Sylvester Stallone is using his career resurgence in some unexpected ways.
First, he signed up to remake a fellow tough guy’s franchise - Charles Bronson’s “Death Wish” series.
Now, he’s heading to India to appear in a new Bollywood feature. The Wall Street Journal looks at the cultural implications in today’s edition.
Stallone’s international cred is likely higher than his stateside standing. A decade without a major hit hurt him badly, and even the one-two punch of credible “Rocky” and “Rambo” sequels didn’t vault him back to A-list status.
But kudos for trying something new, and for not making a mad dash to the direct-to-DVD circuit.
(Photo: Hollywood’s Italian Stallion, Sylvester Stallone, is planning to shoot a movie in India)
Watching your favorite movie on the big screen is a rare treat, a chance to relive the communal experience of the first time you saw it.
Got that chance last night - the local outdoor cinema-fest broadcast “Raising Arizona” on an inflatable screen.
I’ve seen the film countless (a hundred-plus?) times since its 1987 release. When I worked at a video store in the late 1980s, I’d pop it in at 7:30 p.m. precisely on Saturday nights just so I can hear that yodelling soundtrack as I beat back the mad rush of customers.
No movie reveals more of its greatness with every viewing than Joel and Ethan Coen’s best comedy. Who else but the Coens would hatch a romance based on a repeat offender wooing the woman who takes his mug shot? [click to continue...]
Glenn Beck’s success, or failure, to draw a crowd last night at theaters broadcasting his one-man show could impact more than just his bank account.
If Beck’s experiment succeeds, other radio personalities could go the same route. Or it could convince at least one movie studio that there’s an audience for right-of-center material. Maybe.
WWTW reader Lezlie sent this report from one theater showing “Beck ‘08 - Live” last night:
I just got home from seeing the show in Houston. The theater was packed. The only empty seats were in the front row. Our theater group clapped and cheered along with the audience in Dallas.
Anyone else see the show? What was the crowd’s reaction?
It’s a blessing to settle into your seat and watch, at long last, “The Dark Knight.” All the hype - the rabidly positive reviews, the sequel-driven expectations and incessant chatter about a posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger - fade when the Joker drops his first victim.
That the victim is one of his own henchman says plenty of what’s to come. Director Christopher Nolan quickly puts us on edge, and we stay there for two and a half blissful hours.
“The Dark Knight” is bolder, smarter, more authentically entertaining than its predecessor, or frankly any other movie this summer.
It’s nearly everything you hope for from the franchise, an imperfect but still dizzying ride that goes on and on … and yet you never want it to end. When a film offers this much intelligence, character development and plain ol’ spectacle, why would you? [click to continue...]
You know what we really need — a “wake-up call” movie about the Iraq War.
So says Entertainment Weekly DVD critic Gregory Kirschling in his “Stop-Loss’s” DVD review.
Here’s the full quote from his pan of the film, which follows a soldier (Ryan Phillipe) who goes AWOL when he’s assigned back to Iraq: [click to continue...]
“The Dark Knight”
Ledger’s final role
Battles Batman, Oscar hype
This “Knight” reigns supreme
“Mamma Mia!”
Bride-to-be seeks dad
ABBA songs help lead the way,
Salvage tone deaf script
Sylvester Stallone is using his career resurgence in some unexpected ways.
