I am completely forgiving. If I love something … then I’ll stick it out, even if it doesn’t live up to my expectations of it. (Tori Amos, I am looking at YOU.)<\/p>\n
With Rocky II<\/i> I recognize the creeping cheesy element that starts to come in here which was absent in the rawness of the first one. I can see those moments but I am detached from them. I don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. I’ve always been that kind of fan. Sometimes I wish I weren’t. That would mean that I wouldn’t have to suffer through movies like Touch of Mink<\/i>. HOWEVER. That’s who I am. <\/p>\n
Besides all of that, though – besides the creeping cheese Rocky II has a lot of awesome things about it. Not so much as a WHOLE – whereas the first movie I love as a WHOLE but in its parts. The parts don’t quite add up … but it has moments, tiny moments, that are effective.<\/p>\n
Like the scene between Mickey and Rocky in the dark stairwell outside of Mickey’s apartment. When Rocky tells Mickey he’s thinking of fighting again … and Mickey tries to dissuade him. If he fights Apollo again, he won’t just get “hurt bad”- “He’ll hurt you poimanent.” says Mickey. With that battered nose in the bare lightbulb-lit hallway, the dankest hallway known to man. Stallone is so beautiful in this scene, even just the way he’s shot. But more than that: there’s this pride thing going on in Rocky, something that’s hard for him to admit. Adrian has gone back to work because they need the money, and this just eats<\/i> at Rocky. He’s feeling the need to fight again, but he could go blind … and Mickey has this moment where he gives Rocky a little eye test – moving fingers back and forth in Rocky’s line of vision. Rocky lies and says, “Yeah, I can see the finger now …” They go back and forth a couple more lines, and then suddenly – out of nowhere – Mickey slaps Rocky. Hard. On the left cheek. Mickey says later, “You didn’t see that coming, did you? Now … I’m an old guy hitting you. Imagine what someone like Apollo could do.” <\/p>\n
But the moment that I love here is Rocky’s response to being slapped like that. There are no words, almost no anger, but it’s a humiliating moment. He tries to get himself together, get the macho facade back up, but Mickey has made his point and Rocky just has to stand there and take it. It’s a small collage of 100 emotions that flicker and twitch over Stallone’s beautifully lit face, it’s fascinating acting.<\/p>\n
This is what I focus on. And I forgive the other stuff. Not entirely, but in the main.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I am completely forgiving. If I love something … then I’ll stick it out, even if it doesn’t live up to my expectations of it. (Tori Amos, I am looking at YOU.) With Rocky II I recognize the creeping cheesy … Continue reading