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"There's a snag with some of the studio people," he explains. "Sylvester was very anxious. He spent half a year writing different editions of the story. We'll see." The DVD set, meanwhile, is a surprise for what it doesn't contain. Namely no extras other than an extra disc with the A&E Biography episode on Stallone. Each title is a new high-definition transfer with improved 5.1 surround sound.
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But the set contains none of the background extras -- audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes looks, theatrical trailers -- all of which were included in a 25th anniversary boxed set released in 2001. A summary of the career of actor Burt Young, who won an Oscar nomination for playing Paulie in the first Rocky film: Born: New York City, April 1940. Early life: Served in U.S. Marines 1957-59. Worked as carpet cleaner, salesman and installer; boxer; attended Lee Strasberg's Actor's Studio. First acting role: 1971's The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. Prominent film roles besides the five Rocky movies: Cinderella Liberty, Chinatown, The Gambler, Once Upon a Time in America, Convoy, Amityville II: The Possession, Harry and Walter Go to New York, The Killer Elite, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Back to School, Betsy's Wedding, Beverly Hills Brats, Mickey Blue Eyes, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Carlito's Way: The Beginning. TV roles: The Connection, Baretta (as Robert Blake's brother), Hustling, Roomies, Vendetta I & II, Columbo: Undercover, Crocodile Shoes, Walker Texas Ranger, Firehouse, The Last Don, The Sopranos. Other pursuits: Writes plays and screenplays, paints, owns a restaurant in the Bronx. Quote: "I enjoyed playing around with that guy, and it was a pleasure every three, four years, coming back seeing how the wardrobe is. Is he heavy? Is he thin? I had fun." -- On playing Paulie in the Rocky films.-John MacKay.
RHE DE VILLE'S "ECHOES OF MY HEART"
Rhe De Ville, an American chanteuse from New York made big buzz this week in London and Paris. Her CD "ECHOES OF MY HEART" mysteriously landed on the desk of two reviewers from the Monthly Herald. And they did not know what to do with it, for they were not very familiar with Ms De Ville's name and work. But ! But, happily for this effervescent American singer, her CD made a big tour in the corridors and rooms of the magazine, and took the music editors by storm. The Herald got an advance copy of "Echoes of my Heart", long before it was officially released on January 15, 2005. This week, Ms De Ville CD was nominated by the music and entertainment editorial board "The Best Cabaret CD of the Year"! What is so special about that CD? Well, rarely, we do see nowadays, a vivacious and steamy pop singer delivering tunes and standards of the golden era of Cole Porter, Gershwin, Irving Berlin, with captivating romantic delivery, nostalgic brilliance and sensual down-to-earth voice, as Ms De Ville did. The CD contains 12 tracks representing a bouquet of ballades and favorites which enchanted the audience for decades. Tunes like "Love me or Leave me", "Skylark" and others. De Ville's superb original and most unusual musical and vocal interpretation of "Porter's "Just one of those things", and Nancy Zigelbaum's magnificent song "People seem to know", set a new standard for excellence in cabaret and perfection criteria for the revival of nostalgic American standards. "ECHOES OF MY HEART" is a world-class musical product. Rating: 5 stars out of five. Buy it. This is a musical treasure.- Valerie Constand.
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"It
was people standing up, not even winning, just standing up, and it
became a delicate love story with two pretty weak people making
one whole person, meaning Sylvester and Talia (Shire)." And
despite all the praise heaped on Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull,
Young believes the Rocky fight scenes are the best ever put to
film, and for that he credits Stallone for pulling off a script
with freshness and boldness. "He goes away for a night and comes
back with three pages where he wrote out in pencil, punch by punch
. . . and it was like he made prose out of the fight itself. "To
me it was lookin' like an Arthur Miller play where, if you skip
over a comma, you're missing a dent in the story that was
necessary. And he really choreographed everything." Young
thoroughly enjoys looking back at the 14-year Rocky ride in which
he'd revisit his Paulie character at regular intervals, finding
him alternately thin and heavy. He says he patterned Paulie's
insecurity after his own, all burly bluster on the outside but a
frightened pussycat inside. "Basically, to me he was a very scared
guy," he says. "He would cover and protect himself from that kind
of fear with bravado and empty mischief." So will there ever be
another Rocky movie? Young says Stallone does have a beautiful
script and wants to do it. 