Blogs

After breaking through with the 1976 sports drama Rocky, Sylvester Stallone established himself as one of the biggest action stars in Hollywood with blockbuster films such as First Blood, where he debuted the iconic Vietnam veteran John Rambo, Cliffhanger and Demolition Man.

However, in 1997, Stallone decided to take a major career risk by taking on a role that required a dramatic pay cut. He also had to put on 40 pounds, thereby effectively shedding his action-hero persona.

Stallone portrayed Freddy Heflin, the sheriff of a suburban New Jersey town, in the crime drama Cop Land, directed by James Mangold. Freddy teams up with Internal Affairs officer Moe Tilden, played by Robert De Niro, to try to uncover a massive cover-up by a group of corrupt cops. This included Gary Figgis, played by Ray Liotta.

The film was generally well received by critics. It was not a commercial flop, but its box-office performance was far below that of Stallone’s more popular action films.

The risk did not pay off for Stallone, who admitted the movie was a major setback in his career.

“Nobody wanted me after Cop Land,” he told AARP in a 2025 interview. “Even my agents. I was fired from CAA. My personal manager at the time let me go. He said, ‘I can’t do anything for you. Nobody really wants you anymore.’ And I go, ‘How’d this happen?’ I was told these studios feel as though you’re not what you were. Time has passed. Your genre is over.

“For almost a decade, I couldn’t find work. My former agent, Ron Meyer, was running Universal Studios. And I would go in and say, ‘Please, I’ll take anything.’ He goes, ‘I’ll try to help you, but it’s not up to me.’ And that was it.”

Stallone eventually returned to the top. He wrote, directed and starred in the sixth installment of the signature franchise that put him on the map. Rocky Balboa grossed $155 million worldwide in 2006, marking Stallone’s successful comeback.

Cop Land Considered One of Sylvester Stallone’s Best Movies

Despite nearly ending Stallone’s decorated career, Cop Land has endured as one of his best works. Rolling Stone ranks the 1997 drama No. 3 in its list of Stallone’s best movies, as voted on by the publication’s readers.

“Stallone’s career hit some serious roadblocks in the mid-1990s,” Rolling Stone wrote. “The Specialist, Judge Dredd, Assassins and Daylight were all debacles, and studios suddenly stopped bankrolling his signature big-budget action movies.

“… Stallone gained weight for the movie, and showed he could do more than flex his biceps and blow about bad guys with a bazooka. His career would fall deeper into oblivion over the next few years, and Cop Land remains one of his great, great movies from the low point of his post-fame career.”

The gamble may have proved costly for Stallone, but it also produced one of the defining points in his legacy.

Related: 1988 Cult Classic Starring Wrestling Legend Features One of the ‘Greatest Fight Scenes Ever’

Throughout Robert De Niro’s career, he starred in a slew of wildly successful movies, which often made it seem like everything he touched turned to gold. Films like The Godfather Part II, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and The Deer Hunter were all immediate box office and critical hits. However, one strikingly unusual box office flop starring the actor grew to become a cult classic that is now ranked as one of the greatest films ever made.

Robert De Niro’s 1985 Film ‘Brazil’ Flopped at the Box Office Amid a Troubled Release

In 1985, Universal Pictures released the film Brazil, which starred Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, Ian Richardson, Peter Vaughan, and Kim Greist. Unfortunately for everyone involved in the making of the movie, it was a box office flop. According to IMDb, the film was produced for an estimated $15 million, excluding distribution and marketing expenses, and brought in just $9,953,708 at the worldwide box office.

In May 2023, Brazil’s director Terry Gilliam discussed the film’s troubled release when he appeared on The Hollywood Reporter’s It Happened in Hollywood podcast. During that discussion, he explained that the head of Universal Pictures at the time, Sid Sheinberg, “hated” the movie. As a result, the studio wouldn’t even release it in North America at the time unless major changes were made.

After refusing to transform his own film, Gilliam launched a campaign attempting to force the film’s release. For example, he took out a full-page ad in Variety with a simple message: “Dear Sid Sheinberg: When are you going to release my film, ‘Brazil‘? Terry Gilliam.” He also publicly encouraged members of the media to see the film internationally and push for its domestic release.

View this post on Instagram

The director even enlisted Robert De Niro to help call for the movie to come out when they arranged to appear on Good Morning America together. Ultimately, the film only hit theaters after the LA Film Critics Association voted Brazil best picture, best screenplay, and Gilliam best director of 1985, which resulted in Sheinberg relenting.

The delay was so bad that Brazil was released on December 18, 1985, in the United States after it came out in France on February 20, 1985. It was also allowed into theaters in several other international countries before American audiences were given their first chance to see it. The film didn’t even come out until 1986 in Canada, Hong Kong, and Japan.

Robert De Niro’s ‘Brazil’ Ranked One of the ‘Best Movies of All Time’

Even though Brazil wasn’t embraced by the studio that produced it or moviegoers at the time of its release, it definitely found its audience. The film developed a dedicated fan following, which Criterion celebrated by listing it among the “cult movies” the company has released remastered copies of. As time progressed, the film garnered more mainstream accolades, including currently being listed on Rotten Tomatoes’ dynamic “Best Movies of All Time” ranking. Additionally, Empire Magazine ranked Brazil at No. 83 on its “Greatest Movies of All Time” list in 2008.

There are many reasons why Brazil has been ranked among the best films of all time by widely respected outlets like those. One obvious factor in its garnering praise is that it is a singular film and visual masterpiece from the mind of Terry Gilliam. Easily one of the most unique mainstream directors ever, the former Monty Python member has helmed other acclaimed but strange movies like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and 12 Monkeys.

The sci-fi comedy presents a captivating dystopian future in which incompetence and bureaucratic indifference make life comically difficult for everyone. Beyond its narrative, the film stands as a highly influential work thanks to retro-futuristic visuals that left a lasting mark on pop culture and society. Another factor that shouldn’t be ignored is that Robert De Niro gave one of the most memorably unusual performances of his career in his small but iconic role. Without giving spoilers, the movie features an ending that is legitimately stunning.

Next: 1995 Robert De Niro Classic Ranked Among ‘Best Movies Of All Time’ Has ‘Best Movie Shootout of All Time’

For decades, treating cavities has almost always meant drills, fillings, and, in severe cases, surgery. But new research suggests many young children could avoid those procedures thanks to a simple liquid that stops tooth decay before it worsens.

A large U.S. clinical trial has found that silver diamine fluoride (SDF), an inexpensive liquid applied directly to decayed teeth, can successfully halt cavity progression without drilling, injections, or anesthesia. The findings, published in JAMA Pediatrics, provide the strongest evidence yet that the treatment is both safe and effective in young children, potentially paving the way for full approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Landmark Trial Strengthens Case for Wider Use

The Phase III trial, led by researchers at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, enrolled 830 children younger than six years old from dental offices, pediatric medical practices, and Head Start programs across Michigan, New York, and Iowa. Researchers evaluated whether applying 38% silver diamine fluoride every six months could stop active tooth decay in baby teeth.

The results were encouraging. The treatment successfully arrested decay in more than half of affected baby teeth, offering a noninvasive alternative to traditional cavity treatment, which typically requires removing decayed tooth material before placing a filling.

Lead investigator Margherita Fontana said the treatment is safe even for children as young as one year old. That finding is especially significant because tooth decay remains the most common chronic disease affecting children in the United States, with more than 40% experiencing cavities. Left untreated, those cavities can lead to severe pain, infections, difficulty eating or sleeping, missed school days, and emergency hospital visits.

Expanding Access to Dental Care

Researchers believe SDF could transform care for patients who struggle with conventional dental treatment, including toddlers, older adults, people with developmental or physical disabilities, individuals with severe dental anxiety, and those with limited access to dentists.

The treatment involves painting the liquid onto the cavity using a small sponge applicator, eliminating the need for drilling or sedation. One drawback is that the decayed portion of the tooth permanently turns dark after treatment.

Scientists say the trial provides the rigorous evidence needed to support an FDA application for SDF as a cavity treatment. If approved, experts believe insurers may be more willing to cover the therapy, healthcare providers could adopt it more widely, and more children could receive treatment before cavities become painful or require surgery.

Researchers also note that repeated applications may preserve baby teeth until they naturally fall out, while adults could use the treatment as either long term cavity management or temporary protection before restorative dental work becomes possible.

Saturday marks the 66th anniversary of a decade-defining song debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.

Elvis Presley single-handedly placed rock and roll on the global music map in the ’50s. In the ’60s, rock bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The Who, Jefferson Airplane and The Doors burst onto the scene and became top-selling groups.

In the early ’60s, before most of those legendary rock bands became household names, solo singers like Elvis, Ray Charles, Brenda Lee, Sam Cooke, Roy Orbison, Connie Francis and Chubby Checker were dominating the charts.

On Aug. 1, 1960, the defining song of Chubby Checker’s career debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 49. The song was a cover of the hit by Hank Ballard and The Midnighters, released one year earlier.

Checker was only 18 when he recorded the song at Cameo-Parkway Records in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in June 1960. Before he knew it, Checker would soon become a can’t-miss music sensation.

In their Aug. 2013 list of ‘The All-Time 100 Biggest Songs‘, Billboard ranked Checker’s version of “The Twist” No. 1. In their 2021 list for ‘Greatest of All Time Hot 100‘, Billboard placed it second behind only “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd.

‘The Twist’ Spent Three Weeks Atop the ‘Billboard’ Hot 100

Checker’s cover of “The Twist” first peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of Sept. 19, 1960. Incredibly, the song would return to the top of the chart again for the weeks of Jan. 13 and Jan. 20, 1962.

“The Twist” and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” are the only two songs to top the Billboard Hot 100 on separate runs.

It was on this day, 62 years ago, that a band widely regarded as the greatest of all time scored another No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Beach Boys’ classic song, “I Get Around”, spent two weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 before getting dethroned by The Four Seasons’ hit track, “Rag Doll”. The song spent two weeks at No. 1 in the United States before a hit from another legendary rock band took the top spot.

On Aug. 1, 1964, “A Hard Day’s Night” by The Beatles replaced “Rag Doll” as the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Incredibly, “A Hard Day’s Night” was the fifth of six Beatles songs to top the Billboard in 1964.

The song was released through A Hard Day’s Night, The Beatles’ third studio album. The track was recorded on April 16, 1964, at the EMI Studios (now Abbey Studios) in London, England.

“A Hard Day’s Night” spent two weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 before Dean Martin’s “Everybody Loves Somebody” took the No. 1 spot for the week of Aug. 15.

The Beatles Dominated the ‘Billboard’ Hot 100 in 1964

John Lennon and The Beatles needed little time to cement themselves as the ultimate can’t-miss music act in the early ’60s. In 1964 alone, six of their songs went No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Their dominance of the Billboard began with “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, which spent seven straight weeks at the top of the chart. Fittingly, it was “She Loves You” by The Beatles that dethroned “I Want to Hold Your Hand” for No. 1.

The Beatles’ other three songs that topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964 were “Love Me Do,” “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “I Feel Fine.”

In 2019, the black comedy film Parasite broke through language barriers to elevate the global footprint of South Korean cinema. The film amassed unprecedented viewership, grossing over $263 million worldwide. It made history by becoming the first foreign-language film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture.

However, South Korea has been producing elite quality film even before Parasite‘s groundbreaking success. In 2016, director Kim Jee-Woon created a spy thriller that is now considered one of the best in its genre.

The Age of Shadows is set in 1920’s Korea during the Japanese occupation. The plot follows Lee Jung-chool (played by Song Kang-ho), a Korean-born Japanese police officer. He is tasked to hunt down the leader of the Korean resistance fighters, Kim Woo-jin (played by Gong Yoo), as they smuggle explosives to help their cause.

Lee and Kim engage in an intense game of cat-and-mouse, which climaxes in a ruthless battle during a train ride to Seoul.

The Age of Shadows Named the ‘Best Spy Movie’ by Rotten Tomatoes

The Age of Shadows reigns supreme in Rotten Tomatoes’ list of the best spy movies ever made. It is ranked No. 1, topping the likes of 007: Goldfinger and Mission: Impossible– Fallout, which are second and third, respectively.

The Age of Shadows is the only film on the list that earned a perfect 100% Tomatometer score on the renowned movie review wesbite.

“The Age of Shadows justifies its imposing length with a richly detailed period drama whose sprawling size is matched by strong acting, impressive craft, and narrative depth,” the Critics’ Consensus read.

Related: 2009 War Epic Named One of the Most ‘Perfectly Directed’ Action Films