Camby expresses his distaste for optimism in movies such as Rocky.  He satirizes the optimism of Rocky and a number of other ‘feel good’ films through extrapolation of the events in the movie to a pessimistic outcome.  For example, he claims that Rocky should end with Rocky being exposed as a pedophile.  It is interesting to note that this is exactly the type of movie that Sylvester Stallone didn’t want to make when he wrote Rocky.  By D. Goldstein

This article is a preview of upcoming films in November, 1976.  The author states that 1976 (up to and including October of that year) was the “year of the bomb” and expresses his worriment over having a year of complete “blahs.”  Rocky, the future recipient of the Oscar’s Best Picture Award recieves no more attention in this article than any other forthcoming movie.  By D. Goldstein

This article previews Rocky two months before its debut in November.  The article details Stallone’s background from the “sleazy sections” of Philadelphia and notes Stallone’s opposition against the “realistic,” cynical movies that dominated the 1970s Vietnam war era.  This article also quotes Stallone saying that an actor needed to look his/her part as much as be able to act it.  By D. Goldstein

This article describes some of the work of John Alvidsen.  It describes his method of directing and his reactions to Times Critic Vincent Camby calling his movie “corny.”  The article also discusses some of Alvidsen’s improvisational skills for working with a limited budget in Rocky.  It seems as if directors working with low budgets could not film according to standard operating procedure, but had to develop techniques as they went along.  By D. Goldstein