Category: Celebs

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week

Craig / / 2020, Celebs, Cliffhanger, Cop Land, Escape Plan, Expendables, Grudge Match, Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Lords of Flatbush, Rambo, Rambo: Last Blood, Rhinestone, Rocky, Rocky 4

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week:

“Rocky II” is Quentin Tarantino’s Favorite Movie from 1979

Craig / / 1979, 2020, Celebs, Rocky 2

Everyone knows Quentin Tarantino is an ultimate movie connoisseur.  He loves all types of films and has seen more than most folks.

Any idea what his favorite movie of 1979 is? (Ok, since you’ve seen the photo above, you’ve probably figured it out.  But were you surprised?)  Here’s what QT had to say about Rocky II…

“Now, this was my favorite movie of the year in 1979. I like Rocky II even more than Rocky. Stallone, his follow-ups didn’t do well and the press made a big, big deal about that, about how F.I.S.T. flopped. And Paradise Alley was a flop. The press machine that had made him the Cinderella boy was now rolling over on him, and they go, ‘Oh well, he can only play a stupid boxer. And that’s all he can do and he’s completely flopped out and he’s a real loud mouth in his press interviews.’ And so then he comes out with Rocky II and now he’s directed Rocky II. So Rocky II kind of has to work or he is Sylvester come lightly. And it’s a smash. It’s a terrific movie. It actually betters on a lot of the aspects of Rocky and he is… beyond charming in the film. To see him play the Rocky character again, it actually reminded you why you like Rocky so much in the first place. The first Rocky movie is more of a character study. This is more of a personality…expansion, but it works completely as a personality expansion. It’s just he kind of has the audience in the palm of his hand. I was so happy for him, that he pulled it off and the movie meant a lot to me and it was, again, it was inspirational and you’re always trying to get in shape after you see the movie because you got caught up in the montage.”

Source: W Magazine.

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week

Craig / / 2020, Celebs, Creed, Demolition Man, Expendables 4

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week:

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week

Craig / / 2020, Celebs, Family, First Blood

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week:

Sly Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s All-Time Best Performances

Craig / / 2020, Celebs, Cobra, Cop Land, First Blood, FIST, Get Carter, Nighthawks, Rambo

Ben Sherlock at ScreenRant posted his choices for Sylvester Stallone Vs Arnold Schwarzenegger: Each Actor’s 5 Best Performances.  I thought I’d compare Sherlock’s Top 5 for Sly and Arnold to mine (using just his five best) and then what I’d include from all of each actor’s filmography.

First up: Sherlock’s choices and both of our ratings…

Sherlock’
Sly Picks

Zablo’s
Sly Picks

Sherlock’s
Arnold Picks

Zablo’s
Arnold Picks
5. John Rambo In First Blood 5. Lt. Marion Cobretti In Cobra 5. Wade Vogel In Maggie 5. Wade Vogel In Maggie
4. Johnny D. Kovak In F.I.S.T. 4. John Rambo In First Blood 4. Sheriff Ray Owens In The Last Stand 4. Sheriff Ray Owens In The Last Stand
3. Lt. Marion Cobretti In Cobra 3. Johnny D. Kovak In F.I.S.T. 3. Dutch In Predator 3. Doug Quaid In Total Recall
2. Sheriff Freddy Heflin In Cop Land 2. Sheriff Freddy Heflin In Cop Land 2. Doug Quaid In Total Recall 2. Dutch In Predator
1. Rocky Balboa In Rocky 1. Rocky Balboa In Rocky 1. The T-800 In The Terminator 1. The T-800 In The Terminator

Now what I would’ve included from each actor’s filmography.

Zablo’s Sly All Films

Zablo’s Arnold All Films
5. Deke DaSilva in Nighthawks 5. Harry Trasker in True Lies
4. John Rambo In First Blood 4. John Matrix in Commando
3. Sheriff Freddy Heflin In Cop Land 3. John ‘Breacher’ Wharton in Sabotage
2. Jack Carter in Get Carter 2. Dutch In Predator
1. Rocky Balboa in Rocky 1. The T-800 In The Terminator

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week

Craig / / 2020, Celebs, Family, Jennifer Flavin-Stallone, Rocky 3

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week:

Quentin Tarantino’s Top 5 Boxing Movies

Craig / / 2020, Celebs, Honors, Rocky

Boxing Clever at the Boxing Scene recently posted Quentin Tarantino Breaks Down His Top 5 Boxing Movies.  The first one mentioned was Rocky and here is what Tarantino had to say…

“If we talk about boxing and cinema, the first thing that comes to mind is Rocky. By far the most successful boxing film in history. The story of the Italian-American boxer Rocky Balboa was written by and starred Sylvester Stallone, in the role that catapulted him to stardom.

“The history of cinema mixes the necessary ingredients to be liked by most of the public. The humble man who attains fame by pure heart, a love story behind the rise of relevance in a super emotional finale. And some action in a fight worthy of the great boxing evenings in boxing history.

“The film won 3 Oscars and was a huge box office success, as well as being the kickoff for its sequels.”

Tarantino rounded out his top five with Million Dollar Baby, The Fighter, Cinderella Man and Raging Bull.  Click over and check out Tarantino’s thoughts on each film.  (If it was my list I would have found a spot for The Set-up! – Craig)

How About Behind-the-Scenes Facts from the “Rambo” Movies?

Craig / / 2020, Celebs, First Blood, Rambo, Rambo 2, Rambo 3, Rambo 4, Rambo 5

Ben Sherlock, at ScreenRant, posted They Drew First Blood: 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The Rambo Movies.   Before you click over, here are three of my favorite facts and my comments on each…

The Fifth Movie Had A Ton Of Unused Scripts.
…A script called Rambo 5: Savage Hunt was a horror movie in which Rambo led a Special Forces team into the Arctic Circle to track down a flesh-eating mutant creature.

…Another script called Rambo 5: Last Stand pitted Rambo against a band of meth dealers who were terrorizing a small town. There were also a few drafts about Rambo saving a kidnapped girl from a Mexican cartel before the final script was written.

(The Rambo 5: Savage Hunt script was based on James Byron Huggins’ Hunter novel.  While this would have made an interesting Rambo movie, it might have been too much of a genre change.  I hope that someday Sly will turn Hunter into the film it deserves.  Rambo 5: Last Stand sounds a lot like Arnold’s Last Stand movie. – Craig)

Dolph Lundgren Was Initially Cast As The Villain In First Blood Part II. The role of Russian Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Podovsky, the only villain in Rambo: First Blood Part II with any lines in English, was originally offered to Dolph Lundgren. Lundgren even accepted the part and signed a contract.

(I did not know this. – Craig)

…Burmese Freedom Fighters even adopted some dialogue from the movie to use as battle cries. In particular, they were known to say, “Live for nothing, or die for something.” When he heard about this, Sylvester Stallone said, “That, to me, is one of the proudest moments I’ve ever had in film.”

(And we thought people only quoted Rocky for inspiration!  – Craig)