Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Movie Review!

Hey everyone, hope you all are having a great weekend! Some great movies are out this weekend and I hope you get a chance to see some. One great one is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. I was sent the first Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs to review thanks to Connect Your Home and I loved it.



Nowadays with so many animated movies there's a bunch that just aren't great, they're made for kids and strictly for them. Then you get those rare movies like Toy Story, Shrek, I even really liked Over the Hedge that are just laugh out loud funny for everyone. The same goes for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. This movie is great!

The movie tells the story of Flint Lockwood who is a quirky inventor that always tries really hard to impress everyone but something always goes wrong. Even his father wants him to quit inventing and start working at the bait shop. That is until he invents the FLDSMDFR which is a machine that makes food out of thin air. He hooks it up to a powder plant but it shoots up into the air and ruins the unveiling of their tourist attraction "Sardine Land" (Swallow Falls is known for their sardines). This turns out to be a good thing though because it starts raining delicious food and everyone loves it. A special weather reporter named Sam Sparks is sent down to report on the next type of food falling from the sky. From cheeseburgers to steak everything is great. That is until the food starts getting bigger and bigger and BIGGER. That's where things get crazy! But you'll have to check it out for yourself to see what happens!

I really liked the humor of this movie. There's one scene where Flint's dad has to email him a file from Flint's computer and it's this epic journey just to get the dad to email it. It's hilarious! That's because it would be an epic, difficult journey for my parents to do something like that too. They are the polar opposite of tech savvy. There's so many little jokes too that are hilarious and the foreshadowing of the giant food to come when they're eating steak is pretty great, too.

The characters are really great. The father who really doesn't know how to emote properly and tell his son that he's proud of him played by James Caan is great. Mr. T plays the cop Earl Devereaux who's hilarious. But the true star is Flint, voiced by Bill Hader, who's so funny, quirky and an overall lovable character. There's a monkey named Steve who has a thought translator on too and his soo funny, all he says are one word thoughts like "yellow!" "Steve!" which is probably what monkeys are thinking, and it's great.

Overall, this is a really fun and lighthearted comedy for everyone. I definitely look forward to seeing the sequel in theatres. Check out the trailer here:


Buy It! Buy Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on DVD now! Or see the sequel in theatres!

Gaiam Fitness DVD Review!

Hey everyone! My next review is for Gaiam!. Gaiam is a great health and wellness company that has a variety of products from fitness apparel to home goods to workout DVDs. They even have a community and have videos so if you are looking for some inspiration or motivation to work out, this is a great website to get it from!



I received their Beginner Pilates workout DVD.

I have actually been wanting to do Pilates for quite some time. Mainly because I heard it is a really, really awesome workout and that's a big reason of how Miley Cyrus got more in shape. Needless to say, I had to try it.

The DVD comes with three DVDs as well as a bonus downloadable one. The first exercise is Perfect Form Pilates, it is only ten minutes long and mainly just there as a guide to show you how to do certain pilates move. It is a great idea to use as a guide so you can do the moves by yourself. The next two exercises are both a half an hour long. The first one is Pilates Primer, basically an entire pilates lesson incorporating breathing right and lengthening. Many of the movies from Perfect Form Pilates are incorporated but with more reps. Next the Strengthening and Lengthen one is similar to Pilates Primer but it adds more resistance.

Personally I liked doing all of the exercises at once. Mainly because I prefer working out longer than a half an hour. I kind of wished some of the exercise routines had more reps, too. Some of them only had like five or ten and then she would perform like "teasers" which she only worked on a lot. I understand it is a beginner workout and it was really great, but I am just the type of person that wants more and more intensity.

It did give you a great burn though. Plus, it is great to do one of them after a workout or before to stretch and warm up you muscles. I definitely want to incorporate pilates more into my general workouts. It was pretty awesome.

Overall, I was pretty impressed with Pilates, I liked it a lot more than yoga that is for sure. I definitely recommend it if you are just starting out working out or if you want to switch it up a bit. It's definitely worth it to always add something else to your workout routine and this is definitely a great something else!

Buy It! Head on over to Gaiam's website and browse their awesome selection!

Total Fitness DVDs Review!

Hey everyone! My next review is for Total Fitness DVDs. Total Fitness DVDs is an awesome website that has a variety of fitness DVDs. From cardio to yoga to even childrens' DVDs, if you want to start working out or have your children become more active this is definitely the website to check out.



I received Jillian Michaels' 5 Disc DVD set of The Biggest Winner to check out. The set includes:
Cardio Kickbox
Shape Up - Front
Shape Up - Backside
Maximize - Back in Action
Maximize - Full Frontal

I have to say, I was a little hesistant believing the sheer intensity of both fitness DVDs and Jillian Michaels but both have proven me wrong, these DVDs are amazing! The Shape Up ones are basically like boot camps the front one is full of like push ups and all that crazy arm/shoulder/ab routines while the backside is full of lungs and all those terrible legs and butt workouts. The Maximize ones are fairly similar to the Shape Ups both being separated from upper body and lower body but the difference is that they give you different routines. Same muscle groups and similar moves but little alterations. Like not just basic lunges but lunges on the steps, stuff like that. My least favorite was actually the Cardio Kickbox. I have done Comcast On Demand workouts before and some are good, some are bad, but I never like their Cardio routines for some reason and this DVD is no different. I just feel like jumping jacks don't do enough justice as spin class and swimming does. It's great though if you're crunched for time though or even if you're feeling a little achy. Even though the cardio isn't as super intense as I like, it's something.

The DVDs are only 30 minutes long which goes back to the time thing. They're perfect for when you're too lazy to go to the gym. For me, I like them because sometimes I want to go to the gym and it's like 6pm, you know rush hour and the gym is packed, so instead I'll do two of these DVDs. They're great for girls because girls tend to not focus on much strength routine and Jillian does incorporate weights and strength training moves which is super important.

I also like the little bonus features on the DVD like recipes and workout logs and also nutrition tips. It's super informative and I just like getting extras to really help you out on not just working out but also being healthy.

Overall, I was really impressed by the DVD set the workouts were super intense, one of my roommates who is a dude made an attempt to workout with me with the Shape Up - Front and he had a difficult time and ended up quitting, so yeah, it's pretty awesome.

Definitely check out Total Fitness DVDs, I like intense strength training routines but they also have yoga and even martial arts and just so much more. You're bound to find something you enjoy.

Buy It! Head on over ot Total Fitness DVDs' website and browse their awesome selection!