Fulvio Cecere Movies

Duncan (Adrian Paul) goes after "The Scalper," a serial killer who preys on blonde women. The murderer is either patterning himself after an insane Immortal Duncan thought he disposed of over 68 years ago -- or he is that selfsame Immortal back in business. Tessa (Alexandra Van Der Noot) volunteers to act as bait to draw out The Scalper, but Richie (Stan Kirsch) unwittingly messes up the trap. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The made-for-TV Falling From the Sky: Flight 174 was based on a true story that occurred high over Canada in July of 1983. While en route from Montreal to Edmonton, a brand-new Boeing 767 runs out of fuel in mid-flight. With only a cursory knowledge of the jet's inner works, the crew is forced to desperately improvise a means of rescuing the passengers by gliding the aircraft to a runway in Winnipeg--35 miles away. Although the actual story has enough inherent drama for five TV movies, the producers felt the necessity to add a few overly melodramatic touches to heighten the suspense; also, aviation enthusiasts weren't too happy with the script's inaccuracies, nor were movie purists impressed by the surprisingly shoddy computer enhanced special effects. Nonetheless, the film boasts excellent performances, especially from William Devine as Captain Bob Pearson. First broadcast by ABC on February 20, 1995, Falling From the Sky was adapted from William and Marilyn Hoffer's book Freefall, and has since been retitled Freefall: Flight 174 for cable-TV play. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When popular San Francisco Condors basketball star Joe Campbell (Holt McCallany) is accused of rape, nobody--not the public, not his teammates--can bring themselves to believe that the sweet, babyfaced "White Knight" is guilty of the crime. Still, the case against Joe seems pretty solid, thanks to the emotional testimony of alleged victim Jennifer Darling (Jessica Tuck). Enter attorney Abe Ringel (Ken Olin), who has lost several high-profile cases of late and who needs a strong win to get back on top. Sincerely believing in Joe Campbell's innocence--or at least telling himself that he does--Ringel manages to get his client off by thoroughly discrediting and defaming the unfortunate Jennifer. Normally, that would be the end of the story...but in the months following Joe's acquittal, Abe begins picking up disturbing evidence indicating that his client was guilty as hell--and worse, that he is a dangerous serial rapist who uses the internet to stalk his previous victims. In an act of judicial attrition, Abe publicly turns against his former client. And this is when things really get ugly, as Joe orchestrates a vicious plan of vengeance--beginning with the seduction of Abe's own teenaged daughter Emma (Gina Phillips). Based on a novel by famed defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, the made-for-TV The Advocate's Devil debuted October 5, 1997 on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This speculative TV movie is set in the year 2008, as grief-stricken married couple Skye (Elizabeth Perkins) and Rick (Bradley Whitford) struggle bravely to overcome the death of their son. "Shock" is hardly the appropriate word to describe the couple's reaction when they meet another child who looks exactly like their own boy. It soon develops that Skye and Rick's son was the product of "Baby 2000," a top-secret -- and highly illegal -- cloning experiment conducted at a fertility clinic. Will the couple blow the whistle on the clinic's crooked activities, or will they be mollified into silence by being given an exact duplicate of the son they have lost? Refreshingly, the man responsible for the experiment, Dr. Wesley Kozak (Alan Rosenberg) is not portrayed as a Frankensteinish villain, but instead as a compassionate, concerned scientist who truly believes that "Baby 2000" has been conceived for the benefit of humankind. Cloned originally aired September 28, 1997, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Part of ABC's sporadic TV-movie series "Crimes of Passion", I Know What You Did stars Rosanna Arquette as Stacey Keane, a high-profile lawyer who specializes in defending accused rapist. In a prime example of grim irony, Stacey is attacked and sexually assaulted in her own home. Freeing herself from her assailant, Stacey accidentally kills the man, then hides his body. Unfortunately, there was a witness (Lawrence Monoson) to Stacey's desperate act of self-defense. . .and he will remain silent only for a price. The fact that the heroine's fiancé (Steven Eckholdt) is one of the investigating officers only serves to underscore the marked resemblance between this film and Alfred Hitchcock's early talkie Blackmail. I Know What You Did was originally telecast on January 11, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed on location in Montreal and New York, The Bone Collector is a suspense thriller that combines Rear Window and Seven. Two cops on the trail of a brutal serial killer must see as one, act as one, and think as one before the next victim falls. Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington) is an intelligent forensics detective who was paralyzed in the line of duty. The author of several books, he has a keen eye for detail and nose for clues that have made him a legend in the law enforcement community. Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie) is a street-smart policewoman in her twenties. On her last day as a street cop, before being transferred to a desk job, Amelia discovers a badly mutilated corpse. Rhyme is asked to investigate the case, but he declines. To him, it is an open-and-shut case not worth his time. But when he takes a close look at the evidence, he is intrigued, as the photos reveal complex messages in their details. The lunatic, who might be a taxi driver (a Scorsese allusion), amuses himself by paying homage to legendary murders in his own gruesome acts. Amelia is assigned to assist Rhyme, and she must be the eyes and ears of the quadriplegic detective. And they must capture the killer before he strikes again. Written by Jeremy Iacone and based on a book of the same title by Jeffrey Deaver, The Bone Collector was directed by the Australian thriller specialist Phillip Noyce, who directed such films as Clear and Present Danger and Dead Calm. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

Nero Wolfe (Maury Chaykin) is the world's greatest detective, and like any genius, he has his share of idiosyncrasies -- he loves orchids with an unnatural passion, he weighs a seventh of a ton, and--oh yeah--he never leaves his New York brownstone. Instead, he is aided by an army of foot soldiers headed by Archie Goodwin (Timothy Hutton). The film opens when Pete, a young windshield washer, is begged by a woman to call the police. She is then ushered into a car and whisked away. Thinking that she has been kidnapped, Pete gives Nero the scoop in exchange for half the reward money. When Pete later turns up dead, Nero kicks his investigation into high gear. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

The novel of the same name by author Tom Savage becomes this horror film starring Marley Shelton as Kate Davies. Kate's in a troubled relationship with journalist Adam Carr (David Boreanaz), a problem drinker, but she receives support from her best friends, the same four girls she's known since grade school: Paige Prescott (Denise Richards), Dorothy Wheeler (Jessica Capshaw), Lily Voight (Jessica Cauffel), and Shelly Fisher (Katherine Heigl). When Shelly is murdered and the other girls begin receiving gruesome Valentine's Day cards signed "JM," they begin to speculate that the killer could be an awkward schoolmate named Jeremy Melton, whom they once teased mercilessly at a school dance, leading to his beating and humiliation. Dorothy in particular is afraid that a false accusation she made against Jeremy might be causing him to seek bloody retribution, but the macho detective (Fulvio Cecere) assigned to investigate Shelly's murder has some other suspects in mind. As the body count is racked up and Dorothy's lavish Valentine's Day party approaches, Kate begins to suspect that the true identity of Jeremy, who likely underwent plastic surgery to alter his appearance, could hit very close to home. Valentine is the second slasher flick from Urban Legend (1998) director Jamie Blanks. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, the ten-episode, 20-hour miniseries Taken was one of the most ambitious projects undertaken by cable TV's Sci-Fi Network, ultimately costing 40 million dollars -- a price that proved well worth it, inasmuch as the series posted the network's highest-ever ratings. Covering a period from 1947 to the present, the story focused on three different families, each of whom was profoundly affected by extraterrestrial visitation. The Keys family was headed by WWII bomber pilot Russell Keys (Steve Burton), who spent virtually his entire adult life haunted by his "close encounter" with aliens. The Clarkes were originally represented by lonely Texas waitress Sally Clarke (Catherine Dent), who was impregnated by a charming stranger (Eric Close) who turned out to be an alien survivor of the Roswell crash. And the lives of the Crawfords were dictated by ruthless Army officer Owen Crawford (Joel Gretsch), who was determined to prove that the government had covered up the truth about Roswell by dedicating his life to tracking down all space aliens and their half-human descendants. The story was narrated by Allie Keys (Dakota Fanning), a "hybrid" child of the present day, whose story determined the outcome of the final episodes. Boasting impressive computer-generated special effects and eye-popping facial makeup, Taken was seen over a two-week period, beginning December 2, 2002, and ending on December 13. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Liberty Wallace (Linda Fiorentino), the wife and business partner of wealthy weapons manufacturer Victor Wallace (Oliver Platt), is on her way to her regular assignation with her boyfriend, Russell (Martin Cummins), an actor who's about to go on-stage for the closing night of his hit play. Their plans are ruined by a mysterious gunman who calls himself Joe (Wesley Snipes). Joe straps Russell to a bomb in his dressing room, which will go off if he moves or speaks too loudly. Joe then calls Liberty on her cell phone and coerces her into chaining herself to a hot dog stand in a plaza outside the theater. The hot dog stand is rigged with a bomb, which will go off if Liberty hangs up her cell phone, or when it runs out of battery power. Joe also has a high-powered sniper rifle, her company's best gun, trained on Liberty. Joe doesn't make any demands at first, but it's clear that he has a problem with Liberty's weapons empire, which she inherited from her late father. He eventually tells Liberty that his young daughter was killed in a school shooting by one of the guns her company manufactured. Joe lets Liberty know that she's going to die, but she can die a hero if she exposes her company's shady business dealings and political connections before she's killed. As Joe monitors and records her every move, Liberty reveals secrets about her own past, and her business dealings. When Victor, who's also having an affair, finds out that his wife has been taken hostage, he's torn between following company protocol -- protecting himself and allowing his wife to be killed -- and going to help her. Liberty Stands Still was written and directed by Kari Skogland. The film premiered on Cinemax in July 2002. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

NYPD Blue returns after a five-week hiatus with Detective Baldwin Jones (Henry Simmons) under intense scrutiny of both the IAB and the media. It all started during a shoot-out with a suspect, in which an innocent bystander, a 13-year-old teenager, was killed. Jones' future looks bleak until evidence reveals that the "innocent" victim may have been anything but. And in the aftermath of his father's suicide, John Clark Jr. (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) is unable to control his grief, which spills over into his relationship with Rita Ortiz (Jacqueline Obradors) -- who is having enough trouble investigating an unsavory case of improper police procedure. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The third live-action TV series based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' immortal "King of the Jungle" (there had also been a few cartoon series and innumerable theatrical features), the WB network's Tarzan offered a few new up-to-date spins on the classic canon. Orphaned in the jungle as an infant, John Clayton (played by male model Travis Fimmel) was raised by apes and came to maturity as the resourceful Tarzan. All this changed when John/Tarzan was captured by his uncle, billionaire industrialist Richard Clayton (Mitch Pileggi), and flown to New York City, there to take his rightful place as the heir apparent of the vast Greystoke business enterprises. As uncomfortable as Tarzan felt in his new civilized surroundings, it was nothing compared to the discomfiture expressed by Richard Clayton's sister, acid-tongued publisher Katherine Clayton (Lucy Lawless), who wished that Tarzan would return whence he came so that she could take over Greystoke. At last fed up by all the inter-family squabbling and backstabbing, Tarzan escaped to the concrete jungle known as Manhattan, where he befriended feisty female NYPD detective Jane Porter (Sarah Wayne Callies). Ultimately, Me-Tarzan teamed with You-Jane to track down elusive criminals, while Jane's detective boyfriend, Michael Foster (Johnny Messner), and her official partner, Sam Sullivan (Miguel Nunez Jr.), expressed dismay at the girl's newfound bravado -- and while Jane's younger sister, aspiring actress Nicki Porter (Leighton Meester), lolled around awaiting her next "damsel in distress" assignment. The new Tarzan swung into view on October 5, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This action-packed remake of the John Carpenter classic tells the tale of an under-manned Detroit police precinct on its last day of operation that finds itself under siege by a ruthless force that will not stop. This time, a notorious cop-killer and mobster Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishbourne) is unexpectedly brought into the precinct during a blizzard on New Year's Eve, much to the dismay of police sergeant Jake Roenick (Ethan Hawke). By nightfall, the remaining cops and prisoners find themselves fighting for their lives against a group of rogue cops intent on taking down Bishop before he testifies against them in the courtroom. Now it's up to the officers, secretaries, and inmates on the inside to band together just to survive this one night. Also starring Gabriel Byrne, John Leguizamo, Drea de Matteo, and Brian Dennehy. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide