It was 35 years ago today of the release of Saturday Night Fever, a film that introduced the masses to the pulsating beat of disco music and all the attitudinal and fashion accoutrements that went with it, made a superstar out of John Travolta, and spawned a soundtrack which became one of the biggest selling records of all time.

Contemporarily, in its consistent airings on channels like VH1 Classic and TBS since the original release in the theaters, Saturday Night Fever is quite a different film than the one seen by many generations who discovered it for the first time on those cable circuits. To them mostly, they have seen a somewhat watered down version of a film that in its uncut state, remains almost brutal and unapologetic, underneath its fluffy, musical surface levels.

Saturday Night Fever is actually a film about a confused youth, one Tony Manero, (expertly portrayed by Travolta, who was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars for his characterization), who is on a directionless path in his young teenage life (he’s only 19), experiencing growing pains at every turn, working a dead-end job in a paint store which he still handles with grace, charm and effortless congeniality, who finds solace and an emotional outlet at the local discotheque in his hometown of Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, New York. At this disco, he is literally treated as King due to his dancing, which electrifies the large crowds that congregate there every Saturday night. Manero (in the original R-Rated version) is one part charismatic, enigmatic, magnetic, and gorgeous in his physicality and two parts naïve, misogynistic, egotistical, brash, crude, and even racist. His friends are of no help to him, only enabling his bad misspent youth behavior. Upon meeting Stephanie (played by Karen Lynn Gorney), who although not that far from Tony in age, but light years ahead in terms of direction, Manero starts to slowly question the repetition of his existence and finds himself at a crossroad.

The Toxic Avenger is one of those nasty, brutally violent, sex-filled films that you can’t help but watch. Sure enough with any film that has a cult following as large as it has, there will be studio heads looking to reboot the film.

Steve Pink has been attached to direct the film for some time now and although things looked like they haven’t been progressing as quickly as some would have liked, this latest bit of casting rumors should give it the push it needs to head into production. The rumor that is going around is that John Travolta has been approached to appear in the reboot of The Toxic Avenger.

Savages
Directed by Oliver Stone
Written by Shane Salerno, Don Winslow
Starring Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson, Blake Lively, Salma Hayek, Benicio del Toro, John Travolta
Universal Pictures
Rated R | 127 Minutes
Release Date: July 6, 2012

“There’s something wrong with your love story, baby.” – Elena (Salma Hayek)

You’re goddamn right there is, Salma. Oliver Stone‘s latest film, Savages, is a heavy-handed, ineffectual effort that produces plenty of smoke with little fire.

Based on the novel by Don Winslow, Savages stars Blake Lively (Green Lantern) as Ophelia, one of many detestable, unbelievable characters in this moth-eaten shambles of a story. Ophelia is a blonde-haired flower child with the unique benefit of having not one, but two douche-bag boyfriends!

Former Navy SEAL and ex-mercenary Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ben (Aaron Johnson), a charitable Buddhist-slash-environmentalist (code for “white guy with dreadlocks”), run a lucrative business growing some of the most potent marijuana ever developed. That’s right, the ultra-aggressive dick you hated in high school and the pacifist Greenpeace volunteer who looks down on you for not recycling are BFFs and they’re totally cool with sharing the same clueless trust fund hippie.

Bolt
3 Blu-ray Combo Pack
Directed by Chris Williams and Byron Howard
Starring John Travolta and Miley Cyrus
Walt Disney Pictures Home Entertainment
Release Date: November 8, 2011

When talking about the current state of Disney’s animation side of film production (and that’s Disney proper, not Pixar), things aren’t as good as they have been. Animated projects are not only seeing less and less respect with critics, but frankly, they don’t seem to be hitting the zeitgeist in general. However, there is the occasional gem.

Hitting theaters in 2008, Byron Howard and Chris Williams‘ Bolt has become something of a rarity amongst the general collection of modern day Disney animation releases. It’s not only one of the prettiest pieces of animation the studio has to offer, but it is both wonderfully charming performance wise, and is far more touching than anything Disney has seen hit theaters in quite some time.

New and returning stars for The Expendables 2 have been rumored in and out for a while now, with high expectations for most of the cast to return, including Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who both had cameos in the first film.

Now, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, star Sylvester Stallone has not only confirmed returning actors in Schwarzenegger and Willis””who are said to have much bigger parts in the sequel””but also the involvement of a couple of other major action movie stars who have also been whispered about recently: Jean–Claude Van Damme and the one and the only Chuck Norris.