydration is critical – Your body needs adequate amounts of water in order to carry nutrients to your muscles and to then remove waste produced during physical activity.  Carbonated drinks do not hydrate your body sufficiently and therefore hinder the maximum impact of your exercise.
  2. Bloating – Carbonated beverages cause bloating.  This is often seen around your waistline, when gas builds up in your stomach.  During exercise, this can result in slight stomach pain.
  3. Shortness of breath – Many carbonated soft drinks contain caffeine, which is a central nervous system stimulant.  It speeds up your heart rate and your breathing.  This is what makes you feel short of breath as you exercise and your rate of inhaling and exhaling increases.

If you’ve experienced similar results, please share your comments with me.  It will really encourage me as I continue towards my running goal.

Related post:

Why I chose to try the couch to 5k free workout app

Week Two of Couch to 5k

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10 Best Valentines Day Quotes

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1. Today is Valentine’s Day – or, as men like to call it, Extortion Day – Jay Leno

2.  I wanted to make it really special on Valentine’s Day, so I tied my boyfriend up. And for three solid hours I watched whatever I wanted on TV. – Tracy Smith

3.  Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes. There’s too much fraternizing with the enemy. – Henry Kissinger

4.  I don’t understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine’s Day. When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon. – Unknown

5. Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly. – By Rose Franken

6. Valentine’s Day money-saving tip: Break up on February 13th, get back together on the 15th. – David Lettermen

7. Oh here’s an idea: let’s make pictures of our internal organs and give them to other people we love on Valentine’s Day. That’s not weird at all. – Jimmy Fallon

8. Today, folks, should be all about love. Unless you’re old. – Stephen Colbert

9. I want a man who’s kind and understanding. Is that too much to ask of a millionaire? – Zsa Zsa Gabor

Here’s my favorite:

10. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. – The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT

Happy Valentine’s Day

 

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Week Two of Couch To 5K

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As a career Marine, my dad used to run between 4 and 9 miles each day, in order to keep fit.  I once asked him why he chose to run.  He answered that since he was required as a Marine to remain fit, he could either not eat or run daily.  “I’m sort of fond of eating,” he answered, “So I guess I’ll keep running.”

I’m also rather fond of eating, but I’m not that fond of running.  Even so, I’m in my second week of using the App Couch to 5 K.  My current workout begins with a brisk five-minute warm-up walk, then moves into 20 minutes of alternating 90 seconds of running with two minutes of walking.  This is a change in the amount of my running time from 60 seconds each time to 90 seconds each time.  That doesn’t sound like a lot, but I have to admit that it’s kicking my lower posterior.  I find myself looking at my phone to check the countdown when I’m running and it also shows that I have about 30 seconds left.  I guess I’m doing better.  I did the same thing last week when I only had to run for 60 seconds at a time and it said 30 seconds then as well.

Today, I did my workout run on the sidewalk of the Metairie Mardi Gras parade route after everyone else had gone home.  The street was clean but the sidewalk was littered with broken beads, drink cups, soda and wine bottles, and beer cans.  I think that I should get extra credit since I basically ran through an obstacle course.  What do you think?

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Warm Bodies: a Paranormal Romantic Zombie Comedy Narrative Film

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Relationships can be so difficult…especially when you’re a zombie.

In an attempt to please the wife of my youth, I went to see Warm Bodies, a paranormal romantic zombie comedy narrative film based on Isaac Marion’s 2011 novel.  With a name like Warm Bodies, I was afraid that it would be filled with sexually explicit scenes requiring me to leave before the movie was complete.  However, after seeing that every other movie showing was rated R,   I reluctantly agreed.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the movie:

R is an oddly introspective zombie who spends his days wandering around the Toronto Airport.  His best friend is M, although he’s never called him by name.  R and M only communicate with grunts and moans and occasional words.  R, like all of his fellow zombies, feeds on human flesh.  He especially enjoys eating brains, because it allows him to experience the memories of the one that he is eating.

Julie lives in a walled off area of Toronto with the rest of the city’s human population.  She and her friends are sent out by her father in order to recover medical supplies from an abandoned hospital.  Suddenly, R and a group of zombies attack Julie’s team.  R sees Julie and instantly falls in love with her but is then shot by Perry, Julie’s boyfriend.  In return, R kills Perry and eats his brain, which gives him Perry’s memories, increasing R’s love for Julie.  R then rescues Julie and brings her to his home, an abandoned airplane.  The two become friends and R slowly begins to come back to life.  The effect is contagious and soon other zombies begin to show signs of humanity.  R and Julie’s relationship becomes more romantic as he becomes more human and the two find themselves caught between the paranoid human forces and the bonie zombies, virtually skeletal demons, who are out to destroy the zombie human restoration brought about by R and Julie’s relationship.  With M’s help, R and Julie must find a way for the “regular” zombies and the humans to first join forces against the bonies and to then create a new zombie/human friendly society.

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How often has a zombie been the hero in a love story? R’s quirky sense of humor throughout the odd circumstances is part of what gives this movie its charm.  His inner dialogue shows throughout that he really is human at heart. Even as a romantic comedy, Warm Bodies does contain violent scenes, mostly involving zombies’ dining habits, so viewers should be prepared.  There is also the one unmentionable profane word that seems to be in most PG-13 movies nowadays. Fortunately, there’s enough humor to take the bad taste out of your mouth.

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Warm Bodies actually could have a parallel in Christian circles.  The humans living inside the walled city could represent Christians separating themselves from the world thereby prohibiting the zombies, or lost people, from the only connection that’s going to allow them to really live.  I suppose the bonies could represent Satan, doing whatever is possible in order to keep this eternal restoration from taking place.  If you look at it from that point of view, Warm Bodies could be a great conversation starter when sharing Christ with a friend. Then again, it could just be your typical paranormal romantic zombie comedy narrative film.  Anyway, I liked it.

Other reviews by John J. Frady

Les Miserables – https://johnjfrady.com/2013/01/07/187/

The Skinny on the Hunger Games – https://johnjfrady.com/2012/10/04/the-skinny-on-the-hunger-games/

 

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Why I Chose To Try The Couch To 5K Free Workout App

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For the past couple of months, I’ve been looking for some type of health and fitness goal that will inspire me to keep my weight down.  Last year, I lost almost 50 lbs, but I must admit that it’s been hard to stay excited about just keeping it off.  It’s a lot more exciting to talk about food (especially when you live in New Orleans and it’s King Cake season).  This past week, one of my friends reminded me about the App called Couch to 5K.  He’s been using it to train for several weeks, if not months, and he’s very pleased with the results.

So, I downloaded the free App called C25KFree and I’ve tried it for two days in a row.  I’ve never been much of a jogger or a runner.  I do like the elliptical machine, but I’ve always been worried about damaging my knees.  In the long run, however, I think that was just my excuse.

Here’s a 30 minute workout I’ve done for the past two days:

1.  A five minute brisk warmup walk.

2.  Alternate 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes.

3.  A 5 minute cool down walk

I’m just glad that I didn’t throw up.

Pray for me in this.  Trying to decide whether or not to continue.

 

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