Tag Archives: John Travolta

Ron Robinson Silver on Silver film: PULP FICTION

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Pulp Fiction PosterLast week John Travolta from the 1970s was on the CALS Ron Robinson screen.  This week, a 1990s version of Travolta takes the screen.

Twenty-five years ago, PULP FICTION was released. In honor of its silver anniversary, the CALS Ron Robinson Theatre is showing the movie tonight.  The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster’s wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

The film starred Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Frank Whaley, Ving Rhames, Eric Stoltz, and Rosanna Arquette.

The movie was nominated for eight Oscars and took home the statue for Original Screenplay (Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary).

The showing starts at 6:30.  Admission is $5.00.

Tonight at CALS Ron Robinson Theater – John Travolta in THE BOY IN THE PLASTIC BUBBLE

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Image result for boy in the plastic bubbleAfter becoming the breakout of “Welcome Back, Kotter,” John Travolta’s first starring role was in the made-for-TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.  Tonight the CALS Ron Robinson Theater offers the chance to see this movie on the big screen.

It starred Travolta as a teen with immune deficiencies who has spent his life in a germ-free enclosed “bubble.” But after falling in love with the girl next door, he wants to get out of the bubble and experience life on the outside.

In addition to Travolta, the movie starred Glynnis O’Connor (who seemed to appear in every 1970s made-for-TV movie) as the girl next door, Robert Reed (in one of his first post-Mike Brady roles – but still playing a dad), and Diana Hyland. During the filming of the movie, Travolta and Hyland started dating. She was 18 years older than he and played his mom in the movie.

Others in the movie included Buzz Aldrin (as himself), Ralph Bellamy, Karen Morrow, Howard Platt, and John Megna (who had played Dill in the movie version of To Kill a Mockingbird.)

The showing starts at 6:30pm. The cost is $5.00.

Back to School Cinema: GREASE

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greaseGrease is the word! This 1978 film rode the wave of 1950s nostalgia and became a cultural phenomenon.  Based on the long-running Broadway musical, the film version capitalized on the success of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John by pairing them and making film history.

The film was directed by Randal Kleiser based on the original play by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey.  The cast included 23 year old Travolta, 28 year old Newton-John, 26 year old Jeff Conaway, 33 year old Stockard Channing and cast members ranging from 20 to 31 including Barry Pearl, Michael Tucci, Kelly Ward, Didi Conn, Jamie Donnelly, Eddie Deezen and Annette Charles.  Only Lorenzo Lamas and Dinah Manoff were teenagers, at 19, from the principal cast.

A dash of old Hollywood – or at least TV from the 1950s rounded out the adult cast with Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Dodie Goodman, Alice Ghostley and Joan Blondell. Frankie Avalon had a cameo as the very contemporary looking Teen Angel.

Because of the success of Saturday Night Fever, a BeeGees written title song was added.  Other songs were written for Newton-John by John Farrar, her main songwriter.  One of those, “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” nabbed the film’s only Oscar nomination.  Sha-Na-Na was added to perform 1950s standards and Grease songs at the school dance in the film.

Though the film has its flaws, it was wildly successful and stands up today as still a very fun film.  Just hearing the opening strains of “Summer Nights” is likely to send people into singing “Tell me more, tell me more….”  In the 1970s, Grease was evocative of a simpler time.  Now, 37 years after its initial release, the film stands as a reminder of a simpler time – the summer it came out.

Little Rock Film Festival Celebrates Opening of Ron Robinson Theater

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lrff_mp_hdr_logoLast week the new Ron Robinson Theater opened in the Arcade Building at the corner of President Clinton and River Market.  One of the anchors of this facility is the Little Rock Film Festival.
To celebrate the grand opening, the Little Rock Film Festival has scheduled a series of events.
Things kick off tonight with the documentary Ain’t In It for My Health.  This honest look at the life and career of Arkansas native and music legend Levon Helm was one of the highlights of the 2013 Little Rock Film Festival.  The film starts at 7pm.  It will be followed by a Q&A with Amy Helm.  Then at 9pm, Amy Helm and Handsome Strangers will take the stage for a concert.

On Saturday, January 18, at 3pm, the Ron Robinson Theater will be screen the “Best of the LRFF’s 48 Hour Film Project.”  the titles shown will be La Grande Fete, Surprise Party, Abbatoir, Vacation, The Door, The Plumber, Last Chance Romance, Drain, The Third Save, and Deuces.  

At 7pm on the 18th, the documentary Sleepy LaBeef Rides Again will be shown.  This documentary/concert film about Arkansas native Sleepy LaBeef will be followed by a Q&A with Sleepy LaBeef and Dave Pomeroy.  At 8:30pm, LaBeef and Pomeroy will be in concert.

On Monday, January 20 at 7pm, the HBO Documentary Film Moms Mabley will be screened.  A special Martin Luther King Day presentation about the iconic African American standup comedienne Jackie “Moms” Mabley, who broke racial and sexual boundaries and continues to inspire comedians to this day. In her directorial debut, Whoopi Goldberg pays homage to this pioneering legend.

Tuesday, January 21 will feature a program entitled “Locals Rule” at 7:30 pm.  These standout  Arkansas short films from the first seven years of Little Rock Film Festival represent some of the most creative work on the national festival circuit. From offbeat comedies to Gothic tales, these films show the vibrancy of the Arkansas Film Community.  The titles to be showns are Ballerina, Cain and Able, Mary, The Orderly, Pillow, Spanola Pepper Sauce, and The Van.

Wednesday, January 22 at 7:00pm may seem more like Halloween as The Little Rock Horror Picture Show presents One Please and Contracted.

  • One Please– Summers in suburbia get weird when Michael Berryman comes to town. The short film is an Arkansas premiere from the award winning team behind ‘Pillow’.
  • Contracted – Russellville native Eric England returns to Arkansas with his latest project, Contracted, a feature length thriller about what can go wrong when the party goes out of hand. England’s previous films, Madison County and Roadside, both screened at the Little Rock Horror Picture Show. Director Eric England and actress Najarra Townsend will be in attendance.

On Thursday, January 23 at 7:30pm, an episode of the Sundance series “Rectify” will be shown.  The Sundance series, “Rectify,” created by former Little Rock resident Ray McKinnon, has deservedly landed on many critics’ best of the year list. The series follows Daniel Holden as he struggles to deal with life on the outside when DNA evidence releases him from prison  after he served 19 years  for a rape conviction. Following a screening of Episode 4 from the first season, writer Graham Gordy will discuss the project.

The week-plus long series will culminate on Saturday, January 25, with a screening of Ladder 49 at 7pm.  North Little Rock native film director Jay Russell will be in town to present his film, Ladder 49, starring Joaquin Phoenix and John Travolta. Ladder 49 is a 2004 film centered around the heroics of fictional Baltimore firefighter Jack Morrison, who is trapped inside a warehouse fire, and his recollection of the events  that got him to that point.  Following the screening of Ladder 49 the Little Rock Film Festival will host a grand opening party in the lobby of the Ron Robinson Theater. Music, Food and Drink provided.