Said Donald Trump, announcing the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees...
The full list, in case you lack the patience to watch the whole announcement, is, according to the NYT: "the country music artist George Strait, the disco queen Gloria Gaynor... the glam rock band Kiss... Michael Crawford, a British actor decorated for his stage performances in musicals like 'Phantom of the Opera,' and Sylvester Stallone, the American film actor best known for portraying the boxer Rocky Balboa in a series of eponymous films and the mercenary warrior John Rambo is a second franchise." LOL. I love that the NYT needs to dump on Rambo. A mercenary!
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37 comments:
Might make a nice birthday present for the spouse.
"Can you just buy a star on the Walk of Fame?
Yes and no. It's not free but traditionally they don't pay for them themselves, their supporters do (however, some do pay for their own star). People nominate them and a committee must approve it".
BTW Michael Crawford, famous for originating the role of the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera, played the kind of geeky Cornelius Hackl in the 1969 movie Hello, Dolly! (which was directed by Gene Kelly).
"Sylvester Stallone, the American film actor". Just an actor? JFC NYT! He wrote most of those movies and directed several of them.
Well, John Rambo is a mercenary warrior when he isn't working directly for the US government. It's ironic that the most developed and nuanced looks at Rambo are the original First Blood and the soft reboot of "Rambo." And yet Parts 2 and 3 are ultimately iconic representations of issues important to contemporary American nationalists (Vietnam POWs and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan). Even parodies of those films make people think of the issues.
Also, my dad saw Michael Crawford play the title role of Billy Fisher in the 1974 London production of the musical Billy (which is how Crawford met Webber). My dad loved the musical and we played the soundtrack over and over again. But now I can’t find the soundtrack anywhere.
"Well, John Rambo is a mercenary warrior when he isn't working directly for the US government."
Hmmm... In "First Blood", Rambo is a unemployed drifter seeking his friends from their old Special Forces unit. Not very mercenary. In "First Blood - Part II", Rambo is doing time for his war against the brutal sheriff of the first film. Mercenary? No evidence of that. In "Rambo III" we see Rambo sheltering in a Buddhist monastery and doing construction work. Mercenary carpenter? That's a new job description. In "Rambo", old John J. is still in Thailand, making a living as a snake catcher and providing boat rides. (This is too easy, doctrev.) And in the finale, "Rambo: Last Blood" Rambo is managing an Arizona ranch.
Check your sources, next time.
The 5 honorees seem in keeping with past slates.
The tricky part may be in their peers not being scared away by that biggest name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Also I got to see Phantom in Los Angeles because Crawford couldn’t appear that night so they had extra tickets. Sylvester Stallone was in the audience with his girlfriend Jennifer Flavin. During intermission they were in the lobby having drinks. Everyone was pretending not to notice to give them some privacy. But my God did they look like movie stars. Just picture perfect. The performances both in the lobby and on stage were wonderful.
The first Rambo was about a guy with PTSD because of his war experiences who, once he gets home, his rejected by society and can't even get a job. He's brutalized by the police and forced to rely on his training to escape and evade capture. Its a masterpiece of writing and acting. The rest of the series went downhill from there. Fast.
The great thing about Stallone is he’s simultaneously an indie guy and a mass-market box office boffo guy. As many have pointed out already, the first and last Rambos are very indie. So are the first Rocky and Creed, and of course Copland. Stallone’s real-life story of scrapping his way up from the bottom and overcoming his handicap is also appealing to Americans.
RR
JSM
I'm pretty sure the thumbnail image of the video in the post is of him saying:
I'm on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, too, if you can believe that one."
Like a lot of people, I've watched him so much over the last 10 years I know his mannerisms.
A list of people last relevant in the prior century.
Before it was a movie, it was a book:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Blood_(novel)
I'm happy for Stallone. He wrote Rocky. Interesting back story.
"A list of people last relevant in the prior century."
And?
I love the movie Billy Liar, and I felt akin to the lead character, Billy Fisher. I never felt that way about Rambo or Rocky
I love that the NYT needs to dump on Rambo. A mercenary!
Because they fight for Ukraine, Wikipedia calls them "foreign fighters".
By the way, we are now a quarter of the way through the 21st Century and at this point it looks like Trump is going to be the most relevant man of this century. Except for maybe Musk.
"And Sly is a pillar of the really American pop culture..."
I wish Trump hadn't said "really American...". It sounds dog whistle-ly.
Maybe doctrev saw a director's cut the rest of us missed.
When I saw Sly in the headline, my first thought was Stone. If that Sly hasn’t already received the Ken Cen honors, and if the rules allow deceased inductees, he should be on next year’s list. What’s more MAGA than a multiracial band singing about Everyday People? In fact, this year’s ceremony should have a bit dedicated to him either way.
RR
JSM
George Strait broke the record for largest ticketed concert in the US just last year with 110,905 fans paying to seem him play at Kyle Field. The previous record holder was The Grateful Dead.
"I wish Trump hadn't said 'really American...'. It sounds dog whistle-ly."
Woof-woof! Wag-wag.
Thank you Char Char Binks, I never knew they made a movie of the original play, Billy Liar. It’s available on Tubi. Many thanks.
Alex, I'll take obscure unneccessary phrases for $500
Answer: A series of films having names in their titles
And Rambo is not a mercenary! He's a Vietnam Vet on the run in Rambo 1, in Rambo 2 he's helping the US Government rescue POWs. In Rambo III he goes to Afghantistan to rescue "Troutman".
BTW, Kirk Douglas was set to be "col. troutman" in Rambo II but hated Rambo's little speech at the end and dropped out. Thank God.
Sly stallone really came outta nowhere with Rocky. He tried to branch out and do other things, but he couldn't get past Rocky/Rambo.
Regarding Rambo: First Blood II
From Wikipedia: The film is referenced in the 1985 The Golden Girls episode "On Golden Girls". Female characters seem to be aroused by John Rambo's muscular physique, and Sophia Petrillo says: "I sat through it twice. You'll love it! He sweats like a pig and he doesn't put his shirt on!"
Uh, pigs don't sweat.
Sounds like a pretty good list to me. Not a Kiss fan, but no one can deny their cultural relevance. And glad to see the rest honored. And Sly's latest venture with Tulsa King seems pretty good.
A list of people last relevant in the prior century.
Most people choose not to air their butthurt publicly on a daily basis.
But, you do you.
This is where the cowboy rides away.
Sly stallone really came outta nowhere with Rocky. He tried to branch out and do other things, but he couldn't get past Rocky/Rambo.
Disagree. He currently has a hit series, Tulsa Kings, and a recurring role in Guardians of the Galaxy. I'm sure I am missing other things, but these are certainly of this century. Neither is to the magnitude of Rocky, but not much is.
I had to look up 'eponymous'; it does not seem applicable. It means 'giving your name to something', with the example being 'Roseanne' (named for Roseanne Barr). Since there has not been a movie or TV show named 'Sly' or 'Sylvester', this comment misses the mark. If it was meant to be dismissive or derogatory, the Times failed.
Maybe the "mercenary" moniker comes from "The Expendables " (2010) which did also have a sequel.
Don't forget the spinoff from his porn days, Rambone.
I would have chosen Guillermo del Toro, Gary Oldman, Daniel Day Lewis, ZZ Top and Stevie Nicks.
I asked both Grok and ChatGPT whether Rambo was a mercenary and Grok said yes and ChatGPT said no. I confronted each with the work of the other and asked for an explanation. Both knew lots of details about all of the movies in the series, and both stuck by their original position. Both recognized that it was due to the choice to take a broad or a narrow definition of the term.
I wish Trump hadn't said "really American...". It sounds dog whistle-ly
Well...... if people respond to the dog whistle, it confirms that they really are dogs.
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