Nina Repeta Movies
Nina Repeta may be best known for the role of Bessie Potter on the popular teen drama Dawson's Creek. Having attended East Carolina University with the show's creator, Kevin Williamson, Repeta had the inside track, but her resumé also includes roles in films like Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and the TV series Matlock. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
Aspiring moviemaker Dawson Leery (James Van Der Beek) and his lifelong friends Joey Potter (Katie Holmes) and Pacey Witter (Joshua Jackson) enter their sophomore year of high school as Dawson's Creek enters its inaugural season. Life in Capeside, MA, has been fairly sedate for the trio up till now, but with the arrival of Dawson's new next-door neighbor, 15-year-old Jen Lindley (Michelle Williams), things begin to heat up a bit. Joey is jealous because Dawson clearly likes Jen, Pacey is jealous of Joey because he likes Jen, and Jen is stimulated by all the attention, having had far more carnal experience than Dawson, Joey, and Pacey combined. But Pacey is soon making up for lost time, losing his virginity to his attractive teacher, Ms. Tamara Jacobs (Leann Hunley), who is forced to leave town to avoid a scandal. Pacey's friends' romantic adventures are somewhat more chaste, with both Dawson and Joey enjoying their first kisses (though not as yet with each other) in the course of the season. Later on, flirtatious Jen breaks Dawson's heart, but comes to regret her actions. On a less frolicsome note, Dawson finds out that his TV-newsperson mother, Gail (Mary-Margaret Humes), is cheating on Dawson's dad, Mitch (John Wesley Shipp). As in future seasons, movie references abound during season one of Dawson's Creek, notably in the episode "Detention," a virtual remake of The Breakfast Club. The season ends with Dawson and Joey realizing that there is something wonderful between them, thanks to a long and passionate kiss (minus the expected discreet fade out!). But nothing may come of this, since Joey seems poised to move to France. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, (more)
- 1998
The debut episode of the hit teen drama Dawson's Creek introduced audiences to Dawson Leery (James Van Der Beek), a 15-year-old film enthusiast who desires a career as a director, and his lifelong best friend, Joey Potter (Katie Holmes). The two have spent many a Saturday night watching movies in Dawson's room, but their maturing bodies have complicated the situation and made them rethink their weekly sleepovers. Emotions get sticky when the neighbor's granddaughter, Jennifer Lindley (Michelle Williams), moves in next door and sparks Dawson's budding sexual awareness. Dawson's smart-alecky friend Pacey Witter (Joshua Jackson) adventurously begins hitting on an older woman, who turns out to be the new Capeside High English teacher, Tamara Jacobs (Leann Hunley). The episode also introduces Dawson's devoted parents, Mitch (John Wesley Shipp) and Gail (Mary-Margaret Humes), whose devotion to each other will soon be tested. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, (more)
- 1998
When Bessie (Nina Repeta) goes into labor early, retired nurse Grams (Mary Beth Peil) delivers the baby with help from Joey (Katie Holmes), Dawson (James Van Der Beek), and Jen (Michelle Williams) at the Leery home. Rumors of Tamara's (Leann Hunley) unethical behavior make their way to the higher-ups in the school, forcing Pacey (Joshua Jackson) to make a decision that he may have come to just a little too late. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, (more)
- 1998
As a hurricane roars into Capeside, Dawson (James Van Der Beek), Grams (Mary Beth Peil), Jen (Michelle Williams), Joey's very pregnant sister, Bessie (Nina Repeta), and her boyfriend, Bodie (Obi Ndefo), are trapped together at the Leery home. Gail (Mary-Margaret Humes) accepts that she must face the music in regards to her infidelity, while Dawson reaches the end of his emotional tether with all three of the women he cares about most. The good news for Pacey (Joshua Jackson) is that he is trapped with his lover, Tamara (Leann Hunley), the bad news is that his older brother, Doug Witter (Dylan Neal), is trapped with them. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, (more)
- 1996
After her son Georgie (Kendall Cunningham) is paralyzed in a diving accident, feisty divorcee Anna Lerner (Judith Light) vows never to take a moment's rest until she finds a cure for her boy's affliction. Ultimately, Anna moves herself, Georgie and her "normal" son to a new town, there to commiserate with pioneering neurosurgeon David Decker (Tom Irwin), who agrees to an experimental spinal-cord operation that may or may not enable Georgie to walk again. Throughout the experience, Anna must not only spar with the skeptical medical community and an insensitive insurance company, but also with the resentment seething within her other son Ben (Tim Redwine), who feels neglected and forgotten. Appearing in a pivotal supporting role is Christopher Reeve, making his first film appearance since the accident which rendered him quadriplegic. Made for television, A Step Toward Tomorrow premiered November 10, 1996 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
- R
A blood-red moon is never a good sign, and when one pops up over New York City, one can be sure that the Big Apple is in for serious trouble. This time it heralds the arrival of a kung-fu serial killer (Darren Shahlavi). At night, he stalks the crimson bathed streets, killing off the world's best martial artists, one by one. At every resulting crime scene one of New York's finest detectives shows up and amuses the crowds of on-lookers and service personnel with dumb sleight-of-hand tricks. As the story progresses, the battles, featuring professional wrestlers and fighters sporting strange hair and peculiar makeup, become increasingly strange. The film's production values are unusually low, and keen-eyed viewers can readily spot an abundance of support cables showing up in key fight scenes. However, the fight scenes themselves are comparable to the spectacular sequences in this film's Hong Kong cousins and employ a smashing variety of martial arts techniques. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Daniels, Darren Shahlavi, (more)
- 2002
- PG13
- Add Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood to QueueAdd Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood to top of Queue
Screenwriter Callie Khouri makes her directorial debut with this adaptation of a pair of popular novels by author Rebecca Wells, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Little Altars Everywhere. Sandra Bullock stars as Sidda Lee Walker, a New York playwright who opens a can of emotional worms with her estranged, boozy mother, Vivi (Ellen Burstyn), when she discusses her painful childhood and particularly Vivi's less-than-enviable mothering skills in a Time magazine article. The eccentric Louisiana drama queen Vivi has already been barred from her daughter's oft-delayed wedding to her fiancé, Connor (Angus Macfadyen), so the article sends her into a rage. Coming to the rescue of the relationship are Necie (Shirley Knight), Caro (Maggie Smith), and Teensy (Fionnula Flanagan), a trio of bickering women, who, along with Vivi, formed a secret society of feminist empowerment and friendship 60 years earlier that they dubbed the "Ya-Ya Sisterhood." The Ya-Yas kidnap Sidda and bring her home to Louisiana, where they reveal to Sidda via a carefully maintained scrapbook her mother's painful past (with Vivi portrayed in flashback by Ashley Judd), effecting a rapprochement between mother and daughter. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood also stars James Garner. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn, (more)
- 1997
- PG13
This made-for-cable sequel to the 1990 TV-movie thriller Buried Alive picks up where the earlier film leaves off, with the death of the sheriff who solved the mystery in the original. Old Sam has left his money (a hefty sum indeed) to his niece Laura (Ally Sheedy), who is married to a no-account named Randy (Stephen Caffrey). Hoping to get his mitts on all of Laura's dough, Randy conspires with his mistress Roxanne (Tracey Needham) to arrange an "accidental" demise for his unwitting wife. On cue, Laura dies after consuming a poisoned meal, the authorities are satisfied that no foul play has occurred, and the girl's body is shipped off to the embalmer. Thanks to a power outage, the embalming process is halted and Laura is buried "intact" -- and of course, still alive! Once she's dug herself out of her grave, Laura embarks upon a campaign of vengeance, aided and abetted by a shadowy stranger who turns out to be the "murder victim" from the earlier Buried Alive, Clint Goodman (played again by Tim Matheson, who also directed this film). Entertaining in its own "they liked it once, they'll love it twice" fashion, Buried Alive II premiered February 4, 1997, on the USA network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ally Sheedy, Stephen Caffrey, (more)
