Irving Azoff Movies

 

Michael Keaton stars in this special-effects-heavy Christmas film about a boy who discovers, after his father dies in a car accident, that his dad is still alive in the form of a snowman. Unlike the horror film of the same name, Jack Frost is a children's film designed to warm the soul during a chilly winter season. Think of this film as a live-action version of the children's classic Frosty the Snowman. The story starts with Jack Frost (Michael Keaton), a harmonica-playing blues rocker who spends too much time pursuing his musical career, leaving little time for his wife (Kelly Preston) and son Charlie (Joseph Cross). Feeling guilty for his absence and missing his son's hockey practice, he decides to forego his big audition to spend Christmas with his family. While driving home for the holidays, however, Jack dies in a tragic auto accident. The following Christmas, Jack's son builds a snowman and decorates it with his father's old clothes. When Charlie plays his father's harmonica, Jack Frost returns home in the body of the snowman. Jack has to show Charlie how much he loves him and also has to teach him the ice hockey shot he never got around to when he was alive. Along the way there are snowball fights and sled chases, and Jack finally realizes the great times he was missing with his son. ~ Arthur Borman, Rovi

A young aspiring professional basketball player must make some tough decisions in this sports melodrama. Kyle Lee is a talented basketball player in high school. While he waits to find out if he will receive a scholarship to Georgetown he finds himself in a difficult dilemma over a playground basketball tournament. He must decide whether to follow his good-hearted coach or Birdie, the local gangster. Kyle is also feeling resentment for the security guard his mother is falling for. The coach also wants the guard to play, but due to the tragic death of a friend, the guard cannot bear the thought of playing again. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

"You a real cowboy?" John Travolta traded disco for a mechanical bull in this adaptation by James Bridges and Aaron Latham of Latham's article on Western nightlife. Texas country boy Bud (Travolta) moves to Houston to work on an oil rig with his Uncle Bob (Barry Corbin), and he swiftly becomes indoctrinated in the nighttime rituals of drinking, dancing, and showing off cowboy duds at Gilley's, the enormous local honkytonk. There he meets and marries the sassy Sissy (Debra Winger), but the honeymoon quickly ends when Sissy starts spending too much time learning the men-only skill of mechanical bull-riding from ex-con Wes (Scott Glenn); Bud throws her out and hooks up with slumming Pam (Madolyn Smith). Under the paternal tutelage of Uncle Bob, Bud then learns not only how to master the bull but also what it takes to be a real man rather than just an ersatz cowboy. With a story, cast, and setting that were essentially Saturday Night Fever country-style, Urban Cowboy was poised to be a summer 1980 hit. Although its box office did not live up to Fever's legacy, Urban Cowboy did spawn a soundtrack album of country-and-western hits and helped spur a Western fashion vogue; people from all regions began sporting cowboy boots, and mechanical bulls started replacing passé disco floors. The first of Travolta's many comebacks, Urban Cowboy provided the star with a more "manly" image after his Moment by Moment (1978) fiasco, but it was neophyte co-star Winger who got even better notices. With its Western milieu and retro view of relationships, Urban Cowboy stands as a sign of the nascent Reagan era, as '70s icon Travolta learned bull-riding himself and replaced his white polyester with a black Stetson. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi