Derek Rappaport Movies

A weary ex-con finds his attempt to turn his back on his criminal past complicated when his former partner-in-crime's son blackmails him into conning a ruthless businessman out of $8 million. A lifetime ago, Foley (Samuel L. Jackson) was a grade-A grifter. But the con-artist lifestyle ultimately caught up with him, landing him a 25-year prison sentence. Upon his release, Foley believes he'll never be able to escape the shadow of his past. But that all starts to change when Foley meets Iris (Ruth Negga), a pretty girl with her own set of regrets, who sees a good man where many others see a lost cause. Meanwhile, just when it seems as if a happy future is finally within his reach, Foley is approached by Ethan (Luke Kirby), the son of his former criminal cohort, and an aspiring hustler who's eager to learn the lessons his father never taught him. Ethan's boss Xavier (Tom Wilkinson) is a self-made millionaire with a fierce reputation, but the ambitious young upstart sees him as the perfect target. With Foley's help, they'll earn a cool $8 million by pulling a classic con known as "The Samaritan." Initially, Foley rejects Ethan's offer. But Ethan isn't about to let the opportunity of a lifetime slip through his fingers, and soon the stakes are personal for Foley. Later, when everything starts to go wrong, Foley realizes that with more than his own fate hanging in the balance, he's got no choice but to do what he does best, and let the consequences be damned. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

While on the job at an abandoned Chicago office building, four electrical workers -- Dean (Richard Grieco), Ray (Richard Yearwood), Junior (Jason Jones), and Sheldon (Jeff Douglas) -- stumble upon a time portal. Instantly, Dean and Junior disappear, rematerializing in a modernistic alternate Chicago. Soon after, Ray and Sheldon follow their buddies -- a bad mistake, inasmuch as this parallel world is ruled by cannibalistic, spider-like humanoids. The four heroes link up with a group of survivors of the spider invasion, led by Dr. Morelli (Colin Fox), Elena (Kate Greenhouse), and Crane (David Newman). Will they be able to escape the rampaging arachnids and return to their own world, or will they be betrayed by a spy in their midst and delivered up to the omnivorous Spider Queen? Bearing more than a passing resemblance to the TV series Sliders, the made-for-cable Webs debuted June 28, 2003, on the Sci-Fi channel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A feature-length pilot for a possible cable TV series, Deathlands: Homeward Bound was inspired by a series of novels and audio-books written by James Axler (actually a joint pseudonym, shared by several prominent science-fiction authors). Sort of a "Mad Max Meets the A-Team," the film is set in a post-apocalyptic future, where crime and destruction is the norm and law-and-order is in the hands of a few courageous mavericks. Vincent Spano stars as justice-fighter Ryan Cawdor, who travels the scorched countryside in his "SecWag," or military security wagon. Cawdor's hearty band of cohorts include his half-mutant girl, an angry Albino teenager, and a geeky weapons specialist called the Armorer. Not surprisingly, the original "Deathlands" book series was incredibly popular with long-distance truck drivers, presumably the audience to whom this ultra-macho thriller is geared. Deathlands: Homeward Bound debuted May 17, 2003, on the Sci-Fi Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

As a highly infectious ageing virus causes chaos around the world, one woman sets out on a desperate mission to save the life of her unborn child, and perhaps the rest of the human race in the process. The time is the not-so-distant future. An ageing virus has divided the world population between "cleans" and "infecteds." Once infected, the only way to avoid ageing one year every twenty-four hours is to take a daily dose of Anzanol, a drug designed to slow the effects of the virus. Meanwhile, as the creator of Anzanol schemes to keep his empire thriving at any cost, Ruth Hennessey (Polly Shannon) learns that she has gotten pregnant by her infected husband, who confides to his wife on his deathbed that he was close to discovering a cure for the disease. Fearing for the health of her unborn child, Ruth makes it her mission to finish her husband's research and ensure that the rest of the population won't have to suffer like he did. But the creator of Anzanol knows that sales of his drug will quickly dry up if a cure is found, and he's willing to kill in order to ensure that Ruth fails in her mission to eradicate the disease. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The setting for this nail-biting thriller is a snowbound rural airport. A group of outer-space aliens, disguised as human, take over the airport, in preparation of conquering the earth. The fate of mankind ultimately rests in the hands of two others trapped in the terminal: a fiercely combative female pilot named Cathy Garrett (Chase Masterson), and convicted murderer Jack (Bruce Campbell). The only problem is, with the aliens totally camouflaged as earthlings, no one can tell the good guys from the bad. Filmed under the title The Devil's Pass, Terminal Invasion made its American cable-TV premiere via the Sci-Fi Channel on September 14, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi