8 SECONDS – Luke Perry channels bull riding phenom Lane Frost

Posted on November 22, 2024 by Bradley Crain

I watched the 1994 film 8 SECONDS today for the first time in close to 30 years. The movie is based on the life of Lane Frost, the world champion bull rider, who tragically died when a bull gored him at the Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1989 at just 25 years of age. I’ll go ahead and say that I’m about as opposite from a rodeo cowboy as a person can possibly get. I won’t go into all the hows and whys, but I’m actually a little scared of cows and horses. I have my reasons, and I’ll leave it at that. We did attend a rodeo in Cody, Wyoming featuring professional bull riders in the summer of 2023 when we were vacationing in Yellowstone. We enjoyed the evening at the rodeo, but it’s also a brutal sport where professional cowboys were getting thrown off more often than not, and sometimes with some rather serious looking injuries. Even though I’m not a rodeo guy, I do enjoy movies based on real stories and people. The short, but spectacular life of Lane Frost makes for a compelling story.

Our story opens in Oklahoma with a little boy and his dad watching a cattle drive. The boy tells his dad that he isn’t scared of the bulls they are watching. We then see that boy, a young Lane Frost, growing up at the rodeo, first riding sheep and then bulls until he’s being played by Luke Perry. At this point in his life, Lane and his two best friends, Tuff and Cody, are riding the weekend Texas rodeo circuit in towns like Amarillo and Nacogdoches. Lane is a better rider than his buddies, and he’s also great with his young fans. One day Lane notices a beautiful barrel racer named Kellie and asks her to go eat with him. Since they’re in Texas, I enjoyed that he took her to Whataburger. I’ll pause for a quick tangent about why I enjoyed the choice of restaurant for their dinner. Our son grew up in Arkansas on McDonalds as the fast food of choice, but he went to college in Texas. When he first got to East Texas Baptist University, he’d suggest to his buddies on the golf team that they go to Mickey D’s. His buddies, the ones from Texas, would give him hell and say that Whataburger is the ONLY place to go for burgers and fries. His buddies were down right snobbish about it and put down McDonald’s like it was completely second class to the gold standard that is Whataburger. When he told me about it, I just thought it was funny. Tangent over and back to the movie. After this amazing Whataburger experience, we see Lane rising in the rodeo world, while simultaneously romancing and marrying Kellie. From this point forward, the movie settles in with the ups and downs of Frost’s professional life and personal life. We see really high moments like his ascension to world bull riding champion at just 24 years of age, and we see really low moments like their temporary marital separation due to the temptations of being on the road too much. Lane and Kellie eventually reconcile and are in a great place in their relationship when we arrive at that tragic day in Cheyenne.

There are quite a few things that I like about 8 SECONDS, but the main reason is that I like Luke Perry. When I was in college in the early 90’s, I had a standing date with my girlfriend and her older sister to watch every new episode of BEVERLY HILLS 90210. Like most people, that’s where I first got to know Luke. Couple that with his co-starring role on the 1992 film version of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, with the great Rutger Hauer as the head vampire, and I was a fan for life. Our kids got to know him on the Netflix show RIVERDALE, so it was nice to see them discover him as well. It was a real shame that we lost Luke Perry in March of 2019 at 52 years old. I also like that Lane Frost’s mom in the movie is played by actress Carrie Snodgress. Carrie played the evil villainess Joan Freeman who sliced Charles Bronson’s stomach with an axe in MURPHY’S LAW. It made me happy to see her again as I had forgotten she was even in the movie. It’s also interesting to see a young Renee Zellweger pop up as a tempting “Buckle Bunny” a couple of years before she hit the real big time with JERRY MAGUIRE. I like that John G. Avildsen directed 8 SECONDS. Avildsen has directed classics like ROCKY and THE KARATE KID. This may not rise to those heights, but it has its share of touching and stirring moments, which is a specialty of the veteran director. I’ll admit to a couple of tears when Lane’s often critical dad (veteran actor James Rebhorn) finally tells him that he’s proud of him, something that Lane has been needing to hear for years. Additional misty moments occurred when Lane’s longtime buddy Tuff (Stephen Baldwin) dedicates his own national championship ride to Frost, riding his bull for 16 seconds instead of eight. Finally, I like country music and Vince Gill, McBride & the Ride, and Brooks & Dunn all perform in the movie at different times. The early 90’s were an extremely popular time in country music and it’s fun seeing these stars pop up.

As I close this review, I wanted to point out one last thing about 8 SECONDS that I really enjoy. The film’s credits last for over 10 minutes and they’re played over pictures and videos of the real life Lane, Kellie, Tuff, Lane’s parents, and others. It’s quite touching as we see the real people and many of the real events that inspired what we had just watched in the movie. It’s quite poignant and brings the movie home in a way that feels genuinely special.

Retro Television Reviews: Dark Angel (dir by Robert Iscove)

Posted on May 28, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay. Today’s film is 1996’s Dark Angel! It can be viewed on YouTube!

Eric Roberts is Walter D’Arcangelo!

Walter was raised in the Louisiana foster system and eventually a series of Catholic orphanages. With a last name like D’Arcangenlo, it’s hard not to feel that Walter was destined to eventually become an eccentric homicide detective who does things his way and that’s exactly what happened. After starting his career in Baton Rouge, Walter has recently transferred to New Orleans. He arrives just in time to help investigate a series of gruesome murders, the victims of which are all women who cheated on their husbands. Walter even starts to get phone calls from someone who claims to be the murderer.

Unfortunately, for Walter, he’s somehow become a suspect in the murders. The rest of the homicide division doesn’t quite know what to make of the somewhat nervy Walter. When they discover that he went missing for several months while working in Baton Rouge, that makes him even more suspicious in the eyes of his new colleagues. Even while she personally is falling for him, Detective Anna St. Cyr (Ashley Crow) investigates Walter’s past and discovers that Walter does indeed have a link to the murders but not in a way that anyone was expecting.

Dark Angel was clearly intended to be a pilot for a weekly detective show. I imagine that Detective D’Arcangelo would have spent every week investigating a different murder in New Orleans. The show is full of moments that don’t have much to do with the case but which seem to have been included to make viewers say, “Wow, Eric Roberts is a really interesting guy! I wish he was starring in TV series that I could watch every Tuesday night!” Roberts does give a pretty good performance as Walter, hinting that, even if he isn’t a killer, the detective is still someone who could snap at any minute. Roberts plays Walter as if Walter himself is a little bit scared of the darkness that’s lurking inside of him. Walter’s an interesting character, though one gets the feeling that the demands of a weekly show would have led to the character becoming a bit less enigmatic if Dark Angel had been turned into a series.

The film takes place in New Orleans and it’s somewhat shameless about indulging in every “Big Easy” cliché possible. Yes, Walter listens to jazz. Yes, there are scenes of rain and shots where the steamy humidity seems to be rising from the French Quarter. Yes, Walter visits a voodoo priestess and yes, there’s even a scene set during Mardi Gras. Though there’s nothing unexpected about the show’s portrayal of New Orleans, the pilot does do a good job of capturing the city’s unique atmosphere. Eric Roberts and New Orleans feel like a perfect match,

Of course, Dark Angel did not become a series. Still, the pilot is entertaining and Eric Roberts gives another memorable performance. Dark Angel is a enjoyably macabre diversion.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

2020 In Review: The Best of Lifetime

Posted on January 31, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As chaotic as 2020 may have been, one thing remained unchanged! Lifetime provided me with a lot of entertainment! Below, you’ll find my picks for the best Lifetime films and performances of the past year!

(For my previous best of Lifetime picks, click on the links: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019!)

Best Picture:

Best Director:

Jeff Hare for Beware of Mom
Sam Irvin for Mile High Escorts
David Weaver for Sleeping With Danger
Linden Ashby for Escaping My Stalker
Colin Theys for A Predator’s Obsession: Stalker’s Prey 2
Doug Campbell for Deadly Mile High Club

Best Actress:

Wendie Malick in Deranged Granny
Elisabeth Rohm in Sleeping With Danger
Sydney Myer in Remember Me, Mommy?
Ezmie Garcia in Escaping My Stalker
Anita Brown in Cheer Squad Secrets
Crystal Allen in Beware of Mom

Best Actor:

Houston Stevenson in A Predator’s Obsession: Stalker’s Prey 2
Antonio Cupo in Sleeping With Danger
Panos Vlahos in Psycho Yoga Instructor
Nick Ballard in Psycho Escort
Andrew James Allen in Escaping My Stalker
T.C. Matherne in A Murder to Remember

Best Supporting Actor

Damon K. Sperber in Deadly Mile High Club
Jim Klock in Secrets in the Woods
Gord Rand in Abducted on Air
Brandon Howell in Beware of Mom
Mark Jude Sullivan in Sinfidelity
Jeff Schine in A Mother Knows Worst

Best Supporting Actress

Cristine Prosperi in Killer Competition
Perrey Reeves in Abducted on Air
Mariette Hartley in Escaping My Stalker
Christina Moore in Mile High Escorts
Christie Burson in Ruthless Realtor
Cristina Rosato in No Good Dead Goes Unpunished

Best Screenplay:

Stephen Romano for Escaping My Stalker
Richard Blaney and Gregory Small for Sleeping with Danger
S.L. Heath for Beware of Mom
Barbara Kymlicka for Abducted on Air
Daniel West for Killer Competition
Adam Rockoff and Zachary Valenti for Remember Me Mommy

Best Score:

Andrew Morgan Smith for Sinfidelity
David Findlay for Revenge For Daddy
Christopher Cano for The Pom Pom Murders
Fantom for Mile High Escorts

Best Editing:

Maxime Chalifoux for Abducted on Air
Seth Johnson for The Pom Pom Murders
Bryan Capri for A Predator’s Obsession: Stalker’s Prey 2
Kelly Herron for Sleeping With Danger

Best Cinematography:

Branden James Maxham for A Predator’s Obsession: Stalker’s Prey 2
Nate Spicer for Mile High Escorts
Thomas M. Harting for Sleeping With Danger
David Dolnik for Deadly Mile High Club

Coming up next (tomorrow at the latest — maybe sooner, depending on how much time I can devote to watching 6 movie today): My picks for the best films of 2020! Finally!

TSL Looks Back at 2020:

Cinemax Friday: Blast (1997, directed by Albert Pyun)

Posted on April 17, 2020 by Jedadiah Leland

Blast opens with a title card telling us that what we’re about to see is based on a true story except that it’s not. In the days leading up to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the FBI thwarted many potential terrorist plots. Only one of the plots was a domestic terror plot. Blast is the story of what would have happened if that plot had not been disrupted.

(What about Eric Rudolph and the Olympic Park bombing? That’s not mentioned, probably because this film went into production before the Atlanta Olympics actually began.)

Omodo (Andrew Divoff of Wishmaster fame) is a terrorist who does evil things because he’s evil. He and his group have taken the American Olympic swim team and their coach, Diane Colton (Kimberly Warren), hostage in an Atlanta gym. They’re demanding money and an opportunity to escape. The police (led by Tim Thomerson) don’t know what to do. The FBI (represented by Rutger Hauer with braided hair) are not much help either. Fortunately, the gym’s janitor, Jack Bryant (Linden Ashby), is a former Olympic gymnast who is a master of Tae Kwon Do! Jack also happens to be Diane’s ex-husband!

Blast comes from us the time when every action movie was a blatant rip-off of Die Hard and we were all cool with that because Die Hard was so awesome that it deserved to be remade a thousand times. Blast is more of the usual. Jack sneaks around the facility, defuses bombs, and picks the terrorists off. Omodo kills two hostages in cold blood. Shannon Elizabeth of American Pie fame plays one of the hostages but she doesn’t get many lines beyond, “Help us!” Why does Rutger Hauer have his hair in braids? Because he was Rutger Hauer and everyone was probably so happy to have him on set for a few hours that they were willing to let him do whatever he wanted to do with his hair. Rutger Hauer only gets about five minutes of screentime but he makes the most of them.

Lindsen Ashby is convincing in the fight scenes but I think the movie would have been better if he had just been an ordinary janitor, instead of a Tae Kwon Do supstar who has fallen on hard times. That would have added some suspense to the story because, as it is, Jack is so obviously superior to his opponents that there’s never really any question as to whether or not he’s going to succeed. Andrew Divoff is a good actor but his villain isn’t given any good lines and the people working for him are all pretty bland. One of the best things about the first three Die Hard films was that the villains were just as interesting as the hero but the same cannot be said for Blast.

Blast is forgettable but still, five minutes of Rutger Hauer is better than no Rutger Hauer at all.

What Lisa Watched Tonight #204: Escaping My Stalker (dir by Linden Ashby)

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight, I watched the first Lifetime movie of 2020 — Escaping My Stalker!

Why Was I Watching It?

Because it was the first Lifetime film of 2020, of course!

Seriously, though, 2019 was not an easy year for me as a reviewer. I got busy. My time management skills mysteriously fell apart. As a result, I missed a few Lifetime films and I also didn’t always have time to review quite a few of the ones that I did see. One of my resolutions for 2020 is to not let that happen again.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. If I’m not going to be at home when the movie airs, I’m going to set the DVR. But, this year, I’m not going to let movies pile up on my DVR before I watch them and, even more importantly, I’m not going to get behind on my reviews. That’s my 2020 resolution and if I break it, I’m blaming everyone who follows me on social media.

Those are the stakes, my friends.

(For the record, I will be watching and hopefully reviewing the remaining Lifetime films on my DVR this weekend.)

What Was It About?

Up until a year ago, 17 year-old Taylor (Ezmie Garcia) was homeless. Fortunately, she was eventually taken in and adopted by Larry (Linden Ashby) and his wife, Sandy (Alexandra Paul). Now, Taylor has a job at the local skatepark and her life appears to be heading in the right direction. However, Taylor also has a stalker! When that stalker breaks into Taylor’s home and shoots Larry in the leg, Taylor realizes that her new life isn’t as secure as she thought it was.

It’s no spoiler to tell you that Taylor’s stalker is Miles (Andrew James Allen). Miles lives with his grandmother (Mariette Hartley) and it quickly turns out that grandma is actually encouraging Miles! Miles and grandma have got their own reasons for wanting to destroy Taylor’s new family, reasons that only become clear as the film progresses.

What Worked

It all worked!

Seriously, Escaping My Stalker was a perfect way to start the new year. The story was interesting. The film was well-directed by Linden Ashby. Ezmie Garcia did a great job playing a character who was a bit tougher than the average Lifetime teenager. Meanwhile, Mariette Hartley appeared to be having a lot of diabolical fun in the role of the Grandma from Hell. Even though Miles was not necessarily a sympathetic character, it only took one look at Grandma to understand why Miles turned out the way that he did.

Also, Escaping My Stalker featured a Clu Gulager shout-out! When Taylor first meets Clu Dunsten (Pedro Correa), she asks him if he’s named after the great character actor Clu Gulager. They even spend a few minutes talking about Return of the Living Dead! If that isn’t the best way to start off 2020, I don’t know what is.

Finally, this was not just a Lifetime melodrama. It was also a film about the homeless situation, which is getting worse day-by-day (and not just on the West Coast, either). This was a Lifetime film with a conscience.

What Didn’t Work

As I said, it all worked. This was exactly the type of film that one hopes to see while watching the Lifetime Movie Network.

“OH MY GOD! JUST LIKE ME!” Moments

To be honest, I could only hope to be as tough and resourceful as Taylor.

Lessons Learned

There are still people out there who appreciate a good Living Dead film.

A Movie A Day #217: Wyatt Earp (1994, directed by Lawrence Kasdan)

Posted on August 13, 2017 by Jedadiah Leland

Once upon a time, there were two movies about the legendary Western lawman (or outlaw, depending on who is telling the story) Wyatt Earp. One came out in 1993 and the other came out in 1994.

The 1993 movie was called Tombstone. That is the one that starred Kurt Russell was Wyatt, with Sam Elliott and Bill Paxton in the roles of his brothers and Val Kilmer playing Doc Holliday. Tombstone deals with the circumstances that led to the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. “I’m your huckleberry,” Doc Holliday says right before his gunfight with Michael Biehn’s Johnny Ringo. Tombstone is the movie that everyone remembers.

The 1994 movies was called Wyatt Earp. This was a big budget extravaganza that was directed by Lawrence Kasdan and starred Kevin Costner as Wyatt. Dennis Quaid played Doc Holliday and supporting roles were played by almost everyone who was an active SAG member in 1994. If they were not in Tombstone, they were probably in Wyatt Earp. Gene Hackman, Michael Madsen, Tom Sizemore, Jeff Fahey, Mark Harmon, Annabeth Gish, Gene Hackman, Bill Pullman, Isabella Rossellini, JoBeth Williams, Mare Winningham, and many others all appeared as supporting characters in the (very) long story of Wyatt Earp’s life.

Of course, Wyatt Earp features the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral but it also deals with every other chapter of Earp’s life, including his multiple marriages, his career as a buffalo hunter, and his time as a gold prospector. With a three-hour running time, there is little about Wyatt Earp’s life that is not included. Unfortunately, with the exception of his time in Tomstone, Wyatt Earp’s life was not that interesting. Neither was Kevin Costner’s performance. Costner tried to channel Gary Cooper in his performance but Cooper would have known better than to have starred in a slowly paced, three-hour movie. The film is so centered around Costner and his all-American persona that, with the exception of Dennis Quaid, the impressive cast is wasted in glorified cameos. Wyatt Earp the movie tries to be an elegy for the old west but neither Wyatt Earp as a character nor Kevin Costner’s performance was strong enough to carry such heavy symbolism. A good western should never be boring and that is a rule that Wyatt Earp breaks from the minute that Costner delivers his first line.

Costner was originally cast in Tombstone, just to leave the project so he could produce his own Wyatt Earp film. As a big, Oscar-winnng star, Costner went as far as to try to have production of Tombstone canceled. Ironically, Tombstone turned out to be the film that everyone remember while Wyatt Earp is the film that most people want to forget.