Cast: John Travolta (Bolt), Miley Cyrus (Penny), Susie Essman (Mittens), Mark Walton (Rhino)
For complete info, see IMDb's Bolt page.
Bolt is the best non-Pixar animated movie I've seen released in years. This is by far the best Disney animated movie created for a long time. Having seen some of the really horrible animated movies Disney has released in the last few years, I was amazed at how well Bolt was done! It's clear that John Lasseter (head honcho of Pixar, now running all of Disney's animation department) is having a positive effect on Disney's Animation Studios. The only animated movies I've seen in a theatre in recent years are all the Pixar movies (the last one being WALL-E). If this is a sign of things to come from Disney, I may occasionally see a regular Disney animated movie in a movie theatre now. A couple years ago, I would have never thought I could think a Disney movie made without Pixar would be worth putting near the top of my rental queue, let alone seeing it on the big screen.
Bolt is a great story, it's well animated, they have amazing voice talents... It's definitely a must see movie. If you missed Bolt in theatres (and I don't blame you, Disney's animated movies had been horrible lately), rent it and enjoy. Thankfully, Bolt was released on Blu-ray, so the quality of watching it at home is better than many movie theatres would have had.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2008, animated, comedy, Disney, family, fantasy, John Lasseter, John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, movie
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: John Travolta (Edna Turnblad), Nikki Blonsky (Tracy Turnblad), Michelle Pfeiffer (Velma Von Tussle), Christopher Walken (Wilbur Turnblad), Amanda Bynes (Penny Pingleton), Zac Efron (Link Larkin), Queen Latifah (Motormouth Maybelle), James Marsden (Corny Collins), Elijah Kelley (Seeweed)
For complete info on the amazing cast and crew, see IMDb's Hairspray page.
I love musical movies and I'm very happy that the genre is thriving again. A movie based on a Broadway musical based on a movie is an amusing thought, even though they did the same thing with The Producers. The cast they chose for the Hairspray revival really could not have been better. While I agree with many who say that Harvey Fierstein should have been in the movie and is a big enough draw for the movie (Heck, did they need more of a draw? Look at the rest of the cast.), John Travolta did a wonderful job as Edna Turnblad!
The crowd at the movie theatre was ready to enjoy the movie. They were applauding at the beginning of the movie and cheered throughout the movie for some of the better scenes. It was definitely the right theatre to enjoy Hairspray, since it's such an outrageous movie.
Nikki Blonsky did a wonderful job in her first movie. I'm glad that they found the star of the movie much in the same way they found the star of the Broadway show. Tracy Turnblad being played by an amazingly talented unknown actress just seems to fit the part at this point.
They did an amazing job bringing the Broadway adaptation of the original movie back to the big screen. If you like musicals, you definitely need to see this one. Hairspray is a fun movie with a very good message.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2007, Amanda Bynes, Brittany Snow, Christopher Walken, comedy, dancing, drama, James Marsden, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, movie, musical, Nikki Blonsky, Queen Latifah, Zac Efron
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix (Jack Morrison), John Travolta (Captain Mike Kennedy), Jacinda Barrett (Linda Morrison)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Ladder 49 page.
What a movie. I was really surprised to see that most of the movie was a flashback. The beginning of the movie really blew me away. Not knowing the beginning going in really made the movie more interesting and I was impressed that most of the amazing shots did not appear in the trailers.
The cast is wonderful, the direction is great, the special effects are superb. Go see this movie!
Grade: A-
Labels: 2004, action, drama, Joaquin Phoenix, John Travolta, movie, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 5:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: John Travolta (Jan Schlichtmann), Robert Duvall (Jerome Facher), Tony Shalhoub (Kevin Conway), William H. Macy (James Gordon)
For complete cast, see IMDb's A Civil Action page.
This movie about families of children who died suing companies for dumping toxic waste in their neighborhood is very good. It really addresses the issues facing our world today with the environment and dealing with the legal issues involved. It also shows the struggle the families go through fighting corporations in environmental battles. Knowing that they can never replace the loved ones they lost, it's amazing that these people had the courage to continue to fight the corporations involved. Environmental law is a very sticky subject and I think A Civil Action handles it well.
Grade: B
Labels: 1998, drama, John Travolta, movie, William H. Macy
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:10 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: John Travolta (George Malley), Kyra Sedgwick (Lace Pennamin), Forest Whitaker (Nate Pope), Robert Duvall (Doc Brunder)
For complete cast, see IMDb's Phenomenon page.
This movie about a man who gets supernatural powers after seeing a bright light descend from the skies was a lot better than I expected. I thought the focus on the mystic nature of the powers would be a bit too much, but I think that Phenomenon concentrated more on the relationships between people and was really a very well done movie. John Travolta and the rest of the cast did a great job.
Grade: B+
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:50 PM show | 0 screams