Category: 2004

Stallone Goes Back to Boxing for TV Show

Craig / / 2004, The Contender, TV

From the Associated Press Sat, Apr 24, 2004

ESSEN, Germany – Sylvester Stallone, the star of the five “Rocky” movies, says he’s hoping to draw people who don’t like boxing to his latest on-screen venture — a reality television show featuring young fighters.

Stallone, 57, is the executive producer of “The Contender,” slated to start next year, finding and grooming would-be boxers.

“All these 16 fighters must have a very good story and an interesting background,” Stallone said Saturday at a fitness fair in Germany. “You’ll get to know their wives and children, their mothers. It’s very emotional.”

“What I really want is for people, especially women, who don’t like boxing, to watch this show because it’s a drama,” he added.

The winner of the NBC series is to get $1 million and the chance to become a professional prize fighter. The boxers will fight one another in a weekly elimination process similar to other reality shows.

Stallone, in Essen to promote his nutritional products company, Instone, said he likely would no longer be tempted by a major movie role that would take him away from his family for months.

“I had my high point 30 years ago,” he said. “I had a very unusual career. It was too good — how do you top that?”

– Craig

POW – Sly “Get Carter”

Craig / / 2004, Get Carter, POW [Picture of the Week]

I’m back… at least part way.

What a week it has been. First there were some major repairs needed at the ole homestead… which of course happened right in the middle of me switching the SZ to a new and bigger server… and then my computer crashed! Oh well… things could have been worse.

I’m in the process of getting everything back together. Sure I lost TONS of stuff… but nothing that can’t be replaced… hopefully. If you had sent me any pics for use as a future POW, please re-send them. Also, if you e-mailed me in the last week, I may not have gotten it.

Now on to the good stuff… this week’s POW is of Sly and comes from my personal collection.

best,

Craig

“Shade” Opens Philly Film Festival

Craig / / 2004, Celebs, Honors, Shade

Philadelphia, PA, March 22, 2004 – RKO Pictures has teamed with Philadelphia-area natives Joe Nicolo (Executive Producer), Carl Mazzocone (Co-Producer), Dina Merrill, and Philadelphia’s favorite son Sylvester Stallone, to bring some brotherly love-card shark style-to the Philadelphia Film Festival with the premiere of SHADE. A gritty poker picture about grifters and card mechanics in the shadowy world of the L.A. and Las Vegas underground, SHADE’s ensemble cast includes Stuart Townsend (Queen of the Damned), Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects), Thandie Newton (Mission Impossible 2), Jamie Foxx (Any Given Sunday), Melanie Griffith (Working Girl), Hal Holbrook (Magnum Force), Patrick Bauchau (Carnivale) and Sylvester Stallone (Rocky, Copland). The ultra high-stakes card game thriller has been selected as the opening night film at The Philadelphia Film Festival on April 8th. SHADE is an RKO Pictures Production in association with Merv Griffin Entertainment, Hammond Entertainment, Judgment Pictures and Cobalt Media Group.

Hammond Entertainment brought Nicolo into the project after Hammond optioned SHADE from Merv Griffin Productions. RKO Pictures then joined the project as a financier, producer and distributor. The films other producers include Ted Hartley, Merv Griffin, Chris Hammond and David Schnepp.

The film is directed by first-time director, Damian Nieman, who also wrote the script. Nieman, a former card mechanic and poker player, knows this world first-hand having honed his skills at the famous Magic Castle in Los Angeles.

This is the first feature film for Nicolo, the former president and owner of Philadelphia-based Ruffhouse /Columbia Records. At Ruffhouse, he was responsible for launching the careers of Lauryn Hill, The Fugees, Cypress Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Kris/Kross. During his 10 years at Columbia Records, Nicolo also produced Billy Joel’s Grammy nominated album “River Of Dreams” and worked with such musical icons as James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Aerosmith and The Rolling Stones. In the spring of 2000, Nicolo sold Ruffhouse Records to Sony and started Judgment Pictures in Conshohocken.

“We’re excited to share this film with our family and friends,” said Nicolo. “How great to be recognized in your home town. I guess I was very fortunate because I had a great, great cast and production crew on this film. I think the quality of the movie speaks for itself”.

Carl Mazzocone is a 21-year veteran of the film business and is President of Main Line Pictures. He most recently produced Dumb & Dumberer as well as the controversial Julian Sands film, Boxing Helena.

“I love SHADE and had a great time working on the film,” said Mazzocone. “Every low-budget production is a challenge, especially when working with big stars; yet this film captured something special from the start. The material attracted an exceptional cast and crew–probably the best I’ve ever worked with. It’s a rare experience when 150 cast and crew members come together on a picture, endure long stressful hours of tedious work and in the process become as close as a family. I give Joe Nicolo a lot of credit for that. First off, it takes a lot of courage to finance an independent movie. Joe openly placed his trust in us all, which filters down and empowers everyone to do their best.”

ABOUT RKO. RKO is the oldest continuously operated entertainment company in the world, dating back to 1882, and boasting a film and script library of over 1,100 titles. Known for developing, producing, and distributing feature film and television programs for worldwide consumption, the RKO brand with its world-renowned “globe and radio tower” logo is being expanded into an array of new areas. RKO recently produced Never Gonna Dance, a Broadway musical stage adaptation of the 1936 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film, Swing Time. The Company also has a number of projects under development with other studios, Suspicion (Dimension), Monkey’s Paw (Dreamworks) and Every Girl Should be Married (Paramount). SHADE opens in select cities nationwide on May 7.

– Craig Zablo

Paul Thomas Anderson Credits “Rocky”!

Craig / / 2004, Celebs, Honors, Rocky

Ernest “Jazzman” Resendes wrote in to tell of another filmmaker influenced by Sly:

Hey kids,

I got this recent interview from the Paul Thomas Anderson site, Coffee and Cigarettes.  Paul Thomas Anderson credits Stallone’s ROCKY in influencing him to become a filmmaker.

It would be a personal dream of mine to have Sly work with PTA the way Tom Cruise did in Magnolia.

 

Question: Was there any one film that you remembered seeing when you were younger that instantly made you realize that you wanted to be a film director?
Paul Thomas Anderson: So many films that I saw — Jaws, Wizard of Oz, Rocky, all the Disney movies.

Thanks Jazz!
– Craig Zablo