Rocky 3 - Starring Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith, Talia Shire and Burt Young - Released in 1982

After prequels in 1976 and 1979, the third in the series ROCKY 3 was released in 1982. Only the first movie ‘Rocky Balboa’ was directed by John G. Avildsen, the others have all been written and directed by Sylvester Stallone, who assays the character of Rocky in all the films.

Rocky Balboa has won ten titles after winning the grueling fight against Apollo Creed. His success is phenomenal, people adore him and fame sits pretty on his handsome frame. On a day when nothing could’ve gone wrong, as he is unveiling a statue of himself, he is thrown a gauntlet by the beefy and cocky upstart - James Clubber Lang (Mr.T). The young fighter insults Rocky and openly insinuates that he chooses fighters less able than himself to fight against, he goes a step further and questions his manhood – this infuriates the boxer.

When Rocky approaches his coach Mickey (Burgess Meredith) to train him to fight - Mickey refuses. He agrees with Clubber that Rocky fought against those who had less of an advantage over him - Mickey tells him that he picked his opponents intentionally, knowing full well that the match with Creed had done more damage to Rocky than he’d ever accept. The trainer warns the boxer that he will surely be killed by Lang, who is fitter and faster.

This revelation by a man who knows him best, puts Rocky on the back foot; on introspection he begins to question if he is actually worthy of the titles he’s won. Balboa comes to the conclusion that the best way to regain his self respect would be to fight against Lang. Mickey agrees to train him, and Rocky vows that this would be his last fight. Clubber trains in the meanest and hardest conditions, whilst Rocky, flush with wealth and distractions, rents a ballroom, converts it into his private gym and throws it open to local media. This bothers and annoys his coach, who is aware that this is no way to train for a big fight.

On the big day 22 August 1981, before the fight, the teams of Balboa and Lang come to blows, and Mickey is roughed up as well - this leads to him having a heart attack. Although Rocky wants the fight called off, Mickey wants him not to - he’d be happier if he fought. As the medics take him away, Mickey insists that they wait on him in the dressing room - he wants to be around while Rocky fights.

Balboa faces his opponent, only to be beaten down by him - literally as well as figuratively, after the second round. He however, does not tell Mickey he lost; he’d rather that the old man believed they won. Sadly, Mickey Goldmill, beloved coach and father figure to Balboa, passes away at 81 - leaving a void in the lives of Rocky and his family. Rocky spirals downward into depression, one evening, as he stands near the gym that used to be Mickey’s playground, but is now shut close - he meets Apollo Creed - the opponent who once saw him as the underdog, worthy to fight a great like himself.

Taking Balboa under his wing, Creed steps into Mickey’s shoes - training Rocky to fight Clubber Lang. More than the physical aspect of training the fighter, Creed must work on Rocky’ s broken psyche that is affected by the past fights he won. In the end, Apollo is able to help the boxer regain confidence and his edge.

The two men meet again in New York City - Lang and Balboa; this time, Rocky flies into aggression, taking Clubber by surprise, but after the initial high, the younger man regains his offensive temperament and hammers Balboa. To add to the spectator’s bewilderment, Rocky continuously goads Clubber Lang into beating him up, the opponent is easily provoked, and Rocky, although beaten up, refuses to be KO - a reprisal of his fifteen round bouts with Creed in Rocky II.

After the third round, Clubber is exhausted and tired, the fight is not what he is used to, fast and furious - it is dragging on, and sapping his strength, just the way Balboa wants. The fight ends in Rocky’s favor, and he is once more the heavyweight champion of the world - and this time, he picked on someone larger than his size, not smaller.

Apollo lives out his wish, as Rocky and Creed face each other in a friendly match - the two men found a friendship over the boxing ring which is unparalleled in strength and trust. The movie is a fresh change from the predictable, we see the man behind the boxer, who struggles with his weakness and emerges a winner, it is a story of loyalty and sportsmanship, which in the end, adds to the character of an individual.

Touching, heartwarming and inspirational - the theme song ‘Eye of the Tiger’, written by Survivor especially at Stallone’s request, has become a cult classic and remains the most motivating audio ever!

That Championship Season (released in 1982) - Starring Robert Mitchum, Martin Sheen, Bruce Dern, Stacy Keach and Paul Sorvino

They met more than decades ago, with the adrenalin pumping enthusiasm of sportsmen, soaring on the wings of their victory - they now meet again to savor the aftertaste. The year was 1957; the basketball team of Fillmore High School in Scranton had won the Pennsylvania State High School Basketball Championship. The School, and the story, though fictional are roman à clef. The original was a Pulitzer and Tony winning play by Jason Miller, which also won the New York Drama Critics Award as the Best Play of the season in 1971-72. The movie is directed by Miller himself. Twenty five years later - George Sitkowski (played by Bruce Dern), James Daley (played by Stacy Keach), Phil Romano (played by Paul Sorvino), Tom Daley (played by Martin Sheen) and Coach Delaney (played by Robert Mitchum) reminisce and celebrate the years they’ve dwelt on their past glory, as life has dealt a harsh hand to some of them.
George, the Mayor of Scranton, is facing a much younger candidate in the election. James is his campaign manager and a high school principal - he hates having to wait hand and foot on George. The election campaign is aided by Phil Romano, an established and wealthy businessman – the arrangement suits both of them, as each gains leverage from the campaign. James' brother Tom is an alcoholic and failed writer who rarely comes to such dos – the four reunite with former coach, Delaney - retired and ulcerated. Nevertheless, he will always remain their guide, a man who believes in "lean and mean" ethics and counsels his team to "never take less than success." Delaney idolizes Teddy Roosevelt.




The film deals with the sensitive issue of time passing by - and how, even the best give in to the vagaries of age. The atmosphere gets maudlin after the initial euphoria of reuniting and reveling in the past settles down. The four men are at crossroads once more, and at loggerheads with where life has brought them - they’re far from contented with their lot and the only respite they have from the drudgery of the present, and the uncertainty of the future - is the familiarity of the past, like a comfortable pair of old shoes in the closet.
On the other hand is grand old man Coach Delaney - who is still brimming with ‘on-the-field’ enthusiasm to buck his former team players along; only this time, they have to win at the game of life, and the clock’s ticking fast before its games up for them! Before you start to feel sorry for them, a bit of insight into their personal lives would have you know that blackmail, racism, cheating - have all ruled the roost at some point of time in their lives. Their frustration stems more from the fact that despite having had the talent and the verve, yet, they have given up so easily in life. Jason Miller wrote the play and script of the film when he was yet unemployed as an actor – perhaps some of his struggle to get to that hallowed stage of fame, may have contributed to the realism in the story.
The ensemble cast of the film was memorable for its performances – each character seemed almost tailor made for the respective actor, especially Robert Mitchum, who replaced William Holden, as the latter had passed away before the actual filming took place. 

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (released in 1982) - A homage to the film noir concept, starring Steve Martin

If you take scenes from the pulp detective movies of the 1940's and 50's and create a story based on those, you would get “Dead men don't wear plaid”. Directed by Carl Reiner, this 1982 musical comedy stars Steve Martin and Rachel Ward. The many characters are original actors from yesteryear films like the Exterminator, The killers, Big sleep etc. The footages used involve actors like Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman, Alan Ladd, Kirk Douglas, Ava Gardner, Cary Grant etc. The editor Bud Collins does deserve credit for linking the yesteryear classics with the current footage.
When John Hayward, noted Scientist and cheese maker dies, his daughter Juliet hires the famous detective Rigby to investigate his death. Rigby has his own psychological demons, as he flows in to a rage on hearing the word cleaning lady as his father had run away with one. He almost throttles one in Juliet's house. This one gem of a scene itself is a warning enough for the laughs that may follow. On the crime scene Rigby finds a list named as friends of Carlota and Enemies of Carlotta, and an autographed picture of singer Kitty Collins. Rigby is shot but Juliet saves him by sucking out the bullet (yes thats what happens). Rigby follows Kitty Collins (Ava gardener from killers) who leaves her brooch with the information of Enemies of Carlotta (EOC) in the soup. From Juliet's uncle Sam who had been entrusted with a dollar bill he gets information of Friends of Carlotta (FOC). Soon Rigby is entrenched in a game of deceit and trouble, but with the help of Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart in his masterpiece The Big Sleep) he manages to outwit them all and solves the puzzle.



He finds the scientist father and Juliet in a remote island with their butler who introduces himself as field Marshall Wilfried Von Kluck. John Hayward has invented a cheese whose mold could corrode even the metals and the regrouping Neo Nazis were planning to sink American vessels using this mold. So the FOC were all Nazi Agents and before John could call in the FBI he is abducted and his death faked. So after a lot of hilarious moments the bad guys are vanquished with their hideout.
This movie pays homage to the countless masterpieces of the 40's and 50's and each of those movie scenes are perfectly interlaced with the film. Steve Martin is his usual brilliant self and one can treat this movie as a big laugh riot. He performs with his dead pan comic face which is just amazing. One of my favorite scene is Steve making Java for the hapless Alan Ladd (from movie Sleepless). You feel the giggle forming to a big guffaw with the continuous pouring of coffee and ends with the sucking out of the bullet by Juliet, splendid comedy !
This movie released to full fledged critical and box office acclaim. It may not be a land mark movie like Citizen Kane, but in the annals of movie making it will stand out as a crowd favorite.