Rocky

[Cam Bert 8145]

18 minutes ago, AlmostAGhost said:

That's interesting, and something I've been thinking about in all our movies lately. Wasn't Taxi Driver also written one way first, but due to limitations or luck or whatever, it ended up being another (far far better) way?  (I'm about to sleep, can't recall the specifics right now.) These sort of coincidences of fortune seem to come up often in these AFI films.  So are great movies just a product of luck?  Or like, a function of a good director/writer who can notice and adapt?  I mean, all along the way of Rocky, it could have fallen apart/been far less great so so so easily, but they continually got to go with the flow in ways that really help it (from minor things like the robe fitting to this scene with Adrian, etc.).

I think it's a combination of luck and talent. Lack of budget or problematic conditions often leads to people being forced to be creative with what they have and what they can do. However just being forced to adapt and change doesn't make something great. It's talent people seeing things or thinking things through that lead to this improvements. I think that's why sometimes smaller independent film makers suffer once they get a big budget. Once they can do whatever and doing have to worry about it or think about it as much.

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

4 hours ago, grudlian. said:

I'd be interested in a movie from Adrian's perspective but she stops wearing her glasses halfway through. So, the movie probably gets pretty blurry.

Yeah, but even after that she's able to watch TV from across the room with no problem. I think Rocky is like E.T., in that he has healing powers to magically cure nearsightedness.

[Cameron H. 23786]

6 hours ago, Cam Bert said:

Much like why Last Christmas by Wham! is not a Christmas song

I love the fact that this is your White Whale

[Cam Bert 8145]

Just now, Cameron H. said:

I love the fact that this is your White Whale

The fact that it is the second most popular Christmas song in Japan drives me a little more insane each year.

[Cameron H. 23786]

3 minutes ago, Cam Bert said:

The fact that it is the second most popular Christmas song in Japan drives me a little more insane each year.

Drown it out with Hanson’s “Finally, it’s Christmas” (I’m acting as Hanson’s street team this Holiday Season. You will be hearing me mention them a lot.)

[Cam Bert 8145]

3 minutes ago, Cameron H. said:

Drown it out with Hanson’s “Finally, it’s Christmas” (I’m acting as Hanson’s street team this Holiday Season. You will be hearing me mention them a lot.)

What about The Monkees? Are you just on their social media team?

[Cam Bert 8145]

Another small detail which I find very interesting. Given the fact that Paulie and Adrienne share a home makes me ask why that is. Did their parents pass and she was forced to move in with him or he inherited the house? Why would she be with him and not their parents otherwise? Or was Paulie married and Adrienne moved in to help him as he turned towards alcoholism after losing his wife to death or divorce. There is also a picture of him in a military (I want to say navy) uniform in their living room. There are little bits like this that paint a more complex picture to who Paulie is. Did something happen to force him out of the military and that's why he turned to drinking? Given the timing of this movie most likely he was in Vietnam and that changed him and that's why he became the guy he is. I've not seen Rocky II or V so not sure if this is covered in the later films.

[Cameron H. 23786]

11 minutes ago, Cam Bert said:

What about The Monkees? Are you just on their social media team?

The Monkees’ Christmas Album (Christmas Party-Available Now) is great. There’s no denying that. Everyone should buy it.

[Cameron H. 23786]

9 minutes ago, Cam Bert said:

Another small detail which I find very interesting. Given the fact that Paulie and Adrienne share a home makes me ask why that is. Did their parents pass and she was forced to move in with him or he inherited the house? Why would she be with him and not their parents otherwise? Or was Paulie married and Adrienne moved in to help him as he turned towards alcoholism after losing his wife to death or divorce. There is also a picture of him in a military (I want to say navy) uniform in their living room. There are little bits like this that paint a more complex picture to who Paulie is. Did something happen to force him out of the military and that's why he turned to drinking? Given the timing of this movie most likely he was in Vietnam and that changed him and that's why he became the guy he is. I've not seen Rocky II or V so not sure if this is covered in the later films.

He specifically says he didn’t get married because of her. I *think* he’s supposed to be quite a bit older than her. At least, he tells her he “raised” her at one point. I think their parents died when she was pretty young and he took care of her and there’s a lot of resentment. He blames her, like he blames everyone, for his shitty lot in life. 

My only problem with this as I feel like Rocky says at one point he and Paulie “grew up together.” But we also know both Rocky and Adrian are ~30, so who knows.

I don’t think we learn much more about Paulie in the sequels except for he’s a chronic leech and disaster waiting to happen.

[Cam Bert 8145]

9 minutes ago, Cameron H. said:

My only problem with this as I feel like Rocky says at one point he and Paulie “grew up together.” But we also know both Rocky and Adrian are ~30, so who knows.

That's what I thought too. Like I thought him and Rocky were suppose to be from the same neighbourhood or grew up together. Wouldn't that mean Rocky would have known Adrienne from back then? Has been crushing on her that long or is he now seeing her through a new more experienced around 30 light?

[Cameron H. 23786]

3 hours ago, Cam Bert said:

That's what I thought too. Like I thought him and Rocky were suppose to be from the same neighbourhood or grew up together. Wouldn't that mean Rocky would have known Adrienne from back then? Has been crushing on her that long or is he now seeing her through a new more experienced around 30 light?

Honestly, I think he’s been crushing on her his whole life.

[tomspanks 9039]

4 hours ago, Cam Bert said:

That's what I thought too. Like I thought him and Rocky were suppose to be from the same neighbourhood or grew up together. Wouldn't that mean Rocky would have known Adrienne from back then? Has been crushing on her that long or is he now seeing her through a new more experienced around 30 light?

 

Both Rocky and Adrian are 30 - the movie said this.  Not sure about Paulie, but I could've sworn Paul said Paulie and Rocky were both 30.  New theory: Paulie and Adrian are twins.

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

18 minutes ago, tomspanks said:

New theory: Paulie and Adrian are twins.

Sounds far-fetched, but there is precedent.

[ProfessorRockstar 9]

The thing I appreciate the most about this movie is how it's really a romance and a character piece disguised as a sports movie. Having Rocky not win that big fight is a ballsy intentional move. If he would have won, we might have dismissed the whole thing as just a sports movie, but having him lose and having the last shot be him and Adrian hammers home that the big match is not really what the movie is about.

I haven't seen any of the sequels, but from Paul and Amy's recommendation, I'm thinking about skipping right to Rocky Balboa. 

Inspired by this podcast, I'm going to start writing blog posts about each of these movies and concentrate more on what you can learn as a writer/ filmmaker from each one (an unofficial companion piece to this podcast). Here's the one I just did for Rocky, in case anyone here is a writer or just happens to be curious: Rocky

[Dangorman77 6]

I wanted Paul to know that his assessment of Ryan's Coogler's vision of Creed was spot on. I worked as the location scout on Creed and we had almost the exact conversation about Creed seeing the other, non-white, neighborhoods and places of Philadelphia in the film. In fact for Adonis and Bianca's date scene I searched for Chinese restaurants all over West and North Philly until we found Max's, which is a predominantly  African American visited cheesesteak place in North Philadelphia,  as opposed to the more famous and more white visited Geno's and Pat's steakhouses in South Philadelphia. 

[WatchOutForSnakes 807]

19 hours ago, Cameron H. said:

I agree, but I also feel like that’s intentional. She’s specially written to have no agency and her journey is to retake it - which she does when she finally snaps at Paulie and moves out. She goes from this mumbling, caged bird, to this woman that’s willing to push and scream her way through a crowd to get what she wants. Granted, it’s not perfect since the thing she wants, as well as the source of her new found confidence, is a man, but it’s still something she wants for herself and actively works toward.

I guess I personally feel like it’s that intention separates it from other movies that treat women like straight props. 

I agree. She definitely has a  positive arc throughout the sequels. 

[bleary 333]

I'm surprised by all the glowing reviews of Rocky Balboa.  It's the only one in the series I haven't seen (except Creed II so far).  I skipped it because the concept of a boxer in his fifties competing with the heavyweight champion seems so moronic to me.  The idea of how Rocky is used in Creed appealed to me more because it seems so much more realistic.  Although if we're being frank, someone who took as many heavy blows to the head as Rocky did would likely have severe CTE.

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

9 minutes ago, bleary said:

I'm surprised by all the glowing reviews of Rocky Balboa.  It's the only one in the series I haven't seen (except Creed II so far).  I skipped it because the concept of a boxer in his fifties competing with the heavyweight champion seems so moronic to me.  The idea of how Rocky is used in Creed appealed to me more because it seems so much more realistic.  Although if we're being frank, someone who took as many heavy blows to the head as Rocky did would likely have severe CTE.

If we're taking the description of how hard Drago's punches are in Rocky IV completely literally, Rocky should probably have been decapitated by now.

[bleary 333]

Just now, sycasey 2.0 said:

If we're taking the description of how hard Drago's punches are in Rocky IV completely literally, Rocky should probably have been decapitated by now.

Considering his punches killed Apollo!  If I recall correctly, there was some scene in Rocky V (which is the film in the series I've watched the least) where Rocky is diagnosed with some kind of brain damage, but it was before they knew about CTE.  At any rate, the fact that he knew he had brain damage made me angrier at the premise of Rocky Balboa.

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

19 hours ago, Cam Bert said:

I think it is funny that this movie is considered a sports movie or a boxing movie when it is more of a character study. One can relate the message to being about sports and boxing, but this is a story about this man. About getting to know him and where he's from and what he's about and seeing him struggle and grow. The boxing is just a device to allow and show that happen.

Isn't this really true about almost everything you'd call a "sports movie?" The actual sports scenes are usually relatively few, and most of the movie is spent building up the characters . . . because that's how movies work, you have to care about the people in the "big game" more than the game itself.

[WatchOutForSnakes 807]

19 hours ago, Cam Bert said:

I was trying to figure a way to say this in my letterboxd review but I couldn't think of a pithier way of saying it. I think it is funny that this movie is considered a sports movie or a boxing movie when it is more of a character study. One can relate the message to being about sports and boxing, but this is a story about this man. About getting to know him and where he's from and what he's about and seeing him struggle and grow. The boxing is just a device to allow and show that happen. If this was a movie truly about boxing we'd see more scenes of him learning or honing his technique and more boxing scenes. You definitely would not have that first hour if it was just about the sport. That's why the end of the movie isn't about whether he won or lost but rather that he did it and proved it to himself. Much like why Last Christmas by Wham! is not a Christmas song, you could easily replace the boxing with some other competitive sport like many other films went on to do and the story doesn't change.I think just calling it a boxing movie or a sports film you are missing what makes this movie great. That's also to me a shame that the rest of the films until Balboa basically put the boxing first and all the great character stuff second. 

Yes! The first time I watched Rocky, my first takeaway thought was, "I thought there'd be more boxing."

[Cameron H. 23786]

7 minutes ago, WatchOutForSnakes said:

Yes! The first time I watched Rocky, my first takeaway thought was, "I thought there'd be more boxing."

When I watched it this time I thought to myself, “I there being way more training.” I guess  I got it confused with the other more montage heavy sequels, but it’s really just the two runs, the meat thing, and the rope/balance thing with Mickey. That’s pretty much it.

[tomspanks 9039]

1 minute ago, Cameron H. said:

When I watched it this time I thought to myself, “I there being way more training.” I guess  I got it confused with the other more montage heavy sequels, but it’s really just the two runs, the meat thing, and the rope/balance thing with Mickey. That’s pretty much it.

Um, hello, you forgot the one armed push-ups.  

[Cameron H. 23786]

1 minute ago, tomspanks said:

Um, hello, you forgot the one armed push-ups.  

Oh, I’m including that in the second “run.” I guess I should have really said the “Gonna Fly Now” scene. I just meant there’s not a lot of time devoted to training in the movie at all. 

Like Cam Bert said, the other movies are more about the “fight,” so the training is more center stage. The fight isn’t really the point of Rocky.

[grudlian. 4725]

15 hours ago, WatchOutForSnakes said:

Yes! The first time I watched Rocky, my first takeaway thought was, "I thought there'd be more boxing."

I've seen the movie several times and, even this time, I thought "Is the fight only 10 minutes?"