Category: 2021

Drew Struzan Interview! (“First Blood”, “Star Wars”, “Indiana Jones” and More!)

Craig / / 2021, Celebs, First Blood

Drew Struzan, one of the legends of movie poster art, was recently interviewed by Erik Sharkey for /Film.com.  The interview is well worth a read.  If you click over you’ll find out about Drew Stuzan’s…

  • documentary
  • love of King Kong (and his take on who the real villain of the film is)
  • approach to poster art
  • favorite Star Wars movie
  • early art career
  • thoughts on the Indiana Jones films
  • plans for retirement

Before you click over, I want to highlight this exchange about Drew Struzan’s First Blood poster:

Erik Sharkey:  I always thought your artwork for the movie First Blood was a powerful poster of a single figure.

Drew Struzan:  Well, thank you. It’s a guy with a big gun, and the first thing we know is that he was in a war of some kind, but I want the image to be beautiful. I want it to be kind. I want it to be loving. Big tough guy with a big gun and bullets, how does that relate to what I’m saying? What’s the color in it? It’s basically a blue picture. And blue is the most comforting and loving color you can paint. Does it not look peaceful? I could have painted blood dripping from them, which a lot of movie posters have done, but that’s not what I paint. I want to make the world a better and more beautiful, peaceful, and kind place. So, you’ll see that in every picture I paint.

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week

Craig / / 2021, Celebs, Creed II, Expendables 4, Honors, Rambo 6, Rocky, Suicide Squad

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week:

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week

Craig / / 2021, Celebs, Family, Rocky V, Suicide Squad, Training

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week:

Sly Stallone’s Most Underrated Acting Scenes

Craig / / 2021, Cop Land, Creed II, First Blood, FIST, Get Carter, Oscar, Rocky, Rocky Balboa, Rocky III, Rocky V

Tom at TV Over Mind came up with a list of Five Underrated Acting Scenes from Sylvester Stallone.  While the list or the presentation isn’t the best. (The used the photo above for heading <I added the text for my post> and it isn’t their number one choice.  Also some of the example that they picked were not the best choices for Sly most underrated acting scenes.  With that said, using just his top five, I’ll rank those same picks and then give you what I think are some much better choices.

Tom at TVOM

Craig

5. Talking to Adonis in Creed II during the fight

5. The final fight in Rocky V: Since this is more of a physical scene than an “acting” scene I rated it lower.

4. The final fight in Rocky V

4. The atrium scene in Oscar: Oscar is underrated. Sly’s performance is good but there are many scenes in other movies that should have made the grade.

3. The atrium scene in Oscar

3. Talking to Adonis in Creed II during the fight: Sly has better scenes in Creed II than this one.

2. PTSD scene in Rambo: First Blood

2. The Rocky Balboa speech: This is a good choice and it became so popular I can see why Tom listed it in his first spot.

1. The Rocky Balboa speech

1. PTSD scene in Rambo: First Blood: Sly gives a classic performance and shows that Rambo isn’t all blood and guts.

Other scenes that should have made the cut:

Rocky: So many to choose, but since I am going to limit it to one from each additional film, I’ll go with the scene where Rocky tells Adrian if he is just standing when the final bell sounds…

FIST: Again many to choose from, but this time I’ll go with the scene where Sly is talking to the men about the trucker that was hurt and although the company won’t take care of him., their union will.

Rocky III: The scene on the beach with Talia Shire where she asks Rocky what he’s afraid of and he answers…

Cop Land: So many great scenes… For me it is a toss up between Sly’s scene with Annabella Sciorra or his scene with DeNiro.

Get Carter: Sly’s rooftop scene with Rachel Leigh Cook is one of his best.

Rocky Balboa: Any scene where he is talking about Adrian.

Creed: The scene in the locker room when Rocky explains to Creed why he isn’t going to get treatment for his cancer.  One of Sly’s all-time best scenes.

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week

Craig / / 2021, Celebs, First Blood, Judge Dredd, Rambo 6, Rambo: Last Blood, Suicide Squad

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week:

Sly Stallone’s Most Underrated Movies!

Craig / / 2021, Cobra, Cop Land, Demolition Man, Nighthawks, Over the Top

Saeed Saeed, at The National News, posted his choices for Sly Stallone’s Most Underrated Movies.  You know how I enjoy lists, so using just Saeed’s choices, here are how I’d rank them.  

Saeed

Zablo

1. Nighthawks (1981)

1. Nighthawks (1981): Ahead of it’s time and solid through and through.

2. Cobra (1986)

2. Cop Land (1997): One of Sly’s finest performances and he’s in with heavy hitters. Sly more than holds his own.

3. Over the Top (1987)

3. Over the Top (1987): Granted it’s a sentimental story that stretches credibility, but it is not as bad as many would believe. That’s the definition of underrated.

4. Demolition Man (1993)

4. Demolition Man (1993): The opening had so much potential but ventures too far into silliness for me. Plus fans love Demolition Man.

5. Cop Land (1997)

5. Cobra (1986): Had soooo much potential. Cool character, cool idea for a movie but needed to be fleshed out more. Still fans dig it.

Saeed’s list is a good one. If I had created the list I would have put Sly’s Get Carter in the first spot. Not only does it contain scenes with some of Sly’s finest acting, but the cast is solid, the story is strong and the director shows great flourishes. Get Carter is not a perfect film (few are), but in my opinion it is Sly’s most underrated.

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week

Craig / / 2021, Celebs, Cliffhanger, Cobra, Cop Land, Creed II, Demolition Man, Family, First Blood, Jennifer Flavin-Stallone, Nighthawks, Oscar, Over the Top, Rocky, Rocky Balboa, Rocky V, Sly Fan, Suicide Squad

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week: