MTV @ Rambo Rough Cut Premiere

Larry Carroll over at MTV.com takes a look at Sly Stallone's rough cut presentation of "Rambo." You can check out the article by clicking HERE. - Craig

Not to be Messed With

SZoner, Bill Pruitt checked in with... Hi Craig, Here's my latest creation combining graphics in photoshop and a teaser of my latest oil painting which will be revealed soon. I wanted to convey in this ad that Rambo means business and that he will NOT be messed with.
Bill
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Another great piece, Bill. As always, thanks for sharing. - Craig

Let the Fun Begin!

John Hutchins at UGO.com attended an advance showing of "Rambo" and Sly was in attendance. Sly spoke before the screening about why he choose to revisit Rambo now, the push for realism, and concluded with... "Maybe it's the last time I visit John Rambo, but I'm very glad you showed up tonight because we're proud of the film, and I'm proud of everyone who was involved with it and...well...let the fun begin!" For the full report, click HERE. - Craig

Rambo @ Times Square

A huge, nearly 80-foot-tall, "graffiti-inspired" poster for Rambo is currently on display at Seventh Avenue north of 47th Street in Times Square. You can read more about the poster HERE. - Craig

Burt Young Reflects

Stephen Williams wrote a great little piece on Burt Young for Newsday.com. Here's what is said about Sly and appearing in the Rocky movies:

"Rocky" soon followed. Young had worked with the original's producers, Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, which led to Stallone selecting the plucky Young to play the character - Paulie was Rocky's cinematic brother-in-law - that would span all six "Rockys."

"I'm not Paulie," said Young, "but there's a part of Paulie in all of us ... cowardice, bravado, false bravado. And I knew how to beat the drum to make the guy interesting and ugly and pathetic."

Young initially balked at the invitation to do the first sequel - "I didn't want to be part of an ensemble," he said - but eventually agreed. "It wasn't the money," he says. "It don't mean that much to me, I find a way to get by, and I find a way to blow it."

Will he see the new "Rambo" with Stallone when it opens Jan. 25?

"You know," he said, and this is why you have to love Burt Young, "I've never seen a 'Rambo.'"

Burt Young on Paulie, Rocky, and Sly:

"I first met Stallone, I was in the studio commissary, he comes to my table, he says, 'Mr. Young, I'm Sylvester Stallone, I wrote "Rocky." You gotta do a part, you gotta do a part.'

"I says, 'Shush, whaddaya doin'? Let me twist their arms [the producers] a little bit, lemme make a buck.' And he lit up. Turns out I was the highest-paid actor in the first one.

"Stallone wrote exquisitely; he wrote street prose. I think he saw me when he wrote it. Like Arthur Miller, he'd cut the commas off. You'd say, hey, he saying somethin' without the commas.

"Seventeen years after 'Rocky V,' we came back [for 'Rocky Balboa'], and it was pretty sentimental for me. Stallone was [...] Michelangelo painting the chapel. He wouldn't let anything alone. He was a force. It was touching."

For the full article click HERE. - Craig

Bruce, Piven and Sly

Bruce Willis, Jeremy Piven and Sylvester Stallone attended Ricky Hatton's recent fight against Floyd Mayweather. - Craig

...And Lookin' the Way You Do.

Bill Pruitt sent in the photo of his latest Stallone painting above and this message:

Hi Craig,

Here is a new painting I just completed. It's my first one from "First Blood". I am very pleased with how it turned out. This is a pivotal scene in the movie. It's exactly the moment that sets up the whole movie. He is making the decision right there to get in the car with Teasle. After that, of course, is pure classic Sly action. The title of this piece is "Wearing that flag on your jacket and lookin' the way you do......"
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Bill - not only is it another great painting, but you did hit the EXACT moment when you can see Rambo deciding he's not going to be pushed again. Perfect! Thanks as always for sharing your talents with us! - Craig

Adam Shippee's Rambo

SZoner, Adam Shippee sent in the art above and this message:

Here's a piece of Rambo art, but it is not colorized yet. I am trying to change the way I approach a drawing, and the way it looks. well, I hope you like it

Adam
ashippee1@cox.net
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I do, Adam and my guess is SZoners will as well! Thanks for sharing. - Craig

Rocky Gets Grand Visual Treatment

Earlier this week I received the following e-mail:

Hi Craig,

Wonderful site!

Thought you might like this, we did it to promote the release of Rocky Balboa and it was really popular with Rocky fans everywhere – including us!

Best Regards,

Sabeena Love
Strategist
Grand Visual
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Thanks Sabeena for the kind words and the link. You guys did a great job in picking a perfect scene! - Craig

Sly Saved Dolly

Dolly Parton says that when she was at the lowest point in her life it was Sylvester Stallone who saved her!

In 1984, prior to filming on "Rhinestone" Dolly learned that she would never be able to have children and it devastated her. Dolly recently told an interviewer for The Globe, "It was an awful time for me... Every day I thought, 'I wish I had the nerve to kill myself." Then Dolly started filming "Rhinestone" with Sly. Dolly still has fond memories of the filming, "Even though the movie didn't do that well, that was one of my greatest projects because Stallone was so full of life and so crazy and funny, and he made me laugh a lot, which was really healthy for me. That got me back on track."

Click HERE to read the full report. - Craig

Access Hollywood Interview

Click HERE for a nice little Access Hollywood interview. - Craig

Two New Stallone Sites

Oskar is from Poland and wanted us to know about his Rambo website. - Craig

Andrey is the administrator of the first unofficial Russian site about Stallone . The cake was a gift from his sister on his 23rd birthday [December 3rd]! - Craig

John Rambo is Everywhere!

The above photos were sent in by SZoner, and buddy Chris! - Craig

Rivera's Rambo

Paolo Rivera is a painter for Marvel Comics. Paolo recently attended a comic book convention where he was asked to sketch Rambo on a Death of Captain America cover. So what other fan is collecting Stallone Art? - Craig

MTV on the John Rambo Bandwagon!

MTV has a movie blog and they have started to proudly promote "John Rambo." - Craig

TMZ: "Sly Gets Sketchy"

Today, TMZ posted a larger version of the above photo. - Craig

SZ Exclusive: PH Opening Coverage

StalloneZoner, Randy Rousseau was able to attend the recent Planet Hollywood opening in Las Vegas. Not only did he and his family get to go, but they also met several celebrities including Sly!

Randy was especially excited to hear that John Rambo will premiere at the Las Vegas Planet Hollywood on January 24th! Hopefully Randy will be able to attend and send us back pictures and a report!

Randy's kids were able to get a photo with former N'Sync band member, Dancing with the Stars celeb and host of The Singing Bee, Joey Fatone!

Criss Angel was on hand for the festivities.

The great Sugar Ray Leonard posed for a shot with Randy and his son!

Milio Ventimiglia ["Rocky Balboa" and tv's smash hit Heroes] signed autographs...

... and posed for photos!

And of course Sly was there to kick off the festivities [He introduced Earth, Wind and Fire before their concert]...

... posed for photos with fans...

... spoke with friends and fans...

... and signed tons of autographs...

Thanks to Randy for another great StalloneZone exclusive! - Craig

Official John Rambo Site Live

The Official John Rambo site is live and updated. - Craig