Craig Zablo’s StalloneZone

Archive for April, 2009

The extremely talented, extremely nice, Gene Gonzales created his take on Sly from “The Lords of Flatbush” at the recent FX show.  Big John Beatty had requested that he have a table near Gene and it was a great move.  Gene is funny, knowledgeable and really nice.  [Did you hear that somewhere before?]

Although many artists said the FX show wasn’t as busy as they’d hoped, Gene was constantly signing autographs and sketching for fans.  At one point Gene even surprised me by singing the promotional song for “Lords of Flatbush.” That sealed the deal — I asked him if he would draw Sly as Stanley and Gene came through with flying colors.

You can see more of Gene’s work at his blog where he posts art DAILY!  Gene is also available for commissions and his prices are very reasonable.

Thanks again Gene!

Hey SZoners,

I just received word from Cynthia Shomberg about some exciting news that could put lucky SZoners in a documentary film about the famous Tom Shomberg statue that appeared in “Rocky III.” Here’s the deal:

An Urgent Call To All ROCKY Sculpture Collectors… If you have a personal story as to why ROCKY means so much to you, please send in  your story to schombergstudios@att.net.   Tom Schomberg, the sculptor
of the original statue, would greatly appreciate receiving comments for a possible film documentary that is being done on the history of the ROCKY statue.   One of the major issues that will be talked about will
be how the symbolic ROCKY affected people at a critical point in their lives.   Your assistance will be highly appreciated and of great value in the documentary.  Any photos you could send along would also be appreciated.

Please also note whether or not you would like to be kept anonymous and this will be honored.  Thank you in advance for you assistance.

Over the years I’ve heard from SZoners about how the statue has provided them a source of inspiration.  Now is the chance for the world to possibly hear your story.  Send ‘em in SZoners!  The e-mail again is schombergstudios@att.net.

SZoner, Gerardo Moreno sent in a photo of his latest Stallone piece — Sly from “The Expendables.” Gerardo did this oil painting over the course of four days.  Well done, sir!

You can see more of Gerardo’s work at his site!

SZoner, Manuel Scholz is back with his new “Rocky III” painting.  Manuel has other Stallone paintings and much more at his site.

Sly Stallone and Jason Statham are set to appear at the re-opening of Planet Hollywood London when it moves to its new location later this month.  You can read the full report here.

The candid shot of Sly on location behind-the-scenes while filming “The Expendables” shows what great shape he’s in.  People are really starting to take notice.  Sly made the top ten list of the Sexiest Celebrities Age 60 or Over.  The survey was sponsored by Date.com, Matchmaker.com, and Amor.com and voting was open to single men and women 18 to 55.  You can see the full article here.

Congrats to Sly.

That’s Robert Downey, Jr. and Sly from a Vanity Fair photo shoot.

On April 24, 2009, Downey was profiled at Metro International and asked after “Iron Man” and “Sherlock Holmes” what movies were in his future.  Downey hinted it could be Stallone’s “Poe” saying:

“Stallone wrote a great script that he wants to direct about Edgar Allen Poe.”

Sly’s “Poe” script has been percolating for years.  Some day it will get done and Robert Downey, Jr. would be perfect in the role.  For the full article, click here.

I first discovered Jeff Wamester on his ComicSpace page.  I really liked Jeff’s art and thought his concept pieces for a futuristic bounty hunter graphic novel had a ton of potential.  I’ve continued to follow his postings at DeviantArt.

When Jeff recently offered his sketchbook [along with a free headsketch], I immediately put in my order.  Jeff was quick to respond that he got my request.  The sketchbook arrived in no time at all and was securely packaged.  [If you had a mail carrier like mine, you'd appreciate that!]  The sketchbook rocks and contains a nice cross section of Jeff’s work.  I’m not sure if it’s still available, but if so, you can’t go wrong by ordering one.

On April 17, 2009, The National Post listed their choices for the Top Ten Sports Movies of All Time. Any guesses who had two films make the list?  That’s right, Sly.  “Victory” came in at number 8 and “Rocky” was #1.  Here’s what they had to say about each film:

8. Victory!

Pele and Sylvester Stallone in the same movie? Count me in, though what I mostly remember about this is trying to watch it on HBO with my father as his snoring pretty much drowned out everything that either men said.

1. Rocky

His whole life was a million to one shot. This movie was so good that they tried making it a million more times. I heard Stallone wrote nearly 100 drafts of the original Rocky script. There’s a reason it one best picture, I guess.

You can read the who article by clicking here.