Rocky introduces the world to a beloved, cinematic sports icon

Rocky Released: November 21, 1976 Studio: United Artists Genre: sports Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 117.24 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 540.00 Worldwide: 946.70

Directing: John G. Avildsen Screenwriting: Sylvester Stallone Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Burgess Meredith, Carl Weathers Review: Sylvester Stallone championed his own script, fighting to get the movie made on his terms. He “was an unbankable unknown at the time – an underdog actor/writer in the film industry (with 32 previously-rejected scripts).” FS The result is that “Rocky Balboa, the under-classed boxer from Philadelphia,” A98 has become “an American film icon” A98 “a character so convincing and emotionally absorbing” E18 that he spawned a series of sequels lasting more than four decades. Stallone wrote the script for the “action-packed, feel-good crowd-pleasing story” in three days. FS It was filmed over 28 days, mostly on location in Philadelphia, with a mere million-dollar budget. It went on to gross more than $100 million. FS Apollo Creed (Weathers), the world heavyweight champ, decides to pull a publicity stunt by giving an unknown boxer a shot at the championship belt. Rocky proves to be a more formidable match than Creed imagined in this “fairy-tale, Cinderella rags-to-riches story” FS in which Rocky “proves that winning isn’t the most important thing (you gotta go the distance).” E18 He’s aided by “his wily and irascible boxing coach” A98 Mickey (Meredith) and supported by Adrian (Shire), his new “shy, hesitant, loving girlfriend.” FS Sources: A98 American Film Institute (1998). “AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Movies” E18 Empire (3/20/2018). “The 100 Greatest Movies” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Box Office: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 3 – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing Nominations: 10 – including Best Actor (Stallone), Best Actress (Shire), Best Supporting Actor (Young), Best Supporting Actor (Meredith), Best Original Screenplay, Best Song (“Gonna Fly Now”), Best Sound Editing Other Lists/Honors: First posted 5/29/2023.

The Godfather Part II released

The Godfather Part II Released: December 20, 1974 Studio: Paramount Genre: gangster/epic drama Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 57.30 Worldwide: 88.00 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 214.30 Worldwide: 329.12

Directing: Francis Ford Coppola Screenwriting: Francis Ford Coppola, Mario Puzo Starring: Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, John Cazale, Michael V. Gazzo Review: The Godfather Part II functions both as a sequel and prequel to its 1972 Best-Picture-winner predecessor. With “its meditations on family, the past and the corruption of America’s soul, melds historical sweep with searing personal intimacy” TV “the continuing saga of a Mafia family and dynasty” FS is, by some accounts, “considered superior to the original.” FS It is the only sequel to win an Oscar for Best Picture. The “hypnotic multigenerational saga” TV “intertwines and compares the lives” VD of Michael Corleone (Pacino) as the present-day leader and “De Niro, in a remarkable, uncommonly subtle performance,” TV as his father, Vito Corleone, before becoming “the ‘don’ of old.” VD “The film’s extended flashback sequences” A07 follow Vito as he “immigrates to America from his native Sicily at the turn of the century and maneuvers his family to power in the ghetto of Little Italy.” FS As the new godfather, Michael struggles “to bring his family into the modern age.” A07 He “confronts a second generation of criminal and family affairs in Vegas, Cuba, and in a Senate hearing on organized crime. After eliminating all rivals and enemies, he is a brooding” FS and “spiritually-broken” TV “character, alienated from his wife (Keaton), and the murder of own brother Fredo (Cazale).” FS “Aside from establishing its cast (Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall, to name a few) as the premier actors of their generation…Coppola’s masterpiece is the cinematic equivalent of an un-put-downable book: Just try watching for only a few minutes. Impossible.” TV “Along the way are some of the most memorable, disturbing and affecting scenes in all of cinema: Vito’s first vision of the Statue of Liberty, his first murder, the attack on Michael’s Lake Tahoe estate, his quiet ruthlessness as he shuts the door on his estranged wife (Diane Keaton). And then there’s the lonely execution of Michael’s pathetic brother (John Cazale) as he fishes on a lake, a sequence so elegantly photographed and perfectly timed that every film school should offer a course on it.” TV Sources: A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” TV TV Guide (August 8-14, 1998 issue). “50 Greatest Movies on TV and Video” VD Video Detective (1997). “Top 100 Films of All Time”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 6 – including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (De Niro), Best Original Dramatic Score Nominations: 11 – including Best Actor (Pacino), Best Supporting Actor (Gazzo), Best Supporting Actor (Strasberg), Best Supporting Actress (Shire) Other Lists/Honors: Critics’ Picks: Leslie Halliwell/John Walker Leonard Maltin First posted 8/9/2019; last updated 6/3/2023.