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Rocky Balboa – I Saw You Knocking On My Cellar Door
TUE, December 12 - Buster Paris - “It ain’t about how hard you hit – it’s about how hard you can get hit … and keep moving forward” – Rocky Balboa
It’s coming … and it’s coming forward.
Rocky Balboa hits theaters on December 20th 2006 - have you seen the previews? – if not - do yourself a huge favor and go to the official Rocky Balboa website now (http://www.rocky.com) – watch the preview and play around the site.
Let’s be honest – the message of Rocky is not just to boxing freaks like myself - Rocky’s message speaks to everyone – the downtrodden, the underdog – anyone who’s struggled and anyone with heart.
If you’re reading this then you know exactly what I mean by heart – not just the organ, but the greater purpose that heart is - and provides. Not ‘the heart’ – just heart – you know what I mean – it’s the very thing that gives you goose-bumps when you hear Rocky say:
“I think that there’s still some stuff in the basement”
These thing apply to life – not just boxing – and heart is the very thing that makes your gut become aware – that makes your hands tingle, your shoulders tighten and your head nod in agreement when you hear Balboa’s gravelly voice say:
“It ain’t about how hard you hit – it’s about how hard you can get hit … and keep moving forward”
The movie itself looks awesome – I’m psyched to see it – a couple of times – yes, I’ll be that knucklehead leaning forward in his seat during the training and fight scenes – and yes – you’ll probably catch me throwing some jabs or hooks to the body and inevitably apologizing to the unfortunate bloke who got the unlucky seat in front of me.
Yes, I’ll be the idiot struggling to melt into his seat and trying to become invisible as I wipe tears from eyes as without fail I [cough] cry at least once in EVERY single Rocky movie – what – you’re gonna tell me you didn’t tear up when Mick or Apollo died? – what about when Mick shows up in V when Rocky was on the street –
“Get Up Rock – I didn’t hear no bell --- I DIDN’T HEAR NO BELL…” – [goose-bumps].
Not so surprising too - Antonio Tarver seems natural and talented as an actor – guaranteed that the people who don’t know him will think he’s an actual actor and that he did a great job – I can hear my mother now asking me – “…that young man that played Mason Dixon – he was fabulous, what else has he been in?”
The buzz surrounding the making of the movie is that the script is back to basics, back to the original intent and spirit of the first Rocky - the title alone stands by itself as that old school theme of Rocky – just him, just his name – Rocky Balboa - besides -- Lord of the Rings was taken.
I know that this article isn’t necessarily about boxing, but to me – boxing, the Art of Pugilism – the Sweet Science – whatever you want to call it and however you feel about it - transcends and is more than just fighting – it’s truly more than that – it’s an art form, it’s a way or a path -- there always has been and always will be something uniquely spiritually moving about our sport – it’s not just about what transpires inside that squared circle.
In life – or the arts – or in religion -- most of us draw great comfort, direction, purpose and an inward arsenal to deal with the hard times – to deal with the times when life throws us a beating – for me and I imagine for some of you here – it’s boxing –and characters like Rocky Balboa that we can draw from.
For the detractors that will never understand the beauty of boxing – or the incredible character and power of example that is Rocky Balboa – and that snidely say that Sylvester Stalone is a far cry from Shakespear:
“What’s crazy about standing toe to toe and saying ‘I Am’ …”
Sounds like an answer to Billy-boy’s ”To Be or Not To Be” – no?
Again – December 20th, 2006 it opens up in theaters - do yourself a favor and go to (Rocky.com) – and watch the preview.
Go to Yahoo Movies too – they have two trailers that will simply give you chills.
More importantly – go see the movie – I’ll give you my review when I land back on earth.
Buster Paris can be reached at: bparis@talkingboxing.com - and always enjoys receiving your thoughts, comments and questions
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