Empire Magazine has posted up a larger version of the photo above as well as a teaser of a longer interview with Sly about “The Expendables” that will appear in the next issue. Click here to see the it all.
Category: 2009
Bill Marimon’s Jack Carter
Bill Marimon provides his take on Sly as Jack Carter. I’ve known Bill aka “The Raytrix” for years. He’s humble, funny, and a talented artist. Bill showed up on Saturday at Mini-MegaCon. He wasn’t set up as a guest, but I was able to persuade him to do a couple of Stallone sketches. This is the first. I’ll post the second soon. In the mean time check out Bill’s home on the web. There’s plenty there to hold you over.
EW Lists “Rocky” as Box Office Giant
The October 2, 2009, issue of Entertainment Weekly had a small piece called “Shoestring Budget, Giant Box Office”. The films listed were “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, “Rocky”, “Mad Max”, “The Blair Witch Project” and “Napoleon Dynamite”. Only the “Blair Witch Project” made a bigger profit than “Rocky”.
[Why they used a photo from “Rocky II” when praising “Rocky” only they can say. – Craig]
Maga’s New Rambo Sculpt
Edinho Maga contacted me with photos of his latest sculpture. It’s Rambo and he’s hoping that Hollywood Collectibles will become involved like with his first Rambo sculpt. If they do, I will try to work out another discount for StalloneZoners.
Sly Doesn’t See Dead People
Ernest “Jazzman” Resendes sent in the scan above. It’s the first panel of a cartoon that he was working on about ten years ago when the “Sixth Sense” was big at the box office. The gag was that Sly would get a call…
Sly’s just kickin back painting clocks in his garage studio when an agent calls to lay out his BLOCKBUSTER idea of reteaming Rocky with Apollo. Sly rolls his eyes and reminds the idiot that… “Apollo Creed has officialy expired .”
Agent: It’s Apollo’s desicion to cross over and train you again. One last time!
Sly: Cross over?
Agent: It’ll be BIG. I see dead people! Sly the whole damn world is seeing dead people!
Sly & Arnold @ Championship Bout
Actor Sylvester Stallone looks on before the start of the WBC Heavyweight Championship boxing bout between Vitali Klitschko of Ukraine and Cristobal Arreola of the U.S. in Los Angeles, California September 26, 2009.
REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BOXING ENTERTAINMENT)
U.S. actor Sylvester Stallone (L) and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wait for the start of the WBC Heavyweight Championship boxing bout between Vitali Klitschko of Ukraine and Cristobal Arreola of the U.S. at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California September 26, 2009.
REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BOXING ENTERTAINMENT)
Actor Sylvester Stallone and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wait for the start of the WBC Heavyweight Championship boxing bout between Vitali Klitschko of Ukraine and Cristobal Arreola of the U.S. at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California September 26, 2009.
REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES SPORT BOXING ENTERTAINMENT)
“Rocky” Top Pick Again!
Over at Today at NineMSN.com, they take a look at the all time Top Sporting Movies [“Rocky”, “Chariots of Fire”, “The Longest Yard”, “A League of Their Own” and “Jerry Maguire“]. Here’s what they had to say about “Rocky”:
Rocky is a 1976 film written by and starring Sylvester Stallone and directed by John G. Avildsen.
It’s a rags-to-riches story about Rocky Balboa pursuing his American dream – an uneducated but good-hearted debt collector, who is also a club fighter, gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship when the contender breaks his hand.
Rocky was made for only $1.1 million and it made over US$117.2 million, the highest grossing film of 1976 for US.
Who could forget the famous scene of Rocky running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art?
Academy Awards:
- Best Picture (Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler) (won)
- Best Director (John G. Avildsen) (won)
- Film Editing (Richard Halsey and Scott Conrad) (won)
- Best Original Screenplay (Sylvester Stallone)
- Best Actor (Sylvester Stallone)
- Best Actress (Talia Shire)
- Best Supporting Actor (Burt Young)
- Best Supporting Actor (Burgess Meredith)
- Best Music, Original Song (Bill Conti, Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins for “Gonna Fly Now”)
- Best Sound (Harry W. Tetrick, William L. McCaughey, Lyle J. Burbridge and Bud Alper)
Too Old for Action?
On September 25, 2009, in their Entertainment section, FOXNEWS.com ran a piece called “Too Old for Action” by Amy and Nancy Harrington. The authors take a look at “aging stars” who they feel are too old to play in “action roles”. The stars that they consider too old are: Bruce Willis [54], Steven Seagal [58], Arnold Schwarzenegger [62], Clint Eastwood [79], Harrison Ford [67], Sylvester Stallone [63], Jean-Claude Van Damme [49], Mel Gibson [53], Jackie Chan [55], and Nicholas Cage [45].
Here’s what they had to say about Sly:
Sylvester Stallone is clearly not willing to accept that he’s a 63-year-old former action star, and he won’t let go. Quite the contrary. In his next film, “The Expendables,” he’s pulling together a who’s who of fading action heroes, from Dolph Lundgren to Mickey Rourke. Sly explained, “I wanted to do a film that was more about men and just doing things that we did back in the ’80s and ’90s with films that were a little bit more men on men, and actual physical stunts, and also a story that isn’t super-gigantic.” Thank goodness someone’s perpetuating the Hollywood legacy of overblown action films with no story line.
+++++
I find it somewhat humorous that the photo of Sly that they chose to run with the article clearly shows that he’s not too old for “action roles”. “Rocky Balboa” and “Rambo” received positive critical reviews and great box office… and “The Expendables” is one of the most anticipated films of next year. Perhaps these authors should have given more thought to putting Sly in the mix.
As to the other stars, none of them are working mainly as “action stars” and to pre-judge their ability to play a role based soley on age is pretty weak. You can, however, read the whole article by clicking here.
“Demolition Man” & “Judge Dredd”
On September 23, 2009, Starpulse.com posted a piece called “Spotlight On Films In Which Technology Has Gone Awry: Our Grim Future Awaits”. They look at seven films [“The Surrogates”, “Demolition Man”, “Judge Dredd”, “I, Robot”, “Minority Report”, “The Matrix”, and “Blade Runner”].
Here’s what they said about “Demolition Man”:
Welcome to a future where a sissy in flowing robes rules a land free of crime, swearing, sex, and worst of all: red meat. The benevolent leader Dr. Cocteau (Nigel Hawthorne) presides over California like a pillar of morality, but uses his influence and power to unfreeze a violent 20th century criminal Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) from cryo-stasis.
Phoenix’s newfound freedom comes with a price. He is given the assignment to kill Cocteau’s rival Edgar Friendly (Denis Leary), a man who leads an underground movement to preserve the freedoms Cocteau bans in his technologically advanced society.
A wimpy police force unsure of how to handle the violent criminal unfreezes the former lawman and nemesis of Simon Phoenix: John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone), codename “The Demolition Man.” It’s up to Spartan to save the 21st century from Phoenix and from itself, by bringing back some 20th century bad-assery. With Spartan’s brawn and Friendly’s brains hopefully the future can find a happy medium between the two centuries.
Here’s their take on “Judge Dredd”:
The second movie on the list starring Sylvester Stallone, this story takes place in the year 2139. In this future, the Earth has become a virtually uninhabitable rock where the populous is crowded into cities across the planet called “Mega Cities.” Crime in these overcrowded cities became so powerful, that the justice system collapsed completely.
Rising from the ashes, was a new set of law enforcement officers that became three justice systems in one: police, jury, and executioner. These officers of the law known as Judges, were given the authority to dispense their own brand of violent justice if the punishment fit the crime.
The strictest judge in Mega City 1 history, Judge Dredd (Sylvester Stallone) is framed for murder by the former Judge Rico (Armande Assante). Rico seeks to create a chaotic world, with an army of clones under his control. It’s up to Dredd to recover his reputation, save Mega City 1 from Rico’s tyranny, and reform the harsh justice system.
Sly & Sistine?
On September 22, 2009, Popeater.com posted a series of photos called Celebrity Children. It containts 92 pictures of, surprisingly enough, celebrities and their children. Sly and Sistine are featured. You can see all of the photos here.
Update: SZoner, Dana, wrote in to say that Scarlet is actually pictured with Sly.