Tag Archives: Victoria Pratt

Brad heads down the BLACKTOP (2000) with Mad Trucker Meat Loaf!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

BLACKTOP opens on stand-up comic David (Lochlyn Munro) in the middle of his act at an out of the way truckers bar. His girlfriend Sylvia (Kristin Davis) is at the show, and she doesn’t look very happy. After the show, we find out that David & Sylvia’s relationship is not in a good place at all. She wants to settle down and get married, and he wants to keep performing his shows even though his career is going nowhere. When he tells her he’s agreed to perform three more nights the next weekend at that same place, she blows a gasket and wants to get out of there. Conveniently, a nice trucker named Jack (Meat Loaf), who she had only just met a little earlier, is there handy, and she asks him for a ride out of town in his truck, Goliath. He happily agrees, almost too happily, because it turns out he just might be a serial killer. Sensing something’s off and wanting to get his girlfriend back, David takes off after them, hoping to find them before she becomes the next victim.

That’s the basis for this “mad trucker” thriller that premiered on HBO back in October of 2000.  If the story sounds ludicrous to you, just know that it is. It takes a completely stupid decision to kick off the events of the story. Seriously Sylvia, David may be a bit of a loser, but do you have to abandon him and ride off into the night with a trucker you don’t know, who looks like Meat Loaf, just to make a point?!! Don’t you think you may be overreacting?!! Some might say that I’m making too big of a deal about this, that it’s just a plot device to set the story of “terror in a big rig” in motion. You are correct in some ways, but her moronic decision stuck with me through the rest of the movie. Later, when she was supposed to be tough, smart and resourceful, I kept thinking about her dumb decision that put her in this predicament, and how many people had already been killed or seriously maimed because of it.

The story also includes these silly little details like Jack leaving clues for David along the way so that he can have a chance to find them. Somehow Jack can perfectly predict David’s exact route and speed so he can place all these notes at the perfect places on the road, with some of them pretty complicated. And he does this without Sylvia even noticing. Sylvia isn’t exactly the most observant person around. Nothing proves this any more than a scene where Jack has Sylvia sit close to him so he can show her how to drive the big rig. While he’s giving her tips, David is trying to drive up and save her. The mad trucker does all this swerving and slamming on breaks and sliding and plays it all off like he’s just showing her some easy and safe driving moves. Sylvia never realizes David is anywhere near them, and since Jack hasn’t gone full psycho yet, she doesn’t seem to care. Maybe I’m just not that big of a fan of Kristin Davis, either. I never really liked her on SEX AND THE CITY, and I don’t like her that much in this either, even though I did kind of like the scenes where she took off her shirt and wandered around in her bra.

Not to sound like this is pick on Kristin Davis day, because I didn’t care for Lochlyn Munro as David either. He was supposed to be this stand-up comic, but he wasn’t funny at all. I mean some people were laughing because the script said so, but he’s lucky tomatoes weren’t being thrown at him. I found everything bland and boring about him, even though he drove a Red 1959 Edsel. That was actually kind of funny, as he kept taking on the big rig with it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Edsel / Peterbilt duel in a movie before, but it happens here several times.      

By far the best part of BLACKTOP for me was watching Meat Loaf as Trucker Jack. Loaf had played a villainous trucker in BLACK DOG with Patrick Swayze a couple of years earlier, so the filmmakers must have reasoned that the public wanted more. I’ll admit that his character in this does seem awfully nice at first, and the people around seem to think he’s a pretty good guy too. But he also has this look in his eyes, and when he stops turning on the charm, he’s ready to kill. He’s a kind and empathetic ear to Kristin’s character one moment, and then he’s cutting off someone’s ear with his big knife the next. He’s fixing a nice meal for Kristin one moment, and then he’s shooting at David right in front of her with his high-powered rifle the next. Once she sees that side of him, she starts trying to fight back, and that’s when he gets to go over the top. When he gets to be crazy Trucker Jack, the kind of guy who hangs sides of beef along with murdered victims in the freezer in his truck; those were my favorite parts of the movie.

I know my review sounds very critical in places, and I don’t want to come off too hard on the film. If you’re looking for some solid big rig stunt driving work, and a very simple story featuring a psychopathic truck driver, you could have some fun with this one. Meat Loaf has some fun in his role, so if you’re a fan you should enjoy his work. Just keep your expectations low and don’t ever think that any of the characters are about to make some smart decisions. That seems to be the recipe for enjoying this trip down the BLACKTOP!

Holidays On The Lens: Christmas Twister (dir by Peter Sullivan)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 2012 film Christmas Twister tells the story of what happens when several twisters hit North Texas on Christmas Day.  For a film taking place in the DFW area (a region that is called the flatlands for a reason), there’s a surprisingly large amount of mountains around.

I mean check out the road leading to Fort Worth:

Check out the town of Gransbury!

Guess which movie was definitely not filmed in Texas!

That said, Casper Van Dien manfully drives across the city, saving his children from the tornado and encouraging folks to stay inside. Plus, the film features a perfect shot that shows that the filmmakers did understand at least one thing about Texas:

Hell yeah!  The flag of Texas and some other country!

Enjoy Christmas Twister:

Holiday Film Review: Christmas Twister (dir by Peter Sullivan)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 2012 film, Christmas Twister, is about an outbreak of tornadoes that hit Fort Worth two days before Christmas.  We’re told that, normally, there aren’t any tornadoes in December but that’s been changing due to …. wait for it …. climate change!  Now, with tornado after tornado hitting Granbury, Fort Worth, Lake Worth, Stephenville, Dublin, and a lot of towns in Texas, Casper Van Dein is on a mission to save his family and make sure that everyone knows that the threat of tornadoes is real!

Because, you know, if there’s anything that Texas is famous for, it’s for blowing off the threat of tornadoes….

There’s an actual scene in Christmas Twister in which Victoria Pratt, playing a TV newswoman who is married to Van Dien, tries to convince her station manager to allow her to interrupt regular programming to announce that there might be a tornado on the way.  That station manager says that interrupting programming could cause a panic and, since there’s already been three tornadoes that day, people are probably tired of hearing about them.  As a result, no one leaves the mall when the tornadoes hit. 

Of course, anyone who lives in North Texas knows that there’s little that our local stations enjoy more than interrupting regular programming to talk about the weather.  Seriously, our meteorologists live for the chance to get on TV, talk about the storm systems that they’re watching, and tell everyone that, “You don’t need to be out in this, folks.”  Our local stations would happily interrupt the President himself if a wall cloud appeared anywhere near I-35.  

Biden: “I was wearing an onion on my belt, as was the style at the time….”

Dallas anchorman Steve Eagar: “Folks, we’re interrupting the State of the Union address to keep you informed about a storm system that we’ve been watching….”

It doesn’t even have to be a tornado for our newspeople to interrupt regularly scheduled programming.  It can just be hail.  It could just a hint of snow.  You know that King of the Hill episode where it barely snows and Hank announces, “Texas isn’t ready for this!”  Well, that’s pretty close to reality….

And, to be honest, I imagine that’s the way it is in the rest of country as well.  The only that changes is the type of weather even that everyone worries about.  The idea of Texas newspeople not reporting on a tornado threat would be like a Fort Worth weatherman refusing to talk about a hurricane or maybe a New York meteorologist deciding that it would be best not to report on a blizzard.  Imagine a California station manager saying, “People don’t want to hear about the earthquake.”  It just wouldn’t happen.

The other thing that I noticed about Christmas Twister is that, for a film that was supposedly taking place in North Texas, there sure were a lot of mountains around.  As far as DFW is concerned, we don’t have mountains.  I guess if you really went out and searched, you might find a very small hill somewhere but I can guarantee you it would be a manmade hill.  This region is called the flatlands for a reason.  North Texas is flat.  That’s actually one of our trademarks.  The land seems to stretch on forever.

However, in Christmas Twister, this is what the area outside of Forth Worth looks like:

This is what Granbury looks like right before the tornado hits:

This is what Granbury looks immediately after the tornado hits:

Yes, the film is not entirely accurate.  But, on the plus side, Casper Van Dien manfully drives across the city, saving his children from the tornado and encouraging folks to stay inside.  Plus, the film features a perfect shot that shows that the filmmakers did understand at least one thing about Texas:

Yep, the flag of Texas and the flag of some other country.  Not even a tornado could take it down!

What Lisa Watched Last Night #133: Patient Killer (dir by Casper Van Dien)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last night, I watched another Lifetime premiere, Patient Killer!

Why Was I Watching It?

Well, the obvious answer is because it was on Lifetime and, like all good people, I’m kind of obsessed with the movies that they show on Lifetime.  However, I also watched it because it was directed by Casper Van Dien (who has already appeared in two of my favorite films of the year — Avengers Grimm and Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf) and it apparently featured Patrick Muldoon playing a stalker.  Patrick Muldoon is always a lot of fun whenever he’s bad.

(Derek Morris, my collaborator over at Primetime Preppie, has never quite forgiven Patrick for breaking up Kelly and Zack on Saved By The Bell.)

What Was It About?

Four years ago, therapist Victoria Wrightmar (Victoria Pratt) got too close to one of her patients and, as a result, Dylan McNalt (David Chokachi) committed suicide.  Despite the fact that Victoria has found success as a hypnotherapist, dream interpreter, and author, she is still haunted by Dylan’s death.

One day, a new patient enters her office.  Blaire Bennett (Barbie Castro) has been having nightmares and, when it turns out that she’s been suppressing memories that are similar to those that afflicted Dylan, Victoria once again starts to get too close to another patient.

However, it’s not just Blaire that Victoria has to deal with.  Her boyfriend, Jason (Casper Van Dien), has anger issues.  Another one of her patients, Derek (Patrick Muldoon), has become dangerously obsessed with her.  Both her mentor (Richard Burgi) and her administrative assistant (Stacey Dash) might have secrets of their own.  And, as strange things start to happen and those around her are threatened, a menacing police detective (Antoni Corone) enters her life as well.

Is Victoria being stalked or is she going crazy herself?  And is this movie called Patient Killer because the killer is a patient or because the killer likes to take his time?  To find out, you’ll have to watch the movie!

What Worked?

On twitter, Patrick Muldoon speculated that he would never get another date after people saw his performance as unstable Derek.  Personally, I think Muldoon was too hard on himself.  He did a really good job, finding the perfect balance between being threatening and being pathetic.  As a result, his character was both scary and sympathetic.  It looked like he had a lot of fun playing Derek and he was a lot of fun to watch.

And really, the same thing can be said about Patient Killer as a film.  It was an entertaining and enjoyably over-the-top thriller.

I loved both Victoria’s office and Blaire’s house.  Both locations were wonderfully decorated and a real delight to look at.  I’ve always said that one of the best thing about Lifetime films is getting to see where everyone works and lives and that was definitely the case with Patient Killer.

Actually, the entire film was a delight to look at.  Bernard Salzmann’s cinematography filled the frame with a combination of vibrant colors and menacing shadows.  This movie featured one of the best sunsets ever to appear on the Lifetime network.

While the film’s deliberate pace may not have been for everyone, I actually rather liked it and I felt it occasionally gave the film a surreal, almost dream-like feel.  In the end, Patient Killer felt like the Lifetime version of a classic David Lynch film noir.  (The score even sounded similar to Angelo Badalamenti’s classic Mulholland Drive score.)

What Did Not Work?

As far as I’m concerned, it all worked!

“Oh my God!  Just like me!” Moments

As someone has plenty of experience in the administrative assistance field, I totally related to the character played by Stacey Dash.

Lessons Learned

Never go to the office without a taser.  (Watch the movie and it’ll make sense.)