Posted on 03/12/2018 7:49:42 AM PDT by EdnaMode
The A-list actress' recent stumbles with 'Red Sparrow,' 'mother!' and 'Passengers' are no reason to gloat. The death of the movie star is bad news for everyone in Hollywood.
In 1993, John Travolta’s career was teetering on the brink. The actor, who’d become a superstar with Saturday Night Fever and then added to his luster with Grease, had all but ceased to matter as a cultural force. True, he could still deliver the occasional hit, such as Look Who’s Talking, but at the domestic and foreign box office he was a has-been, someone largely remembered for a white sharkskin suit and a few fabulous dance moves.
Hollywood had effectively written him off, perhaps unconvinced he was all that big a star to begin with. But one director, who was just beginning to make his name, had faith, and when he came to make his second feature, he chose Travolta for the most important role. That director, of course, was Quentin Tarantino; the feature was 1994’s Pulp Fiction; and with it, Travolta was back on top, raking in $20 million per movie and sealing his place in the pantheon.
It isn’t easy being a star, as Jennifer Lawrence must have thought when Red Sparrow opened to a humble $16.9 million first weekend earlier this month. You’re on a perpetual roller-coaster ride, knowing each time you’re up, the law of gravity says you’re going to crash back down. Stars live in constant fear that everything they have, they’ll soon lose — the perks, the privileges, the private planes. Directors secretly resent their clout, executives question their monetary value and pundits (like me) wonder whether many deserve to be called stars at all.
(Excerpt) Read more at hollywoodreporter.com ...
That would be the VERY old days. By the time the Hayes code ended stars weren’t selling anymore. That’s what led to the meltdown and opened the door for the New Hollywood and the age of the auteurs.
Yes, that ended with the 60’s.
Swordfish was just too stupid though.
Much prefer Travolta in his two John Woo flicks Face-Off and Broken Arrow. Sure you can argue that, in both these flicks, the underlying premise is ridiculous, but Travolta plays a great bad guy in both.
Oh he's been in a lot of terrible movies (almost as many as Nicolas Cage)...
Perfect...
Stayin' Alive....
And one of the all-time stinkers...
Battlefield Earth!
Good enough movie, just didn't care for it.
I much prefer Basic, Michael and From Paris, With Love!
I disagree. It was all downhill after “The Boy In The Plastic Bubble”.
I don't think Michael was a big hit; but, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I’ve never in a theater where there were people talking on their Cell phones. I guess I just live in an area where people have manners.
I have walked out of a movie and complained to the manager that some mentally challenged teenager was screaming at the screen. They gave me my money back.
The movie sucked anyway.
My wife and I have found a guilty pleasure: Going to Mass on Saturday afternoon and going to the early (10 AM) movie on Sunday morning. No one is there. Its quiet. And the staff is actually nice.
Her film "Mother" is the creme de la creme of crappy vehicles.
1. Pulp Fiction (1994)
8.9
2. The Thin Red Line (1998)
7.6
3. Carrie (1976)
7.4
4. Blow Out (1981)
7.4
5. Face/Off (1997)
7.3
6. Grease (1978)
7.2
7. A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)
7.2
8. Bolt (2008)
6.9
9. Get Shorty (1995)
6.9
10. Saturday Night Fever (1977)
6.8
11. Hairspray (2007)
6.7
12. Primary Colors (1998)
6.7
13. Our Friend, Martin (1999 Video)
6.6
14. The Tenth Level (1976 TV Movie)
6.6
15. The Punisher (2004)
6.5
16. Savages (2012)
6.5
17. Swordfish (2001)
6.5
18. From Paris with Love (2010)
6.5
19. Basic (2003)
6.5
20. Ladder 49 (2004)
6.5
21. Lonely Hearts (2006)
6.5
22. A Civil Action (1998)
6.5
23. The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
6.4
24. Phenomenon (1996)
6.4
25. Gotti (2018)
6.3
26. The General’s Daughter (1999)
6.3
27. Nightmare (1974 TV Movie)
6.3
28. Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
6.2
29. Urban Cowboy (1980)
6.2
30. Mad City (1997)
6.2
31. In a Valley of Violence (2016)
6
32. Broken Arrow (1996)
6
33. Wild Hogs (2007)
5.9
34. She’s So Lovely (1997)
5.9
35. Look Who’s Talking (1989)
5.8
36. Criminal Activities (2015)
5.8
37. Be Cool (2005)
5.7
38. Michael (1996)
5.7
39. The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976 TV Movie)
5.7
40. The Forger (2014)
5.7
41. Domestic Disturbance (2001)
5.5
42. Old Dogs (I) (2009)
5.4
43. Killing Season (2013)
5.4
44. I Am Wrath (2016)
5.3
45. Welcome to Hollywood (1998)
5.3
46. Eyes of an Angel (1991)
5.3
47. Basements (1987 TV Movie)
5.3
48. Life on the Line (I) (2015)
5.2
49. White Man’s Burden (1995)
5.2
50. Shout (1991)
5.1
51. Chains of Gold (1991)
5.1
52. Lucky Numbers (2000)
5
53. Two of a Kind (1983)
4.8
54. The Devil’s Rain (1975)
4.8
55. The Experts (1989)
4.7
56. Staying Alive (1983)
4.5
57. Look Who’s Talking Too (1990)
4.5
58. Boris and Natasha (1992 TV Movie)
4.5
59. Perfect (1985)
4.3
60. Look Who’s Talking Now (1993)
4.3
61. Moment by Moment (1978)
2.9
62. Battlefield Earth (2000)
2.4
One of only a few movies to get Elmore Leonard.
1994 Pulp Fiction Vincent Vega
1995 Get Shorty Chili Palmer
1995 White Man’s Burden Louis Pinnock
1996 Michael Michael
Phenomenon George Malley
Orientation: A Scientology Information Film Himself Short film
Broken Arrow Maj. Vic ‘Deak’ Deakins
1997 Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen’s Himself Documentary
Mad City Sam Baily
Face/Off Sean Archer / Castor Troy
She’s So Lovely Joey Giamonti Also executive producer
1998 A Civil Action Jan Schlichtmann
The Thin Red Line Brigadier General Quintard
Junket Whore Himself Documentary
Primary Colors Governor Jack Stanton
1999 The General’s Daughter Warr. Off. Paul Brenner
Our Friend, Martin Kyle’s dad Voice
2000 Battlefield Earth Terl Also producer
Lucky Numbers Russ Richards
Welcome to Hollywood Himself Cameo
Mockumentary
2001 Domestic Disturbance Frank Morrison
Swordfish Gabriel Shear
2002 Austin Powers in Goldmember Himself as “Austinpussy” Goldmember Cameo
2003 Basic Tom Hardy
2004 Ladder 49 Captain Mike Kennedy
A Love Song for Bobby Long Bobby Long
The Punisher Howard Saint
2005 Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D James Benson “Jim” Irwin Voice
Documentary
Be Cool Chili Palmer
2006 Lonely Hearts Elmer C. Robinson
2007 Wild Hogs Woody Stevens
Hairspray Edna Turnblad
2008 Bolt Bolt Voice
2009 The Taking of Pelham 123 Ryder
Old Dogs Charlie Reed
2010 From Paris with Love Charlie Wax
2012 Savages Dennis
2013 Killing Season Emil Kovac
2014 The Forger Ray Cutter
2015 Life on the Line Beau
Criminal Activities Eddie Also executive producer
2016 In a Valley of Violence The Marshal
I Am Wrath Stanley Hill
2018 Gotti John Gotti Post-production
Trading Paint Sam Post-production
I have not seen it.
well, I heard he cheated on his wife Anna Farris with JLaw during that film, Passengers, so maybe not such a Christian. Just sayin’.
I didn't think anything at all, about Travolta in From Paris with Love.
Travolta is probably not that bright. And he has his closet problem. But he doesn’t force his dumb opinions on the world like JLaw. She truly is an idiot and yet she believes she is superior to the rest of us. Which gives people a good reason to avoid seeing her in anything.
Oh, gag me with a ball!
That was a long, long time ago. Still, it would be fun to dig up those old posts. A howl in fact.
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