From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jan 17 18:37:28 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: dvdrules@aol.com (Zachary McGhee) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Supernova (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 16 Jan 2000 18:58:03 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Lines: 83 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <85t4br$goq$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer06.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 948049083 17178 (None) 140.142.17.39 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #22667 Keywords: author=mcghee X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer06.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:21851 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2564 "SUPERNOVA" PG-13, 100 m., 2000 Star rating: * * 1/2 (out of * * * *) Film Criticism By Zachary McGhee I wish I was around when kids spent their weekends at the movies watching serials with each other, playfully shouting at the screen, just there to be entertained. I imagine an adult version of such fare would be "Supernova", a new sci-fi thriller in which the plot progresses at a playful tempo and the characters and the somewhat inane plot actually seem to be more important than the surrounding awe, unlike a certain big space blockbuster released two years back. In future times (a specific date is never given), small crews are apparently sent into deep space for assorted missions, the subject of which here is the Nightingale, a rescue vessel touring the universe just in case there's a distress call from other space missions. The crew consists of six, Benjamin (Wilson Cruz), Danika Lund (Robin Tunney), Yerzy Penalosa (Lou Diamond Phillips), lead doctor Kaela Evers (Angela Bassett), newcomer, a former military pilot, Nick Vanzant (James Spader), and their captain (A.J. Marley). Quick into the film, they receive a distress call from another dimension and are forced to "jump" into it. The captain is killed in the jump and Spader's character takes over as captain. So, in the middle of all this madness, who sent the distress call? Apparently a name that Kaela recognizes, Carl Larson, "your worst nightmare". Or is he? He says he's Troy (Peter Facinelli), Carl's son, who has just discovered an amazing secret of life, an odd enigma of an object which makes you grow stronger physically, but, as suggested by the holes in the film's plot, not mentally, and may be doing more harm than good. What follows is a series of quick paced, occasionally quick witted, events. Indeed, Thomas Lee's (a pseudonym for director Walter Hill) "Supernova" definitely has its flaws to go right along with its, as they say, moments. Let's start with the obvious. This is one hades of a spaceship. It's huge, and that's not hyperbole. It could match those space stations in "2001". And while that's fun to look at sometimes, and may be impressive, what's it doing here? They're just a rescue crew made up of roughly seven individuals who tour the galaxy waiting around for distress signals. Why all that hardware for so few people with even littler opportunity to use it? And they aren't even particularly good effects, even if they are big. Then there's those off-the-shelf, standardized subplots. Namely, romantic encounters between Bassett and Spader, and Phillips and Tunney. Since when did the government start providing a big old spaceship (lest we return to that subject) so that groups of people could have private orgies in deep space? From the futuristic setting, I thought Clinton was long out of office in this movie. But, what I liked about the movie is that occasionally the characters shone through those effects as well. I'm not rushing to give credit to screenwriters, though. The dialogue isn't bright, but the more talented of the ensemble make it sound interesting. James Spader seems to be the most effective at this, though Angela Bassett comes close too. They made a movie that could have been a tepid, uninvolving replay of other equally pathetic films into something mildly entertaining, even passable. And then there's the little things, like the ship's original captain earning his PhD from watching old episodes of "Tom and Jerry", or Bassett routinely shouting "STAT!" in her medical dialogues, apparently inferring that she got her degree from watching reruns of "ER". Or the fact that there must be a little interference from Troy in the relationship between two of our protagonists, simply so their can be a conflict between the two men. There are some interesting ideas established throughout "Supernova", but the problem is that they are ignored in favor of a depressing, fight-it-out, man to man climax, and so I cannot recommend it. I am reminded that roughly one-half of the way into "Supernova", when asked about the aforementioned odd, life renewing object by her crew mate, Bassett remarks that it must have been made by someone "Smart as God and a lot less nice." And? Who are they? Gee, I dunno. The studio that turned down this script before it went to MGM? [To receive a free weekly newsletter of reviews from Zachary McGhee e-mail mcgheezc@aol.com] Zachary McGhee is a high school student in the eastern U.S. He formerly was the webmaster, founder and editor of ReelGuide.com and The DVD Factor, and now writes film reviews on a regular basis for the amusement of those who care to read them, and his high school newspaper. From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jan 17 18:37:28 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.direct.ca!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams ~From: FilmFan16@aol.com (Dustin Putman) ~Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews ~Subject: Review: Supernova (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies ~Date: 16 Jan 2000 18:58:46 GMT Organization: None ~Lines: 66 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <85t4d6$gpc$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer17.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 948049126 17196 (None) 140.142.17.38 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #22673 Keywords: author=putman X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer17.u.washington.edu ~Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:21852 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2565 Supernova 1/2* (out of * * * * ) Directed by Thomas Lee. Cast: Angela Bassett, James Spader, Wilson Cruz, Peter Facinelli, Robin Tunney, Lou Diamond Phillips, Robert Forster. 2000 - 85 minutes Rated PG-13 (for violence, sex, and brief nudity). Reviewed by Dustin Putman, January 15, 2000. There once was a sci-fi film that MGM budgeted at $60-million plus that went through directors as it was filming just about as quickly as a child goes through candy. The first smart soul left citing creative differences. Then Walter Hill came onboard the project, but after seeing his vision sliced down to a nearly unrecognizable 85 minutes, he requested his name be taken off and replaced with the pseudonym of Thomas Lee. Rumor has it that even Francis Ford Coppola was hired to film the reshoots. Every filmmaker, it seems, had the right idea when deciding they didn't want to take credit for the film. By the way, the film I speak of is "Supernova," it has allegedly sat on the shelf for almost two years, and it is a haphazard excuse for a movie, the type that you watch and then immediately wonder if the studio expected one person in the whole audience to walk out of the theater liking it. Handling your very negative feelings about "Supernova," you can either get angry at having part of your night wasted, or you can heartily laugh and make fun of it on the drive home from the theater. My filmgoing companions and I chose the latter---with a vengeance! Even in the opening minutes, "Supernova" screams of severe post-production editing, and you'd suspect it was to salvage any sort of remains of a worthwhile motion picture. But remember MGM's 1998 thriller, "Disturbing Behavior." After whittling down the poor director's vision from 110 to a ridiculously short 83 minutes, out went any signs of character development and in came one plot hole after the next. The deleted scenes were then resurrected on DVD, and after watching the 110-minute version, I grew a deep sympathy for all involved, except the culprits at MGM. Even the 83-minute cut of "Disturbing Behavior," however, is reminiscent of "Gone With the Wind" compared to the bone-headed plotting and amateurish cutting of "Supernova." The cast is filled with such talent, both from veterans and rising stars, that it is an unfortunate state of affairs when every single one of them can fall for appearing in a movie that has been so distinctly recycled from countless other films. "Supernova" may have been chopped up and stir-fried to its current paltry length, but no cutting in the world can hide the fact that this story did not need to be told again, and the millions of dollars certainly did not need to be so egregiously wasted. Making things more depressing is that the visual effects look like they have come right out of a direct-to-video movie. Where did all that money go to? Did the cast and crew literally throw the hundred dollar bills up in the air and, to entertain themselves, shoot at it with guns during the breaks in filming? Supposedly set in the 23rd-century, since I read this in a magazine article (the year is never mentioned in the film itself), on the medical rescue vessel Nightingale, which must answer a distress signal, the inhabitants include...oh, why bother with names or characters? The screenwriter and editor sure didn't. At the mine where the signal is coming from, they meet Troy (Peter Facinelli), who is welcomed aboard and turns out to be an alien and kills everyone aside from the first two actors billed in the credits. The vessel continues off into space, and the title "Supernova" appears on the screen, which then fades to black. The end. Sound like something you want to pay your money towards? I didn't think so. - Copyright 1999 by Dustin Putman Http://www.young-hollywood.com Http://www.atnzone.com From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jan 17 18:37:29 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.direct.ca!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams ~From: dvdrules@aol.com (Zachary McGhee) ~Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews ~Subject: Review: Supernova (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies ~Date: 16 Jan 2000 18:58:12 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com ~Lines: 83 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <85t4c4$gos$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer14.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 948049092 17180 (None) 140.142.17.38 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #22667 Keywords: author=mcghee X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer14.u.washington.edu ~Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:21854 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2566 "SUPERNOVA" PG-13, 100 m., 2000 Star rating: * * 1/2 (out of * * * *) Film Criticism By Zachary McGhee I wish I was around when kids spent their weekends at the movies watching serials with each other, playfully shouting at the screen, just there to be entertained. I imagine an adult version of such fare would be "Supernova", a new sci-fi thriller in which the plot progresses at a playful tempo and the characters and the somewhat inane plot actually seem to be more important than the surrounding awe, unlike a certain big space blockbuster released two years back. In future times (a specific date is never given), small crews are apparently sent into deep space for assorted missions, the subject of which here is the Nightingale, a rescue vessel touring the universe just in case there's a distress call from other space missions. The crew consists of six, Benjamin (Wilson Cruz), Danika Lund (Robin Tunney), Yerzy Penalosa (Lou Diamond Phillips), lead doctor Kaela Evers (Angela Bassett), newcomer, a former military pilot, Nick Vanzant (James Spader), and their captain (A.J. Marley). Quick into the film, they receive a distress call from another dimension and are forced to "jump" into it. The captain is killed in the jump and Spader's character takes over as captain. So, in the middle of all this madness, who sent the distress call? Apparently a name that Kaela recognizes, Carl Larson, "your worst nightmare". Or is he? He says he's Troy (Peter Facinelli), Carl's son, who has just discovered an amazing secret of life, an odd enigma of an object which makes you grow stronger physically, but, as suggested by the holes in the film's plot, not mentally, and may be doing more harm than good. What follows is a series of quick paced, occasionally quick witted, events. Indeed, Thomas Lee's (a pseudonym for director Walter Hill) "Supernova" definitely has its flaws to go right along with its, as they say, moments. Let's start with the obvious. This is one hades of a spaceship. It's huge, and that's not hyperbole. It could match those space stations in "2001". And while that's fun to look at sometimes, and may be impressive, what's it doing here? They're just a rescue crew made up of roughly seven individuals who tour the galaxy waiting around for distress signals. Why all that hardware for so few people with even littler opportunity to use it? And they aren't even particularly good effects, even if they are big. Then there's those off-the-shelf, standardized subplots. Namely, romantic encounters between Bassett and Spader, and Phillips and Tunney. Since when did the government start providing a big old spaceship (lest we return to that subject) so that groups of people could have private orgies in deep space? From the futuristic setting, I thought Clinton was long out of office in this movie. But, what I liked about the movie is that occasionally the characters shone through those effects as well. I'm not rushing to give credit to screenwriters, though. The dialogue isn't bright, but the more talented of the ensemble make it sound interesting. James Spader seems to be the most effective at this, though Angela Bassett comes close too. They made a movie that could have been a tepid, uninvolving replay of other equally pathetic films into something mildly entertaining, even passable. And then there's the little things, like the ship's original captain earning his PhD from watching old episodes of "Tom and Jerry", or Bassett routinely shouting "STAT!" in her medical dialogues, apparently inferring that she got her degree from watching reruns of "ER". Or the fact that there must be a little interference from Troy in the relationship between two of our protagonists, simply so their can be a conflict between the two men. There are some interesting ideas established throughout "Supernova", but the problem is that they are ignored in favor of a depressing, fight-it-out, man to man climax, and so I cannot recommend it. I am reminded that roughly one-half of the way into "Supernova", when asked about the aforementioned odd, life renewing object by her crew mate, Bassett remarks that it must have been made by someone "Smart as God and a lot less nice." And? Who are they? Gee, I dunno. The studio that turned down this script before it went to MGM? [To receive a free weekly newsletter of reviews from Zachary McGhee e-mail mcgheezc@aol.com] Zachary McGhee is a high school student in the eastern U.S. He formerly was the webmaster, founder and editor of ReelGuide.com and The DVD Factor, and now writes film reviews on a regular basis for the amusement of those who care to read them, and his high school newspaper. From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jan 17 18:37:29 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.direct.ca!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams ~From: "Steve Rhodes" ~Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews ~Subject: Review: Supernova (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies ~Date: 16 Jan 2000 18:58:18 GMT Organization: Internet Reviews ~Lines: 63 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <85t4ca$15h0$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer26.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 948049098 38432 (None) 140.142.17.35 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #22668 Keywords: author=rhodes X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer26.u.washington.edu ~Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:21858 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2567 SUPERNOVA A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2 "Here we are, caught in the gravitational pull of a blue giant, and all you can think about is sex," Troy Larson (Peter Facinelli) says to Danika Lund (Robin Tunney). Amazingly, sex is indeed the theme of SUPERNOVA, an incorrectly rated PG-13 science fiction film. Laced with frequent nudity and scenes of floating naked bodies having sex, the movie cries out to be rated R. Given the show's theme and its rating one can expect lots of kids under 13 to see it, as there were in my audience. Originally directed by Walter Hill (48 HRS.), who reportedly asked to have his name removed after the studio recut his movie, the film now lists Thomas Lee, Walter Hill's pseudonym, as the director. With acting this lethargic, it's quite difficult, however, to see how editing could do much to change the quality of the picture for the better or the worse. (The studio decided to run it without the normal advanced screening for critics so that no reviews could appear until after it opened.) In this rehash of dozens of other science fiction films, the medical rescue vessel Nightingale is answering a distress signal from a supposedly abandoned mine. The mine is on a moon that is so far off that the ship has to make a dimensional jump, sort of a leap through hyperspace, to get there. What is the one thing necessary to accomplish such a jump? Nudity, of course. The men and women of the crew get naked together before tucking themselves into their snug little Plexiglas beds. Think of all of the fun that the Millennium Falcon's crew has been missing. On board this fearless space ambulance are A.J. Marley (Robert Forster), Kaela Evers (Angela Bassett), Nick Vanzant (James Spader), Yerzy Penalosa (Lou Diamond Phillips), Benj Sotomejor (Wilson Cruz) and Danika. Troy is a mysterious stranger that they pick up from the mine. Troy's despicable father, Karl, once dated Kaela. Small universe, huh? Troy has brought with him a glimmering object in the shape of a lava lamp. Featuring nothing less than "ninth dimension matter," this mean little piece of plasma is -- surprise! -- trouble. Like the rest of the special effects in the film, which rely heavily on flashing lights and fog to create the atmospherics, the look of this devilish substance is cheap. But given the 10 minutes of credits at the end of the picture to the film's technical teams, one suspects that lots of the studio's money was wasted in the creation of these lame effects. "The only real sin is regret," Troy tells Danika, as a sexual come-on. One suspects that most of the people associated with this film will be filled with regret that they ever had anything to do with it. Only briefly as a guilty pleasure for adults does the picture have anything to recommend it. SUPERNOVA runs 1:25. It is rated PG-13 for sex, nudity and violence. It would be acceptable for older teenagers. Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jan 17 18:37:29 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!fu-berlin.de!arclight.uoregon.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams ~From: "Stephen Graham Jones" ~Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews ~Subject: Review: Supernova (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies ~Date: 16 Jan 2000 18:59:10 GMT Organization: None ~Lines: 75 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <85t4du$gpi$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> ~Reply-To: "stephen graham jones" NNTP-Posting-Host: homer11.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 948049150 17202 (None) 140.142.17.39 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #22676 Keywords: author=jones X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer11.u.washington.edu ~Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:21864 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2568 Supernova: tom & jerry in space A good eighty-percent of science fiction in the movies owes everything to horror. Yes, Alien was great, but structurally, what's the real difference in it and, say, Halloween? Event Horizon and Hellraiser? Yet we tend to privilege sci-fi over such horror, if only the slightest bit, largely because the emptiness of space allows one thing horror always has to work so hard for: isolation. Whereas most of the final girls in horror could just up and leave town, get themselves out of danger, (if they weren't morally obliged to stop Jason, etc) Ripley's forever stuck on that ship. To leave is to die, whereas to stay is to at least have a chance. Meaning her staying on-board doesn't require any suspension of disbelief, as it often does in horror, where you're often tempted to talk to the screen, tell these characters to just leave already. Ripley can't. Supernova is no different here. It's essentially a horror movie set in space, albeit a horror movie with James Spader, which ups the ante considerably. Too, instead of opening with a bang, Supernova starts rather thematically, with a 22nd (or so) century rerun of a Tom & Jerry episode. Initially, it looks to be just fluff, something we can share with these future humans, a comical bridge from us to them, which isn't an uncommon device in sci-fi, as it allows us both to recognize these people and then identify with them. But director Thomas Lee uses it a little differently. As things unfold, Tom & Jerry seems to function almost as a comment on the genre, on how ridiculous it is that Michael Myers (Tom, here) just keeps getting up, no matter how cleverly he's killed. He's no normal cat, but of the cartoon-variety. The same goes for the 'bad' guy in Supernova, the more-than-human, Lost Boys-looking stalker (Peter Facinelli) hellbent on wiping this crew out. Granted, he does get to talk, unlike Tom, but they're essentially the same character. Which means, yes, we need a Jerry. Enter Nick Vanzant, (Spader) recovering junkie, able pilot, on his first mission with the aptly-named Nightengale, an interstellar EMT, complete with the (by now generic) surly doctor, (Angela Basset, looking like Strange Days) token sex-kitten, (Robin Tunney; even Galaxy Quest had one) disposable captain, lovable programmer, an android, a female HAL, ('Sweetie") and Yerzy, (Lou Diamond Phillips) who's strangely showing some grey at first. Don't fret, though; his greyness is written in, or, better yet, telegraphed. Yes, you can figure it all out a third of the way into it. But still, it's fun. For one, there's the ship, which has the coolest way of 'bending' space since Dune, probably. Too, there's all the Black Hole stuff going on, how the Nightengale gets trapped in the gravity well of a blue giant, only has so long, etc. And finally, there's the artifact, which turns out to work much like the sphere in Sphere, and is just as important to existence as the fifth element was in Fifth Element. However. As important as the artifact is made out to be, still, when it's all said and done and the people who make it out alive have made it out alive, the universe doesn't really feel saved, mostly because it never really felt threatened in the first place. Supernova would likely have been better off keeping the danger local, only putting the crew in jeopardy. Granted, it makes for a great trailer, but it results in some disappointment in the theater. Too, it all happens so fast. Not that 90 minutes isn't an appropriate time for a cerebral action-thriller heavily dependent upon effects, but it doesn't feel quite long enough for Supernova. Or, rather, Supernova feels rushed, makes you suspect a lot was left on the editing room floor, though that likely wasn't the case. In all likelihood, even, the fact of the matter is that a lot of it was likely left in the pen, when Supernova was being written, which is too bad for Spader. He's great as usual, but when it comes right down to the final scene, it's not Vanzant's Jerry-like cleverness which saves the day, but brute strength. It was a disappointment in Resurrection, and it's a disappointment here. On the upbeat, though, Supernova does, in the closing frames, introduce some fluidless sex that Cronenberg would have been proud of. Perhaps that's why Spader signed on. It wasn't for the story, anyway. (c)2000 Stephen Graham Jones, http://www.cinemuck.com From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jan 17 18:37:29 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!nntp.primenet.com!nntp.gctr.net!feeder.qis.net!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams ~From: James Sanford ~Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews ~Subject: Review: Supernova (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies ~Date: 16 Jan 2000 18:59:16 GMT Organization: EarthLink Network, Inc. ~Lines: 53 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <85t4e4$gpk$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer11.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 948049156 17204 (None) 140.142.17.37 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #22677 Keywords: author=sanford X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer11.u.washington.edu ~Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:21865 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2569 SUPERNOVA (MGM) Directed by "Thomas Lee" If you've seen the TV commercials for "Supernova," you may have noticed the ads don't tell who's starring in the film, which may lead you to suspect it has a cast of unknowns. Surprise -- it actually features Angela Bassett, James Spader, Lou Diamond Phillips, Wilson Cruz ("My So-Called Life") and Robin Tunney ("End of Days"). So why hide these stars? Probably because "Supernova" is such a superbomb the actors wish they could take their names off of it. That's exactly what director Walter Hill has done. The movie now bears the credit "directed by Thomas Lee," even though Hill oversaw the shooting of this sci-fi adventure during the summer of 1998 (and fellow director Francis Ford Coppola reportedly had a hand in the film's extensive cutting and re-cutting throughout last year). What Hill and Coppola have ultimately come up with is an incoherent, often ridiculous yarn which steals heavily from "Alien," "The Abyss" and "Sphere" but still yields pitiful results. Were it not for the marquee value of the talent involved, "Supernova" would likely have crashed and burned at the neighborhood video store instead of hitting the local cineplex. Perhaps the only remarkable thing about this foolishness is the amount of nudity (mostly male) the filmmakers managed to cram in while still earning only a PG-13 rating. For the few who might still be intrigued, "Supernova" is set in the far future, aboard a kind of spaceship/ambulance called Nightingale (get it?). After the captain is fried in an accident, recovering drug addict Nick Van Zant (Spader) takes command of the ship and stakes a claim on no-nonsense doctor Kaela Evers (Bassett), who needs only a bottle of pear brandy to turn her disposition from stormy to sugar-sweet. Sex in the zero-gravity chamber has to be put on hold, though, when the Nightingale receives a distress call from a mining colony on gypsy moon Titan 37. Despite reservations, the crew agrees to take sole survivor Troy Larson (Peter Facinelli) aboard, along with the gooey-looking glowing object he's salvaged. That artifact turns out to house galaxy-destroying "ninth-dimensional matter" (which looks suspiciously like the contents of a lava lamp, by the way), and, given this set-up, you can probably finish the script yourself. Anyone hoping Bassett might have a chance here to show off her panache as an action star as she did so memorably in "Strange Days" will be disappointed to learn she spends most of the movie either glowering or jogging through corridors. Spader seems to be looking for an exit, while most of the supporting cast struggle to hold on to their dignity. In a frantic attempt to build suspense where none exists, the filmmakers keep their cameras bobbing and weaving woozily over each scene. Perhaps the photography team sampled a bit of that pear brandy themselves. "It's a bomb!" Dr. Evers gasps when she first realizes the potential power of the alien force. Any audience member will agree whole-heartedly. James Sanford From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Jan 17 18:37:29 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.direct.ca!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams ~From: "Berge Garabedian" ~Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews ~Subject: Review: Supernova (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies ~Date: 16 Jan 2000 19:14:46 GMT Organization: None ~Lines: 93 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <85t5b6$ri6$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> ~Reply-To: "Berge Garabedian" NNTP-Posting-Host: homer14.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 948050086 28230 (None) 140.142.17.40 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #22689 Keywords: author=garabedian X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer14.u.washington.edu ~Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:21881 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2570 SUPERNOVA RATING: 5.5/10 --> Not good enough to recommend For more reviews and movie screensavers, visit http://www.joblo.com/ Hmmmm, major directorial issues, no preview rendez-vous for the critics, and a huge thumbs down from JoBlo contributor PackBacker, pronouncing it as an early candidate for "worst of 2000"...youch! So is it any good? Well, we will never know what original director Walter Hill's intention was, since he asked his name to be altered to Thomas Lee for the final print. Apparently, the film was taken from his hands, and mangled by many, including legendary director Francis Ford Coppola and the studio. PLOT: An ambulance ship set in space is called in for an emergency request from way out in the middle of nowhere. They bring aboard a mysterious man who also happens to be carrying some extra-dimensional cargo with him. Is the man an alien? Is the cargo dangerous? Does the movie suck? Find out below. CRITIQUE: Unoriginal mesh of previously seen and better science-fiction movies such as ALIEN, THE THING and even crap like VIRUS and EVENT HORIZON, this film did at least manage to keep me interested throughout its entire run. Yes, that's right, I was never bored and I suppose that's a good thing, right? Add that to a couple of trippy sequences, laughable sci-fi dialogue and a quick cohesive package of less than an hour and a half, and God help me, but I didn't think this film was as horrible as I originally anticipated. Don't get me wrong, this is not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination. The characters are stock and one-dimensional, the flickering lights, beeping switches, smoke and hand-held camera are patent sci-fi schlock and rarely take your mind off the fact that the movie doesn't have one shred of originality to piss on, but I guess I wasn't expecting much from this film to begin with. Slap a couple of beers in your system, and by golly, you may even enjoy the darn thing! So I guess the trick is to go into this thing with nil expectations, in which case you might actually appreciate the hour and a half of relaxation that your mind will experience. And it's definitely video-bait, with very few special effects and even less superior effects to warrant a trip outside the home. The cast is wasted on jargon dialogue and two-bit romances barely crispy enough to light a candle, but I suppose that if you're just looking to have fun with some buddies, or enjoy a film which doesn't pretend to be anything more than a staple sci-fi flick with no message, than this baby might be worth saving a seat just for you. So let's recap: never boring, pretty repetitive, so-so effects, ho-hum characters, zero originality, quick runtime tacked on to an anti-climactic ending. Sound interesting to you? If so, go ahead and supernova your ass over to this movie, caught in the annual spot reserved for early year sci-fi rehashes. If not, skip it, erase the title from your mind, and pretend you never read any of this. It won't be hard. I saw the movie a few hours ago, and I barely remember a thing. Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Director Thomas Lee, better known to some as writer/director Walter Hill, also helped pen the first ALIEN movie (uncredited), come up with the story for the second flick, ALIENS, write part of the third one, ALIEN 3, and had a hand in producing all four ALIEN films. James Spader is the son of two teachers. Ironically, James bailed from his own education by grade 11, and bused tables, shoveled manure and taught yoga before landing his first roles in film. Actress Angela Bassett became what she has become after being pushed by a high school teacher to apply for Yale. After she got a scholarship, she ended up staying there for 7 years including 3 post-graduate years studying drama. Lou Diamond Phillips' birth name is Lou Upchurch. He was once married to Julie Cypher, a woman who is now a lesbian and "partnered" with singer Melissa Etheridge. In January 2000, the couple came out in Rolling Stone magazine and admitted that the father of their children is none other than singer and ex-drug addict David Crosby. Peter Facinelli was the Tom Cruise look-a-like in the 1998 teen flick CAN'T HARDLY WAIT (7/10). He is also married to Jennie Garth, the woman who is, and will always be remembered for her role as Kelly Taylor on "Beverly Hills 90210". Has she done ANYTHING else?!? Hmmm, the man who came up with the story for this film is named William Malone. Most recently, he directed another film which was essentially "given up on" by the studios in 1998, called HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (7.5/10). Review Date: January 15, 2000 Director: Thomas Lee (aka Walter Hill) Writer: David Campbell Wilson Producers: Daniel Chuba, Jamie Dixon and Ash Shah Actors: Angela Bassett as Kaela Evers James Spader as Nick Valzant Peter Facinelli as Troy Larson Lou Diamond Phillips as Yerzy Penalosa Genre: Science-Fiction Year of Release: 2000 --------------------------------------- JoBlo's Movie Emporium http://www.joblo.com/ --------------------------------------- (c) 2000 Berge Garabedian From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jan 19 19:12:51 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeed.direct.ca!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: Ssg722@aol.com (Susan Granger) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Supernova (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 17 Jan 2000 18:31:19 GMT Organization: None Lines: 29 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <85vn5n$sno$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer24.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 948133879 29432 (None) 140.142.17.39 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #22700 Keywords: author=granger X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer24.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:21885 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2571 http://www.speakers-podium.com/susangranger. Susan Granger's review of "SUPERNOVA" (M.G.M release) The behind-the-scenes story is far more interesting than this mundane sci-fi thriller which should disappear as quickly as it popped into our local theaters without previous critics' screenings. It seems Walter Hill (48 Hours, Aliens) abandoned the project more than a year ago, using a pseudonym, Thomas Lee, as titular director. And rumor has it that Francis Ford Coppola did the final assemblage but he is not officially mentioned anywhere in the film credits either. The story, written without a cohesive structure by David Campbell Wilson, revolves around the search and rescue patrol of a medical ship and its six-member crew in the 22nd century. When their vessel, the Nightingale 229, answers an emergency distress signal from an abandoned mining colony on a rogue moon in a distant galaxy, the crew soon finds itself in danger from the mysteriously charismatic young man, Peter Facinelli, whom they rescue, the alien artifact he smuggled aboard, and the gravitational pull of a giant, imploding star about to go supernova, creating the most massive explosion in the universe. Robert Forster is the Captain of the deep-space ambulance but he's killed off quickly, allowing James Spader, his First Officer, to take the helm, along with Angela Bassett, as Chief Medical Officer. Robin Tunney, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Wilson Cruz complete the crew - along with their trusty computer named Sweetie. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, Supernova is a sputtering, pointless 3. Something went terribly wrong - and not in outer space. From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jan 19 19:12:56 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!hermes.visi.com!news-out.visi.com!newsfeed.enteract.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: "David N. Butterworth" Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Supernova (2000) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 17 Jan 2000 18:32:03 GMT Organization: None Lines: 81 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <85vn73$sg8$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer27.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 948133923 29192 (None) 140.142.17.40 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #22707 Keywords: author=butterworth X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer27.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:21890 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2572 SUPERNOVA A film review by David N. Butterworth Copyright 2000 David N. Butterworth ** (out of ****) In space, no one can hear you repeat yourself. That appears to be a guiding principle in Hollywood: look in any movie guide and you'll find literally hundreds of films cross-indexed under the categories "Alien Beings, Unfriendly" and "Space Operettas." Ridley Scott's "Alien," arguably the best of these, started a trend in 1979, but even *it* was based on a B-movie from the '50s called "It! The Terror from Beyond Space." Essentially, Hollywood has been telling the same old story over and over again. Next up is "Supernova," the latest science-fiction adventure to feature a ragtag band of space derelicts who answer a distress call and bring onboard some malevolent extra-terrestrial lifeforce that starts picnicking on them. I suppose there's a certain cathartic pleasure in witnessing one's fellow man being stalked and eaten by nasty aliens: rather them than us, eh? But why have so many of these recent movies assembled an intriguing cast and then made them nothing more than creature kibble? Whereas "Supernova" isn't much better than "Event Horizon" (a well-cast film from 1997 that got very silly very quickly), it didn't put me to sleep. Although the details leading up to the inevitable moment when the bad guy is forced into the airlock escape me, so perhaps it did. Aboard medical rescue vessel Nightingale 229, this week's intriguing cast of James Spader, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Robin Tunney ("End of Days"), Wilson Cruz, and Lou Diamond Phillips (remember him?) answers the obligatory distress call somewhere in the 22nd century. The distressee, it turns out, is not some freaky two-headed, one-eyed drooling monster thing, but an attractive male specimen called Troy Larson (Peter Facinelli). This proves to be fortunate because the crew in "Supernova" has been getting it on like nobody's business. I guess it's pretty boring out there in deep space, but this is a PG-13 rated movie after all, and there's a lot of coupling going on...at least until there's nobody left to couple with. In addition to bringing Troy onboard, the crew also discover an eerie lifeform on his shuttle that looks like a magenta-colored lava lamp. They only have an eleven-minute window to get the heck out of there after the Nightingale's crippled engines recharge since that star down there is about to go supernova, by the way. What raises "Supernova" a little--and I do mean a little--above the rest is its script by David Campbell Wilson, which is lightly peppered with clever dialogue, some of it throwaway biblical. Bassett, as the Nightingale's chief medical officer, is fascinating as always; her character is easily the most interesting, with the possible exception of the ship's breathy-voiced computer--did someone say Mother!? Spader ("Crash") gives a good accounting of himself, especially whenever he's around Bassett. Unfortunately, the menace in "Supernova" is strictly one-dimensional, even with that big bang threatening, and the special effects too run of the mill to make any serious headway. In addition, the film seems surprisingly short--when the end credits snuck up on me I was still anticipating a third act, or a twist, or both. I suspect this has something to do with the fact that "Supernova" was set to open Christmas of last year but some post-production tinkering kept the film out of theaters until now. Why would respected director Walter Hill be credited as Thomas Lee, for example? If the filmmakers weren't happy with "Supernova," then why on earth should we be? -- David N. Butterworth dnb@dca.net Got beef? Visit "La Movie Boeuf" online at http://members.dca.net/dnb