Tag Archives: Rachel Hunter

The Eric Roberts Collection: Tripfall (dir by Serge Rodnunsky)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In an effort to save their marriage, Tom (John Ritter) and Gina (Rachel Hunter) take a vacation in California.  However, when they arrive at the home that they’re going to be renting, they are taken hostage by a group of redneck criminals led by Mr. Eddie (Eric Roberts).  Mr. Eddie wants all of Tom’s money and this leads to a rather drawn-out hostage situation as Tom tries to get the better of Mr. Eddie and Mr. Eddie spends a lot of time purring threats in a thick Southern accent.

That’s plot of 2000’s TripFall.  Don’t ask my why it’s called TripFall.  It seems like a bit of a redundant title because a trip and a fall are pretty much the same thing.  In fact, don’t even ask me what the point of the film is because there’s really not that much action or suspense.  It’s mostly just Eric Roberts and the gang driving John Ritter from one location to another.  I’m not a big fan of films about people being held hostage because they always seem to feature the same scene played over and over again.  The hostage refuses to do something.  The person holding him hostage gives a long monologue.  It gets boring after a while.

TripFall is not a career highpoint for either Roberts or Ritter.  It’s an action film in which there is very little action.  Watching the film, I found myself thinking that it would have been more interesting if Ritter and Roberts had switched roles.  Roberts could have played the likable family man for once and maybe the film could have explored the darkness behind Ritter’s goofy persona.  (Comedic actors sometimes make the best villains.)

That said, it’s difficult to resist the oddness of John Ritter and Eric Roberts starring in the same movie.  If there are two actors who feel as if they literally come from different planets, it’s Ritter and Roberts.  Ritter is his typical goofy self, even when he’s trying to play up the drama of the situation.  Roberts hisses his lines as Mr. Eddie and appears to be acting in a totally different movie from Ritter.  They’re so mismatched that they become rather fascinating (if not exactly memorable) to watch.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

  1. Paul’s Case (1980)
  2. Star 80 (1983)
  3. Runaway Train (1985)
  4. To Heal A Nation (1988)
  5. Best of the Best (1989)
  6. Blood Red (1989)
  7. The Ambulance (1990)
  8. The Lost Capone (1990)
  9. Best of the Best II (1993)
  10. Love, Cheat, & Steal (1993)
  11. Voyage (1993)
  12. Love Is A Gun (1994)
  13. Sensation (1994)
  14. Dark Angel (1996)
  15. Doctor Who (1996)
  16. Most Wanted (1997)
  17. The Alternate (2000)
  18. Mercy Streets (2000)
  19. Raptor (2001)
  20. Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534 (2001)
  21. Strange Frequency (2001)
  22. Wolves of Wall Street (2002)
  23. Border Blues (2004)
  24. Mr. Brightside (2004)
  25. Six: The Mark Unleased (2004)
  26. We Belong Together (2005)
  27. Hey You (2006)
  28. Depth Charge (2008)
  29. Amazing Racer (2009)
  30. The Chaos Experiment (2009)
  31. In The Blink of an Eye (2009)
  32. Bed & Breakfast (2010)
  33. Enemies Among Us (2010)
  34. The Expendables (2010) 
  35. Sharktopus (2010)
  36. Beyond The Trophy (2012)
  37. The Dead Want Women (2012)
  38. Deadline (2012)
  39. The Mark (2012)
  40. Miss Atomic Bomb (2012)
  41. Assault on Wall Street (2013)
  42. Bonnie And Clyde: Justified (2013)
  43. Lovelace (2013)
  44. The Mark: Redemption (2013)
  45. The Perfect Summer (2013)
  46. Revelation Road: The Beginning of the End (2013)
  47. Revelation Road 2: The Sea of Glass and Fire (2013)
  48. Self-Storage (2013)
  49. Sink Hole (2013)
  50. A Talking Cat!?! (2013)
  51. This Is Our Time (2013)
  52. Bigfoot vs DB Cooper (2014)
  53. Doc Holliday’s Revenge (2014)
  54. Inherent Vice (2014)
  55. Road to the Open (2014)
  56. Rumors of War (2014)
  57. So This Is Christmas (2014)
  58. Amityville Death House (2015)
  59. Deadly Sanctuary (2015)
  60. A Fatal Obsession (2015)
  61. Las Vegas Story (2015)
  62. Sorority Slaughterhouse (2015)
  63. Stalked By My Doctor (2015)
  64. Enemy Within (2016)
  65. Hunting Season (2016)
  66. Joker’s Poltergeist (2016)
  67. Prayer Never Fails (2016)
  68. Stalked By My Doctor: The Return (2016)
  69. The Wrong Roommate (2016)
  70. Dark Image (2017)
  71. The Demonic Dead (2017)
  72. Black Wake (2018)
  73. Frank and Ava (2018)
  74. Stalked By My Doctor: Patient’s Revenge (2018)
  75. Clinton Island (2019)
  76. Monster Island (2019)
  77. The Reliant (2019)
  78. The Savant (2019)
  79. Seven Deadly Sins (2019)
  80. Stalked By My Doctor: A Sleepwalker’s Nightmare (2019)
  81. The Wrong Mommy (2019)
  82. Exodus of a Prodigal Son (2020)
  83. Free Lunch Express (2020)
  84. Her Deadly Groom (2020)
  85. Top Gunner (2020)
  86. Deadly Nightshade (2021)
  87. The Elevator (2021)
  88. Just What The Doctor Ordered (2021)
  89. Killer Advice (2021)
  90. Megaboa (2021)
  91. Night Night (2021)
  92. The Poltergeist Diaries (2021)
  93. The Rebels of PT-218 (2021)
  94. Red Prophecies (2021)
  95. A Town Called Parable (2021)
  96. Bleach (2022)
  97. Dawn (2022)
  98. My Dinner With Eric (2022)
  99. 69 Parts (2022)
  100. The Rideshare Killer (2022)
  101. The Company We Keep (2023)
  102. D.C. Down (2023)
  103. Aftermath (2024)
  104. Bad Substitute (2024)
  105. Devil’s Knight (2024)
  106. Insane Like Me? (2024)
  107. Space Sharks (2024)
  108. The Wrong Life Coach (2024)
  109. Broken Church (2025)
  110. When It Rains In L.A. (2025)

Music Video Of The Day: Stacy’s Mom by Fountains of Wayne (2003, directed by Chris Applebaum)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Adam Schlesinger, R.I.P.  Fuck COVID-19.

Adam Schlesinger wrote this song and he intended for it to be a tribute to the Cars.  The opening guitar riff was meant to sound like the riff from Just What I Needed.  The video itself is full of references to the Cars.  Keep an eye out for the license plate that reads, “I ♥ RIC,” not to mention the the boy in the opening scene who appears to be meant to be an adolescent version of Ric Ocasek.  Schlesinger even invited Ocasek to appear in the video but Ocasek never replied to the invitation.

The video also pays homage to Fast Time At Ridgemont High, with Stacy’s mom taking the place of Phoebe Cates.  Stacy’s mom is played by Rachel Hunter, so who can blame the main character for having a crush?  Apparently, before settling on Hunter, the band hoped to cast Paulina Porizkova in the role.  Porizkova was, of course, married to Ric Ocasek.

Enjoy!

Thank you for the music, Adam.

 

Music Video of the Day: Mojo by Peeping Tom, featuring Rahzel, Dan The Automator (2006, dir by Matt McDermitt)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This video was released 12 years ago.  Watching it today, it’s interesting that television hasn’t changed much.  The cop show, the infomercial, the porn film, the horror film, the evangelist, every single one of them is currently playing somewhere.

Yes, that is Danny DeVito sitting on the couch at the end of the video.  I like to think that he’s meant to be Frank Reynolds.

Enjoy!

What Lisa Watched Last Night #127: Her Infidelity (dir by Christie Will)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last night, I watched Her Infidelity, a Lifetime film that’s been sitting on my DVR since April.

HIWhy Was I Watching It?

I recently discovered that I only had room on my DVR to record another 10 hours worth of programming.  With SyFy scheduled to show several original shark films next weekend, I knew that I had to make room on the DVR.  Otherwise, I would run the risk of the DVR automatically deleting the oldest recordings and I am sorry but there is no way that I’m going to allow Bend It Like Beckham to be erased.  So, with all that in mind, I’m finally getting around to watching some of the movies that I recorded earlier this year.  I started with Her Infidelity, a Lifetime film from April.

What Was It About?

Following the tragic death of his wife and daughter, creepy mask enthusiast Grayson Kendall (Clayton Chitty) gets a job working as an elementary school teacher.  Grayson also volunteers to be the latest teacher liaison to the PTA.

The president of the PTA is Lily Helms (Rachel Hunter), whose son happens to be one of Grayson’s students!  Lily is married but her husband (Lane Edwards) seems to be more concerned with work than with his marriage.  Lily feels neglected, Grayson makes little secret of the fact that he finds her attractive, and can we be surprised that eventually they end up having sex in a motel while Grayson wears one of his masks?

Lily’s husband comes home and promises to be a better spouse and also explains that, despite what Lily assumed, he was not having an affair with his secretary.  Lily wants nothing else to do with Grayson but Grayson has become both obsessed with her and friends with Lily’s husband.  Even worse, he’s now dating Lily’s best friend (Miranda Frigon)!

What Worked?

I liked Her Infidelity.  It told a pretty standard Lifetime story but director Christie Will created a dream-like atmosphere and added enough surreal touches that the audience was kept off-balance.  Up until the very end of the film, I was expecting Lily to suddenly wake up and discover that she had just been having a particularly vivid fantasy.

As well, Her Infidelity — much like A Deadly Adoption — deserves credit for taking everything to its logical extreme.  Grayson isn’t just your standard Lifetime stalker.  Instead, he’s one of the creepiest characters to ever appear on Lifetime or any other network.

One thing I especially appreciated was the fact that, no matter how oddly Grayson behaved, Lily was apparently the only person who noticed.  Everyone around her was so amazingly oblivious.  Even Lily’s husband insisted that Grayson was just a nice guy.  It all helped to create an appropriate atmosphere of paranoia and helplessness.

(It also confirmed one of my own long-held beliefs: people are a lot more stupid than you assume.)

What Did Not Work?

As far as I’m concerned, it all worked.  It was Lifetime movie that promised infidelity, melodrama, and masked men.  And it delivered on all three!

“Oh my God!  Just like me!” Moments

Naturally, I related to Lily’s best friend, the red-headed real estate agent played by Miranda Frigon.  Hopefully, however, I have a better taste in men.

Lessons Learned

Cleaning up the DVR can be fun!