Underdog of the Year -- Or Just a DOG?!?!

No doubt about it. In fact, I think the title (if not the script itself) is already written; Rocky VII: The Greatest Comeback in History

Incidentally, Carl Sagan never actually uttered that millions and millions, or billions and billions line. It actually became attributed to him as the result of a satirical skit performed by Johnny Carson.

Since he dies in this one, it should have been called "Rocky 6 (Feet Under)".

Response from Head RAZZberry: Actually, it's Adrian who's dead in ROCKY BALBOA -- And her character has "passed away" before this film's story begins...

This movie looks like a winner, but I think that Milo Ventimiglia will get a Razzie nomination. Razzie voters will acknowledge it somewhere...

Response from Head RAZZberry:  I am preparing our 27th Annual RAZZIE Nominating Ballot this week and, yes, Milo (and Burt Young as Paulie) will both be listed as contenders for Worst Supporting Actor. If Young makes the final five, it will be his third RAZZIE Nomination for playing this same character (he was also a contender for ROCKY IV and ROCKY V). Other than those two truly wretched performances, though, ROCKY BALBOA will not be formally listed in any of the other 10 categories on the ballot. Members who still want to vote for RB will, as alwaze, be allowed to write it in wherever they wish...

I saw We Are Marshall this weekend. Let me say at the outset, for the benefit of those here who seem to think we never say anything positive about any movies I enjoyed it very much. But I am mentioning it for a different reason.

Having now seen this movie, I read some of the reviews for it at RT. As a majority, the reviews for this movie have been negative. On the other hand, Rocky Balboa is getting positive reviews by a margin of about 3 to one. I have noticed two rather curious trends.

1. Close reading of a lot of the reviews for RB demonstrates a rather consistant theme: "Gee, this movie wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be." Or "It was better than I expected." Curiously, the overall tone of the reviews may not be all that positive, but these phases or variations of them seem to be winning it a positive review rating.

2. RB is generally being praised for exactly the same reasons the same reviewers are bagging Marshall.

The above is why, as I have noted in another thread, I don't put all that much faith in professional film critics.

The film critic in my city's newspaper gave it a B (out of A - F)
and says that Stallone retires his character with some dignity and grace, after numerous sequels to the Oscar winning original that built up to self parody.

To me this review suggests two things:

1. Rocky VI is much better than the Razzie-nominated Rocky IV and Rocky V.
2. This movie has a fitting conclusion (rocky might actually die) and it
strongly indicates that there will be no more sequels.

Response from Head RAZZberry: To get a sense of his own perspective on the film (and to see clips) I have been TiVo-ing Stallone's various talk show appearances promoting ROCKY BALBOA this last week. He has repeatedly made it clear (especially in his GMA interview with Diane Sawyer) that this is indeed the final episode in the ROCKY saga. Lest we think it's the end of Duh Sly Guy, he has also made clear in every interview that he is now putting together financing for RAMBO IV (in which Internet rumors have Rambo capturing Ossama Bin Laden)...

With 52 reviews now in at RT, Rocky Balboa is standing at 77%. The guess here is as the other half of the reviews come in, we'll see a trend of positive ratings somewhat over 50%, dropping this a little, but keeping it well within the range I predicted above (69% +/- 10 points).

Allow me to also express my hopes that #1Slyfan has enough of whatever he is taking to go around. Even in a year of exceptionally weak competition, there is just no way RB is going to draw Oscar attention in any significant category (or likely any minors ones either). Nor is there any probability it will challenge Pirates 2 at the box-office. If RB ends up cracking $120 million domestic, Stallone ought to rip of his clothes and dance around like a wino that just discovered the Fountain of Sangria.