BuzzSugar

Is Sylvester Stallone Still Relevant as an Action Hero?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 07:30:20 -0800

In 2006, he returned for Rocky Balboa. Now Sylvester Stallone has dredged up another of his old action hero roles with the latest installment of Rambo. Do you enjoy seeing Sly revisit the old action roles that helped to make him a household name? Or is enough enough?

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Grumpy Old Action Heroes

BuzzSugar — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:26:07 -0700

Perusing Cinematical and ComingSoon recently I came across these on-set photos from the next installment of the Rambo series, yet another action series I considered long dead (not dead meaning "irrelevant," dead meaning "completed"). For a 62-year-old man, Sylvester Stallone looks pretty good, but beyond that I find myself perplexedly asking the same question I wondered when Sly's old-man Rocky Balboa movie came out last year: Do we really need another one of these?

Between Rambo, Rocky, the most recent Die Hard movie, and now even Indiana Jones, it’s like these action heroes who were played by the young and spry versions of these men in the 1980s just want to keep their series gasping along (and, of course, want to keep getting paid), but at what point does this all become an embarrassing joke? When their wrinkles are distracting? When they can’t get around without a cane?

Is it worth resurrecting these characters and story lines in order to relive some nostalgic sentiment we might still have toward these movies? Why can't we just let the action heroes live on in our memories, rather than have them make endless quips about how much harder it is to disarm a bomb with arthritic fingers or run away from a giant boulder with a heart murmur?

Buzz News Roundup, 12/22

BuzzSugar — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:08:17 -0800

ABC says ugly is the new beautiful with a self-esteem campaign starring America Ferrera, USA Today reports.
We Are Marshall and "Lost" star Matthew Fox is in high demand, says the Los Angeles Times.
Michael Jackson may be selling his Neverland ranch, says the Santa Barbara Independent.
"Rules of Engagement," the Adam Sandler-produced comedy for CBS, is getting a better time slot, according to Variety.
"The Jeffersons" and "All in the Family" star Mike Evans dies at 57, the Associated Press reports.
"Studio 60" and "Heroes" top Nielsen's list of shows most watched on DVR.
In music-collaboration news, Billboard says Aretha Franklin has recruited Faith Hill for her new album, while Duran Duran will work with Justin Timberlake, according to NME.
And the week's most shocking movie news, from Zap2It: Rocky Balboa rang up $6.2 million its opening day, and it's getting decent reviews

Movie Preview: Rocky Balboa Meets Grumpy Old Men

BuzzSugar — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 06:21:51 -0800

On December 20th, Sylvester Stallone will return to the big screen in Rocky Balboa, the newest installment in a franchise we thought was long put to rest. The premise is pretty ridiculous. In fact, when I saw this trailer before Casino Royale, I joined a packed movie theater in roaring laughter. (Just hit "play" above and you'll see what I mean.) The story centers on an aging Rocky Balboa after he watches a computer-simulated boxing match between himself and the current young, beefy boxing champion. In the virtual world, Rocky is the predicted winner, so Rocky decides to try his hand at fighting the whippersnapper, having at least one computer program that believes in him. He begins training for yet another Big Fight, except this time, he's also up against a variety of ailments and frailties commonly associated with, you know, old age.

It seems like there's no good way to end this movie. A win would be pretty difficult to believe, yet if he loses, we'll have just watched an old man get pummeled. Even Rocky has reservations about returning to the ring, saying "I ain't interested in getting mangled and embarrassed." Judging from the trailer, it looks like it's a little too late for the embarrassed part.