Yo Little Mah-ree

Although I had no intention of watching Rocky Balboa, I was curious whether he’d end up sacrificing his life for the end of the franchise (i.e. getting a terminal knockout) or winning the bout with his arrogant opponent, and starting a new geriatric series of boxing films about a part-time boxer who regales his customers with slightly newer stories of combat from the ring.

Fans of the series who liked the action won’t like the long drama leading up to the fight, but those looking for closure after Stallone took his character through some weird turns will find the film quite pleasing. Even Bill Conti’s retro score works, although one wishes Stallone would allow the veteran composer to do more that restate the famous theme, because apparently any other music slapped against Rocky’s scenes would confuse audiences and make them catatonic.

In any event, the review’s up, meaning the batch of originally slated documentary reviews should be up by the end of the week.

Also added are soundtrack reviews of David C. Williams’ The Prophecy and The Prophecy II from Perseverance Records, plus Stelvio Cipriani’s Death Walks in High Heels / La Morte cammina con i tacchi alti, Bruno Nicolai’s Tutti I colori del buio / All the Colors of the Dark, and Ennio Morricone’s What Have They Done to Solange? / Cosa avete fatto a Solange? and Who Saw Her Die? / Chi l'ha vista morire? (all from DigitMovies, and new to our archive).

Lastly, we’ve got a meaty interview with Anthony Lledo, an up-and-coming composer whose gorgeous score for Sweden’s first vampire film, Frostbiten (Frostbite) premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, and won Best Score at the 2006 Screamfest Horror Film Festival in Los Angeles, California.


- MRH


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