Long Live the Stallion

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, the Blog is back and hopefully better than ever. However, there are going to be a few changes here in the Bear Cave.

No longer is this Blog part of a class assignment, meaning that I no longer plan on spending time spell checking and proofreading. Sorry if my grammar sucks or if I can't spelle four beanes (I made a funny, laugh!) but the purpose of this Blog isn't to write college level masterpieces. It's just a way for me to say to the world whatever it is I feel like saying.

With that said, to all my loyal fans out there in Blog-land (admit it, there are at least a couple of you), I apologize for the long hiatus. These past 6 months have lacked inspiration.

Sure, life's been pretty good. I've seen a lot of cool places, I've done a lot of cool things, met a lot of cool people and heard a lot of funny stories. But the writing juices have chosen to wade instead of flow, relaxing in a constant state of "eh, whatever."

Until last night.

Last night the writing juices were awakens in a vivacious rumble. My body was reinvigorated with shots of adrenaline and my soul was filled with strength and vigor.

The inspiring event: My dad, my brother and I saw the long awaited Rocky Balboa.

I was born as the Rocky phenomenon was fading away. I somewhat remember when Rocky V was released in theatres but as a 4 year old child I didn't really care.

But in 6th grade, along with sidekick Menachem Lapidus, I discovered the Italian Stallion and was held captive by his impossible rise from Philadelphia bum to American icon.

At my 6th grade birthday party, of all the possible music to play for my friends, I blasted my "The Rocky Story" soundtrack over and over and over again, much to the chagrin of the girls present.

Not only do I still watch Rocky 1, 2, 3, and 4 every time they are on TV (Rocky 5 is hard for even me to stomach), I, Matt Baram proudly own the Rocky collection on DVD.

Thus when I first heard that Rocky 6 was in production the excitement and anticipation began to build. I was flat out psyched. My brother and I began an unofficial countdown and we were both filled with dreams of a glorious ending for the movie legend to negate the devasting effects of the debacle referred to as Rocky 5.

And then I saw the movie trailer for Rocky 6.

No Adrian. An old, wrinkly Sylvester Stallone. A fight instigated by an ESPN computer simulation.

The excitement was gone.

No longer was I excited to watch the Italian Stallion defeat all odds to win not only Boxing glory, but our hearts as well.

I still, of course, planned to see the movie, partly out of respect for the series and partly because of a small glimmer of hope that remained in the bottom of my breadbasket telling me the movie still might rule.

But instead of talking about the awesome new Rocky movie, I referred to it as the probable awesomely bad Rocky movie that would be terrible but fun. AKA, I was trying to find the good in what I was sure would be a dreadful example of cinematography.

But my Gawd, Rocky Balboa may be the surprise movie of the year.

If you want a deep analysis of the plot, acting, dialogue, direction, etc then read my brother’s blog dannybaram.blogspot.com. But just trust me when I say that this movie reeked of awesomeness, in a way no other movie has in a long time.

The film was not only inspiring and hair-raising, but everyone in attendance left the theatre in jovial spirits. Rocky Balboa was one of those movies that made you happy just to be alive.

As the credits began to roll, I looked at my brother and tried to hide my shock as I blurted out, "Damn it all, that freakin RULED!" He nodded back in agreement. My dad threw in a, "wow, that was well done!"

Stallone- you're still the man. Thank you.