rocky Tagged Articles at Cinematical

He's resurrected Rocky. He brought back Rambo. And now Sylvester Stallone might be continuing the trend by reprising his role as rock climber Gabe Walker for another Cliffhanger film. Remember that one? Stallone plays a rock climber who accidentally drops his best friend's gal off a mountain, then returns to stop John Lithgow from stealing a bunch of money? It's a pretty good film -- and anytime you have Lithgow play the villain, you won't go wrong. According to PR Insider, "Sony executives are in negotiations with Stallone to revive the character for The Dam."

Uh oh, does that mean there will be lots of water involved this time? Stallone first played the character back in 1993, and the film did pretty well at the box office (I believe it came in at somewhere in the $85 million range). One imagines Stallone will be the only one returning for The Dam, and his Gabe Walker character will be up against a new enemy. Here's my question: How many characters is Stallone going to revive before enough is enough? It's an odd trend; one that's making him money, sure, but Gabe Walker is no John Rambo or Rocky Balboa. What do you think about another Cliffhanger flick? Good idea, or should Sly stick with something a tad more original his next time out?

While we may not be looking at another Rambo sequel, Sylvester Stallone has made it known that he's definitely not ready to give up the action roles. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stallone has struck a deal, along with his Rambo producers over at Nu Image/Millennium Films, to star and produce two action films, neither of which appear to be sequels to Sly's very lucrative Rambo and Rocky franchises. So what are the films and what will they be about?

Well, we don't know right now -- HR says that several scripts are being considered, and that "the first script is expected to be locked and loaded by the fall, with production set to begin shortly thereafter." Seeing as the guy is fastly approaching his mid-60's, I imagine both films will revolve around an aging (something) who, in order to save (someone or something), must wage a private war against (these people) and save the day. I know Sly had previously talked about remaking Death Wish, so there's a chance one of the two projects will indeed turn out to be Death Wish. The other one, however, is completely up in the air. If it were up to you, what type of film would you like to see Stallone take on? (Perhaps he'll take notice of our list of seven characters Sly Stallone could sequel-ize.)

This particular Cinematical Seven took awhile to sort out. First, I needed to decide whether I would focus solely on women who play sports in film or if I should open it up to women who play sports and/or appear in sports films. As you can see from the photo above, I went with the latter. Then I needed to decide whether I would only select drop-dead gorgeous women, or if there was room for the girl next door in the list as well. I'm sure you sympathize with the tough choices I had to make this afternoon. Anyway, in honor of Superbowl Sunday (Go Giants!), here are my picks for the hottest sports girls on film (a title which took me all of about an hour to come up with -- after all, there are so many different ways to write it):

Kelly Preston as Avery Bishop in Jerry Maguire -- She's harsh, she's intimidating and she doesn't exactly use those legs to kick a long field goal. Before Jerry (Tom Cruise) had his moral epiphany and wound up wooing the adorable Dorothy (Renee Zellweger), he was attached at the hip to the cunning, yet super sexy Avery. She'd come a long way from Space Camp, and after watching Jerry Maguire, I was extremely jealous that John Travolta got to spend every boot camp with this gal.

• Tab Thacker (1962-2007) - Wrestler and actor (pictured) who played Officer "House" in Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol and Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach. He also appears in Wildcats, City Heat and Melvin Van Peebles' Identity Crisis. He died after a long illness complicated by diabetes December 28. (WRAL.com)
• Jeanne Carmen (1930-2007) - B-movie actress and pinup model who appears in The Monster of Piedras Blancas and Untamed Youth. She died of lymphoma December 20, in Irving, California. (Variety)
• Peter Handford (1919-2007) - Sound recordist and mixer who won a Best Sound Oscar for Out of Africa and was nominated for his work on Gorillas in the Mist. He also worked on Hope and Glory, Dangerous Liaisons, Julia, Tom Jones, Night and the City, Summertime, Murder on the Orient Express and Hitchcock's Frenzy and Under Capricorn. He died November 6 in Suffolk, England. (Times Online)
• Edward Hansen (c.1925-2007) - Assistant director of Disney's Robin Hood, The Aristocats and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and production manager of The Fox and the Hound, Mickey's Christmas Carol and The Black Cauldron. He died December 20. (The Big Cartoon Forum)
  
• Jerzy Kawalerowicz (1922-2007) - Polish filmmaker who co-wrote and directed the Cannes winners Joan of the Angels and Pharaoh, which was nominated for an Oscar, as well as 2001's Quo Vadis? He died December 27. (EUX.tv)
• Michael Kidd (1915-2007) - Choreographer who worked on Guys and Dolls, The Band Wagon, Li'l Abner, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Hello, Dolly!, Star!, and Merry Andrew, which he also directed. He acted in Stanley Donen's It's Always Fair Weather and Movie Movie, Michael Ritchie's Smile and Blake Edward's Skin Deep. He received an honorary Academy Award in 1997 for "his services in the art of the dance in the art of the screen." He died of cancer December 23, in Los Angeles. (Variety)
  
• Pat Kirkwood (1922-2007) - Actress and singer who portrayed music hall star Vesta Tilley in 1957's After the Ball. She died of Alzheimer's Disease December 25, in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England. (Variety)

"Live for nothin' ... or die for somethin.' Your call ..." I'm sorry, and I really have nothing to gain by throwing love at this movie, but Rambo IV (or Rambo, as I think it's now being called) looks to be all kinds of awesome. I'm really impressed with Sylvestor Stallone and what he's managed to do with his Rocky and Rambo franchises. While you might view him as some big, dumb, fading action star, he's actually a really smart guy and a terrific writer. Unlike this past summer's Live Free or Die Hard, Stallone isn't bringing Rambo into the new century and asking him to stand on a jet and dodge flying cars. He's keeping the story simple, setting it in yet another exotic -- but tremendously violent -- location, and serving up plenty of realistic balls-to-the-wall action.

We've already witnessed some footage from the flick, but it appears an official trailer has just landed online. I guess it becomes official when you have that deep-voiced guy reading lines over the action. And the film definitely looks to be a throwback to the way action films used to look, back before folks tried to impress us with ridiculous, far-fetched special effects. This is Rambo in the jungle. It's bloody, it's powerful and it looks like so much fun to watch. I've included the trailer above (there will be some grey to start out with, but stay with it -- the trailer will kick in), so let us know what you think. Rambo arrives in theaters on January 25, 2008.