Eye of the Tiger, baby. Eye of the Tiger.
May. 24th, 2007 04:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thehefner(Note: I've had real issues hot-linking for some reason. If you click on a link, you might get a webpage that starts with a cats_n_crying.livejournal.com URL. I don't know why! Just delete that first part and go ahead at the actual page in the rest of the URL, which is usually a youtube video, and you'll be golden.)
So as the Dad situation continues to look bad (bleak at "worst," a long, painful road ahead at "best"), I'm going to throw myself into a post that I'd been planning to write a few days ago. This is a long one, but I'm not going to put it behind a cut-tag. Maybe you'll figure out why if you read it.
So, until a week and a half ago... I had never seen a single film in the ROCKY series.
Of course, movie fans would be shocked and say, "What, not even the first?!" because to most, the first is the only one that matters. Indeed, the ROCKY sequels are notorious for how overblown they got, getting successively worse until the final ignominious crash-and-burn that is ROCKY V. They're a joke, and moreso, so is Stallone himself. So why, you may ask yourself, why in the name of Paulie's robot wife (more on that in a bit) would I want to subject myself to watching the entire ROCKY series, all six movies, over the course of a week?
A couple reasons. You see, Stallone had been doing a series of wonderful Q&A's from the readers at aintitcool.com in the month before the release of ROCKY BALBOA (the sixth and final part, released last Christmas), and I was amazed by just how funny, self-effacing, and just downright cool the man was. I mean, hey, I love me some DEMOLITION MAN, but I never really gave a thrupenny fuck about the guy's movies. But those interviews actually made me want to see ROCKY BALBOA, except I hadn't seen any of them in the first place.
Even still, I probably would not have done that had I not read Devin's entertaining yet intriguing review at CHUD.com for ROCKY BALBOA, wherein he wrote: Jesus Christ, ROCKY BALBOA works. Not always, and certainly not consistently, but more often than not ROCKY BALBOA is a movie that grabs and exhilarates the audience – and that’s despite huge problems like a bizarre structure, rampantly flat acting and sloppy editing. This film just shouldn’t be this enjoyable, and that’s part of its charm.
Rocky Balboa could never have worked if there hadn’t been ROCKYs II through V; it was only by ruining the character and the franchise that Sylvester Stallone could properly return them to underdog status. The movie, like its aging, punch-drunk hero, was considered a laughable dinosaur, and so Rocky’s triumph in the movie is a meta-triumph for author Stallone. While Rocky hasn’t debased his boxing career in the way that Stallone has debased his acting career, the movie exists as a metaphor for itself and the man behind it all.
And so I decided (and finally, two weeks back, following through on said decision) to watch them all, in as close proximity to one another as possible, never having seen a single one before.
Let me say this outright: this was one of the most fascinating, moving, thought-provoking cinematic experiences I've ever had.
You need to think of this from the perspective of someone who didn't grow up with these films, who didn't wait years between each sequel, letting the months pass and building up the expectations (good or bad). I can easily imagine what it must have been like for those people; their little down-to-earth underdog story was getting more bloated and more ridiculous each film, until it became a shallow mockery of itself, a joke.
Let me address that point head-on. Remember the original ROCKY? Remember how down-to-earth and small the whole story was, right up to the actual boxing match, with Rocky coming out dressed in a humble, ratty robe? Now, do you remember how Apollo entered the ring? Dressed as George Washington, followed by a procession. Keeping that in mind, the utter ridiculousness of all the Mr. Ts and Ivan Dragos make perfect sense: the ROCKY sequels get more and more overblown because... he's in Apollo's world now. A Bizarro World of fame, with colorful costumes, James Brown musical numbers, and robots. It's a fascinating picture on the various stages of fame... and, subsequently, the various stages of Stallone's career.
See, viewed simply as movies, they're OK. But viewed as reflections of the artist, they're just absolutely rich, hilarious, rousing, and moving. Occasionally, all at the same time.
My brother, the art historian, said that before Van Gogh, no one really thought about how the artist's life affected their work, about how the two could be inter-connected, and make the art stand out a lot more than it simply might on its own. And it has to be remembered, Stallone doesn't just star in the ROCKY movies. The man wrote every single one, and directed all but two or three. It may sound bizarre, even blasphemous, to compare Sylvester Stallone to Vincent Van Gogh, and I say again, the ROCKY movies (aside, perhaps, for the very first) aren't all that good.
Even the first film it's hokey, corny, schmaltzy, sorta gosh-darn American in it's own deese-dem-doze kinda way, yet it's propelled by the universal appeal of the Underdog story. Though, more importantly, in my opinion, it's also told in such a self-effacing, good-humored way, coupled with heart... yes, the movie truly did have as much "heart" as the main character (another very important connection that I'll make later), to make the whole thing so endearing, and then engaging, and finally, inspiring.
But then, there came the sequels.
ROCKY II suffers from major sequelitis: let's basically just redo the entire first film, right down to all the famous and favorite moments, but let's make them even BIGGER! He's not just trying to win Adrian's heart, he's trying to keep her alive! He's not just punching meat, now he's chasing chickens! He's not just running up the steps, now he's accompanied by a couple hundred random cheering children! AND HE FUCKING BEATS APOLLO THIS TIME! WOOO! It's silly! And yet, there's still that heart, and it's still totally fun to watch.
ROCKY III is where things really start to enter Bizarro World. I mean, the presence of Mr. T alone proves that, but really, our first indication should really come when Rocky agrees to a charity boxer vs. wrestler match with "Thunderlips," played by Hulk Hogan. That right there should be the shark-jumping moment, by all accounts. But it isn't. Not by a long-shot. Not long after Burgess Meredith utters the greatest line in the entire series, "This guy'll kill you to death!" we got Rocky's loss, depression, and rebirth, with Apollo saying "Eye of the tiger" fifteen million fucking times. And, of course, there's "Eye of the Tiger" itself; is there any greater signifier that we're no longer in Smallville moviemaking?
But all that's no comparison for the montage sequence. You see, once the music started up this time, I found myself grinning like a fool and my heart-rate increasing. Two movies in, and even as I was realizing how damn silly it all is, I found myself going "Awwww yeah, here we go!" when "Gonna Fly Now" kicked in. But nothing, I mean nothing, could have prepared me for the OMGWTFBBQ TOTALLY GAY HOPPING CLAPPING HUGGING SPLASHING JUNGLE FEVER YAY ending. The rest of the movie is history, right down to the painting and "Eye of the Tiger" once again... but my brain exploded a little during that montage, and I thought I'd never be able to recover.
Silly me. Because ROCKY IV was next. I didn't even know what crack was until I saw ROCKY IV.
I'll make this simple. Paulie gets a robot. Did you all understand that? PAULIE GETS A ROBOT. No, it's even better. PAULIE MARRIES THE FUCKING ROBOT. I mean, he had to have at some point off-camera. Theirs is a love story that totally rivals Rocky's and Adrian's. Or Rocky's and Apollo's. Or Rocky's and Mickey's.
And then, just before not one but TWO montage sequences, we get a full-blown James Brown musical number of "Livin' In America." And to the credit of the film, it's a perfect counterpoint to Drago, who in many ways (albeit a backwards, corrupt, scientific/sterioid-enhanced manner) reflects Rocky's origins. He's not here for all the pomp and circumstance, all the pageantry and showmanship. He'd be befuddled and overwhelmed by it all if he cared. It's actually kind of a nice touch, in the midst (and in the face) of all the crack.
Which builds to world-destroying proportions in the fight itself, first in the form of Evil Gorbachev, lording over the battle like Emperor fucking Palpatine... and then the ending. Wherein Rocky... I swear to Grodd.. ROCKY SINGLE-HANDEDLY ENDS THE COLD WAR.
So ROCKY V, by comparison, at least returns to the real world. And in that respect, I think it's underrated, and that it's certainly a "better" movie, by general standards of quality, that IV. It still ain't great, and it's clearly a very misguided attempt for Stallone to do a movie about fatherhood. But even as a failed statement on being a Dad, it still brings up some very interesting points about that stage in Stallone's life. He's already sorta being seen as a faded star, still in the limelight but coasting more on his name and past than anything he's actually doing at the time, and wanting to figure out what, exactly, is really important to him.
Also, how can you not love the ghost of Mickey showing up, Obi-Wan style, and yelling, "Get up, you son of a bitch! Get up and fight! Cuz Mickey loves ya!" It almost makes up for the bizarre soap opera time frame, where Rocky leaves his 5-year-old son in America to go off to the Soviet Union in IV, and upon his return three weeks later in ROCKY V, finds his son is now magically twelve years old (and now being played by Stallone's actual son).
All of which brings us to ROCKY BALBOA.
Remember, back in ROCKY V, he'd retired because of brain damage and age. Aside from the street brawl, Rocky himself never stepped back in the ring in that film. He was done, seriously. That was back in 1990. Now in 2006, Rocky is 60 years old, and he's gonna get back into the ring again. By all accounts, this movie shouldn't exist, and its existence itself should be an idiotic joke about a has-been who was a has-been years ago. The thing is, the movie knows this, and that's its greatest strength.
Which brings us back to Devin's review. He was absolutely right. It's precisely because of that, coupled with ROCKYs II through V, along with that heart, that damned heart, bigger than ever... that this movie WORKS. No, more than that. Viewed together, these aren't six movies. This is one film, an epic that (in its own way) utterly rivals THE GODFATHER, STAR WARS, and LORD OF THE RINGS. No, I'm totally serious! Stop looking at me like that!
It's actually superior to the first two in that its greatest asset is its strong first and last films (no heartbreaking factors like Ewoks or, hell, all of GODFATHER III). ROCKY BALBOA is easily the second best film in the series, which may not be saying much to some of you, but the end result is a saga that starts strong, gets bigger, descends into darkness just before the dawn, wheren it emerges triumphant... but remember, triumph for Rocky doesn't necessarily mean in the ring.
So all in all, this was, again, a moving cinematic unlike any I've ever seen. We've all seen movies that were "personal projects" of the artist, films very close to the filmmaker's heart, but those are usually ballsy, bold projects that reach to stars, and sometimes fall into the gutter. But in ROCKY and ROCKY BALBOA, Stallone sad self-deprecation knocks himself down before his detractors even get the chance. Along with his/Rocky's decent good nature, and unexpected level of wit and humor, we're left with a saga that we laughed at more than we laughed with, a true underdog both in the film as much as the films themselves.
That's the genius of the ROCKY saga. We know it's an underdog story going in, and yet we still underestimate him.
And then "Gonna Fly Now" starts up. And when that happens, and you realize you've underestimated the Italian Stallion right along with everyone else, I dare you not to smile.
Next time, I'll do the entire PLANET OF THE APES saga.
So as the Dad situation continues to look bad (bleak at "worst," a long, painful road ahead at "best"), I'm going to throw myself into a post that I'd been planning to write a few days ago. This is a long one, but I'm not going to put it behind a cut-tag. Maybe you'll figure out why if you read it.
So, until a week and a half ago... I had never seen a single film in the ROCKY series.
Of course, movie fans would be shocked and say, "What, not even the first?!" because to most, the first is the only one that matters. Indeed, the ROCKY sequels are notorious for how overblown they got, getting successively worse until the final ignominious crash-and-burn that is ROCKY V. They're a joke, and moreso, so is Stallone himself. So why, you may ask yourself, why in the name of Paulie's robot wife (more on that in a bit) would I want to subject myself to watching the entire ROCKY series, all six movies, over the course of a week?
A couple reasons. You see, Stallone had been doing a series of wonderful Q&A's from the readers at aintitcool.com in the month before the release of ROCKY BALBOA (the sixth and final part, released last Christmas), and I was amazed by just how funny, self-effacing, and just downright cool the man was. I mean, hey, I love me some DEMOLITION MAN, but I never really gave a thrupenny fuck about the guy's movies. But those interviews actually made me want to see ROCKY BALBOA, except I hadn't seen any of them in the first place.
Even still, I probably would not have done that had I not read Devin's entertaining yet intriguing review at CHUD.com for ROCKY BALBOA, wherein he wrote: Jesus Christ, ROCKY BALBOA works. Not always, and certainly not consistently, but more often than not ROCKY BALBOA is a movie that grabs and exhilarates the audience – and that’s despite huge problems like a bizarre structure, rampantly flat acting and sloppy editing. This film just shouldn’t be this enjoyable, and that’s part of its charm.
Rocky Balboa could never have worked if there hadn’t been ROCKYs II through V; it was only by ruining the character and the franchise that Sylvester Stallone could properly return them to underdog status. The movie, like its aging, punch-drunk hero, was considered a laughable dinosaur, and so Rocky’s triumph in the movie is a meta-triumph for author Stallone. While Rocky hasn’t debased his boxing career in the way that Stallone has debased his acting career, the movie exists as a metaphor for itself and the man behind it all.
And so I decided (and finally, two weeks back, following through on said decision) to watch them all, in as close proximity to one another as possible, never having seen a single one before.
Let me say this outright: this was one of the most fascinating, moving, thought-provoking cinematic experiences I've ever had.
You need to think of this from the perspective of someone who didn't grow up with these films, who didn't wait years between each sequel, letting the months pass and building up the expectations (good or bad). I can easily imagine what it must have been like for those people; their little down-to-earth underdog story was getting more bloated and more ridiculous each film, until it became a shallow mockery of itself, a joke.
Let me address that point head-on. Remember the original ROCKY? Remember how down-to-earth and small the whole story was, right up to the actual boxing match, with Rocky coming out dressed in a humble, ratty robe? Now, do you remember how Apollo entered the ring? Dressed as George Washington, followed by a procession. Keeping that in mind, the utter ridiculousness of all the Mr. Ts and Ivan Dragos make perfect sense: the ROCKY sequels get more and more overblown because... he's in Apollo's world now. A Bizarro World of fame, with colorful costumes, James Brown musical numbers, and robots. It's a fascinating picture on the various stages of fame... and, subsequently, the various stages of Stallone's career.
See, viewed simply as movies, they're OK. But viewed as reflections of the artist, they're just absolutely rich, hilarious, rousing, and moving. Occasionally, all at the same time.
My brother, the art historian, said that before Van Gogh, no one really thought about how the artist's life affected their work, about how the two could be inter-connected, and make the art stand out a lot more than it simply might on its own. And it has to be remembered, Stallone doesn't just star in the ROCKY movies. The man wrote every single one, and directed all but two or three. It may sound bizarre, even blasphemous, to compare Sylvester Stallone to Vincent Van Gogh, and I say again, the ROCKY movies (aside, perhaps, for the very first) aren't all that good.
Even the first film it's hokey, corny, schmaltzy, sorta gosh-darn American in it's own deese-dem-doze kinda way, yet it's propelled by the universal appeal of the Underdog story. Though, more importantly, in my opinion, it's also told in such a self-effacing, good-humored way, coupled with heart... yes, the movie truly did have as much "heart" as the main character (another very important connection that I'll make later), to make the whole thing so endearing, and then engaging, and finally, inspiring.
But then, there came the sequels.
ROCKY II suffers from major sequelitis: let's basically just redo the entire first film, right down to all the famous and favorite moments, but let's make them even BIGGER! He's not just trying to win Adrian's heart, he's trying to keep her alive! He's not just punching meat, now he's chasing chickens! He's not just running up the steps, now he's accompanied by a couple hundred random cheering children! AND HE FUCKING BEATS APOLLO THIS TIME! WOOO! It's silly! And yet, there's still that heart, and it's still totally fun to watch.
ROCKY III is where things really start to enter Bizarro World. I mean, the presence of Mr. T alone proves that, but really, our first indication should really come when Rocky agrees to a charity boxer vs. wrestler match with "Thunderlips," played by Hulk Hogan. That right there should be the shark-jumping moment, by all accounts. But it isn't. Not by a long-shot. Not long after Burgess Meredith utters the greatest line in the entire series, "This guy'll kill you to death!" we got Rocky's loss, depression, and rebirth, with Apollo saying "Eye of the tiger" fifteen million fucking times. And, of course, there's "Eye of the Tiger" itself; is there any greater signifier that we're no longer in Smallville moviemaking?
But all that's no comparison for the montage sequence. You see, once the music started up this time, I found myself grinning like a fool and my heart-rate increasing. Two movies in, and even as I was realizing how damn silly it all is, I found myself going "Awwww yeah, here we go!" when "Gonna Fly Now" kicked in. But nothing, I mean nothing, could have prepared me for the OMGWTFBBQ TOTALLY GAY HOPPING CLAPPING HUGGING SPLASHING JUNGLE FEVER YAY ending. The rest of the movie is history, right down to the painting and "Eye of the Tiger" once again... but my brain exploded a little during that montage, and I thought I'd never be able to recover.
Silly me. Because ROCKY IV was next. I didn't even know what crack was until I saw ROCKY IV.
I'll make this simple. Paulie gets a robot. Did you all understand that? PAULIE GETS A ROBOT. No, it's even better. PAULIE MARRIES THE FUCKING ROBOT. I mean, he had to have at some point off-camera. Theirs is a love story that totally rivals Rocky's and Adrian's. Or Rocky's and Apollo's. Or Rocky's and Mickey's.
And then, just before not one but TWO montage sequences, we get a full-blown James Brown musical number of "Livin' In America." And to the credit of the film, it's a perfect counterpoint to Drago, who in many ways (albeit a backwards, corrupt, scientific/sterioid-enhanced manner) reflects Rocky's origins. He's not here for all the pomp and circumstance, all the pageantry and showmanship. He'd be befuddled and overwhelmed by it all if he cared. It's actually kind of a nice touch, in the midst (and in the face) of all the crack.
Which builds to world-destroying proportions in the fight itself, first in the form of Evil Gorbachev, lording over the battle like Emperor fucking Palpatine... and then the ending. Wherein Rocky... I swear to Grodd.. ROCKY SINGLE-HANDEDLY ENDS THE COLD WAR.
So ROCKY V, by comparison, at least returns to the real world. And in that respect, I think it's underrated, and that it's certainly a "better" movie, by general standards of quality, that IV. It still ain't great, and it's clearly a very misguided attempt for Stallone to do a movie about fatherhood. But even as a failed statement on being a Dad, it still brings up some very interesting points about that stage in Stallone's life. He's already sorta being seen as a faded star, still in the limelight but coasting more on his name and past than anything he's actually doing at the time, and wanting to figure out what, exactly, is really important to him.
Also, how can you not love the ghost of Mickey showing up, Obi-Wan style, and yelling, "Get up, you son of a bitch! Get up and fight! Cuz Mickey loves ya!" It almost makes up for the bizarre soap opera time frame, where Rocky leaves his 5-year-old son in America to go off to the Soviet Union in IV, and upon his return three weeks later in ROCKY V, finds his son is now magically twelve years old (and now being played by Stallone's actual son).
All of which brings us to ROCKY BALBOA.
Remember, back in ROCKY V, he'd retired because of brain damage and age. Aside from the street brawl, Rocky himself never stepped back in the ring in that film. He was done, seriously. That was back in 1990. Now in 2006, Rocky is 60 years old, and he's gonna get back into the ring again. By all accounts, this movie shouldn't exist, and its existence itself should be an idiotic joke about a has-been who was a has-been years ago. The thing is, the movie knows this, and that's its greatest strength.
Which brings us back to Devin's review. He was absolutely right. It's precisely because of that, coupled with ROCKYs II through V, along with that heart, that damned heart, bigger than ever... that this movie WORKS. No, more than that. Viewed together, these aren't six movies. This is one film, an epic that (in its own way) utterly rivals THE GODFATHER, STAR WARS, and LORD OF THE RINGS. No, I'm totally serious! Stop looking at me like that!
It's actually superior to the first two in that its greatest asset is its strong first and last films (no heartbreaking factors like Ewoks or, hell, all of GODFATHER III). ROCKY BALBOA is easily the second best film in the series, which may not be saying much to some of you, but the end result is a saga that starts strong, gets bigger, descends into darkness just before the dawn, wheren it emerges triumphant... but remember, triumph for Rocky doesn't necessarily mean in the ring.
So all in all, this was, again, a moving cinematic unlike any I've ever seen. We've all seen movies that were "personal projects" of the artist, films very close to the filmmaker's heart, but those are usually ballsy, bold projects that reach to stars, and sometimes fall into the gutter. But in ROCKY and ROCKY BALBOA, Stallone sad self-deprecation knocks himself down before his detractors even get the chance. Along with his/Rocky's decent good nature, and unexpected level of wit and humor, we're left with a saga that we laughed at more than we laughed with, a true underdog both in the film as much as the films themselves.
That's the genius of the ROCKY saga. We know it's an underdog story going in, and yet we still underestimate him.
And then "Gonna Fly Now" starts up. And when that happens, and you realize you've underestimated the Italian Stallion right along with everyone else, I dare you not to smile.
Next time, I'll do the entire PLANET OF THE APES saga.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
funny you should mention it...
Date: 2007-05-24 10:57 pm (UTC)http://tvlistings4.zap2it.com/partners/grid.asp?partner_id=was
in Spanish.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-25 12:41 am (UTC)Also, what's otp?
no subject
Date: 2007-05-25 04:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-25 12:48 pm (UTC)Also, I will be at Faustus tonight. Will you be playing said doomed man tonight?
no subject
Date: 2007-05-25 01:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-25 04:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-25 06:11 am (UTC)...mmmm...nougat...
no subject
Date: 2007-05-25 06:15 am (UTC)Tangently related, NEW RAMBO! Best part is, Stallone's all like, "Yeah, it's almost done, but we've decided to edit in some more HARDCORE AWESOME!" alkjgfsdlksdfja
no subject
Date: 2007-05-25 01:41 pm (UTC)