If anything, Cop Land was a necessity at the time. Stallone's action movie stardom was twindling and he was getting desperate in renewing his clout after the triple threat of Judge Dredd-Assassins-Daylight, which all had underperformed drastically in the stateside box office. Like some many other 80's stars, Stallone's past was catching up with him and while the latest outings of both Rocky and Rambo had perished in the box-office, Demolition Man and Cliffhanger had earned him enough credits to maintain above 'has-been'. However, he was hardly high enough to take three costly strikes in a row, and figured he might just as well try for another Academy Award nomination. Gaining weight and/or going slow has since worked for the likes of Sean Penn and Charlize Theron, so Stallone's reasoning (as well as the self-ironic apperance to cut the critics' teeth) was fair enough.

Unfortunately for poor Sly, he was forced to stretch to the limits of his range next to people like Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and Ray Liotta, who as Scorsese alumni can outact him in a flash on their worst days. While Cop Land isn't the greatest of films to anyone involved, that I think was the greatest reason for why Stallone didn't get more out of it. People just saw an aging action hero playing an unorthodox protagonist as far as outlook's concerned (by Hollywood standards, anyway), which contributed to a hypocritical stench above it, now begging for artistic recognition instead of the usual idolatry.

After taking a few years to consider his options, Sly resurfaced with Morgan Creek and Franchise Pictures, both notorious dumping grounds guised as safe havens for actors and filmmakers who'd lost their former studio bankability. Get Carter was a costly reimagining of the 1970's Michael Caine film with Stallone only a shadow of his Cop Land appearance, now sporting a goatee and shades, desperately attempting to look hip. But even his reformed image, a script by the American History X scribe and a then-promising actor-turned-director couldn't combinedly pass the mustard and Get Carter turned out to be one of the worst flops in his career. Like co-star Mickey Rourke, himself in a similar career slump then, so aptly put it onscreen: "You're gonna end up like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest."

Stallone's next, Driven, was a last-ditch effort to go back to sport films. A near $100 Million budget took him right back to the old days again; yet in all fairness, the money was atleast partially pocketed due to the attachment of Cliffhanger director Renny Harlin, who'd just made Warner Brothers a modest success with his shark movie, Deep Blue Sea. Stallone dogded the age question by casting himself as the old sage out to guide a freshman driver who could be a contender. While its nowhere near plausible to imagine a 55-year old driving a CART car half a season after an extended hiatus (the G-force exposure alone might do some nasty things), Stallone hoped he could turn Nigel Mansell and return to the ovals as an eligible challenger.

No such luck, and after Driven crashed and burned in the box-office (creating major issues for Harlin as well), the much postponed D-Tox/Eye See You, the original follow-up/rebound of the post-Cop Land wilderness years (shot in '99) was dropped by Universal Studios and briefly visited the theatres before sinking into the bottom of the rental shelf. The less said about it, the better. Same goes for yet another Franchise Pictures offering, Avenging Angelo.

Another few years of penance, and Stallone was finally ready to enter the stage of the fallen champ, both on and off screen. Enough time had passed for the Rocky/Rambo fanbase of the 80's to grow up and the following generation to catch up on those Reagan-era glory moments on cable and DVD. Rocky Balboa was very unpretentious in its efforts to milk the nostalgia factor, and was in many ways the film Cop Land was meant to be for ol' Sly. Despite overtly mushy and slightly slim on characterization, the finale is still effectively gripping once the Apollo Creed surrogate Mason Dixon breaks his hand and the contender gets the first of his last shots past the defenses.

Rambo is a completely different story than Rocky Balboa, as a character and a franchise. Stallone's been adamant about his intentions on closing the chapter on a high note in both cases, yet that's partially industry pep talk. Rocky's something that's rather difficult to milk further (even if some might've said the same after part 5), but the current post-9/11 environment makes for a fertile hunting ground for the aging guerilla, his best one since Reagan's America. If only he'd be 10-15 years younger, I could see another Cobra (originally envisioned as another franchise) in the pipeline...

While this is complete bollocks, I'd like to add some weight to it as it sinks down to the Mariana Trench of CD April Fool's jokes.

The band and I, along with our record company, feel that this record deserves the proper setup and promotion, not the '13 Tuesdays left' and 'It may just appear in your record store' approach offered by management. We believe this strategy may have been used as a tool by management to sell this latest tour to the various promoters, and if this was the case, this was obviously unfair to them. -Axl

Whether orchestrated by a candid radio station or an unimaginative 'fan', it can be tagged with BS regardless.

No sweat, man.

It's funny that Gould joined forces with Azoff in late '06, when Front Line Management was expanding by  buying out other companies. Merck was supposed to bring Axl in at the same time. In retrospect, Axl might've done a blunder that set him back a bit, as it's possible he could've piggybacked from Sanctuary Management to Front Line with Merck and ditched him only then.

The news today make this seem so unbearably funny for whatever reason.

Can't really understand Slash's stance on his former "ass"ociates.

In Leeds '02 Slash was still in Axl's ass and Doug was still doing the kissing.

If you ask me, this is how it went down ( without actually knowing )

- GNR finishes album, begins negotiations with Universal
- GNR starts to actively seek proper management, as they will need more than Beta at this point
- Irving Azoff signs on after being allowed a listening of the final album and a meeting with Axl
- Azoff starts forging potential marketing schemes and works as a mediator between Axl and Universal (as any good manager would do at this point)

Nothing is a coincidence. Dr Pepper doesn't waltz into a situation like this by accident.