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Swordfish starring Hugh Jackman, John Travolta, Halle Berry & Don Cheadle

Posted on February 13, 2011 Written by ripitup

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Swordfish starring Hugh Jackman, John Travolta, Halle Berry & Don Cheadle
Swordfish starring Hugh Jackman, John Travolta, Halle Berry & Don Cheadle. Directed by Dominic Sena. Written by Skip Woods. Image via maniadb.com

Swordfish starring Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, John Travolta and Don Cheadle

Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman) is a brilliant hacker who recently got out of jail and banned from working his mojo on computers. This suits him just fine, because all he wants to do is to see more of his young daughter Holly (Camryn Grimes). Unfortunately, his ex-wife (Drea de Matteo)is an alcoholic bitch married to a porn industry king and has gotten full custody.  Stanley needs a lot of money to win a court battle and he doesn’t have any. Knowing his weak point, Ginger (Halle Berry) finds Stanley to make him a dangerous offer: her boss Gabriel (John Travolta) needs the best hacker for a highly illegal job and is ready to pay Stanley millions for his services. While Stanley doesn’t want to go back to jail, “helping” Gabriel seems like the only solution. Unfortunately, Gabriel is a lot more dangerous and psychotic than Stanley first estimated, Ginger seems to be full of secrets and the F.B.I agent Roberts (Don Cheadle) – the very agent who put Stanley behind bars in the first place- is after Gabriel and wants to use Stanley to get to him. How the hell will Stanley survive and get Holly back?

**

Swordfish is one kick-ass action/thriller. It starts with a blast, and some dialogue that only foreshadows how crazy and well-prepared Gabriel is. John Travolta makes a great villain. And Gabriel is even scarier and more powerful than his Broken Arrow character because well, the villains and the good guys in Swordfish have some really fine grey areas. The writing is fast, the action is satisfactory and despite defying logic in some areas, it is one hell of a ride. Directed by Dominic Sena (Gone in Sixty Seconds, Kalifornia, Season of the Witch). Written by Skip Woods (Hitman, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The A- Team).

8/10 for the entertainment value.

Favorite scenes:

– When Gabriel (John Travolta) goes all ballistic to shake their tail in the street – while making Stanley drive.

– Everything about Gabriel’s getting in, and getting out plan.

Fun notes:

–          Stanley’s ex-wife is played by Drea de Matteo – who played Angie on Desperate Housewives in the show’s 6th season. She also played Joey’s sister in the Friends spin-off Joey.

–          Hugh Jackman co-starred with Halle Berry 3 more times: The X-Men trilogy.

–          Dominic Sena has directed Nicolas Cage twice: 2000’s action film Gone in Sixty Seconds and 2011’s fantasy action Season of the Witch.

–          Nicolas Cage and John Travolta starred in Face/Off together where both of them played the villain and the good guy in the same movie.

Also on Hugh Jackman:

Hugh Jackman Trivia

Someone Like You starring Hugh Jackman, Ashley Judd and Greg Kinnear

6 Hollywood Stars That Would Make 20-Year-Olds Jealous

Hollywood’s Tall Actors feat. Hugh Jackman, Gerard Butler, Paul Walker& more

Hugh Jackman: My Favorite Australian

Other Don Cheadle Movies:

Iron Man 2 starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle & Scarlett Johansson

Brooklyn’s Finest starring Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke & Don Cheadle

Also on John Travolta

Broken Arrow starring John Travolta, Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis

Mad City starring Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta

Face/Off starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage

Pulp Fiction

6 Movies with Brilliant Casts feat. Hairspray starring John Travolta

From Paris with Love starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and John Travolta

Basic starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson

Phenomenon starring John Travolta, Robert Duvall and Kyra Sedgwick

Favorite Actors to Play Villains feat. Nicolas Cage, John Travolta and more

Actor Musicians and Musician Actors: Feat. John Travolta and Bruce Willis

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: action, Camryn Grimes, dominic sena, Don Cheadle, don cheadle movies, drea de matteo, halle berry, Hugh Jackman, hugh jackman movies, John Travolta, john travolta movies, movies, skip woods, Swordfish, swordfish movie, thriller

Broken Arrow starring John Travolta, Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis

Posted on October 14, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Broken Arrow starring John Travolta, Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis
Broken Arrow starring John Travolta, Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis. Directed by John Woo, 1996. Remember, John Woo movies are about the fun, not the logic!

Captain Riley Hale (Christian Slater) and Major Deakins (John Travolta) are boxing buddies and co-pilots in the US military.Deakin’s true colors are revealed as the two are on flying two nuclear weapons to their destination. Deakin attacks Riley, sends him off in his parachute and releases the weapons.

His team is waiting for him, with a trucks, a helicopter and the financer (Bob Gunton) of the operations nearby. He has already recruited some officers from the army, so eliminating fellow soldiers won’t be that big of a problem.

However when Riley lands on a desert-like park and runs into the park ranger Terry (Samantha Mathis), an unplanned partnership is born. Together, they survive the men Deakins sends after them and begin to follow the trucks. From then on, it turns into a boxing match of intelligence between Riley and Deakin. Deakin always seems to be one step ahead, but he just might be underestimating both Riley and Terry. Can these two stop Deakin and safely get the nuclear weapons back? Because if the government refuses to pay the $250,000,000 Riley will be asking, he is just crazy enough to activiate the weapons and casualties be damned…

Broken Arrow is one of my favorite action movie ever. It is fast, entertaining and really fun- just like you expect John Woo (Face/Off, Mission Impossible 2) movies to be. It actually breaks my heart that it is only 5.8 on IMDB. Maybe my expectations are low but I just love to watch what crazy stunts John Woo will make his actors pull and frankly, I also love to have a crazy villain in the form of John Travolta. I also like the fact that the chemistry between Christian Slater’s and Samantha Mathis’ characters at just that- chemistry, so that we don’t get an unrealistic romance forced on the audience.

I also like the side characters and note that there is also Delroy Lindo in the cast, as well as Kurtwood Smith (Red Forman – the strict dad from That ‘70s show) and Raymond Cruz (Det. Sanchez from The Closer) in a very small role.

Written by Graham Yost and directed by John Woo.

Favorite Quote:

(Secretary Baird explains that Broken Arrow is the military term given to the situation when a nu?clear weapon is lost).

Giles Prentice: I don’t know what’s scarier, losing nuclear weapons, or that it happens so often there’s actually a term for it.

Other Posts on John Travolta

Mad City starring Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta

Face/Off starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage

Pulp Fiction

6 Movies with Brilliant Casts feat. Hairspray starring John Travolta

From Paris with Love starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and John Travolta

Basic starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson

Phenomenon starring John Travolta, Robert Duvall and Kyra Sedgwick

Favorite Actors to Play Villains feat. Nicolas Cage, John Travolta and more

Actor Musicians and Musician Actors: Feat. John Travolta and Bruce Willis

Other Posts on Christian Slater

Hunky Actors of the 80s and 90s: Brad Pitt, Patrick Swayze and Christian Slater

Mindhunters starring Christian Slater, Val Kilmer, LL Cool J., Kathryn Morris and Johnny Lee Miller

The Deal with Christian Slater: A Christian Slater Tribute feat. his movie The Deal

The Forgotten TV Series starring Christian Slater

My Own Worst Enemy TV Series starring Christian Slater

Alias TV Series feat. Christian Slater in a guest role

Job Security? What Job Security?

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: action, bob gunton, Broken Arrow, broken arrow movie, broken arrow movies, Christian Slater, Christian Slater movies, delroy lindo, graham yost, John Travolta, john travolta movies, john woo, kurtwood smith, movies, raymond cruz, Samantha Mathis

Mad City starring Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta

Posted on September 15, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Mad City starring John Travolta and Dustin Hoffman
Mad City starring John Travolta and Dustin Hoffman. Directed by Costa- Gavras. Written by Eric Williams and Tom Matthews. 1997.

Max Brackett’s (Dustin Hoffman) live “brush” with fellow reporter Kevin Hollander (Alan Alda) has resulted in Max’s being relocated to a local television, still dependent on his old network. Max is bored, as his boss Lou (Robert Prosky) won’t let him “move the line”( that is to interrupt the news objects’ lives for the sake of news)…

As luck would have it, however, Max accidentally runs into the story of a lifetime. As he is doing an interview at the museum run by Mrs. Banks (Blythe Danner), Sam Baily (John Travolta) decides to pay her a visit: she has just fired Sam, who was one of the two guards working for her. Sam, a husband and a father of 2, just wants his job back. But when Mrs. Banks can’t be bothered to give Sam two minutes, Sam brings out the big guns-literally. What he hasn’t planned on is the news reporter in the bathroom, and the group of young school kids on a school trip at the museum.

Soon, this turns into a career-defining opportunity for Max and a nightmare for Sam, it doesn’t take long for Sam to find Max out. But Max has no intention of letting the story go, even as he becomes a hostage. For one thing, Sam is not a psycho criminal but a desperate man who just wanted to be heard. Second, he is much more experienced than Sam when it comes to hostage situations. So from then on, Max helps Sam, and steers him in the direction that will help Sam and Max’s career.

But the news is just too big for Kevin Hollander to ignore and for the FBI to stay away. While Max mostly works to show Sam in a positive light, the rest seems intent on showing him as the ultimate villain. With the parents of the kids hating him, and his own wife trying to figure out how as to handle things, can good intentions be taken into account when a weapon and kids are involved? Or are the ratings just more important than humanity?

Mad City is one of my favorite films. It is from 1997, so today, you may not be moved by it as I was when I first saw it over a decade ago. After all, 1997 was before Youtube and Twitter and Facebook. The story could no way flow the way it was written. Probably one of the kids would have a high-tech phone with an internet connection or their teacher or Mrs. Banks…There would be no need to create a public poll as the public would create the buzz after they heard it. People would follow the news worldwide and it is likely that some of the pro-Sam audience would offer Sam a job and things would never quite get out of control.  But it was shot in 1997, and it was all about the big networks and their ratings.

Yes, by now, probably you have seen at least tens of hostage situation movies where sometimes you were probably rooting for the villain. But this film is one of the better ones, and it does have a great cast. Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta make a great team.

I’d love to share my favorite line, but that would be a spoiler. Let me just say it is the final line of Dustin Hoffman. A really good take on the lust for ratings vs. the fight for survival.

Fun notes: Blythe Danner is Gwyneth Paltrow’s mother.

Mel Gibson is referenced a couple of times.

Other John Travolta Movies and Posts

Face/Off starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage

6 Movies with Brilliant Casts feat. Hairspray starring John Travolta

From Paris with Love starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and John Travolta

Basic starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson

Phenomenon starring John Travolta, Robert Duvall and Kyra Sedgwick

Favorite Actors to Play Villains feat. Nicolas Cage, John Travolta and more

Actor Musicians and Musician Actors: Feat. John Travolta and Bruce Willis

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Alan Alda, Blythe Danner, Costa-Gavras, drama, Dustin Hoffman, dustin hoffman films, eric williams, John Travolta, john travolta movies, mad city, mad city movie, movies, Robert Prosky, thriller, tom matthews

Face/Off starring Nicolas Cage and John Travolta

Posted on September 11, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Face Off starring Nicolas Cage and John Travolta
Face Off starring Nicolas Cage and John Travolta. Co-starring Joan Allen, Dominique Swain and Gina Gershon. Featuring James Denton.

Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) is the worst kind of criminal: he is smart, vicious, dangerous, he has great resources and he is a total psycho. The man who is closest to catching him is Agent Sean Archer (John Travolta). In attempt to kill Archer, however, Castor accidentally kills Sean’s little son. This results a determined quest on Sean’s part. He eventually catches him. Sean’s doctor wife Eve (Joan Allen) is more than relieved, as she won’t have to be feeling alone and deal with their rebellious teenage daughter Jamie (Dominique Swain) on her own. But one last assignment won’t give Sean the time to catch up with his family and finally find peace:

Castor isn’t dead, but is in a coma. His brother Pollux (Alessandro Nivola) is in a maximum security, top-secret prison and unfortunately he is the only person who knows the place of the bomb they placed in the city: So despite how impossible and difficult it seems, Sean has to agree on an advanced but reversible surgery, which will allow him to “be” Castor: the doctors remove Castor’s and Sean’s faces and implant Castor’s face on Sean. This top secret mission is known only by his doctor, and 2 colleagues.

As much as he hates looking like his son’s killer, Sean (now played by Nicolas Cage) goes to the prison to pretend to be Castor. He gets the info he needs, but he gets a big shock: Castor has woken up and he is more than willing to be Sean for a while, to use his resources. So he gets the surgery, and then kills everyone who knows about the mission. So know, Castor (now played by John Travolta) gets to be with Sean’s wife. As impossible as it might seem, now Sean’s only way out is to break out of the prison, pretend to be Castor to those who don’t know Sean is indeed Castor and he also has try to persuade his wife that he might look like their son’s killer but he is in fact her husband…

Face/Off is a really decent and glorious action film. And once you suspend your disbelief to believe that the technology that allows facial implants/replacements to exist the way it does in the movie, you are in one hell of a ride. It is also fun to have a movie where John Travolta and Nicolas Cage play both of the lead characters for a certain period of the movie and both get to show their acting chops as a villain and the ultimate good guy. It is directed by John Woo (Mission Impossible 2, Broken Arrow), who just knows how to make an action film look good. Written by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary.

It is that over-the-top, full-of-explosions/chases/gun fights action film that keeps you glued to your seat for more than 2 hours. And it is not about how it will end (you know how it will end); but watching how the movie will get there. It helps that the supporting cast is great well. Castor’s girlfriend is played by Gina Gershon. And in a very small role, there is James Denton (Mike Delfino of Desperate Housewives). Intellectual? No. Mind-bending? No. Fun as hell? Oh, yeah.! See it . It never gets old or boring. Yes, I have seen it more than twice.

Other Nicolas Cage Movies and Posts

Lord of War starring Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke and Jared Leto

Nicolas Cage Trivia

Moonstruck starring Nicolas Cage and Cher

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice starring Nicholas Cage, Monica Belluci, Jay Baruchel, Teresa Palmer

City of Angels starring Meg Ryan and Nicolas Cage

Knowing starring Nicolas Cage

Other John Travolta Posts and Movies

Pulp Fiction

6 Movies with Brilliant Casts feat. Hairspray starring John Travolta

From Paris with Love starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and John Travolta

Basic starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson

Phenomenon starring John Travolta, Robert Duvall and Kyra Sedgwick

Favorite Actors to Play Villains feat. Nicolas Cage, John Travolta and more

Actor Musicians and Musician Actors: Feat. John Travolta and Bruce Willis

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: action, Alessandro Nivola, dominique swain, Face Off, face off movie, face/off, gina gershon, James Denton, joan allen, John Travolta, john travolta movies, john woo, movies, Nicholas Cage, nicholas cage movies, nicolas cage, nicolas cage movies, sci fi, thriller

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