How Will Sly End ROCKY BALBOA??

So then the arguments months ago about the decision already being made is true for you, right Saturn.   Someone accused the Razzies of already making their mind up, but was told that wasn't the case.  But it seems to be for you at least.  No worries.  Your opinion matters to me as little as mine does to you. 

Response from Head RAZZberry: Sorry to hear that you presume we don't value your opinion. At this point in time (9am/PST on December 19, 2006) it certainly looks like your idol Stallone may pull off the surprise box office hit of the season.  If he does, more power to him, and we'll probably leave him alone for 2006. But if ROCKY BALBOA is a huge hit, and Sly goes into production on RAMBO IV with an inflated ego, I'd hazard to guess that the endless back-and-forth about possibly giving him a Worst Career Achievement RAZZIE will be replayed again next year...

IT Beast made the point well above, but it is probably worth restating. If the question involved whether or not Stallone deserved any Razzie nominations on the basis of his performance in, or the quality of the film Rocky Balboa (and that question may yet be set before us) I would reserve judgment until the film was released and I had adequate information (in all probability from actually seeing it) as to whether or not he received my vote on the subsequent ballot.

 While we have all taken our respective jabs at Stallone, which are perfectly justified based on his history and the mere fact that this film is getting made, I don't think anyone here has decided to nominate either Stallone or this movie for anything just yet.

(NOTE: Just today, some information came to me about the plot-line of this film courtesy of one of the resident reviewers from The Rocky Mountain News. I have to admit that the general plot line makes the entire thing more plausible than I expected. Out of respect for a plea made earlier by Head Razz, I'll not post the information.)

Since the question as presented involved whether or not Stallone deserved consideration on the basis of a career body of work, IMHO the answer is decidedly yes, regardless of how his latest effort turns out. In other words, I am making a decision on the matter on the basis of the big picture rather than a single piece of it, as I think most of us are inclined to do. Let's face it. If Ed Wood had managed to make an Oscar worthy picture sometime in his career, he'd still be remembered for the Plan Nine 's and  the Glen or Glenda 's.

With all due respect, you do me a disservice on two points:

1. Your claim that your opinion is of no interest to me. In fact, the horse race with only one entry would be a pointless and uninteresting spectacle.

2. You are lumping my arguments on two, at best vaguely related questions, together. As I hope now has been made clear, while a prediction of dubious outcome was not out of the question for Rocky Balboa, no one here has made final judgment. On the greater question of Stallone's eligibility for consideration for a special Razzie based on a career body of work, his latest film is of little consequence in the final consideration.

Although the numbers at RT for ROCKY BALBOA have dropped overnight from a high of 80% approval on Friday, they are still above 55% favorable (albeit, with only 7 reviews in so far). So the possibility does exist that Duh Sly Guy might actually pull off a surprise, and create a watchable movie again.

Guess we'll all know once the picture opens this Wednesday...

You guys are not going to believe this, but as of 7:06/PST on Monday, Dec 18th, ROCKY B is not only back up to 77%, but at 100% for the cream of the crop over at RT. Someone may have to pick ME off the canvas if this trend continues! I might actually enjoy myself when I go see this on Friday, which would be a very pleasant surprise -- the 1st time in about 20 years for a Stallone picture!

See, even you can have a bit of an off day..., I was even more surprised that Apocalypto made $16 million in its first week, much less ranking #1 at the B.O. It looks like it may at least be able to pay for its production cost.

Anyways, I do agree there are lots of other movies out there that deserve our immediate attention other than Rocky Balboa. I'm just more or less in shock that after more than 20 years of certified crap (Some of witch Stallone himself finally admitted to) that his latest installment may not be more of same.

Well, we'll find out between tomorrow and Friday for sure if what he pulls off on screen in Rocky Balboa can be pulled off with the critics, this honorable Forum, and most importantly, American moviegoers.

Actually, it was Stallone who made the decision not kill off his own character in Rocky V, not the studio. I dug this up a few months ago in one of our other "Stallone Debate" threads. Here is the exact quote from IMDB; "Sylvester Stallone originally intended for Rocky to die after defeating Tommy Gunn in their streetfight, however he had second thoughts and rewrote the ending, claiming "it would be like killing off Superman". 

With the movie now out, I will say this.  I absolutely loved it.  And as much as I would love for Rocky, thus Sly to kick butt at the box office and really show everyone who isn't rooting for him, I have come to the realization that it doesn't really matter. 

I know low #'s and bad reviews will affect future projects, but for me, I got what I was wanting with Rocky Balboa.  A sweet, sentimental, don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something, Bill Conti score, going the distance close to MY favorite character ever.  And since Sly and Rocky are so much the same in my mind, neither can do much wrong in my eyes.

I have never been so naive as to think or say that Sly never made any bad movies.  But I would like to say that he is the ONLY actor that I am willing to watch whether or not it is a bad movie.  Even the "greats" in the eyes of most can't draw me to a movie that is bad.

  Everyone has an opinion, so, here is mine.  I am sure that you will like Rocky Balboa, and that no matter what it will not redeem Sly enough to avoid your Razz.  That's is OK.  Do what you feel is right... I got what I wanted.  And I will now look forward to whatever Sly does next. 

Response from Head RAZZberry: Dear Fan of 30 Years and #1 Sly Fan -- While we don't totally agree about ROCKY BALBOA, we're much closer in our response than you might expect. Due to the critical acceptance of  the film (LINK) and the fact that it is clearly not bombing at the box office (LINK)  I chose to list it in only two places on my 27th Annual RAZZIES Nominating Ballot (both Burt Young as Paulie and Milo Ventimiglia as Rocky Junior for Worst Supporting Actor). Stallone's performance in this film, especially the scene where he breaks down in tears over the loss of Adrian, was certainly nothing for him to be ashamed of (or for us to poke fun at). We  have also decided 2006 is not an appropriate year to give Sly a Worst Career Achievement award. But if ROCKY VI and its apparent success allow Stallone to finally make RAMBO IV and/or his "dream project" about Edgar Allen Poe, as I mentioned in a previous post, we will likely revisit the issue in the next year or two...

For what it's worth, I doubt either of them will receive sufficient votes to make the final ballot. The competition is sufficiently stiff that RB will likely be ignored by both the AMPAS and the Razzies.