Category: Honors

“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

Sly An Under-Rated Actor

Craig / / 2006, Celebs, Honors

 

Empire magazine has created their list of the ten most under-rated actors in Hollywood history. Sly came in at #9. While I wouldn’t agree with everyone on the list and could probably come up with a few others, I do agree that Sly is under-rated. The full list is posted below and you can read the entire article HERE. – Craig

1. Kevin Bacon 2. John Wayne
3. Guy Pearce 4. Mark Wahlberg
5. Cary Grant 6. Charles Durning
7. Kurt Rusell 8. Alfred Molina
9. Sylvester Stallone 10. Hank Azaria

The Rock Picks “Rocky”

Craig / / 2003, Celebs, Honors, Rocky

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was recently asked by the Associated Press to name his favorite movies in several different genres. Here are The Rock’s answers as well as his comments on one of the films.

Buddy Film: “48 Hrs.,”

Western: “Unforgiven,”

Martial Arts: “Enter the Dragon,”

Adventure: “Raiders of the Lost Ark,”

Boxing: “Rocky,” The Rock said. “I love the story of a guy who fights the odds, and he doesn’t have to win — and he doesn’t win.”

Sci-Fi: “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back,”

Scariest Action: “Predator,”

Funniest Action: “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,”

I like The Rock as a wrestler and actor — and he obviously has great taste in movies as well! – Craig (Sept. 24, 2003)

Stallone at the Linc Was a Surprise

Craig / / 2003, Family, Honors, Jennifer Flavin-Stallone

Posted on Wed, Sep. 10, 2003 at Philly.com

Stallone at the Linc was an Eagles surprise

The Eagles‘ most effective stealth play Monday was the one that brought actor Sylvester Stallone to pump up the crowd for the Eagles‘ first regular-season game at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Eagles learned last month that ABC, which televises the Monday night games, was planning to air a video promo featuring Stallone. Team officials, sensing a Rocky moment, went through ABC to ask Stallone to also come to the city he immortalized on-screen.

“He was about to go to Europe, but he was gung-ho about [doing] it,” team president Joe Banner said yesterday.

For years, the team has been showing a Rocky video to end pregame festivities. As the presentation concluded Monday, the Linc‘s cameras turned to the north end zone, where Stallone, wearing a No. 22 Duce Staley jersey, jumped and waved.

With wife Jennifer Flavin and brother Frank, Stallone stayed in owner Jeff Lurie‘s box until the game was nearly over.

The Birds put up the Stallones, traveling in a party of seven, at the Four Seasons Hotel. “We hid him away. We didn’t want to ruin the surprise,” Banner said.

The Stallone brothers, however, were seen on 18th Street near Rittenhouse Square Monday afternoon with a small entourage. They stopped at Maron Chocolates/Scoop de Ville. While picking up ice cream (and tipping $8 on a $12 order), Sly spotted T-shirts reading, “Life is short… Eat dessert first,” and bought four.

The Stallones also visited artist Perry Milou‘s studio/gallery, where they talked about art and palette knives for 15 minutes. Stallone signed one of Milou’s pieces and gave him his home address. Milou plans to send him a painting.

Thanks to Bill Eaton for the tip!- Craig Zablo