Joey Travolta Movies
Inasmuch as Joey Travolta enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame after his brother John ascended to stardom, many jaundiced observers assumed that Joey was the typical "kid brother" coasting on his sibling's celebrity. In fact, Joey was two years older than John. Also, both Joey and his older sister Ellen Travolta had been professional actors in the New York area for several years before kid brother John hit it big with Saturday Night Fever. Largely lacking his brother's charisma, Joey has nonetheless made a comfortable living as a character actor over the past two decades, appearing in projects ranging from the made-for-TV Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story (1982) to the destined-for-oblivion Beach Babes from Beyond (1988). Joey Travolta has also landed a leading role or two, notably as conscience-stricken ex-CIA agent Frank DaVinci in 1993's DaVinci's War. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
- R
In this drama, a good-hearted, courageous boy from a poor New York neighborhood tries to rally his neighborhood together to stop the terrifying reign of the neighborhood street gang, the Savage Warlocks. He succeeds and begins planning to move uptown to live with his lady love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joey Travolta, John Lansing, (more)
- 1982
This for Remembrance, the autobiography of popular singer Rosemary Clooney (1928-2002), was the source for this made-for-TV biopic. Played herein by Sondra Locke, the Kentucky-born Clooney begins her career as one-half of a musical act with her sister Betty (Penelope Milford), performing at the election rallies of her politician uncle (John Karlen). Achieving radio popularity in Cincinnati, Ohio, Rosemary goes on to enjoy nationwide fame in the 1950s with such hit recordings as "Come On A' My House", "Tenderly" and "Hey There". Though her success in movies is negligible (White Christmas notwithstanding), she makes a huge impact on television, hosting several of her own weekly series. All the while, however, Rosemary's private life is in turmoil, due in great part to a tempestuous marriage to actor-director Jose Ferrer (played by, of all people, Tony Orlando). After the assassination of her great friend Robert Kennedy in 1968, Rosemary suffers a nervous breakdown, and it is many years before she is able to make a triumphant comeback on the concert trail. Rosemary Clooney herself serves as the singing voice of Sondra Locke, and also dubs in the tunes performed by the actress playing sister Betty. Had Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story aired on CBS a decade or so after its original telecast on December 18, 1982, mention might have been made of the subsequent success of Clooney's actor son Miguel Ferrer and her TV-star nephew George Clooney; there might even have been a re-enactment of Rosemary's third marriage, capriciously staged at a White Castle restaurant in Cincinnati. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
- PG
In this conservative drama, a family begins to fall apart after each member succumbs to the many temptations of modern life. They are only saved by turning back to their church. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1986
- PG
In a sequel to They Call Me Bruce (1982), Johnny Yune plays Korean Bruce Won who, while searching for an American GI who previously saved his life, ends up taking a ten-year-old orphan under his wing. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Yune, David Mendenhall, (more)
This attempt at parodying a world of hookers, child pornographers, and drug cartels never quite gets off the ground. Though these topics are not inherently amusing, director Penelope Spheeris takes the plot of Hardcore as a springboard and develops a few parallel stories that are meant to be funny. Pauline Stanton (Trish Van DeVere) is desperately hoping to rescue her daughter Lori (Robin Wright) who is working for the evil Walsh (Frank Gorshin) as a call-girl. As some policemen work on trying to get the goods on Walsh and send him up for white slave trading, another policewoman is involved in trying to bring down a child pornographer in her neighborhood. Yet another cop, detective Romero (H.B. Haggerty) is after a New York mob boss. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronny Cox, Frank Gorshin, (more)
The 1987 portmanteau comedy feature Amazon Women on the Moon lampoons several film genres in general and the 1954 sci-fi cheapie Cat Women of the Moon in particular. Other sketches in Amazon Women include an opening bit with Arsenio Hall; a vignette titled "Son of the Invisible Man" wherein a naked Ed Begley Jr. runs around in full view of the nonplussed supporting cast; the It's Alive parody "Hospital", which offers the spectacle of Michelle Pfeiffer giving birth to Mr. Potato Head; and a Siskel & Ebert takeoff, featuring Arche Hahn as a TV viewer whose entire life is given a "thumbs down." Directed by several hands, including Joe Dante, Carl Gottleib, Peter Horton, John Landis, and Robert K. Weiss, Amazon Women on the Moon also features a satire of the Kroger G. Babb school of "sex hygiene" exploitation cheapies, with syphilis victim Carrie Fisher being counseled by unctuous doctor Paul Bartel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosanna Arquette, Ralph Bellamy, (more)
- 1987
- R
Hunter's Blood is a bloody action thriller reminiscent of Deliverance or The Hills Have Eyes in which an innocent, peaceful group of people is pitted against a clan of bloodthirsty savages. Five men set out to do some deer hunting in a remote area of Arkansas. David (Sam Bottoms) and his father, Mason (Clu Gulager), experienced hunters, lead a group of city-bred amateur hunters into an area where there have been a series of mysterious disappearances. Soon, they find themselves in danger as they are themselves stalked. While Hunter's Blood is not of the quality of the films that inspired it, the acting is uniformly excellent and the direction by Robert Hughes is fact-paced and exciting. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Samuel Bottoms, Kim Delaney, (more)
- 1989
A young naive man is the victim of mob violence, and he sets out for revenge. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1989
- PG
When a movie star's ghost takes to haunting a writer's home on the beach, the two put their heads together to uncover the truth behind her suspicious demise. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Audrey Landers, Judy Landers, (more)
In this film, the violence and despair that runs rampant in their New York City neighborhood forces an Italian family to find a way to survive in their unpleasant surroundings. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
During the late '80s, a terrible fad, wilding, came into vogue among troubled inner-city youth. Wilding involved nights of insane revelry, violence, and destruction of anything and anyone in the path of a youth gang. This made-for-TV drama is loosely adapted from the tale of a female victim who was beaten-up and gang raped in Central Park during a night of wilding. Afterward three suspects are arrested and a notorious defense attorney is assigned the case. Unfortunately he isn't sure he wants to handle them as they keep killing anyone who stands in the way of their acquittal including the prosecutor, the attorney's still loved ex-wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1991
This violent crime drama is based on a well-known rape that happened in New York City's Central Park. The story is set in LA and concerns the disgusting practice of "wilding' in which a group of frenzied, affluent suburban youths go on terrifying crime sprees raping, murdering and pillaging anyone they come upon. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Sylvester Stallone gives comedy another try in this farce set in the 1930s. Angelo "Snaps" Provelone (Stallone) is the wealthy and powerful head of the Chicago mob, but his ailing father (Kirk Douglas) doesn't approve of his life in crime, and on his deathbed, Dad makes Snaps promise to go straight. Determined to honor his late father's wishes, Snaps decides to go into banking -- just as his life has fallen into chaos. Anthony Russano (Vincent Spano) informs Snaps that he's hijacked $50,000 of his money and wants to marry his daughter. Snaps discovers that his daughter Lisa (Marisa Tomei) is actually involved with the chauffeur, Oscar (Jim Mulholland), but Anthony's girlfriend Theresa (Elizabeth Barondes) has convinced her beau that Snaps is her father. Snaps hopes to use this misunderstanding as a way of getting his money back, but in the meantime, he has to deal with a wary banking board, rival mob boss Vendetti (Richard Romanus), prissy elocution coach Thornton (Tim Curry), and Snaps' one-time girlfriend Roxanne (Linda Gray). Oscar's stellar supporting cast includes Don Ameche, Chazz Palminteri, Harry Shearer, Eddie Bracken, Yvonne DeCarlo, and Bruce Davison. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Ornella Muti, (more)
- 1991
- NR
Joey Travolta and Jeff Conaway star in this black comedy about Geno, a talentless lounge singer whose career is going nowhere. A low-level mafioso makes Geno an offer -- he'll front him some much-needed cash in exchange for killing a bookie who owes him money. Geno isn't a murderer by nature but takes the assignment, only to lose his nerve once he arrives at the bookie's home. The bookie finds the whole situation very amusing, until he starts playing with Geno's gun -- and accidentally kills himself. So can Geno take credit for the killing without the police getting wind of all this? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
A teenager takes his penchant for old-school mobster movies too far in this debut film from director Joseph Merhi. The youngster has nothing but revenge on his mind when his father turns up dead, the victim of foul play. Mimicking his beloved gangster films, he takes the law into his own hands and sets out to even the score. American Born stars Joey Travolta and Andy Zeller. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- 1992
- R
The man with the granite mug (Ray Sharkey) appears as Stoneface, a crook who has stashed his ill-gotten loot in the trunk of a Rolls-Royce which two unsuspecting guys have "borrowed" from one of their uncles. The fellows, of course, are unaware that there is loot in their car trunk; they're on their way to a modeling contest where one guy's girlfriend is a hot model. The two bozos soon get involved in an all-out chase when Stoneface wants his dough back. ~ All Movie Guide
In this action drama, Frank DaVinci is out to avenge the murder of his sister. To follow through with his vendetta he enlists the aide of a hired killer and a group of Vietnam Vets. Violence and explosions ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Three buxom bimbos from outer space go for an intergalactic joyride in a sporty little ship only to run out of fuel and make a forced landing on a small blue planet--Earth. They land upon a California beach and get involved with a few handsome beach bums. When the galaxy gals learn that beatnik Bud, an uncle of one the surfer dudes, is about to lose his beat-up beach pad because he can't afford to repair it, they decide to enter a bikini contest. They certainly have what it takes with their uniquely designed suits, but can they outwit an over-ambitious swimwear designer who will do anything to stop them? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A ruthless drug lord must be stopped, pronto. Three able-bodied cops go undercover to bring the drug dealer to justice -- or, preferably, to kill him. Once in a while, the bad guys call a halt to the film's bloodshed to allow a sex scene to play itself out. Otherwise, this is essentially cable-TV stuff, blown up (sometimes literally) for the Big Screen. A good cast, headed by Michael Nouri and John Saxon, is the film's most tangible asset. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The heroes of the family adventure comedy 3 Ninjas return in this sequel (though not all of them are played by the same actors). Rocky (Sean Fox), Colt (Max Elliott Slade), and Tum Tum (Evan Bonifant) are three brothers whose Grandfather (Victor Wong) is a ninja master teaching them martial arts skills. The boys' Little League team has a big game coming up, but before they can hit the diamond, they have to help Grandpa return a sacred Ninja dagger to Japan. However, one of Grandpa's longtime enemies, now a wealthy and ruthless businessman, plans to steal the knife, and the boys are sent on a mission to Japan to rescue the valuable weapon. At first the tycoon sends his inept nephew to face off against the young Ninjas, but when that plan fails, Rocky, Colt, and Tum Tum are met by a team of trained warriors, who to their surprise are led by a teenage girl named Miyo (Caroline Junko King). Miyo soon strikes up a friendship with the brothers who are supposed to be her sworn enemies, and with her help they recover the knife and teach her a few things about baseball that come in handy when the big game finally rolls around. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Fox, Max Elliott Slade, (more)
- 1994
- R
Gritty male cop Sam Jones is teamed with drop-dead beautiful lady cop Shannon Tweed in Hard Vice. Jones and Tweed operate out of the vice squad in "sin city" Las Vegas. Right now, the dog-and-cat team is trying to solve a series of murders. The victims are all wealthy men who frequent the various houses of prostitution in the area. Suspicion falls upon a group of expensive call girls. Naturally, this requires the gorgeous Ms. Tweed to go under covers-er, undercover. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shannon Tweed, Sam Jones, (more)
The third entry in the popular Beverly Hills Cop series finds Detroit cop Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) returning yet again to Southern California, this time on the trail of two car thieves turned murderers. As he teams up again with L.A. cop Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), Foley's investigation leads him to Wonder World, a theme park that is also the front for a major counterfeiting ring. More action and less wit are the trademarks of this film, which features Murphy dishing out his usual wisecracks, but with less flair and freshness than in the original film. Alan Young plays the old man who runs the amusement park, an interesting setting that still adds little to the tired premise. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, (more)
- 1995
- NR
Christina (Sherean Neville) is a young woman who is severely hard of hearing. While she's never felt very comfortable with sports, she tries out for her high-school's basketball team in hopes of winning the approval of her father (Joey Travolta). Christina make the team, but her father turns out not to be well enough to help her practice; however, her brother steps in to coach her and Christina learns some important lessons, both about basketball and how a family holds together. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
