Category: 2010

“Cliffhanger” – One of the Best

Craig / / 2010, Cliffhanger, Honors

On November 11, 2010, MMN.com posted a piece by Matt Hickman called: “Mountain Phew: 5 Pulse-Raising Movies that Involve Climbing Very Steep Hills.” “Cliffhanger” made the list at #3…

#3 “Cliffhanger” (1993) Sylvester Stallone saves the day when he foils a massive heist being carried out by a nefarious group of thieves — lead by John Lithgow, but of course — trying to get their hands on $100 million in uncirculated cash. Sound like a generic heist thriller? It kind of is. However, the film’s stunning, stunt-worthy, and Stallone-appropriate setting, the Rocky Mountains, made “Cliffhanger” a box office smash.

To see the classic “Cliffhanger” trailer as well as the other four choices, click here.

“Rocky” One of the All-Time Best

Craig / / 2010, Honors, Rocky

On November 11, 2010, Rope of Silicon posted “The Five Greatest Boxing Films of All Time” by Bill Cody.  I’m happy to say that “Rocky” made the cut coming in at #2.  Here’s why…

Whatever you say about Sylvester Stallone, and a lot of people do, he wrote one of the greatest scripts of all time. Loosely based on Muhammad Ali’s fight with Chuck Wepner, Rocky is pretty much a perfect movie. Stallone was the right choice to play the washed up palooka from Philly and smart enough to insist the studio use him.

I could go on and on about this film. The casting, (Burgess Meredith, Burt Young and Jason Schwartzman’s Mom are all wonderful) the gritty way it was filmed, the soundtrack that would have been completely hokey in any film other than the tale of an outlier who finally catches the brass ring. But why go on? It’s Rocky. Like my choice for #1, it won the Oscar for Best Picture. And it’s the blueprint for almost every sports movie that has been made since it came out. Enough said.

To read the whole article, click here.

Sly the Original Choice For… Part II

Craig / / 2010, Celebs, Unmade Films

Last week Moviehole posted the bottom half of their Top 50 Original Casting Choices.  Of course Sly made that list several times.  This week Moviehole is back with their Top 25 and Sly again makes the cut…

  • 15. “Face/Off” (1996) – Sylvester Stallone vs. Arnold Schwarzenegger

    The big studios always tried to pair up action stars Stallone and Schwarzenegger. When the script for “Face/Off” landed in his pigeonhole, Captain Hollywood read it with an eye to ultimately casting the two biggest names in action in the film. By the time director John Woo was hired to helm the film a couple of years later, Stallone and Schwarzenegger’s appeal had started to wane and, amusingly enough, John Travolta and Nicolas Cage’s stars were on the rise again – thus, the latter twosome got the job.

  • 10. “Masters of the Universe” (1987) – Sylvester Stallone as ‘He-Man’Either because there was no money in it, or Sly didn’t like the idea of dying his hair blonde, he passed on the offer to play the burly cartoon character on the big screen. Sly suggested Dolph Lundgren, whom he had worked with on “Rocky IV”, would be a much better fit. He was right… not that it did much for Lundgren’s career.
  • 5. “The Expendables” (2010) – Wesley Snipes as ‘Hale Caesar’

    Sylvester Stallone had wanted his “Demolition Man” co-star to play the role Terry Crews ended up playing in the hit actioner. Snipes was interested, but the film was due to lens in Brazil, and the actor’s tax problems meant that he couldn’t leave the USA. Forest Whitaker ultimately took on the role – even rewriting it – but was forced to leave a few days before production due to a scheduling conflict. Stallone then went to Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson but when he got wind that his fans weren’t happy with that decision he handed the part to brawny footballer cum actor Crews.

Stallone Says Sheen May Be Expendable

Craig / / 2010, Celebs, Expendables II

Charlie Sheen has had his share of ups and downs.  This week wasn’t an up… until word got out that Sly had talked to Sheen about a potential role in The Expendables II.  It wasn’t long until the news was showing up at…

Sly Tweets on Election Day

Craig / / 2010

On November 2nd aka “election day” Sly sent out the following tweet:

I voted did you? Gotta get the Manchurian Candidate out of the drivers seat before were ALL soaring off a cliff into Oblivion…Be smart.

Followed by…

the Manchurian Candidate was a movie about fake president who was put there by foreign enemies to destroy America . Scary concept. Rise up!

This started a firestorm of tweets, posts and articles that Sly was badmouthing President Obama, that he shouldn’t be posting political statements and on and on and on.  Since this wasn’t a Presidential election, Sly’s tweet couldn’t have been an attempt to vote President Obama out of office.  At any rate, Sly tweeted some more on the subject…

To emotional,people, I’m just mixing it up.Getting the blood going ! Makes ya passionate, don,t it .Good! Happy with things? OPINIONS?

I am going now and I hope no one was offended, just trying to find some twisted humor during these difficult times,never give up HOPE..Love.

As you can imagine, several sites picked up the story…

Original Rocky Statue for the Holidays!

Craig / / 2010, Celebs, Rocky III
Hey SZoners! The holidays are quickly approaching and I wanted to remind everyone that Rocky sculptures are still available through A. Thomas Schomberg studios. These statues were created by Mr. Schomberg [who created the original Rocky sculpture seen in the Rocky movies] in collaboration with Sylvester Stallone and MGM studios. Here’s my interview with Mr. Schomberg. [part two of the interview is here] for the SZ.

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Mr. Schomberg and his lovely wife, Cynthia recently contacted me to let me know the following:
As of August 2010, we have become completely sold out of our 12″ ROCKY sculptures.  It is a bitter sweet situation, because even though we are grateful many were purchased, we are going to miss the contact with all of the many fans.  We found it so rewarding to hear from the fans from all over the world and their appreciation about owning a piece of the ROCKY statue.  But the most rewarding of all, was hearing about their personal struggles and ultimate triumphs.  We continue to gather these stories and encourage those who have not contacted us to please do so, because eventually there will be a publication documenting all of this.
The good news is, we do have the 20″ Bronze Plated ROCKY sculptures still available (the same one that I own! – Craig), as well as the 20″ Limited Edition ROCKY sculptures.
We will offer the Bronze Plated ROCKY for $395, shipping free and with interest free time payments. Also, Tom will sign the first 30 of the sculptures sold, which would normally be priced at a premium.   We realize there are numerous “Rocky” look alikes out there, but none of them are from the original ROCKY statue and from the original sculptor.
Since the 12″ Sculptures have sold out, we are getting low on the 20″ Bronze Plated Sculptures.  Also, there are only 7 remaining of the Limited Edition ROCKYs at the price of $2600.  Our next set of castings (we can only produce 35 at a time until the 100 limit) will go up at least another $1000 due to foundry increased pricing, so the current price is a very good offer.

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It’s always great to hear from Tom and Cynthia.  They are two of the kindest, most humble and down to earth people you could ever talk with.  One of my highlights of running the StalloneZone was getting to interview Tom and my Schomberg Rocky statue is one of my most prized possessions.
If you’ve been thinking about getting a Rocky statue for yourself or a loved one, there’s never been a better time.  Here’s the link to the special holiday pricing!

Remember, if you purchases a statue, I’d love to post a picture of you with it on the StalloneZone! – Craig

Chris Stevens: Jack Carter

Craig / / 2010, Craig's Sly Art, Get Carter

I’ve been a huge fan of Chris Stevens’ art since I first discovered him on Deviant Art.  When I first met Chris, he was pretty much an unknown artist just starting to make waves.  He wasn’t even a guest at the show.  Suddenly Chris burst on the scene and it seemed everyone loved his style.  And why wouldn’t they?  The following year, Chris was a featured guest and a line of fans that would make any artist proud!

When I found out that Chris was putting together his first sketchbook, I knew I was going to want one.  The fact that Chris included free headshots with advance purchases was a beautiful bonus.  I’m hoping that Chris will have a new edition sketch book next year, and will offer the same deal again!  Until then, we have Chris DA Art Gallery to hold us over!

Rocky’s Adidas Boots

Craig / / 2010, Rocky III, Sly Fan

SZoner, Paan checked in with the photo above and…

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Craig,

Adidas released the history book for their internal use in 2008.  They show the boots on a page for  Teofilo Stevenson (Cuban Boxer).  But we, SZONERS, know by heart the person who actually wore and signed these boots.

It’s amazing that they put the word “FIGHT” on the side for him. I hope this information will make everyone smile.

Best regards,

Paan
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Thanks Paan! – Craig