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Before Dolph played Frank Castle in 1989, he was a real Punisher on this video. He really puts your whole body through the wringer on this video, it will tire you but he also takes precautions to keep anyone watching it safe from harm. The warm up and cool down routines prevent soreness and are all aided by a commentary explaining the benefits of these routines and a bit of dietary advice. Although fairly brief, the cardiovascular segment is effective at getting the heart pumping and you have control over how hard you push yourself, depending on your fitness. The main segment, 'Body Sculpting' is brilliant as you can do it in a very small space and it requires no weights or props, just simply using your body weight as resistance. Kudos must go to the start of the tape as Dolph shares some of his philosophies before the work out but the 80s cheese takes over your attention, putting you in humorous spirits before you exercise.

Using this video and making slight alterations to my diet (do not despair, I still love chocolate!), I lost 4 stone (56lbs) whilst still retaining a fairly muscular physique. Thankyou Dolph, your video is awesome and I advise anyone looking for a good work out video to search this out. It cost me £10 on ebay but it's the best tenner I've ever spent.

As a big fan of Wes Anderson and Bill Murray, Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou was a real must see for me and I'm glad to say I really enjoyed it. As with all of Anderson's films, this is not a hilarious comedy, it opts for subtlety instead of obvious jokes which perfectly suits the pacing of the film and its context. In terms of nonsense and lunacy, Life Aquatic far outstrips Anderson's previous work which is definitely a good thing as it compensates for the lack of obvious gags. As with Royal Tennenbaums, Anderson finely balances between comedy and tragedy, making sure that all human emotions are accounted for in hope of reaching the audience on some sort of level which is achieved in this film with an immensely personal storyline that runs parallel with Tennenbaums; estranged fathers building a relationship with their offspring after they have grown up. Whilst this issue is more ambiguously approached in Life Aquatic, it is still done with sensitivity and sincerity and thickens up the crazy plot with a gentle undertone. The relationship between Zissou (Murray) and Ned (Owen Wilson) is very interesting as their relationship develops from strangers to a much closer relationship. There is a great emphasis placed on social relationships as the film not only investigates Steve and Ned's relationship but that between Steve and most of the cast. This must clearly reflect Anderson's opinion on human nature, possibly that people are shaped by their interactions with other people.

Anderson's distinctive style is all over this picture; the narrative structured out in stage play format is the most obvious aspect but it is Anderson's wild imagination and experimental set designs that make the film so enjoyable. The scene where Zissou introduces Ned and the audience to his boat is beautiful as it feels so intimate and flowing. The stop motion creatures used in the film are not especially realistic but they add to the films seemingly magical element and to the surreal context of the plot. Clearly, Anderson was given a much bigger budget for this film which sometimes ruins directors but with Life Aquatic, it has helped a director's extraordinary vision to be realised without compromise. The uniform design is very funny and the way that each crew member's red beanie has a slightly different design is another subtle quirk within the film (I now own a replica of Ned's beanie!).

Once again, Anderson has provided an all star cast who all give understated but great performances. All understated that is, with the exception of Bill Murray! Although he is not displaying his trademark sarcastic wit, he is completely wired; yelling profanities and emptying pistol clips at a rate of seconds. Murray gives such an enjoyable performance but underlying this is a vulnerable performance which garners a great deal of sympathy as a character past his prime… or is he? His grief at the loss of Esteban seemed very genuine and his self loathing was portrayed very convincingly. Owen Wilson is in somewhat of a departure to his usual role as the obnoxious side character as Ned is much more sensitive and much more poignant in the film. I really liked Wilson after seeing this and You, Me and Dupree was brilliant at infusing his previous persona with this performance. Blanchett, Huston, Goldblum and Dafoe are all brilliant as the supporting cast, each adding layer upon layer on the emotionally rich plot. Dafoe's character as the fiercely loyal German who is constantly worried about his importance is an exceptional character who provides laughs and appears to be the glue holding the Belafonte together. Life Aquatic is a great example of an ensemble cast working as it showcases brilliant actors who all have so many different things to offer performance wise.

The music in the film is simply brilliant. The idea of having Su Jorge perform David Bowie songs in Portuguese was an inspired decision as it makes the audience react to the song but also is greeted with unfamiliarity as the lyrics are alien to what we're used to. It was also clever including him in the crew as it is believable that a member would bring an acoustic guitar along to provide some entertainment. The song during the boat shoot out by Iggy Pop is excellent and compliments the scene perfectly, almost as if it's the music video for the song. Also the music played in the crew's underwater earphones is simple but very enjoyable as it is just like a drum track that Zissou could well use for one of his scenes within the picture. The music seems to be part of the film, not just something to activate another one of the senses.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou wonderfully demonstrates how strong imagination can be in a director's arsenal and how simple methods can be the most effective. Wes Anderson has firmly established himself as one of today's leading directors and writers and this film must surely be his masterpiece. Murray, after the excellent Lost in Translation, has firmly re-established himself in film after a couple of years in the wilderness and, as a massive fan of his, I am so glad. Memorable in so many ways, Life Aquatic is one of the best films I watched in 2006 as it had so much to offer, strongly recommended.

By a fair margin, the greatest out of the spaghetti western films, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a cinematic triumph that will always be remembered most of all for the legendary score and stand off scene. What surprised me most of all was that a long film with quite a slow pace to it actually appeared to move quite quickly; this is thanks to Leone's superior direction and the frequent change of locations within the film. Clint Eastwood's iconic status was firmly established in this film as a bad ass desperado with compulsory cigar attached, Blondie makes Dirty Harry appear meagre in comparison! Whilst the characterisation provided by the supporting cast was over the top to an almost comic book standard, their performances and characters were still memorable and enjoyable as they provided a stark contrast to Eastwood's quiet loner.

Where a lot of westerns fall short is the plot, they tend to become a victim of style over substance but this film is an exception as it provides us with a fairly intricate plot. The way Tuco's (Wallach) murderous intentions regarding Blondie are quashed by the fact that Blondie knows the secret of the treasure, leading to Tuco fighting to keep him alive rather than kill him, is very commendable. The tie in with the American civil war is very enjoyable and provides some further tension and heightens the predicament that the main characters are in, especially considering Angle Eyes (Cleef) is a high rank in the Unionist regiment that Eastwood and Wallach have infiltrated. The tension is built up fairly well, even though it requires patience. The final stand off, for instance, takes a matter of minutes for the main characters to get in their positions with the camera ranging from extreme close ups to the characters' eyes to shots that appear to be a mile away. Whilst this sounds potentially frustrating, it induces overwhelming anticipation and once again, the music comes in to play, setting up a true piece of cinematic history.

Whilst there are no award winning performances on show, the leads are very good. Eastwood played greatly on his tough guy image and manages to tell us a lot about the character despite not saying much. Eastwood illustrates fantastically, a character devoid of trust and sentiment but also a character of great honour. It is plain to see that Blondie is world weary and he knows that it's kill or be killed. Eli Wallach is very good, probably the best performance in the film. His animated performance brings his character to life as a thoroughly dislikeable loudmouth who is too stupid to avoid trouble but greedy enough not to let his desire to kill Blondie stopping him get the treasure. Lee Van Cleef is even more dislikeable because where Wallach's Tuco is untrustworthy, Cleef's Angel Eyes is brutally honest with ruthlessness to match. The interrogation scenes in the Union camp really highlight this nature and makes sure that the audience knows he means business. The best thing about these characters is that they all flawed, it's not all black and white. Even Eastwood's 'The Good' is not all that good.

Laced with brilliant set pieces and memorable performances, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is very memorable and definitely a classic. Watching Wallach hunt Eastwood with his cigar stubs proves the film had a sense of humour but that didn't take away the fact that the film depicts a life of brutality where not even women and children are safe when they stand between power hungry men and their goal. Effective story telling mixed with macabre imagery assures this films place in cinema history and possibly even the title of the best western ever made.