Nathaniel de Veaux Movies

This hastily assembled rehash of the infamous Laci Peterson murder case is based on Amber Frey's book Witness: For the Proseuction of Scott Peterson, which may explain why she comes off as the most sympathetic person in the film. Basically, the script adheres to the facts: The mistress of Scott Peterson (Nathan Anderson), Amber Frey (Janel Moloney) begins to suspect that something is amiss with her sweetheart when, during what is supposed to his trip to Europe, he is suddenly popping up on every TV station and cable service in the country, swearing up and down that he had nothing to do with the disappearance of his wife Laci and their unborn son Connor. Eventually, Amber decides to cooperate with the Modesto Police Department in their efforts to pin a murder rap on Scott, agreeing to wear a wire while conversing with Scott over his domestic travails. In his frenzied efforts to counteract previous lies by cooking up new ones, Peterson effectively puts the noose around his own neck--and Amber rightfully emerges as the heroine of the piece (though not, it is hinted, without putting her own life in jeopardy in process). Somehow, the film manages to work in several plugs for the self-help book "du jour", The Purpose-Driven Life. Produced for CBS, the made-for-TV Amber Frey: Witness for the Prosecution premiered May 25, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Michele Lee is star, director, producer and cowriter of this inspirational made-for-cable movie. Lee plays Dina Blake, a middle-aged mentally challenged woman living under the care of her nephew. In the tradition of Charly, Dina volunteers to test out an experimental drug designed to enhance intelligence--and within what seems like minutes, she accelerates to the level of genius. At the height of her euphoria, Dina falls in love with one of her doctors, Mitch Conlon (Robin Thomas)--who, alas, must bear the brunt of Dina's outrage when the experiment begins to fail and she painfully reverts to her former "retarded" self. Color Me Perfect made its Lifetime network debut on November 5, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When the spirit of Christmas compels a small-town New Englander to decorate his home with enough lights to make it visible from space, much more is set to be decked than just the halls in this holiday comedy featuring Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick as two warring neighbors determined to outdo each other in creating the best lighting display on the planet. Christmas is without question the most wonderful time of the year for Cloverdale, MA optometrist Steve Finch (Broderick). Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Steve's wife, Kelly (Kristin Davis), and the pair's two children, Madison (Alia Shawkat) and Carter (Dylan Blue). Despite Steve's annual holiday zeal, the rest of the Carters have grown to resent the seemingly endless family rituals leading up the Winterfest carnival over which their terminally cheerful patriarch presides. Though it seems that nothing in the world could dampen the spirits of the local "King of Christmas," Steve soon finds his royal status challenged when used-car salesman Buddy Hall (Danny DeVito) moves in next door and covers his house with enough festive lights to make it visible from the deepest crater of the moon. His Yuletide thunder effectively stolen, Steve resorts to desperate measures in regaining his crown when Buddy's lavish decorations make him a local celebrity, his wife strikes up a warm friendship with the neighbor's outspoken better half, Tia (Kristin Chenoweth), and even the kids seem to warm to the car salesman's air-headed twin daughters, Ashley and Emily (Sabrina and Kelly Aldridge). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Director Joe Dante stirred up a great deal of interest in Showtime's Masters of Horror series with his bluntly anti-Operation Iraqi Freedom political satire, Homecoming, scripted by Sam Hamm. An unnamed president is running for reelection during a divisive war, and one of his speechwriters, David Murch (Jon Tenney), goes on TV to speak with talk show host Marty Clark (Terry David Mulligan) and strident right-wing sexpot Jane Cleaver (Thea Gill of Queer as Folk). Another guest is Janet Hofstader (Beverly Breuer), the Cindy Sheehan-like mother of a fallen soldier, who demands to know what her son died for. Murch gets a bit teary-eyed and explains that he lost his older brother in Vietnam. "Believe me," he tells the grieving mom, "if I had one wish, I would wish for your son to come back, because I know he would tell us how important this struggle is." Cleaver is so impressed with Murch's handling of the situation that she takes him out for a drink later, picks his brain, and eventually seduces him. The Karl Rove-like Kurt Rand (Robert Picardo) interrupts their tryst, calling to let Murch know that the president plans to make his line part of his stump speech. Well, as they say, be careful what you wish for. Soon, the soldiers killed in the war do start returning from the dead, and it doesn't go the way Murch predicted. They're not back to feast on the living, but unhappily for the president and his supporters, they just want a chance to vote in the upcoming election. "We'll vote for anyone who ends this war," one explains. The spin machine goes into overdrive, but the dead are determined to make their voice heard. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy, two guys who've discovered Age 30 in their rear-view mirror try to unravel the mysteries of life and love in beautiful Saskatchewan. Sam (Michael Goorjian) is a guy in his late 20s who is looking for the woman of his dreams but isn't having much luck. His best friend Jim (David Lovgren) isn't nearly as fussy as Sam; he'll take a chance on any woman that seems moderately attractive, especially ones that Sam has expressed an interest in. Sam likes to pass himself off as a moody intellectual, but this act doesn't get him very far with Kelly (Chandra West), an insurance investigator who seems a bit flaky on the surface but soon works her way into Sam's heart. However, Jim, true to form, has to make a play for her as well. Jennifer Beals appears in a supporting role as a waitress who gives Sam lessons in how to sound deep and pretentious. Something More was shot in 1997, but it didn't emerge from the editing room until 1999 for its initial Canadian release. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An unlikely band of scientists and soldiers join forces to save the world from certain destruction in this action-drama. As the world is struck with a variety of inexplicable phenomena -- attacks by enormous swarms of birds in London, the explosion of the Colosseum in Rome, a potentially deadly malfunction which forces the Space Shuttle into a Los Angeles riverbed, and the simultaneous deaths of 32 people with pacemakers in Boston -- a team of top scientific minds from around the globe is assembled to determine what has thrown the world into such a frenzy. Dr. John Keyes (Aaron Eckhart) makes the startling discovery that the Earth's electromagnetic forces have begun to collapse, thanks to a sudden lack of movement of the molten ore at the center of the Earth. If the planet is to be saved, the core of the Earth needs a jump start, and Keyes assembles a team to burrow to the center of the planet and bomb the insides back into action. Joining Keyes on this dangerous, last-chance mission are the brilliant but arrogant Conrad Zimsky (Stanley Tucci), French arms expert Dr. Serge Levesque (Tchéky Karyo, maverick researcher "Brazz" Brazzleton (Delroy Lindo), geeky computer genius Rat (DJ Qualls), and two no-nonsense military types, Commander Richard Iverson (Bruce Greenwood) and Major Rebecca Childs (Hilary Swank). However, as the crew digs deeper into the Earth, the more they discover what they haven't been told about their mission and what's really been causing the worldwide chaos. The Core was originally scheduled for release in the fall of 2002, but the movie didn't reach theaters until the spring of 2003 as special-effects experts perfected the film's more spectacular scenes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

When the police don't seem to be giving their all in the investigation of a young woman's disappearance, her sister decides to look into the mystery herself. The more evidence she finds, the more the finger of guilt points towards her brother-in-law. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide