Sly Revives Rocky

Craig / / 2001, Rocky

The March 13, 2001 issue of The National Enquirer contains an item called “Yo! SLY Brings Back Rocky to Help a Tragic Kid” in the Hollywood Behind the Screens section by Mike Walker.

“In a heartrending revival of his gutsy “Rocky” character, SLY STALLONE played a real-life hero when he suddenly appeared in the hospital room of a badly injured little boy who idolizes him, knelt by his bedside and said gently: “Yo!… Give Rocky a punch!” Sadly, 5-year-old Brandon Zucker, maimed in a Disneyland accident, can’t throw a punch anymore.. or even whisper, “Yo, Rocky!” But STALLONE got a smile from the beautiful kid – and these are rare these days, says mom Victoria, who relives the horror of watching her son fall out of the “Roger Rabbit” ride and get crushed under machinery. SLY’s wife JENNIFER FLAVIN, read in a paper how Brandon used to run through his house wearing oven mitts punching the air like his hero, “Rocky.” JENNIFER showed the story to SLY, who went to the hospital to give the kid a shot of come-from-behind Rocky courage! “His visit did a lot of good for Brandon,” wept Victoria. [Keep punching, kid… and… lookin’ good, Rock!]

– Craig Zablo

Sly Stallone is a Celebrity Classmate

Craig / / 2001

In the March 6, 2001 issue of The National Enquirer, SYLVESTER STALLONE is featured in the “Celebrity Classmates” section. Lyn La Cava (pictured at left) attended The American College of Switzerland with SLY back in the day! The article features a couple of other pics of SLY and Ms. La Cava as well as quotes from both.

– Craig Zablo [March 11, 2001]

Sly in “Total Film’s Top 50 [Twice]

Craig / / 2001, Cop Land, Honors, Rambo, Rocky


The March 2001 issue of Total Film contains some items of interest to STALLONE fans. In an article titled: “The 50 Greatest Movie Heroes of All Time! As Voted By You,” two of SLY’s portrayals made the list! Rocky Balboa clocked in at #30 and John Rambo followed at #40.

In another section called Best of the Best the following appears: – COP LAND ” An undisputed career best performance for STALLONE.”

Thanks to Ernest “Jazzman” Resendes for the pic and tip! – Craig Zablo

Sly Makes an Impact

Craig / / 2001


The March 2001 issue of Impact, features an article entitled “SYLVESTER STALLONE: On the SLY.” The four page article provides an overview of SLY’s career and features eleven pictures [including the one above]. Although hard core fans will learn nothing new, and at one picture is obviously labeled incorrectly, it still is a positive article which looks forward to SLY’s next decade of films.
Thanks for the tip to – Paul Corr from Ireland and Ernest “Jazzman” Resendes for the mag!
– Craig Zablo

ROCKY: “THE BEST OF THE BEST”

Craig / / 2001, Honors, Rocky

The February 23, 2001 issue of Entertainment Weekly has an article titled “The Best of the Best” in which EW ranks the 72 Best Picture Oscar winners. Here’s what they had to say about Rocky:

43 ROCKY 1976
Directed by John G. Avildsen Starring Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire Nominations 9 Wins 3 Stiffest Competition Taxi Driver, Network
A likable triumph-of-the-underdog tale, but why this boxing fable and not Scorsese’s Raging Bull four years later?

+++

Let me begin by pointing out a small error… did you catch it? The listing says that Rocky was nominated for 9 Oscars but the right number is 10! I’ve already e-mailed them about the error – so let’s talk about the article…
Articles like these are written to encourage discussion about the subjective rankings of personal favorites. So let me say that, personally, I feel that Rocky should be in the Top 10 and without a doubt the Top 20 — I am happy to see that the editors of the piece ranked Rocky higher than many past winners (even if they didn’t “get it exactly right.”).

  • Craig Zablo (February 24, 2001)

SLY ATTENDS 15 MINUTES PREMIERE

Craig / / 2001, Celebs

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) – It’s not often Salman Rushdie is seen at an L.A. movie premiere (and until recently he wasn’t seen almost anywhere, what with a death sentence hanging over his head), but the novelist was at the Century City Cineplex for New Line’s “15 Minutes” premiere Thursday.Though there was joking in the crowd as he searched for a seat (”Lord, please not next to me” was the general tone), afterward at the Century Club party Rushdie said he was “a great admirer of De Niro” and thought the film was “very well performed.” He added he was in L.A. to work on a screenplay adaptation of his novel The Ground Beneath Her Feet for Gemini Films.Among those on hand were writer-director John Herzfeld, stars Edward Burns, Robert De Niro, Kelsey Grammer and Melina Kanakaredes; plus guests Albert Brooks, Don Cheadle, Vin Diesel, Robbie Robertson, Sylvester Stallone and Christy Turlington.

– Craig Zablo (February 24, 2001)

Positively “Driven”

Craig / / 2001, Driven

The March/April issue of Cinescape contains a very positive article by Steve Hockensmith called “Hot Wheels” which gives us a preview of what to expect when “Driven” premieres on April 27th. In addition to the picture to the left there are 4 other small [2 of which contain SLY] pics from behind-the-scenes. The buzz just keeps getting better!
– Craig Zablo [February 24, 2001]