Gonna Sly Now…….

Last night was the premiere of the new Rocky Balboa movie here in Philadelphia. With the latest in the 6-cycle movie franchise opening nationwide on Wednesday, Sylvester Stallone and the cast of the movie were in town for the city premiere. (Note: for some doofy reason, the movie had its actual premiere in LA last week...the movie takes place in Philly, and should've premiered in Philly.) The movie is supposed to be the final one of the Rocky movies, with Rocky coming out of retirement to fight a boxer that he ‘beat’ in a computerized match-up. Early word of the movie is that this is a fine addition to the Rocky line, which suffered greatly from the horrible Rocky IV and the sleep-inducing-feel-your-IQ-dropping Rocky V.

Philadelphia is not Hollywood, by any stretch of the imagination, but it has had its share of movie moments, and the Rocky movie and character are no doubt most closely associated with this city. I mean, c’mon, everybody knows the scene where he runs up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Even I’ve done that, while humming the theme from Rocky (Gonna Fly Nowwwwwww). Dorky? Maybe, but people still do it every day.

I remember when they were filming this new movie around the city last spring, seeing the lighting, sound and set trucks around City Hall one morning on my way to work was neat. Returning home that night, the trucks were packing back up, and all I could wonder is “what did they shoot here today?”

Like most people, I was burned out by the Rocky franchise when Rocky IV and V came out. Although, Rocky IV does hold a small spot in my heart for this reason: this movie came out while I was in the Navy in Virginia Beach back in 1985. I refused to see it in the theater because I figured it would be dumb. But, I spent Christmas of that year docked in Singapore, and wouldn’t you know it? Rocky IV was playing at the local movie theater. So, I saw it there, and though it was in English, the Mandarin subtitles were across the bottom of the screen! It was nice to have that small touch of America while serving the country overseas. I saw Rocky V on VHS some years after it was released. That movie can be summed up in one word: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I am looking forward to Rocky VI….or as it’s really known, Rocky Balboa. I’m psyched that Sly has taken the character back to credibility, or so the critics are saying. Plus, it’s kind of cool (dorky?) to see movies that are shot in Philly because I love saying out loud during the movie, “HEY! I’ve been there!” or “I know where that place is!” Seeing the local landmarks brings movies just a little bit closer as a viewer, so when they’re shot in Philly, I like to watch them.

For instance, another movie shot in Philly last year and released this year was the movie Invincible, about Philadelphia Eagles walk-on football player Vince Papale. Papale was a local bartender and part-time teacher who won a spot on the Eagles after trying out for the team during an open-tryout. Dick Vermeil, then the coach, liked what he saw, and brought Papale onto the team, making him the oldest rookie in NFL history to make a team without the benefit of college experience, with the exception of kickers. This feel-good story was made into a movie and released this year, with Mark Wahlberg playing Papale. This story, like the original Rocky, was the story of an underdog who succeeded. And, like the original Rocky movie, Invincible was well done, and well received.

So, Rocky Balboa comes out Wednesday (tomorrow). I’ll catch it this weekend and let you know what I think. And a big congrats to Sly for bringing his career back with a respectable movie, and returning glory to the story of Rocky Balboa.

Of course, now that Stallone’s gotten himself back up on the chair of respectability in Hollywood, he’s going to kick that chair back out from under himself….he wants to bring back his Rambo character for one more go round. Ugh.