DAVID CARRADINE AND ROBERT CARRADINE DRIVING 'CANNONBALL'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRAQfpmHFQHLEu0SXorm69coBMJj0UVjOwyRW6BP1F-iDa6VQJOxhx8tdP9ugKTitmQLQg1r8X5y1rSSjOYTKi3wuLEGksc6pQmGsRYYns3pN_uNgq1ztV0qRGOoLZg-Mjm8G-qM7xTZiU6xyql8k1aWVW72HOcJLQjC2-fPMmegnXb2aiEPn1Oe1ShdoC/s2474/Screen%20Shot%202026-02-24%20at%206.29.04%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1528" data-original-width="2474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRAQfpmHFQHLEu0SXorm69coBMJj0UVjOwyRW6BP1F-iDa6VQJOxhx8tdP9ugKTitmQLQg1r8X5y1rSSjOYTKi3wuLEGksc6pQmGsRYYns3pN_uNgq1ztV0qRGOoLZg-Mjm8G-qM7xTZiU6xyql8k1aWVW72HOcJLQjC2-fPMmegnXb2aiEPn1Oe1ShdoC/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-02-24%20at%206.29.04%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: CANNONBALL Year: 1976 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It would be as surprising if roughshod stuntman director Hal Needham made a sophisticated Shakespeare adaptation as classy/gentlemen Paul Bartel being one of the best high-octane car-race/chase auteurs in the grungy 1970's and, following the popular dystopian-future dark-comedy <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2025/08/DR2000.html">DEATH RACE 2000</a>, he made the first and least known action-flick based on the genuinely real and extremely illegal no-rules cross-country <i>Cannonball</i>...<br><br>Created and manned by Brock Peters, who only appeared in the famous 1981 Needham ensemble with superstar Burt Reynolds, making <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2022/09/burt-reynolds-in-hal-needhams.html">THE CANNONBALL RUN</a> the only legitimate showcase... </p><span></span>

belinda balaski, bill mckinney, david carradine, exploitation, garrit graham, hangout, mary woronov, paul bartel, race car, robert carradine, seventies, sylvester stallone, veronica hamel

DAVID CARRADINE AND ROBERT CARRADINE DRIVING 'CANNONBALL'

Title: CANNONBALL Year: 1976 Rating: **** It would be as surprising if roughshod stuntman director Hal Needham made a sophisticated Shakespe...

DAVID CARRADINE VS SYLVESTER STALLONE IN 'DEATH RACE 2000'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV615xZklu8VLd3wYUQJGrawG0NN_J2uj_TSVWtExTShhwXw1wGl347BMhezTl8AQgHNjHQevhGx_7EoBgXGNUcMtpiURiZr2Imd_V-rfa1xHy-X_5PpYwuLIep7fJHGtiiPG2VJHvB95rc7aPGaRzqRnW-lgOjECviXPy003GpctNe_dO_J4Q31c6sqcY/s2274/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-23%20at%2011.01.54%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="2274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV615xZklu8VLd3wYUQJGrawG0NN_J2uj_TSVWtExTShhwXw1wGl347BMhezTl8AQgHNjHQevhGx_7EoBgXGNUcMtpiURiZr2Imd_V-rfa1xHy-X_5PpYwuLIep7fJHGtiiPG2VJHvB95rc7aPGaRzqRnW-lgOjECviXPy003GpctNe_dO_J4Q31c6sqcY/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-23%20at%2011.01.54%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sylvester Stallone in DEATH RACE 2000 Year: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Director Paul Bartel's cult classic Roger Corman production DEATH RACE 2000 is known as a guilty-pleasure — and the pleasure's in seeing civilians being mowed-down by race cars for points... </p><p>Yet it's really an action-packed dystopian science-fiction cautionary-tale where television consumers watch lethal violence as sports-entertainment, inspiring blockbusters ranging from THE RUNNING MAN to THE HUNGER GAMES while the running-over-people aspect actually makes the least sense because, if the race was broadcast worldwide, why would anyone go outside? </p><p><span></span></p>

dark comedy, exploitation, louisa moritz, martin kove, mary woronov, paul bartel, race car, roberta collins, roger corman, science-fiction, seventies, simone griffeth, sylvester stallone

DAVID CARRADINE VS SYLVESTER STALLONE IN 'DEATH RACE 2000'

Sylvester Stallone in DEATH RACE 2000 Year: **** Director Paul Bartel's cult classic Roger Corman production DEATH RACE 2000 is known as...

TED KOTCHEFF DIRECTS SYLVESTER STALLONE IN 'FIRST BLOOD'

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4k6I5Ri_zC2G-ajOoG-XqdfqzYhdZ1P4sEjPPLoyUKINd2AqyXfMCbrfq_fWqPgTyPGkdHrYmaA9XgRTT0UjEWAovNGB0m5annKbvQpG-3uQqGi5KgEjCNq7mQ3sZjzXki-xrWecVizRrD4KHZr0eMovosl1GhtNzsmAZNq78Rsln5s5YuwT9WkYhW17L/s1940/Screen%20Shot%202025-04-16%20at%2010.35.41%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="1940" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4k6I5Ri_zC2G-ajOoG-XqdfqzYhdZ1P4sEjPPLoyUKINd2AqyXfMCbrfq_fWqPgTyPGkdHrYmaA9XgRTT0UjEWAovNGB0m5annKbvQpG-3uQqGi5KgEjCNq7mQ3sZjzXki-xrWecVizRrD4KHZr0eMovosl1GhtNzsmAZNq78Rsln5s5YuwT9WkYhW17L/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-04-16%20at%2010.35.41%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: FIRST BLOOD Year: 1982 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>When rural sheriff Brian Dennehy drives ragged drifter Sylvester Stallone from one side of a one-mile town to the next, he mentions several times how <i>that long hair</i> wouldn't fit into such a peaceful community...</p><p></p><p></p><p>Yet it wouldn't take until the third film where Stallone's former green-beret/Vietnam-vet character would have the hair-length to matter... which is kind of a symbolic microcosm of how FIRST BLOOD differs from the now-legendary franchise, centering on an actual human being named John instead of an all-powerful warrior named RAMBO... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, bill mckinney, brian dennehy, chris mulkey, david caruso, eighties, franchise, jack starrett, michael talbott, richard crenna, sylvester stallone, vietnam

TED KOTCHEFF DIRECTS SYLVESTER STALLONE IN 'FIRST BLOOD'

Title: FIRST BLOOD Year: 1982 Rating: ****1/2 When rural sheriff Brian Dennehy drives ragged drifter Sylvester Stallone from one side of a o...

SYLVESTER STALLONE & TOM SIZEMORE IN JOHN FLYNN'S 'LOCK UP'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLf6HAWB7twK90ef_1caFRFiIoywGYDzO8LkyiIk2VeEhj0c-3iobwdcm2dEkK1NaAgPJbglD3pj8adtUQurzf7hZ6aUHzVUC3x_E646HWlBJIWq74Ro7wvqDr1yC73ofTjRRLVaQnO4AEcNNeqGMyxELd_t0oUvbBa52GnFGRE6ApSDR87MelZqaJw/s1562/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-22%20at%204.15.04%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="1562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLf6HAWB7twK90ef_1caFRFiIoywGYDzO8LkyiIk2VeEhj0c-3iobwdcm2dEkK1NaAgPJbglD3pj8adtUQurzf7hZ6aUHzVUC3x_E646HWlBJIWq74Ro7wvqDr1yC73ofTjRRLVaQnO4AEcNNeqGMyxELd_t0oUvbBa52GnFGRE6ApSDR87MelZqaJw/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-22%20at%204.15.04%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u> <span>title:</span> LOCK UP <span>year:</span> 1989 <span>cast: </span>Sylvester Stallone, Donald Sutherland, Tom Sizemore <span>rating:</span> ***1/2 </u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Somewhere within the corny, bombastic, 80's-style action is the cool little John Flynn-directed prison flick LOCK UP starring Sylvester Stallone as a furloughed convict with six months to go — until being suddenly thrust from a nice location to a really nasty one thanks to villainous warden Donald Sutherland, more befitting an overboard science-fiction film (like later in THE HUNGER GAMES)... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Sutherland’s cartoonishly vengeful tyrant aside, it’s Stallone (again backed by a Bill Conti score) doing his usual strong silent type and — with the aid of fellow prisoners like a talkative exposition-spouting yet ultimately mischievous Tom Sizemore (an energetic scene-stealer as usual) and gentle-giant Frank McCrae as the head of the jailhouse auto garage — he has some fun, fixing up a dream car to muscular 70's rock... </p><span></span>

action, darlanne fluegel, donald sutherland, eighties, frank mcrea, john ams, john flynn, prison, sonny landham, sylvester stallone, tom sizemore

SYLVESTER STALLONE & TOM SIZEMORE IN JOHN FLYNN'S 'LOCK UP'

  title: LOCK UP year: 1989 cast: Sylvester Stallone, Donald Sutherland, Tom Sizemore rating: ***1/2 Somewhere within the corny, bombas...

SYLVESTER STALLONE AND RUTGER HAUER IN 'NIGHTHAWKS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCHu7vcowNe03e8KYFypDtBikztLYDTqje3uvvMrLKfQvVrhFvMgNjd_nyPlfvg4Tl_kNKy761_vlQ4GOHvBNq_TDldajX6-BAHVvfqQDmQy9yRJW0i_JBNFLBmYxAH4cjzxxsy0IS20ydxkDDuOjfyjP7I-93pcUUPHqXrq0sX3Uhl5fe-v3icr3Adw/s1001/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-14%20at%202.35.33%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="1001" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCHu7vcowNe03e8KYFypDtBikztLYDTqje3uvvMrLKfQvVrhFvMgNjd_nyPlfvg4Tl_kNKy761_vlQ4GOHvBNq_TDldajX6-BAHVvfqQDmQy9yRJW0i_JBNFLBmYxAH4cjzxxsy0IS20ydxkDDuOjfyjP7I-93pcUUPHqXrq0sX3Uhl5fe-v3icr3Adw/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-14%20at%202.35.33%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>TITLE: NIGHT HAWKS YEAR: 1981 RATING: ***1/2</u></b><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In any crime flick, the villain moves into the hero's territory, like, say, in the case of THE FRENCH CONNECTION, which NIGHTHAWKS was originally intended to be the third entry of... and Rutger Hauer as a European terrorist does wind up in New York, with a new face and bright blue eyes (he was supposedly surgically-altered to look like what he already looks like): But the way things turn out, it feels like buddy cop partners Sylvester Stallone (sporting an Al Pacino SERPICO beard) and Billy Dee Williams are actually guest-stars in Rutger Hauer's movie... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Especially since the film was ultimately cut to 95-minutes, and by the time narc "decoys" Stallone and Williams are called in for anti-terrorist duty, we know more about Hauer's ruthlessness (from flirting with a sweet Catherine Mary Stewart in a London clothes shop before blowing up the place, to killing off the surgeon and a night-clubbing stewardess) than what makes our hard-edge cops really tick... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, catherine mary stewart, cop, eighties, exploitation, hillarie thompson, joe spinell, keith emerson, lindsay wagner, nigel davenport, rolling stones, rutger hauer, sylvester stallone, thriller

SYLVESTER STALLONE AND RUTGER HAUER IN 'NIGHTHAWKS'

TITLE: NIGHT HAWKS YEAR: 1981 RATING: ***1/2 In any crime flick, the villain moves into the hero's territory, like, say, in the case of ...

SYLVESTER STALLONE STARRING AND DIRECTING 'ROCKY II'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDg5lT47hz6wL-XE4yMwIIEHli21um2dB0-SajPYhEHVEF6hDCtnXtZ-vou9ne9SDeqaxZrjZchOaBuP_GWXfHUggZHinDwDZOtOBZWIA1jgsCd_lUQ947ALsiq5hznPL2Fxvn4dRbNKUtKO8jRt1pb3mKboUhPTSfeQN4Oy7_0syy27wutpW86BUMAQ/s1611/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-22%20at%203.14.00%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1226" data-original-width="1611" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDg5lT47hz6wL-XE4yMwIIEHli21um2dB0-SajPYhEHVEF6hDCtnXtZ-vou9ne9SDeqaxZrjZchOaBuP_GWXfHUggZHinDwDZOtOBZWIA1jgsCd_lUQ947ALsiq5hznPL2Fxvn4dRbNKUtKO8jRt1pb3mKboUhPTSfeQN4Oy7_0syy27wutpW86BUMAQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-22%20at%203.14.00%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: ROCKY II year: 1979 Starring/Director: Sylvester Stallone RATING: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It seems like the last person who gets credit for the original ROCKY is director John G. Advilson... yet he <i>did </i>win the Academy Award; and Sylvester Stallone's brilliant script, providing an ensemble of characters of almost equal importance surrounding the central Southpaw, and his beyond-natural performance, were both nominated but didn't win... yet it's still one of the best scripts ever, and perhaps the story <i>and</i> star made us forget there was a director at all...<br> <br> Which brings us to ROCKY II, where Stallone still had his wider, more natural, more realistic facial "baby fat" and unpolished muscles compared to the chiseled, veiny, hunger-scowling look of the third film (and thereafter) as Stallone himself director, doing a sort of mellower hang-out imitation of Avildson, at least in a visual sense....<br> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>

boxing, burgess meredith, burt young, carl weathers, franchise, joe spinell, sequel, sport, sylvester stallone, talia shire, tony burton

SYLVESTER STALLONE STARRING AND DIRECTING 'ROCKY II'

Title: ROCKY II year: 1979 Starring/Director: Sylvester Stallone RATING: ***1/2 It seems like the last person who gets credit for the origin...

SYLVESTER STALLONE'S UNBREAKABLE SUPERHERO 'SAMARITAN'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFXQLxD0AVyJDdtluIeSgd9IeglSKk7NnNs0pH5b6pZc5lMWpTNBaKi3mYxatVj_VTgT5Mp6bysKGcfcoG4bbYiPvlFYqpEv0rVzyOn_lZjZKWQ6iitR7shGizG_zaVFFuiwL4N_f3cV1iGxpua4QL1a4lKvmED9619ZM-4disFP1eT4yoQm4naDirdQ/s2272/fribt.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="2272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFXQLxD0AVyJDdtluIeSgd9IeglSKk7NnNs0pH5b6pZc5lMWpTNBaKi3mYxatVj_VTgT5Mp6bysKGcfcoG4bbYiPvlFYqpEv0rVzyOn_lZjZKWQ6iitR7shGizG_zaVFFuiwL4N_f3cV1iGxpua4QL1a4lKvmED9619ZM-4disFP1eT4yoQm4naDirdQ/s16000/fribt.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Expository intro for SAMARITAN with Sylvester Stallone from 2022 Grade: C—</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The last time standard-action-flick icon <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/sylvester%20stallone">Sylvester Stallone</a> played a superhero was the last time he would... until now... and both JUDGE DREDD and SAMARITAN concern a backstory involving good against evil brothers, who in this case supposedly died fighting each other, twenty long years ago, and...<br><br>Well as the description goes, a ghetto kid thinks an old garbage man named Joe Smith, played by Stallone with a NIGHTHAWKS beard gone grungy gray, is actually yesteryear's titular crime-fighter...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><span></span>

2022, action, cable, crime, fantasy, gang, javon wanna walton, new, pilou asbæk, sophia tatum, superhero, sylvester stallone

SYLVESTER STALLONE'S UNBREAKABLE SUPERHERO 'SAMARITAN'

Expository intro for SAMARITAN with Sylvester Stallone from 2022 Grade: C— The last time standard-action-flick icon Sylvester Stallone play...

FORGOTTEN TRIUMPH OF 'RAMBO' W/ BONUS 'RAMBO III' REVIEW

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMpphoR__Uj5yyCu1efr2AObW7QdKwYrENdH0RbC6naGGscgB8jNYdhx6-SoLhQM-HUH-U0NYaMQpcIyiIQK6401Udq-w1cj7QTGzwcw4cZGz5c-lQY0n0J_BlNQekcHZfAgPU_yw_1nQZ/s1600/70470802_788604361568742_5020931590679691264_o.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="769" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMpphoR__Uj5yyCu1efr2AObW7QdKwYrENdH0RbC6naGGscgB8jNYdhx6-SoLhQM-HUH-U0NYaMQpcIyiIQK6401Udq-w1cj7QTGzwcw4cZGz5c-lQY0n0J_BlNQekcHZfAgPU_yw_1nQZ/s400/70470802_788604361568742_5020931590679691264_o.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sylvester Stallone as RAMBO not Cobra circa 2008</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>RAMBO</u>: An eighty-minute film, while quite rare, is a perfect running-time for action, especially one as ultra-violent since the high definition CGI massacres can only be "enjoyed" so much...<br> <br> And this forgotten modern sequel of the iconic franchise is a sparse, solidly entertaining blood & guts "get the job done quick" flick where John Rambo, along with a group of eclectic (and enjoyably whiny) mercenaries, are hired to save a group of do-gooders including Julie Benz wielding a quaint, genuine chemistry with Stallone. They're kidnapped by "Burmese Pirates" and all in Vietnam, where it all began even before FIRST BLOOD — and John J. goes in, kills the bad guys and leaves, so, in this case, less is not only more, it's <i>just </i>enough. And should have ended right here.<br>

action, eighties, exploitation, franchise, julie benz, ken howard, richard crenna, sequel, sylvester stallone, vietnam, zeroes

FORGOTTEN TRIUMPH OF 'RAMBO' W/ BONUS 'RAMBO III' REVIEW

Sylvester Stallone as RAMBO not Cobra circa 2008 RAMBO : An eighty-minute film, while quite rare, is a perfect running-time for action,...

SYLVESTER STALLONE RETURNS FOR 'RAMBO: LAST BLOOD'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKAVstviEkgybrUM-oVZo3ejDx1XKb48tb3qtS09fb7NpWwzxRhYilr45U9UEzuZYt55dbVh-WxzThGEOJn3I9pd_8jeJJ6BsPfsw7YDf2NSTH4F680JmvMNeXoWn3PP-jNXYGE-wWtPh/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-09-20+at+11.39.36+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="753" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKAVstviEkgybrUM-oVZo3ejDx1XKb48tb3qtS09fb7NpWwzxRhYilr45U9UEzuZYt55dbVh-WxzThGEOJn3I9pd_8jeJJ6BsPfsw7YDf2NSTH4F680JmvMNeXoWn3PP-jNXYGE-wWtPh/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-09-20+at+11.39.36+PM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sylvester Stallone in Rambo: Last Blood YEAR: 2019 </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> So far we've learned that RAMBO: LAST BLOOD has a lot in common with HOME ALONE since John J. defends his ranch using various booby traps. Which is nothing new — FIRST BLOOD had the Vietnam Vet/Green Beret luring antagonists into "familiar territory" with a hostile edge and stealthily prowess. The only difference now is he pays property tax... <br> <br> And some critics are blaming a certain public figure for the choice of villain... But most people probably don't care for a Mexican Drug Cartel that enslaves young girls: One in particular who's pretty much everything, and boy is she pretty. Making this 90-minute action melodrama more similar to DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN in which, for completely different reasons, the aged main hero's daughter-like ingenue overdoses on drugs, and from that point it's all about revenge, revenge, and more revenge... <br>

2019, action, franchise, melodrama, new, sequel, sylvester stallone

SYLVESTER STALLONE RETURNS FOR 'RAMBO: LAST BLOOD'

Sylvester Stallone in Rambo: Last Blood YEAR: 2019 So far we've learned that RAMBO: LAST BLOOD has a lot in common with HOME ALONE s...

SYLVESTER STALLONE IN FIRST BLOOD & RAMBO

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiApulHcMRkfzrq6i6eY706wL-MiYqq4Lf30bqZH6qPmmRA20emG84Og3dUYRE1IpeazZvmmXDJqyjqQiC5ODEIJuHg-J6y-3tSEI2Jp9ZLKexAgXjmMyOkWskhyphenhyphenaCnutVmuqIuVMM_Lyk/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiApulHcMRkfzrq6i6eY706wL-MiYqq4Lf30bqZH6qPmmRA20emG84Og3dUYRE1IpeazZvmmXDJqyjqQiC5ODEIJuHg-J6y-3tSEI2Jp9ZLKexAgXjmMyOkWskhyphenhyphenaCnutVmuqIuVMM_Lyk/s400/1.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reviews of both FIRST BLOOD and RAMBO</td></tr> </tbody></table> Calling RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD II would make RAMBO III actually FIRST BLOOD III: RAMBO II, and that's a lot of complicated roman numerals. Plus, RAMBO is quite different than FIRST BLOOD...<br> <br> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bSnv1USVL8tzRdVIyh2u-jlje99zaZYHjBEFR6Fh98IexS0P-J14F-CLNwzZavYq91geEdTO47IXo7rvGkykL9rtnN2Gn2czjnmem0789ptxRB6A1cYGwtiwTzku05sRhmrhKUWG7dY/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bSnv1USVL8tzRdVIyh2u-jlje99zaZYHjBEFR6Fh98IexS0P-J14F-CLNwzZavYq91geEdTO47IXo7rvGkykL9rtnN2Gn2czjnmem0789ptxRB6A1cYGwtiwTzku05sRhmrhKUWG7dY/s200/3.jpg" width="120"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Once Just A Book</td></tr> </tbody></table> In the initial vehicle, Vietnam flashbacks give former Green Beret John J. Rambo that extra strength to bust out of a small town jail and take to the forest, hunted by Brian Dennehy's stubborn Sheriff Teasle, whose character, though an important third banana, means more in the original early-70's David Morrell anti-war novel... where a cold-blooded Rambo kills hundreds of people while the story centers primarily on Teasle and even his mentor, Orval, played by John McLiam, doing nothing more than setting hunting dogs loose in the movie... Yet within the written pages, Orval, as a father figure to Teasle, represents the patriotic Second World War mindset while Teasle, a Korean vet, learns the hard way about the new "death machines" created in the unpopular Vietnam.<br>

action, david caruso, franchise, martin kove, michael talbott, richard crenna, sequel, sylvester stallone, war

SYLVESTER STALLONE IN FIRST BLOOD & RAMBO

Reviews of both FIRST BLOOD and RAMBO Calling RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD II would make RAMBO III actually FIRST BLOOD III: RAMBO II, and that...

SYLVESTER STALLONE GOES CANNON FILMS IN 'OVER THE TOP'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw5Q9Ni66Ng_h51bus9Kq7VMja7Fim_fjSAl-ZnND6Ngp3tWtL5x_OYRAHNVyjJeWO3GYblW31RCBHqxCWC_syY-XmNgwshGlBW8Zb7hcYIZwR17zM5_8KrifoBVAhhS24O3RFVxdzqUI/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw5Q9Ni66Ng_h51bus9Kq7VMja7Fim_fjSAl-ZnND6Ngp3tWtL5x_OYRAHNVyjJeWO3GYblW31RCBHqxCWC_syY-XmNgwshGlBW8Zb7hcYIZwR17zM5_8KrifoBVAhhS24O3RFVxdzqUI/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1987 cast: Sylvester Stallone, David Mendenhall </td></tr> </tbody></table> For a campy road movie, showing lovely desert/mountain locations throughout America where OVER THE TOP spends much of its time, in transit, Sylvester Stallone's trucker, Lincoln Hawk, is allowed access to his spoiled son, given holiday leave from a Military Academy.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt-e8ADKusgIbj9Lut-ZqRnL1FDARdeLYFVIlW27HpG7xz0uegnF8uDx-jMIgQCKGjyrUND_FITRdpb_2WbALjovuR31Lzthyh_Cnf8t5f8KUV41rcUsiZSPRiu-oP_tyV_OT_WpuVEFk/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt-e8ADKusgIbj9Lut-ZqRnL1FDARdeLYFVIlW27HpG7xz0uegnF8uDx-jMIgQCKGjyrUND_FITRdpb_2WbALjovuR31Lzthyh_Cnf8t5f8KUV41rcUsiZSPRiu-oP_tyV_OT_WpuVEFk/s200/2.jpg" width="195" /></a></div> Despite being protected by nefarious father-in-law Robert Loggia, Stallone's early-career LORDS OF FLATBUSH co-star Susan Blakely as ex-wife/mom, who spends her scenes dying in a hospital with sporadic phone calls, overrides Loggia's possibly mob-backed power. And be careful what you ask for: Hawk goes from cold to cool to luke-warm to warm & fuzzy with son Michael, played by child actor David Mendenhall, who Hawk wants to initially throw out of his truck, and you will too... But with all the flaws, the picture's banal escapism is pretty darn entertaining. While Sly's acting was superb in ROCKY and FIRST BLOOD (using a genuine speech impediment as part of his character's punchy brain, and throwing an incredible tantrum in the latter), he loosens up after an arm wrestling match at a diner, which provides our first glimpse into what TOP is about, and what Hawk's really good at. Thus the title fits Sly's new sweaty subject, not his performance. <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_G5zVkXJMzgaRcfmVA5ytjR_1da4riJYcGCOEveYe_CfzTl05PYKKFLR1m-bxfxO7PRwb7zFOthtRD3hn-nmBVvzeLsZUDBC55yg52evza8_cPtuR8BIih1ApQSyTQWfINmVeqMdX28/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-12-22+at+6.55.03+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_G5zVkXJMzgaRcfmVA5ytjR_1da4riJYcGCOEveYe_CfzTl05PYKKFLR1m-bxfxO7PRwb7zFOthtRD3hn-nmBVvzeLsZUDBC55yg52evza8_cPtuR8BIih1ApQSyTQWfINmVeqMdX28/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-12-22+at+6.55.03+PM.jpg" width="234" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great Poster Art</td></tr> </tbody></table> The highway journey leads to an anticipated arm-wrestling championship in a big Las Vegas arena that dwindles down from a handful of brawny brutes to only two rivals, wherein giant bald-headed Rick Zumwalt's Bull makes for a terrific b-movie foe, providing Stallone the kind of Mr. T (or perhaps Hulk Hogan) "odds are extremely against the underdog" challenge that has a shocking amount of suspense despite the "sport" being pretty limited... making up for prior scenes consisting of Hawk and son slowly (and at the same time, much too quick and unrealistically) bonding in the claustrophobic truck/cab setting that, despite man's man Stallone being a genuinely straitlaced and honorable dude, borders on creepy, somehow.<br /> <br /> Yet the soundtrack, while incredibly 80's-dated... backing up a chase scene; son literally handed a chance to prove his own strength against a mullet-haired bully; and downtime between dialogue... gloriously embodies the muscular matter-over-mind era that Stallone personified. Too bad the "King of the Sequels" couldn't have taken us OVER THE TOP AGAIN. Who knows, perhaps Bull had an estranged, bastard son who needs a trainer...<br /> <br /> NORMAL RATING: ***<br /> CAMP VALUE: ***1/2

david mendenhall, eighties, road movie, robert loggia, sport, susan blakely, sylvester stallone

SYLVESTER STALLONE GOES CANNON FILMS IN 'OVER THE TOP'

year: 1987 cast: Sylvester Stallone, David Mendenhall For a campy road movie, showing lovely desert/mountain locations throughout Americ...

STALLONE TAKES RUSSIA IN ROCKY IV

<div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFu6Y4H_P-0DVmLsF06UGs77YnJz2lrEg7N2p54sl-WLLBlqLQLQa_i7YEZ-QpUQ4TkP5XWlU2uXK9TQZV-j18zKlvorjq0uJScKUVL-GWjuzWOMZ3EykgroloXkinsKPb6qZawZaKjyo/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-12-20+at+3.28.26+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFu6Y4H_P-0DVmLsF06UGs77YnJz2lrEg7N2p54sl-WLLBlqLQLQa_i7YEZ-QpUQ4TkP5XWlU2uXK9TQZV-j18zKlvorjq0uJScKUVL-GWjuzWOMZ3EykgroloXkinsKPb6qZawZaKjyo/s400/Screen+Shot+2015-12-20+at+3.28.26+AM.png" width="281"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1985</td></tr> </tbody></table> When Stu Nahan, an ongoing ROCKY franchise sportscaster, has to admit "The Soviet strength is incredible," referring to Dolph Lundgren's bionic Russian fighter, there's an obvious political Cold War (and at this point, very dated) message going on and alas, a few minutes later, Apollo Creed, one of the great all-time cinematic athletic antagonists (turned friendly fellow), is killed in the ring following the type of sell-out training routine Rocky Balboa went through before getting pummeled in the last, far superior venture... only without dying and sans a James Brown (as opposed to a lounge-lizard Frank Stallone) performance.<br> <br> The first half of ROCKY IV involves completely banal crap like a robot that talks to (and belongs to) Paulie while playing one of many throwaway soundtrack tunes; a miscast son who looks not one bit Italian; and a collage of memories from our heartbroken hero, seeming like an MTV video and repeating scenes just experienced: For once again, Rocky lost a trainer to the Grim Reaper... Only this time, our main man's decision to get back into the ring, for pure revenge this time, is met with very little reluctance, and the movie goes from glossy-vapid to grainy-legit when Rocky trains in the isolated, snowy region of Russia, getting in shape while helping peasants, dodging the KGB and eventually climbing a mountain... an intentionally progressed homage from that famous outdoor staircase back in hometown Philly...<br>

boxing, burt young, carl weathers, dolph lundgren, eighties, franchise, james brown, sport, sylvester stallone, talia shire

STALLONE TAKES RUSSIA IN ROCKY IV

year: 1985 When Stu Nahan, an ongoing ROCKY franchise sportscaster, has to admit "The Soviet strength is incredible," referr...

STALLONE WEATHERS IN ROCKY III

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3dJb5sSPGkDXSASk27AsA8fEpME6uC2JopeVKcMCG8WBT_ClipDyrTkz7MHQdg6nP95PwfFx_ASsx6TMbg8fP6-SHG1kL0eRCta6avCeKp5PN_y3wTmseZXmmlccNzZ0VkzHP_BFzb9Y/s1600/rocky3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3dJb5sSPGkDXSASk27AsA8fEpME6uC2JopeVKcMCG8WBT_ClipDyrTkz7MHQdg6nP95PwfFx_ASsx6TMbg8fP6-SHG1kL0eRCta6avCeKp5PN_y3wTmseZXmmlccNzZ0VkzHP_BFzb9Y/s400/rocky3.jpg" width="262"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1982</td></tr> </tbody></table> Apollo <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2015/11/creed.html">CREED,</a> played by Carl Weathers, whose bastard son is now fighting in theaters and receiving critical praise, gets credit for doing in ROCKY III what Sylvester Stallone's title character does for phony professional wrestling: legitimizes it... Following a collage of scenes, ranging from a Muppet Show appearance to our boy finally getting his lines down for a commercial, Rocky has a photo-op match with Hulk Hogan that becomes genuinely bloody, which, despite being completely far-fetched, doesn't lack some classic camp value. When Burt Young's Paulie smashes Hogan's Thunderlips with a stool it's something to marvel...<br> <br> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvSsvgTowcUfhKWJpUzK3cEPOgZ8Exr0xYhCzntJPq7gBc2zcEqgsM8T2nmR8uri3nSE11ID1oGVe-1kGeCoTCwKDz1-KfHQkQjUyEw78F5tMVd88Le6i8ImGLnAnqaarMKZVxxrEdEH4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-12-20+at+12.11.30+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvSsvgTowcUfhKWJpUzK3cEPOgZ8Exr0xYhCzntJPq7gBc2zcEqgsM8T2nmR8uri3nSE11ID1oGVe-1kGeCoTCwKDz1-KfHQkQjUyEw78F5tMVd88Le6i8ImGLnAnqaarMKZVxxrEdEH4/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-12-20+at+12.11.30+AM.png" width="173"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beach Rock</td></tr> </tbody></table> And speaking of Rocky's bum brother-in-law, after witnessing glimpses of what we later learn are a dozen fights to sustain and establish Rocky as heavyweight champion without having to really give his all, the actual opening credits occur without the dynamic Bill Conti victory score during what feels like the original two "art house street centered boxing" films: as a plundered Paulie leaves the same old bar, walks sullenly down a grungy Philly boulevard and, in a jealous, drunken rage, busts a Rocky pinball machine, leading to a glorious scene in a jailhouse parking lot between Stallone and Young's polar opposites, both always bringing out the best of the worst in each other...<br> <br>

boxing, burgess meredith, burt young, carl weathers, eighties, franchise, sport, sylvester stallone, talia shire

STALLONE WEATHERS IN ROCKY III

year: 1982 Apollo CREED, played by Carl Weathers, whose bastard son is now fighting in theaters and receiving critical praise, gets cre...

STALLONE & STONE IN THE SPECIALIST

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSJVPGd8ZxA1_cUA3aku_0l3RowPnRrk14dzXiSaJufxwDFMCQZ7dXHVF2cobcG2anlEA5hS7jvt5j81W_UKqRDbpFVMBm_XLXbeVdxA6xonrf8qSwe3z2LLud6yzIjK-EjZdOxfTCXMU/s1600/fhd994TS_Sharon_Stone_050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSJVPGd8ZxA1_cUA3aku_0l3RowPnRrk14dzXiSaJufxwDFMCQZ7dXHVF2cobcG2anlEA5hS7jvt5j81W_UKqRDbpFVMBm_XLXbeVdxA6xonrf8qSwe3z2LLud6yzIjK-EjZdOxfTCXMU/s640/fhd994TS_Sharon_Stone_050.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u style="font-size: 12.8px;">year: 1994 cast: Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, James Woods, Eric Roberts, Rod Steiger</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> While painful and unrealistic to see scrawny James Woods beating up Sylvester Stallone, it's only during the set-up instigated by a guilt-ridden premise borrowed from SCARFACE catapulting a sort of Neo Noir sexually-driven camp vehicle that's so bad it's good, and can actually be intriguing.<br>

action, eric roberts, james woods, neo noir, nineties, rod steiger, sharon stone, sylvester stallone

STALLONE & STONE IN THE SPECIALIST

year: 1994 cast: Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, James Woods, Eric Roberts, Rod Steiger While painful and unrealistic to see scrawny J...

REVERSE NOSTALGIC MOVIE REVIEW OF 'CREED' AKA 'ROCKY 7'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRfTJtWIWWeUcUA0pUpD8NYxjmKhBmkQQ1x-3rdbHX_lxjYRVDm-dAI6W4Ku2B8H6BKBy9C6T8bhbo-xPIuLd7PHJ-eTZYGQznwUAIKqVYb0I5NZNUjOIkaj21oce_kh7S8nMpulUrlEyS/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-12-13+at+4.52.06+AM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="868" data-original-width="1364" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRfTJtWIWWeUcUA0pUpD8NYxjmKhBmkQQ1x-3rdbHX_lxjYRVDm-dAI6W4Ku2B8H6BKBy9C6T8bhbo-xPIuLd7PHJ-eTZYGQznwUAIKqVYb0I5NZNUjOIkaj21oce_kh7S8nMpulUrlEyS/s400/Screen+Shot+2018-12-13+at+4.52.06+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2015 cast: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> We catch sporadic stock footage of Carl Weathers' Apollo CREED while his bastard son, attempting to follow his footsteps but not quite as muscular and confident, strategically ventures from L.A. to Rocky Balboa's Philly dive bar, where the Italian Stallion, at first, is reluctant to be his trainer, but then, quickly and without suspense or creativity, the real story begins...<br /> <br /> The problem with CREED isn't what hindered the last ROCKY film, because it's not exactly boring and has a touch of soul now and again. But there's that similar digital cable TV aura that goes against the grainy aesthetic that made the first three movies so awesome, and the training sessions are way too familiar: including the "Kentucky Fried Idiot" sequence; the local hero contender running along with a group of outdoor fans while triumphant music blares; and this time, women <i>don't</i> weaken legs... <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwyPxZKn2jLnK-dOQTlIKiuGdzMDcYwzLq7qvvddTGbBvslh7vMqNiEMnT-OK8suJcecP1qKtWu5muJ5vNfogErwDJde4w933CG5HpCCxWlFRQ3wHs8deHHlECNVju0ZD5kQfYUqZb8qs/s1600/1.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwyPxZKn2jLnK-dOQTlIKiuGdzMDcYwzLq7qvvddTGbBvslh7vMqNiEMnT-OK8suJcecP1qKtWu5muJ5vNfogErwDJde4w933CG5HpCCxWlFRQ3wHs8deHHlECNVju0ZD5kQfYUqZb8qs/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Creed Score: **1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Meanwhile, there's not too much detail about how Michael B. Jordan's Adonis Johnson aka Adonis Creed lost his father because, let's face it, ROCKY IV, despite its cult status, was pretty much a cartoon, and Apollo's death, fighting a bionic Russian following a corny James Brown performance, was pure blasphemy to such an otherwise genuine, realistic character who not only served as one of cinema's greatest antagonists, but, after his friendly turnaround, made the superior second half of ROCKY III so edgy, streetwise and wonderfully, timelessly awesome...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJExT_r1XZl56Z6sUQ30zXhDTjM18TPCcbXwInXPnEe0Qp-Y7B9p6H5_yrTRO9SgzsOAyV2KFPLNf3epIErKcNfDOcvpS5o0vKmd3aWfrvnmdiHiHlX2TDW1449peWtuhjiqJgMH_lylnH/s1600/maxresdefault.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="740" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJExT_r1XZl56Z6sUQ30zXhDTjM18TPCcbXwInXPnEe0Qp-Y7B9p6H5_yrTRO9SgzsOAyV2KFPLNf3epIErKcNfDOcvpS5o0vKmd3aWfrvnmdiHiHlX2TDW1449peWtuhjiqJgMH_lylnH/s400/maxresdefault.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rocky and New Creed's father's so-called secret bout</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Back to the now: The good news is Stallone has almost equal screen time with the young, somewhat lethargic Creed and his way-too-easily-landed girlfriend... And the old man does a good job in a mellow turn without that much brooding as he shares a few worthy moments of nostalgic reverie with pain and feeling...<br /> <br /> And as an actor, Jordan has decent chemistry with Sly, making for a much better "son" than that last whiny businessman in the horrendously forgettable ROCKY 6, and provides the right amount of swift rhythm as a brawler, but despite what people keep telling him, he looks absolutely nothing like Apollo (Weathers) and lacks the cocky charm that made dad so fun and legendary. And hey, if that private bout between Rocky and Apollo at the end of ROCKY III was such a secret, how did LeRoy Neiman capture the first punch (because the portrait is a reality)? And here's a spoiler... Not only did Yo Adrian kick the bucket (which is already known) but, as we learn at the cemetery, so did the scene-stealing, comic relief Paulie, which is a real shame: the ultra-serious CREED desperately needs some levity, and Burt Young (or someone like him... which may not be possible nowadays) could have provided it. Because, while often drenched in sweat and years, CREED is simply too dry to truly motivate. <br />

boxing, franchise, sequel, sport, sylvester stallone

REVERSE NOSTALGIC MOVIE REVIEW OF 'CREED' AKA 'ROCKY 7'

year: 2015 cast: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone We catch sporadic stock footage of Carl Weathers' Apollo CREED while his bast...

SYLVESTER STALLONE HEADS UP THE EXPENDABLES 3

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnK9M2el7dUAfQLR6X7jVxIM6PlhHr-7hQ0EzKWLz9YmsQutwDGxc8ulIWC1M1X1voMIVd0HGzvJ8tOe9OxzkNZ8sl8wn_yZ4FXKg7Kvnhfc2KUK9x8uZTMti9mvxCn0Hqxaiewzz9AI4/s1600/expendables1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnK9M2el7dUAfQLR6X7jVxIM6PlhHr-7hQ0EzKWLz9YmsQutwDGxc8ulIWC1M1X1voMIVd0HGzvJ8tOe9OxzkNZ8sl8wn_yZ4FXKg7Kvnhfc2KUK9x8uZTMti9mvxCn0Hqxaiewzz9AI4/w235-h400/expendables1.jpg" width="235" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2014</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> It wasn’t long ago when Jason Statham, Randy Couture and Terry Crews were the young EXPENDABLES… But now it seems, they’re all old timers…<br /> <br /> Thanks to Mel Gibson’s dirty rotten Stonebanks, a founding member of the titular mercenary team who went rogue in a bad way. Following a gallant introduction of a jailbreaking Wesley Snipes, the group, blundering a mission intruded upon by our new lead villain, is considered sloppy and over the hill. So Sylvester Stallone’s Barney Ross seeks out a whole new group of gung-ho dynamos, all kids in comparison to the old (but some still kinda young) familiar faces. <br /> <br /> It’s always fun seeing characters being introduced in this sort of drawn-out montage fashion: With the help of Kelsey Grammer’s soldier-salesman, Barney hires the young warriors, all taking part in various fights and exercises, visually pronouncing each member’s skill... <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSueUZqDWrk77pp8Se6MSBnbdu4hU2PGLLN5M6FBVSgJJa0DDB0jdL-wym7X6eyePrat10hp7wIou2ILCsI7yMwtCJD3T-Nzwd6pzdPOTvaTxa41XXQyF6n3hEIMs0-cAHfvvoycr1dk/s1600/expendables2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSueUZqDWrk77pp8Se6MSBnbdu4hU2PGLLN5M6FBVSgJJa0DDB0jdL-wym7X6eyePrat10hp7wIou2ILCsI7yMwtCJD3T-Nzwd6pzdPOTvaTxa41XXQyF6n3hEIMs0-cAHfvvoycr1dk/w235-h400/expendables2.jpg" width="235" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> This leads to the first of two missions to kill and/or capture a lecture-spouting Mel Gibson, thriving with energetic dialogue to make up for his initial lack of hands-on action… Most of that goes to Barney and the kiddos, wherein Statham, Dolph Lungren and the newly resurrected Snipes take a reluctant, shortlived sabbatical.<br /> <br /> Filling out the elder positions are Harrison Ford as a benign CIA head who winds up getting dirty along with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s passive coordinator, and yet another pointless Jet Li walk-on. Meanwhile, a motormouth Antonio Banderas, trying way too hard for comic relief status, winds up even more annoying than he’s supposed to be. And yet, despite the surrounding ensemble, Ross, given his personal vengeance for Gibson's heavy, seems more in it for himself... Rambo would be proud!  <br /> <br /> The action sequences are involving enough, and between gunplay there’s the usual pulpy banter rooted in 80’s action nostalgia when sarcastic one-liners, limitless ammo and tons of testosterone meant pretty much everything. So if mindless doesn't matter, you won't be disappointed. But anyone expecting a fleshed-out espionage thriller, which this attempts to be, should have known better. 

2014, action, arnold schwarzenegger, ensemble, harrison ford, jason statham, mel gibson, sylvester stallone

SYLVESTER STALLONE HEADS UP THE EXPENDABLES 3

year: 2014 It wasn’t long ago when Jason Statham, Randy Couture and Terry Crews were the young EXPENDABLES… But now it seems, they’re ...

JOHN TRAVOLTA IN 'SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER' AND 'STAYING ALIVE'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEy9qurR6CcCp_uymiT1xC3kP4XVdNlF_FRCssFaLedjQBZtI0KC7BAcEsuZQpueakduJ7s3QDerV6acbL0gNEDk67W2H0M5Cx0IVgsiSFYmD1qXLdV7mcL-gRPGgVCvACEvjozpM0brrK/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-12-13+at+1.27.39+AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="1600" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEy9qurR6CcCp_uymiT1xC3kP4XVdNlF_FRCssFaLedjQBZtI0KC7BAcEsuZQpueakduJ7s3QDerV6acbL0gNEDk67W2H0M5Cx0IVgsiSFYmD1qXLdV7mcL-gRPGgVCvACEvjozpM0brrK/s400/Screen+Shot+2018-12-13+at+1.27.39+AM.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Travolta (facing unseen talent agent Estelle Getty) YEAR: 1983</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>STAYING ALIVE:</u><b> </b>Believe it or not, STAYING ALIVE, the sequel to SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, is not a John Travolta film...<br /> <br /> It belongs entirely to writer/director Sylvester Stallone, rehashing the ROCKY storyline of a diamond in the rough fighting to survive, and given a miraculous chance at quick fame (much like Stallone himself)...<br /> <br /> Only here he's a dancer, not a boxer... and unlike the Oscar-winning southpaw tale, it's a pretty bad movie/great guilty pleasure, and fun as hell! Travolta struggles to make it from the streets to lead dancer in the cheesiest Broadway musical ever created, SATAN'S ALLEY (a title derived from Stallone's own b-movie, PARADISE ALLEY), a cross between CATS and a surreal flu dream...<br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzR85RAYsqdT7JaDY1erAQp2dVbV6MmkNqpjNRCZg5bM1cietods6hki-To7uY_II_uPaeDYISr0iBEJViBPupSLmtAbUzacTVz4xxfluJHRoEo5JajhgXlUwEwkoGVKkX_zjhVZZaOfo/s1600/Staying-Alive-John-Travolta.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzR85RAYsqdT7JaDY1erAQp2dVbV6MmkNqpjNRCZg5bM1cietods6hki-To7uY_II_uPaeDYISr0iBEJViBPupSLmtAbUzacTVz4xxfluJHRoEo5JajhgXlUwEwkoGVKkX_zjhVZZaOfo/s1600/Staying-Alive-John-Travolta.jpg" width="203" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>"Dancing So Close... To... The Fire!"</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Playing the character he made famous in SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, Travolta's former Disco King Tony Manero charms his way into the bed of beautiful and classy Broadway star Finola Hughes, who turns the tables and uses him. And much like the FEVER dance contest finale, the big budget musical is what everything leads to... resulting in the same kind of whiny idealism for the main character, taking his dancing much too seriously... But now we're skipping ahead... <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPLPhYIYbcIc53iDFIRkRhZxvKuyIf8R4QycLnhcqBOcGWyUeQkOE4pJdAiqM6EqILEkSlGs0N9MZIDMfiIer61kV9OejTVjBZiKurc2qP0SDOzd4ZCnBzOgtUKmX5JQo3Sez-wHLE-tE/s1600/stayling+alive+2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPLPhYIYbcIc53iDFIRkRhZxvKuyIf8R4QycLnhcqBOcGWyUeQkOE4pJdAiqM6EqILEkSlGs0N9MZIDMfiIer61kV9OejTVjBZiKurc2qP0SDOzd4ZCnBzOgtUKmX5JQo3Sez-wHLE-tE/s1600/stayling+alive+2.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Cynthia's "Rocky" Rhodes</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> There's a contrived overabundance of Tony getting his just-deserts i.e. the player getting played by this devilish vixen, and his complaining gets tiresome... <br /> <br /> All the while he uses his loyal girlfriend played by Cynthia Rhodes, a cross between FEVER originals Karen Lynn Gorney (talented) and Donna Pescow (sym<u>pathetic</u>): Rhode's Jackie just can't help but to love the bad boy. And, like Rocky Balboa, our dancing hero, sculpted with mapped-out body muscles yet looking strangely gaunt, facially, strives for heights never thought possible: Tony, having "grown up," is now going for gold.<br /> <br /> The new, geared-for-the-1980's Bee Gee's Soundtrack, unlike the classically catchy disco romps of the late-70's (which had seemed a thousand years earlier but was only six), is full of breezy, filler, forgettable pop tunes. Meanwhile, Frank Stallone's muscular fanfare, <i>Far From Over</i>, captures the "drive" a whole lot better, serving as a victorious anthem much like Bill Conti's <i>Gonna Fly Now</i> in ROCKY...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgri_Zf0XFVXFrgJc-UbSPJq3IlPLMfliooIlxETaPiyg9FggTjmJnvJbL1IKSOoB2xdpcpQeR9GEakwlHeeUHlAoLtqVmqkrd7EfnDTA0VJsjKmQx3ThARND21mVWSs3-waBN6z51rVLY/s1600/2.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgri_Zf0XFVXFrgJc-UbSPJq3IlPLMfliooIlxETaPiyg9FggTjmJnvJbL1IKSOoB2xdpcpQeR9GEakwlHeeUHlAoLtqVmqkrd7EfnDTA0VJsjKmQx3ThARND21mVWSs3-waBN6z51rVLY/s320/2.jpg" width="193" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>"Demented Paratroop;er"</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In some ways, STAYING ALIVE is even more entertaining than the original, centering completely on Tony sans intrusion from his priest brother, bickering parents (though mom provides a mellow cameo), or his pointlessly plotted cronies... And the intentionally hollow side-characters here, including Steve Inwood as an edgy Broadway director, are working hard to keep him ready and steady for opening night. <br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> And now we'll end with a nostalgic memory: Yours truly was in the theater when this movie's trailer played... The audience roared with laughter when then-dated-as-now title showed up on the screen... So let's give Stallone a hand for such a risky venture, and during his peak, no less...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHFtP9rEiHfZ0F5BbMTGQrRaG6ZliNwkmrOviMW6TDIVbIebDJ5Td8Oq83fOoa6iGARf_odOHca1z81vMPt8gSPnbeFmj48l5gYy0CqNzunQFLfNp6Ev7S9lHZrFfewYCSCHzQafnzJSQ/s1600/staying+alive+stallone.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHFtP9rEiHfZ0F5BbMTGQrRaG6ZliNwkmrOviMW6TDIVbIebDJ5Td8Oq83fOoa6iGARf_odOHca1z81vMPt8gSPnbeFmj48l5gYy0CqNzunQFLfNp6Ev7S9lHZrFfewYCSCHzQafnzJSQ/s400/staying+alive+stallone.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Staying Alive Normal Movie Score: *** Bad Movie Cult Status: ****</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> So keep an eye out for the director's cameo, pictured below, while Tony walks down the streets of Manhattan... In one scene Sly's brother Frank, playing a guitarist for Jackie's band, is described by Tony as looking like a "demented paratrooper," which is writer Sly's own words describing his bro....<br /> <br /> And last but not least <i>but definitely</i> the most obscure pop culture Easter Egg for Cinefiles (years before we used banal movie-geek catchphrases like <i>Easter Eggs</i>... or <i>Cinefiles)</i>: If you listen closely towards the end of the movie during the halfway point of the musical where, backstage, you'll hear someone say: "Yo, Adrian... Showtime!"<br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> <br /></div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEcKrXhKVg90cj6DwT5lZQ2keR-m8w_WwVaBI3Gdfq5PAPnSpcFckPuNZ7LTV8jsSw-1YAAFCircncwwBMDc0o8FrI9gkaYhrwPWCyVbwOFW0sXH10x6sbmiYrJ1aIT6CrB0uCT2CWdDc/s1600/trav1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEcKrXhKVg90cj6DwT5lZQ2keR-m8w_WwVaBI3Gdfq5PAPnSpcFckPuNZ7LTV8jsSw-1YAAFCircncwwBMDc0o8FrI9gkaYhrwPWCyVbwOFW0sXH10x6sbmiYrJ1aIT6CrB0uCT2CWdDc/s1600/trav1.PNG" width="158" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>disco year of: 1977 </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER:</u> It doesn’t matter to John Travolta’s Tony Manero whether he’s dancing at the local nightclub or walking down the street during daylight work hours… He’s got the type of oblivious, jangly rhythm not even a shabby neighborhood can touch…<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2Vd8L0OytrXT26RDBbIFCHEQDqeII0yCdBDwcr1AUHpw3Oy5cWU8-PUuRrfyyepSDBXYign5UPgCihjvT_35PmgtwHQ_H1NJxvcDYtlAvum8-ITSsPfy01W9qQfAt2Fz5-zfZcmZa86y/s1600/Saturday-Night-Fever-4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="389" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2Vd8L0OytrXT26RDBbIFCHEQDqeII0yCdBDwcr1AUHpw3Oy5cWU8-PUuRrfyyepSDBXYign5UPgCihjvT_35PmgtwHQ_H1NJxvcDYtlAvum8-ITSsPfy01W9qQfAt2Fz5-zfZcmZa86y/s400/Saturday-Night-Fever-4.jpeg" width="243" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Serpico Night Fever</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Which is extremely important since his friends don't have much to do with the plotline, mostly centering on Tony either brooding alone, looking into a mirror or his movie posters, dancing in the center of a cheering/clapping crowd, or suffering a friendly romance with uptown girl Stephanie, a pretentious sophisticate who drops more names than a phone book made of sleet...<br /> <br /> No news here, but it's the music on the million dollar soundtrack that's the real deal, headlined by the Bee Gees <i>Stayin’ Alive</i>, a funky shuffling anthem impossible not to move around to...<br /> <br /> Other songs include <i>How Deep is your Love</i>, obviously providing the love theme throughout despite an unrequited romance: The established playboy has finally met a chick he can't melt with his usual sly charm... <i>More Than A Woman</i> is the soulful dance groove while <i>Night Fever</i>, a backbeat rendition of <i>Stayin’ Alive</i>, is a far better tune. Of course tracks by other artists also keep the ball rolling including <i>Disco Inferno</i>, <i>Boogie Shoes</i> and <i>A Fifth of Beethoven</i>, all taking place within the 2001 ODYSSEY nightclub, a location director John Badham captures in all its glittery glory.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPwAIaa6hcRqBnrvty3EPuRx3hyphenhyphenADU1qY4pq6FQ_fsYnl7Io9MzejCM8ly1OEZ69S_nPBqobDVO_zh42F7r23zOhtnyX3rRV_FX462K2AhK5pAIwthwEN4UsU-3fg0rztKoS1XB2jIWI/s1600/TheBeeGeesSaturdayNightFeveralbumcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPwAIaa6hcRqBnrvty3EPuRx3hyphenhyphenADU1qY4pq6FQ_fsYnl7Io9MzejCM8ly1OEZ69S_nPBqobDVO_zh42F7r23zOhtnyX3rRV_FX462K2AhK5pAIwthwEN4UsU-3fg0rztKoS1XB2jIWI/s1600/TheBeeGeesSaturdayNightFeveralbumcover.jpg" width="199" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Rea Goldmine was the Album</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Cinematic fiction aside, not everyone was (or is) a disco fan... DISCO SUCKS was once a catchphrase and ever-used graffiti quote. The trendy genre was a threat to rock n' rollers and the punk movement reveled in the inevitable demise. Ever since, disco has since become a polyester punchline. But it's been a while since the late 1970’s, turning every form of music into a cherished antique serving the pop culture template as a whole, and... <br /> <br /> Back to basics... the friendship between Tony and his gang could have meant more, overall, like in GREASE where each "T-Bird" had a purpose other than propping up their leader's overall significance. But with an expectation of the doomed Bobby (played by Barry Miller, who turns in a much better performance as a whizkid in PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED), none of the fellas really stand out. One scene where they, goading their leader, bark like dogs at a White Castle is downright embarrassing: to Tony and the audience. And a sidestory about a local rival gang seems completely tacked on. <br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO9-TfraYqUdZdUSimf4LkUh_Ob6R6TFukqpImR1-CF8-f0_ByF2JuCuZR81mTsuYsRrGeg6ybCpWswV78kUGq9CbQ-XsKm9WWk2c9GVkLV0u6dz4M-vm5AXK2dFlabY5yukwJ2Ek0_SY/s1600/3.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO9-TfraYqUdZdUSimf4LkUh_Ob6R6TFukqpImR1-CF8-f0_ByF2JuCuZR81mTsuYsRrGeg6ybCpWswV78kUGq9CbQ-XsKm9WWk2c9GVkLV0u6dz4M-vm5AXK2dFlabY5yukwJ2Ek0_SY/s1600/3.jpg" width="165" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>SNF Score: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> </div> Meanwhile, Tony's fangirls, including Donna Pescow’s starry eyed Annette, who hangs around street corners just to watch Tony walk, or Fran Drescher as the non-rhythmic Connie, are useful idiots showing how uncaring our lead character is...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY5KegB-IHeTI4pCIyKu-joLWbT6IejRKJoGB1bwHqroLnWwkef-hIBSk8XWWKi_HxHhGiV9DiKouQuMJ2v-HelWz6EYOEGjMKSMjrBA-Zg1MCpHXd9EgqyNJi3ZjkkdNMQLuWj1Yjt6OG/s1600/Saturday-Night-Fever-3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="385" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY5KegB-IHeTI4pCIyKu-joLWbT6IejRKJoGB1bwHqroLnWwkef-hIBSk8XWWKi_HxHhGiV9DiKouQuMJ2v-HelWz6EYOEGjMKSMjrBA-Zg1MCpHXd9EgqyNJi3ZjkkdNMQLuWj1Yjt6OG/s400/Saturday-Night-Fever-3.jpeg" width="217" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>"One day you'll direct me!"</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In this current wimpy environment, Tony's selfish and politically incorrect personality is something to admire...You won't see that in a main character any longer... Tony Manero would now be a villain.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> John Travolta’s dire expressions alone, sifting in and out of the nightclub or dealing with his friends and family, including bickering parents and a brother who fled the priesthood, are fun to watch in a mainstream movie trying really hard for a plot, or for that matter, several weaving plots to make the dance numbers seem peripheral...<br /> <br /> But no matter how hard it tries being a gritty urban melodrama, FEVER winds up a soundtrack film with an intentionally pointless anti-hero looking to strike an egocentric claim on existence... Yet his only real motivation, overriding even the desire to win the climactic dance contest, is when Tony tries for sexual action with his dance partner – the catch being only <i>he’s</i> interested in romance, which ironically winds up making him a more interesting character throughout.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> </div>

barry miller, cynthia rhodes, frank stallone, john travolta, sequel, seventies, sylvester stallone

JOHN TRAVOLTA IN 'SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER' AND 'STAYING ALIVE'

John Travolta (facing unseen talent agent Estelle Getty) YEAR: 1983 STAYING ALIVE: Believe it or not, STAYING ALIVE, the sequel to SAT...

SYLVESTER STALLONE AND MICHAEL CAINE KICK IN 'VICTORY'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxfVJi5zQe3L3THyQvk_7w6GvUw4Uvz7eDW6HQ1YynXkfhYiIff16t11UK3K0fM6DLJy5XFvDPZJZloQcp2kR6nhmyf3xXD56uHq8i8hhBqgEVXaa3aVcuJLNu-Hv0Tq_6yV1G3vM7fafsAIwyZCsrScpf7hNJn4PBivhAXVTmaWKKzJ1-8I-ro4kU6A/s422/733bf54a-cad9-4de1-90e9-2f66146a28e6_zpsa03ce975.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="292" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxfVJi5zQe3L3THyQvk_7w6GvUw4Uvz7eDW6HQ1YynXkfhYiIff16t11UK3K0fM6DLJy5XFvDPZJZloQcp2kR6nhmyf3xXD56uHq8i8hhBqgEVXaa3aVcuJLNu-Hv0Tq_6yV1G3vM7fafsAIwyZCsrScpf7hNJn4PBivhAXVTmaWKKzJ1-8I-ro4kU6A/w276-h400/733bf54a-cad9-4de1-90e9-2f66146a28e6_zpsa03ce975.jpeg" width="276" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year of capture and release: 1981 </u></td></tr></tbody></table>Often perceived as a GREAT ESCAPE clone, and somewhat resembling THE LONGEST YARD, this John Huston directed Sylvester Stallone project winds up a WWII version of an obscure Vietnam War flick titled THE BOYS IN COMPANY C...<br /> <br /> Within a German POW camp, Michael Caine plays Major John Colby, a once-great British soccer star heading a ragtag prison team, viewed by Max Von Sydow’s Major Steiner, who, recognizing Colby, sets up a YARD style scrimmage between the cons and the guards… But this initial plan doesn’t go far... The Nazi propaganda machine wants a legit game to occur in occupied Paris. Here’s where the escape wheels spin by the imprisoned intellectual Brits…<br /> <br /> Yet American Sylvester Stallone, as the new Steve McQueen style Cooler King, Captain Robert Hatch, likes this game plan most of all… only Caine’s Major Colby wants nothing to do with him. But the aggressive Hatch, originally calling himself "a trainer" and initially seeming as unfitting to the team as to the soccer-centered movie, eventually winds up a better goalie than kicker… they get a cozy barracks and three square meals a day… but for selfish reasons only – he desperately yearns for a solo breakout (he even gets caught on purpose to help the bigger breakout, exactly like McQueen)...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWVufpiNYIHrm9KucsT8RzRhO7wzzdJrDCETSR8rwHx2u3a9C6XHLp-6E3zYOoUxxlpLFK7BGL0j_6Ny4A2X_8qLNeNQ2qmhiRvA5ClrChzbwb2w98sDXiGzU11qxj542uNQRpCEvPJKu6eIw9PV7nXyvxvS5jg9fa_l-wPRAedxfWAv9ZryGA7baUDQ/s320/55790000_676252539470592_2460929605347835904_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="241" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWVufpiNYIHrm9KucsT8RzRhO7wzzdJrDCETSR8rwHx2u3a9C6XHLp-6E3zYOoUxxlpLFK7BGL0j_6Ny4A2X_8qLNeNQ2qmhiRvA5ClrChzbwb2w98sDXiGzU11qxj542uNQRpCEvPJKu6eIw9PV7nXyvxvS5jg9fa_l-wPRAedxfWAv9ZryGA7baUDQ/w301-h400/55790000_676252539470592_2460929605347835904_n.jpeg" width="301" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Pele Exploitation</u></td></tr></tbody></table>An energetic practice montage aside, the best sequence has the rogue American given a tactical pre-game mission while director John Huston keeps the suspense edgy and unpredictable: as Hatch sneaks around and about the prison, the camera’s kept low and dark, as if we too were escaping...<br /> <br /> This is followed by a brief pocket of downtime after Hatch is safe within the confine of a French Resistance group, wherein a disposable love interest is introduced (the ridiculously gorgeous, French Natalie Wood lookalike Carole Laure)... <br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1NmLtgvH5xSfe7AD32LXM9_UckarJEUnLteomTcfXfq3yOzGtYiJTGZXc71zNjpIlaHCDrAt3YqBsx0XHkRF66Q56D2ewjpxoqalXdJMeM9HhzRLVLAawkkMgsegCueI4TyN3SGWtV5Q/s1600/c1b7f9e0-ad23-4b35-8715-1f5b0cda6d93_zpsd512320a.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1NmLtgvH5xSfe7AD32LXM9_UckarJEUnLteomTcfXfq3yOzGtYiJTGZXc71zNjpIlaHCDrAt3YqBsx0XHkRF66Q56D2ewjpxoqalXdJMeM9HhzRLVLAawkkMgsegCueI4TyN3SGWtV5Q/s1600/c1b7f9e0-ad23-4b35-8715-1f5b0cda6d93_zpsd512320a.jpg" width="130" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> </div> The anticipated rivalry takes up the entire third act and, like soccer often can, the match is stretched-out, hard to follow and not as involving as, for instance, the football game in THE LONGEST YARD or even Robert Altman’s MASH… Here’s where the climactic BOYS IN COMPANY C plotline unveils: a 1978 film in which a group of American soldiers in Vietnam take part in a soccer match against the enemy, and wind up choosing possible triumph over probable freedom...<br /> <br /> A semi-conceived halftime escape, surreptitiously tunneled out  by the Resistance through a THIRD MAN style underground sewer, seemed much too easy to begin with: Leading back to the game involving shots of real players highlighted by Brazilian star Pelé (an impressive back-flip goal-kick is repeated three times in slow motion), whose exploitative “special guest” appearance made more sense to audiences than was logical to the storyline. The iconic athlete's casting trumped even the A-list Stallone, who, with help from the always-capable Caine, turns in an above par performance, shining brighter than his usual action fare and yet, like other Sly flicks, you’ll suspend the same amount of testosterone-pumping disbelief backed by another radiant (if melodramatic and overdone) Bill Conti score.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirEd8O3xeusqaKy0FGkl0zLQMSmo137tzPfJlt3E4ge6VOTJ5ryvyb6CFchQ3jA-yPJFZfGMBmzN6dfotftaDDTJ4hfuXkf58dCn6ZFoV69UgkOt6CjAvmxk5ULw0BWVCRMPOCQzyIyuqt/s1600/46079731_600626157033231_222540221453959168_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="940" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirEd8O3xeusqaKy0FGkl0zLQMSmo137tzPfJlt3E4ge6VOTJ5ryvyb6CFchQ3jA-yPJFZfGMBmzN6dfotftaDDTJ4hfuXkf58dCn6ZFoV69UgkOt6CjAvmxk5ULw0BWVCRMPOCQzyIyuqt/s1600/46079731_600626157033231_222540221453959168_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>One of those movie images of irony by the director: VICTORY by veteran director John Huston</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOaLUB8YM33njOPNh4QIz5BMZ_V13xG92wn8m1TY-Kuiyw1wMauCmXftNCgdi5gb_KGzqJ-ATAffcAjEXKKMo-gE6kUF3gk7Q2uWICzKNqEAwsLfIo1dF-P93vNn09seQUao_e4ecMIINJ/s1600/46074252_600623373700176_7572186458501414912_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOaLUB8YM33njOPNh4QIz5BMZ_V13xG92wn8m1TY-Kuiyw1wMauCmXftNCgdi5gb_KGzqJ-ATAffcAjEXKKMo-gE6kUF3gk7Q2uWICzKNqEAwsLfIo1dF-P93vNn09seQUao_e4ecMIINJ/s1600/46074252_600623373700176_7572186458501414912_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>She's pointless in the movie, but gorgeous: here's Carole Laure in VICTORY Carole Laure</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

carole laure, eighties, john huston, max von sydow, michael caine, sylvester stallone, war

SYLVESTER STALLONE AND MICHAEL CAINE KICK IN 'VICTORY'

year of capture and release: 1981 Often perceived as a GREAT ESCAPE clone, and somewhat resembling THE LONGEST YARD, this John Huston direct...

STALLONE VS DE NIRO IN GRUDGE MATCH

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmNGayqwPoz6ZsAwOSX9HD3V2_vNJ1sZeVy_FpLWOTqloVKGVGhrmyllEBYNT4Vpz_9cqD45UGroasMnDOMMcehi42ZqdY0oeZiDqBTfJcq9XOTtgBU4ECuK1OP40nJ0Lpc3Di-cJCEos/s1600/gm0.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmNGayqwPoz6ZsAwOSX9HD3V2_vNJ1sZeVy_FpLWOTqloVKGVGhrmyllEBYNT4Vpz_9cqD45UGroasMnDOMMcehi42ZqdY0oeZiDqBTfJcq9XOTtgBU4ECuK1OP40nJ0Lpc3Di-cJCEos/s320/gm0.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> There are probably more people curious about seeing ROCKY and RAGING BULL square off than a COP LAND reunion… Either way, with Rocky Balboa and Jake LaMotta in the same movie, they might want something edgy, dramatic and uplifting. Well good luck with that... <br /> <br /> Sylvester Stallone as Henry “Razor” Sharp and Robert De Niro as Billy “The Kid” McDonnen are two retired boxers who had three… no, actually two matches in the past… Kid won the first, Razor the second and then, for mysterious reasons, Razor canceled the anticipated final bow at the last minute, making Kid hold a <i>grudge</i> till a new opportunity arises, many years later (too many years to really matter)... <br /> <br /> First let’s get some ROCKY references out of the way: Razor is forced into drinking raw eggs by his elderly manager Lighting, played by Alan Arkin, a "Mickey" (Burgess Meredith) type character… Also like the original Oscar-winning classic, Razor punches hanging beef in a meat locker… Then, like ROCKY II, he's fired from a menial job, buys new clothes, drives around in a hotrod and fumbles lines off “dummy cards” during a commercial shoot… In the backstory, after the success as a fighter, he loses his money and returns to hometown poverty like ROCKY 5… He trains in a grueling, hands-on fashion like ROCKY 4 (physically pulling a truck named Road Hawk care-of OVER THE TOP).... Then takes part in a virtual reality "What if" bout lifted from ROCKY BALBOA...<br /> <br /> And at one point later on, during the promotional circuit, he and Kid wind up at an Ultimate Fighting venue where Razor, comparing the popular sport to scripted Professional Wrestling, is threatened by a melodramatic blowhard brawler: reminiscent of Hulk Hogan in ROCKY 3… As for De Niro’s Kid character, he retired from boxing with a lucrative car lot but also runs a nightclub where he, like RAGING BULL himself, performs a laconic stand-up routine...<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSRuxTg1vqyuX7cs6dCwM0vAJA1ThhB6vh3SoYxMRVNBahdQsjEq7Es2tzQbCxwl4neszDaEV6Hu-A0DSKMG2zlnot-mnIHfDdLUYuHFBwgIZpitC7HHkHOtRARIyJavg61NRkP4LH0E/s1600/rocky-meat1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSRuxTg1vqyuX7cs6dCwM0vAJA1ThhB6vh3SoYxMRVNBahdQsjEq7Es2tzQbCxwl4neszDaEV6Hu-A0DSKMG2zlnot-mnIHfDdLUYuHFBwgIZpitC7HHkHOtRARIyJavg61NRkP4LH0E/s200/rocky-meat1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stallone pounds meat in ROCKY</td></tr> </tbody></table> So while not as good as it should be with the talent on board, GRUDGE MATCH isn't as god-awful as the maligned (and already Razzie nominated) reputation… The lightweight banality sheds an endearing glow, and Kid has a few moving conversations with his estranged son, played by WALKING DEAD actor Jon Bernthal…<br /> <br /> Their scenes fare better than the contrived dialogue between Stallone and Arkin. Perhaps more tragic than De Niro and Stallone playing down to light comedy is that Arkin, no stranger to evoking genuine audience laughter, isn’t funny at all. But he's not the comic relief...<br /> <br /> In that department is Kevin Hart as the motormouth promoter keeping a reluctant Razor on board the upcoming payday, trying way too hard with an annoying Chris Tucker imitation. After a while his frantic intrusion tappers off, which leads to something even more ghastly, blunting the dynamic of Bernthal’s character: One of the worst child actors in history, playing Kid’s grandson, enters the show and never leaves... <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwifCHR_2osMume5G1oHZKL7VGa8nug_HqoB2qxojxUCkHhOC6mbznMJoYhlMq1rZzn8F3t8xEUvtgQy3TMr9QASu73Up_NdTqW8JlzSWt81tfdYLHUaERf2Cgj0szfS00KqkXkvG_RBc/s1600/gm1.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwifCHR_2osMume5G1oHZKL7VGa8nug_HqoB2qxojxUCkHhOC6mbznMJoYhlMq1rZzn8F3t8xEUvtgQy3TMr9QASu73Up_NdTqW8JlzSWt81tfdYLHUaERf2Cgj0szfS00KqkXkvG_RBc/s200/gm1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DeNiro in RAGING BULL</td></tr> </tbody></table> Meanwhile our two rivals seem to be going through the motions. Their constant bickering is liken to GRUMPY OLD MEN sans the essential cantankerous anti-chemistry. Supposedly these guys hate each other yet seem pretty content, making us forget the entire purpose. But their combined scenes are merely sporadic: Much of the film involves dragging conversations with side-characters, ranging from trainers to the sole love interest played by a not-aged-so-well Kim Basinger...<br /> <br /> Will or won’t Razor stay in the fight becomes the only suspense till the final match where two old dudes beat each other raw like that frozen beef. Here’s where we finally get some old school blood and gusto, but it’s much to late to save a missed opportunity involving this rare superstar collective, intriguing and disappointing both cult and mainstream audiences.

2013, alan arkin, boxing, comedy, jon bernthal, robert deniro, sylvester stallone, team-up

STALLONE VS DE NIRO IN GRUDGE MATCH

year: 2013 rating: **1/2 There are probably more people curious about seeing ROCKY and RAGING BULL square off than a COP LAND reunion… E...

HOMEFRONT

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ44yRe1JouMz2tmByPvgPoQRC-RMczcD_MXxNBv7F5FDaYm626_ZHkDE0kEYBrCnDjWXD3ogm2Ba8UwdRm2iTDZV2ug16v-1Prbh9pMKb9MHbuGookyf86ULRFOGXwZNtDIU5_zzOcLs/s1600/homefront.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ44yRe1JouMz2tmByPvgPoQRC-RMczcD_MXxNBv7F5FDaYm626_ZHkDE0kEYBrCnDjWXD3ogm2Ba8UwdRm2iTDZV2ug16v-1Prbh9pMKb9MHbuGookyf86ULRFOGXwZNtDIU5_zzOcLs/s640/homefront.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 cast: Jason Statham, James Franco, Izabela Vidovic, Wionna Ryder rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> If it seems strange that tough guy Jason Statham is pitted against the usually not so cinematically tough James Franco, HOMEFRONT isn't entirely what it seems…<br /> <br /> With a screenplay written by Sylvester Stallone based on a novel by Chuck Logan, it often feels like a signature Sly flick… From scant, pulpy dialogue to old school shootouts, the movie centers on Statham’s Phil Broker, a hardened ex DEA agent with a soft underbelly for his young daughter Maddy, who he’s left taking care of, alone… After a drug bust gone wrong two years earlier, both are hidden away in a rural small town. On her first day of school, Maddy beats up a bully... Then, during a heated argument, Broker beats up the bully’s dad... At this point all heck (not exactly hell) breaks loose in the gossipy town, where redneck hoods begin questioning his identity, leading to a collection of rushed shaky-cam bouts before meeting our lead antagonist... Although James Franco’s Morgan 'Gator' Bodine is more of a ratty middleman than formidable menace: a meth-dealing, instigative lowlife passing secret info to Broker's hidden enemies… Sadly, Franco's performance not only seems phoned in, he doesn’t have much to do or say...<br /> <br /> The best scenes involve Statham fighting the more physically-inclined heavies… Anything beats the corny conversations between Broker and his daughter, who Stallone writes as more of a deep-thinking adult than vulnerable child… Yet she’s the one to ultimately protect as underdeveloped side-characters, including Wionna Ryder as Gator’s druggie girlfriend and Clancy Brown as the local sheriff, square off in a thundering car chase resulting in a predicable conclusion... Then again, for a Jason Statham movie written by his EXPENDABLES mentor, a simplistic testosterone-driven plot can be both expected and forgiven… The real shame is that our tough-as-nails hero didn’t have more of a challenge throughout.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMEJLNqCVR9rMyMPLAreaI0D33ZEkdxTDROCyZjqqM5ds0dmSog7FUWE7itxAFcf7PMWRWSXXj-j12hkn3veEin9FC1fLno-aWe1e6qAjNp5moq_QE3UmuEjCjJ9RUo9Rkf4junfNU5GM/s1600/Jason-Statham-James-Franco-and-Winona-Ryder-in-Homefront-2013-Movie-Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMEJLNqCVR9rMyMPLAreaI0D33ZEkdxTDROCyZjqqM5ds0dmSog7FUWE7itxAFcf7PMWRWSXXj-j12hkn3veEin9FC1fLno-aWe1e6qAjNp5moq_QE3UmuEjCjJ9RUo9Rkf4junfNU5GM/s640/Jason-Statham-James-Franco-and-Winona-Ryder-in-Homefront-2013-Movie-Image.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Ugh, this guy again... Okay, let's finish this for good... <i>Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuic</i>e..."</td></tr> </tbody></table>

2013, action, james franco, jason statham, sylvester stallone, wionna ryder

HOMEFRONT

year: 2013 cast: Jason Statham, James Franco, Izabela Vidovic, Wionna Ryder rating: **1/2 If it seems strange that tough guy Jason Stath...