Derek Cecil Movies
- 2009
- NR
Old wounds are opened and buried secrets unearthed when the members of a Yale secret society come together for a reunion, and discover the reason why love and happiness has always eluded them. As students at Yale, they were some of the brightest that the Ivy League had to offer. Not only that, but they were all part of an elite secret society that was carefully guarded from outsiders. Years later, they have all moved on to successful careers. But the opportunity to rationalize who they have become proves impossible to resist. When the time comes for their reunion and the reality of the past finally comes into focus, the group is faced with some troubling truths about their collegiate indiscretions. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher McDonald, Jamey Sheridan, (more)
When a newly successful horror novel agent moves into a luxury penthouse apartment, the terror that follows far eclipses any frights he could have helped to publish on the written page. After years of struggling, David Lamont (Marc Blucas) has finally hit the big time. A literary agent who specializes in things that go bump in the night, Lamont has built his entire career on fear - and now that fear is about to return to him tenfold. Just as Lamont begins to get comfortable, photographs depicting a bloody crime scene in his very apartment turn up at his front door. Later, after receiving a videotape of him in his bed sleeping, Lamont begins to feel as if a malevolent stalker is tracing his every step. With each passing day, the grip of paranoia grows stronger. His mind soon consumed by paranoia and his thoughts clouded by lack of sleep, the frightened agent becomes so obsessed with discovering the identity of the stalker that he doesn't realize he is playing right into the madman's hands. Now, in order to solve the mystery of his own blood-curdling tale of terror, the man who made a mint by frightening the masses will be forced to venture deeper into the darkness than he ever anticipated. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marc Blucas, Shiri Appleby, (more)
- 2003
Julie Talen, perhaps best-known as the screenwriter who adapted Harriet the Spy for the big screen, makes her directorial debut with this digital feature. Utilizing nine DV cameras to create a multichannel narrative that involves up to 16 panels in the frame at a time, Pretend is the story of two young girls who hatch a plan to keep their divorcing parents together. By pretending that one of the girls has been kidnapped, the siblings hope to push their mother and father back together. Pretend played at the 2003 Vancouver Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Jubett, Karl Herlinger, (more)
Otherworldly villains are on the loose again, and it's up to Earth's interstellar police force to bring them to justice in this sequel to the sci-fi comedy blockbuster Men in Black. Agent Jay (Will Smith) has become a high-ranking member of the Men in Black, the secret government task force designed to deal with unruly visitors from other worlds, while his former cohort, Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones), had his memory wiped clean and now lives a simple but contented life as a mailman. However, an especially nasty alien threat has reared its not-so-ugly head; Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle) is a shape-shifting Kylothian alien who is in pursuit of another escaped visitor who holds the key to powers that would allow her to destroy the world. Making Serleena all the more dangerous is the fact she's taken on the appearance of a lingerie model, making her irresistible to most men. When the rampaging Serleena takes control of the MIB offices, Jay is forced to turn to the only man who can help him save the world -- the former Agent Kay. After restoring Kay's memory, the two remaining Men in Black set out to conquer Serleena with a motley band of friendly aliens, including a handful of worm creatures and a talking dog named Frank (voice of Tim Blaney). Jay, meanwhile, has his head turned by Laura (Rosario Dawson), an attractive waitress who was an unwitting witness to an alien attack. Men in Black 2 also features Rip Torn, Tony Shalhoub, David Cross, Patrick Warburton, and Johnny Knoxville. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, (more)
- 2002
Network television's first "interactive" mystery-suspense series, Push, Nevada got under way somewhat in the manner of the 1945 theatrical feature Murder, He Says, with stalwart IRS agent Jim Prufrock (Derek Cecil) venturing into the hinterlands in search of a huge cache of stolen money. Prufrock followed the trail of evidence to the cloistered community of Push, NV, which seemed to be populated exclusively by weirdos with deep, dark secrets. Each time that Prufrock thought he'd figured out what was going on, a new riddle or enigma was added to the mixture, such as a motel which looked like a dump on the outside but was luxurious on the inside, or a bizarre casino where everyone was forced to speak in lousy French accents. As Jim tried to piece things together, the viewers at home were invited to interpret the clues right along with the protagonist. If the viewer was able to solve the mystery before the first 13 episodes had played out, he or she would win one million dollars. Co-created by actor Ben Affleck and boasting a production staff gleaned from Affleck's popular cable-TV documentary series Project Greenlight, Push, Nevada debuted on September 17, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Derek Cecil, Scarlett Chorvat, (more)
Made for television, The Unspoken Truth is the factual story of Brianne Hawkins (Lea Thompson), who after enduring a lifetime of abuse at the hands of her family marries the even more abusive Clay Hawkins (James Marshall). Given to beating his wife at the slightest provocation, Clay finally goes completely over the edge when he shoots and kills a man who had the temerity to speak to Brianne without Clay's permission. Thinking quickly for a change, Clay persuades Brianne to take the rap for the killing, whereupon she complicity (if not willingly) concocts an elaborate story as to how she shot the man accidentally. Not only do the authorities refuse to swallow this fabrication, but they end up sending both Clay and Brianne to prison for life! Only when the future of her daughter, Lily (Karis Paige Bryant), is jeopardized does the long-suffering Brianne finally work up the courage to fight for her freedom and her long-denied fundamental rights as a human being. A shocking mid-film revelation elevates this story from the usual battered-wife TV-movie syndrome. Filmed on location in Austin, TX, The Unspoken Truth originally aired September 24, 1995, on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lea Thompson, Patricia Kalember, (more)
