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
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)
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)
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
- 1989
A young naive man is the victim of mob violence, and he sets out for revenge. ~ All Movie Guide
John Travolta's brother Joey Travolta directs the family-oriented adventure Arizona Summer. Lee Majors leads the adult cast as Mr. Travers, a guy who runs a ranch-style summer camp in Arizona. Gemini Barnett stars as Brent Butler, a young troublemaker at his first year of camp, along with other campers Brandon (David Henrie from The Pitts) and Scott (Bug Hall from the 1994 film The Little Rascals). Brent's parents are played by Greg Evigan (from My Two Dads) and Morgan Fairchild. Don Ho's twentysomething daughter Hoku appears in a small role and contributes to the soundtrack. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gemini Barnett, David Henrie, (more)
- 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
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)
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
- 1999
- R
A con artist and his friends join an attempt to steal from the local organized crime syndicate, which they discover turns out to be a set up. The group escapes and they hide out at the thief's newly inherited dairy farm. While reconsidering their chosen profession and deciding to become law-abiding citizens, they still must elude the reach of the still-angry mobsters out for revenge. ~ All Movie Guide
- 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
How does a man convince the woman he loves that attempting to make him the toast of Broadway could be a really bad idea? Paul Halpern (David Paymer) is a cynical, middle-aged comedy writer who primarily works in television. Paul once had dreams of becoming a successful playwright, but after a passionate, short-lived relationship with a beautiful woman, he wrote a stage drama that became a notorious flop when it was presented for the first (and only) time by a Los Angeles theater company. Paul has come to believe that his play is cursed, and he has spent years trying to distance himself from the ill-fated project. Paul is more single than he'd like to be these days, and he's encouraged when he's approached by Carla (Rosalind Chao), an attractive, intelligent woman who seems quite fond of him. However, while Carla is attracted to Paul personally, she also has a professional interest in him. Carla is a director who wants to stage Paul's play in New York, and while he'd like to make her happy, he thinks it would be inviting disaster to put his drama back on the boards. Enemies of Laugher also features Judge Reinhold as a filmmaker directing a documentary about Paul, Peter Falk and Bea Arthur as Paul's parents, and cameos from Marilu Henner and Kathy Griffin. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Paymer, Judge Reinhold, (more)
Directed by Joey Travolta, the thriller Final Move concerns a detective with extrasensory perception who is pulled out of his retirement in order to solve an unsolved murder. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matt Schulze, Lochlyn Munro, (more)
- 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)
- 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)
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)
- 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)
David Snedeker directs this nutty indie flick about a couple of wacky neurotic 20-something New Yorkers. After Gen-X loser Parker Concord (Jonathan Schaech) accidentally burns down his own apartment, he crashes at the pad of his womanizing buddy Jack, who lives by the credo that "New York is a dessert tray of beautiful women." Not unlike Jack Tripper in Three's Company, Parker is forced to hide his heterosexuality in order to get a really cool apartment with comely young female Sam (Alison Eastwood), who only rents to gay men. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnathon Schaech, Gabrielle Anwar, (more)
- 1998
- NR
In this drama, a lawyer puts his career and life on the line after he falls in love with a dangerous woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell, Amber Smith, (more)
- 1997
- R
Assistant District Attorney Theresa (Joan Severance) is getting threatening messages -- a mutilated cat in her car, bizarre notes regarding her attempts at getting pregnant -- pressuring her to purposely lose a high-profile case of a suspected serial killer who shot a detective. When her high-strung surgeon husband (Nick Mancuso) is kidnapped, and a finger with his wedding ring is found frying in a pan in Theresa's kitchen, she calls for help from Michael D'Angelo (C. Thomas Howell), a disgraced alcoholic detective who frequents bondage nightclubs and was recently dismissed from the force. The two are former lovers, and the stress of the continued slayings of prostitutes, the kidnapping of her husband, and the icky-sicky messages rekindle their passion for each other. But then Theresa discovers who all the clues to the killings and mysterious goings-on point to. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell, Joan Severance, (more)
- 1999
Joey Travolta directed this comedy-drama for the family. Two children from the city spend the summer at their grandfather's ranch where they make a new friend -- Mel, grandpa's giant turtle who can do tricks and loves pancakes. But while Grandfather and the kids are all very attached to Mel, one of his neighbors is opening a theme park and wants Mel as their official mascot ; he's willing even to steal him if Grandfather won't turn him over willingly. Julia Hagerty, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Scalia, and Greg Evigan star. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Hagerty, Greg Evigan, (more)
In this lurid direct-to-video crime thriller a Las Vegas policeman's superiors send him to hide out at a Navajo reservation after he states his determination to testify against the gangsters who killed his partner. There he gets involved with an Indian lady-police-officer and starts investigating a series of strange ritual murders. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steven Bauer, Irene Bedard, (more)
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
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
- 2009
Produced by Joey Travolta, Taylor Cross and Keri Bowers' documentary Normal People Scare Me aims to help the general public better understand autism. At six years old, Cross was diagnosed with autism. Despite being an internationally recognized autism expert, even his mother Bowers faced some serious battles while attempting to understand her son. At age fourteen, Cross got the idea to make a film about autism so that others could understand his struggles. Enter Travolta, who leapt at the opportunity to mentor the filmmakers so they could get their message to the masses. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Graham Nash
