Unholiest, Bloodiest, Blondest. CARRIE starts with blood. And ends with blood. Startling gouts of life-giving/death-dealing blood. And in between – menstruation, high school, and religious dementia. A true horror movie. Director Brian De Palma brings Stephen King’s 1974 debut novel Carrie to the big screen in blood and strawberry blonde: Sissy Spacek as Carrie White, perfectly embodying the awkward teen … Read More
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
A Sweathog Comes of Age. I said a-bar bar bar – bar Barbarino A-bar bar bar – bar Barbarino A-bar bar bar – bar Barbarino You got me rockin’ and a-reelin’ got me rockin’ and a-reelin’ Barbar-i-no!… — Vinny Barbarino, WELCOME BACK KOTTER, 1975 Ever wondered what Vinnie Barbarino would look like on the big screen? John Travolta made this … Read More
A CIVIL ACTION
Justice IS blind – so can’t see Truth. In movies, the good guys always seem to win court cases. Over an ingratiating orchestra swell, no less. But in reality, good or bad has nothing to do with the outcome of court cases. It’s how you play the game. If you can afford to be in the game in the first … Read More
THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 2009
Rocking the remake rails. An organized gang of criminals led by Ryder (John Travolta) takes hostage a New York subway train, and train dispatcher Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) must talk them down. Brian Helgeland screenwrites and Tony Scott (TOP GUN, TRUE ROMANCE, MAN ON FIRE) directs this remake of the 1974 film of the same name, THE TAKING OF PELHAM … Read More
BOLT
O.D. on QT. If cuteness ever becomes a sin, this movie is going straight to hell. BOLT (voiced by John Travolta) is a little white puppy that was raised from birth as a superdog. Well, he’s not really a superdog – but HE doesn’t know that. For the sake of realistic reactions from Bolt, the producers of his weekly television … Read More
WILD HOGS
On The Road To Nowhere. There is only one good thing in WILD HOGS: Peter Fonda. And he’s a cameo ten minutes before the end. Naif director Walt Becker helms this listless, laughless tale of four suburban friends pushing middle-age crisis who hit the open road as wannabe bikers to taste “freedom” and come smack up against real bikers and … Read More
PHENOMENON
Battlefield Iowa. Long before John Travolta and Forest Whitaker turn Earth into a battlefield for L. Ron Hubbard in BATTLEFIELD EARTH, the Psychlos envoy (Travolta and his mildly-retarded lieutenant, Whitaker) inhabit a small midwestern American town, pretending to be human, in PHENOMENON. On his 37th birthday, Travolta sees lights in the sky – L. Ron Hubbard beaming down brain juice … Read More