Author: Craig

Mike Marcus is a Superfan!

Craig / / 2008, Sly Fan

SZoner, Mike Marcus saw “Rocky” when he was seven years old [31 years ago] and became an instant fan. Mike says that Sly’s films have been a constant inspiration and that he uses many of Sly’s training methods in his workout routines. Mike is also proud to say that his young son is also a Stallone fan. You can see them both along with some of Mike’s Stallone memorabilia in the photos above and below. – Craig

Dustin Hennick is a Superfan!

Craig / / 2008, Fan Art, Sly Fan

On January 23rd, Dustin Hennick sent in the photo above of a piece of art that he created in hope that he could get Sly to autograph it at the “Rambo” premiere.

As you can see from the above photo Sly did sign it as his daughter looked on.

Sly signing Dustin’s art was picked up by a couple of wire services!

Dustin sent in this close-up of Sly’s autograph! Congrats and thanks to Dustin for sharing this experience with us. Hopefully we’ll see more of Dustin’s art in the future. – Craig

Sly Speaks

Craig / / 2008, Interview
Peter Howell writes about Rambo’s Return for TheStar.com. Here’s some of what he had to say:

* [Sly] “in 1976, was hailed as the new Marlon Brando, Oscar-nominated for both writing and acting in Rocky, that year’s Best Picture winner.”

* Stallone returned to his Rocky character last year for the well-received comeback picture Rocky Balboa, which even the Razzies couldn’t fault.

* Sly: “You have careers of peaks and valleys and you harken back to things that you’re known for. Every actor would like to say they’re Daniel Day-Lewis and they have this incredible palette, but quite often you’re known for certain things.”

* [Sly] had no trouble at all slipping back into character. “I love it,” he says, and the smile is proof of sincerity.

* When a journalist suggests Rambo is one of the most violent movies going – even more than the blood-soaked Sweeney Todd – Stallone interrupts him.

“Not one of the most. The most. I tried very hard for this.”

He had to argue his case before the censors of the Motion Picture Association of America,which wanted to give Rambo the audience-limiting NC-17 rating. He managed to persuade the MPAA to give it the more accommodating “R” rating.

Stallone believes it’s important to show people the truth about “the most brutal regime on the planet,” even if the truth hurts.

* [Sly] starts talking about what he might do next. Maybe something with his muscle-bound peers Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis.

He’s seen Space Cowboys, the 2000 actioner that teamed Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner and Donald Sutherland as aging astronauts who hit the skies one more time.

“I have a very, very bizarre idea,” he says, teasing his press audience.

“It’s probably absurd. It’s got a formula to it. But if I told you I was gonna do one about a 61-year-boxer you’d go, `Yeah, sure.’ If you can find the right formula, almost anything is feasible. It’s just coming in there and having the audience go, `Okay, that’s possible.’ It’s weird, but feasible. Space Cowboys, hello? It worked!”

For the full article, click HERE. – Craig

Rambo’s Essence

Craig / / 2008, John Rambo
Michael Price for the January 21, 2008 Fort Worth Business Press says that “‘Rambo’ restores Stallone’s signature character to a near-original essence.” Here are a few excerpts:

* “The thing you gotta remember about Sly,” a lifelong pal and fellow actor named Joe Spinell (1936–1989) said of Stallone during the 1980s, “is that he ain’t who he plays. He’s an artist of calculating intelligence and good humor, and a lot of the violence that the audiences take at face-value in these Rambo pictures — that’s Sly’s satirical response to the excessive tastes of the marketplace.”

* Stallone invests the role with a realistic acceptance of the aging process, and with traces reminiscent of Humphrey Bogart in 1951’s The African Queen and Clint Eastwood in 1992’s Unforgiven…

You can read the full article HERE. – Craig