Gill Holland Movies

Love is in the air thanks to a magic potion whipped up by an imaginative student in this playful independent comedy with music. Timothy (Tanner Cohen) is a bright young man who is attending an upscale private high school, Morgan Hill, thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of his mother (Judy McLane). Timothy is also gay and doesn't care who knows it, which doesn't make him popular with his classmates; his closest friends, a girl nicknamed Frankie (Zelda Williams) and her boyfriend, Max (Ricky Goldman), attend another school. Timothy has a serious crush on Jonathon (Nathaniel David Becker), but Jonathon isn't interested in boys, to Timothy's chagrin. Timothy is cast as Puck in the school's spring musical, a musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and inspired by his character's machinations, Timothy tries to recreate the love potion used in the play. Miraculously, Timothy arrives at a formula that actually works, and after accidentally dousing Max and having to fend off his advances, Timothy sprays Jonathan with the concoction and soon has the boy of his dreams. However, before long Timothy's magic potion gets loose, and things get very lively on campus, among both the students and the teachers. Were the World Mine was the first feature film from director Tom Gustafson, and won the Audience Award at the 2008 Torino International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Born in a Long Island suburb in 1944, James Slattery immediately felt drawn to the feminine side of life - to such a degree that he established himself as one of the most iconic of all female impersonators, Candy Darling. As given life by Slattery, this young, sexy and alluring blonde actress single-handedly overtook Manhattan. She attained her greatest recognition for her portrayals in two Paul Morrissey-directed films: Flesh (1968) and Women in Revolt (1971) (both produced by Andy Warhol). Mainstream stardom soon beckoned to Darling, but aside from bit appearances in such productions as Klute (1971) - and playwright Tennessee Williams's decision to cast her in a production of his Small Craft Warnings - she continued to suffer from marginalization. Internally, if Daling suffered from an intense and bitter loneliness that propelled her into a life-long search for love, she also wielded boundless courage - the same courage that enabled her to transform herself from a Long Island-bred young man into a Manhattan glamour goddess. Tragically, she died of lymphoma at age 29, soon after attaining stardom. James Rasin's documentary Beautiful Darling pays unfettered tribute to Darling's all-too-brief life and career, with a combination of current and vintage interview material, rarely-seen archival photos and footage, and extracts from Darling's movies. Resin weaves much of the material around the theme of fidelity to one's true self and deepest convictions, as exemplified by Darling. Morrissey executive-produced. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Irena Salina directs this feature-length documentary about the industry and consumption of humankind's most precious resource: water. As African villages survive on potentially toxic water supplies out of sheer necessity, Salina explores how the corporate structure has come to control humanity's water supply, creating a dire situation that experts have come to refer to as the World Water Crisis. With issues of pollution, politics, and human rights all coming to a head with the issue, Salina points the finger at the specific corporate and governmental figures responsible for the crisis, and takes a look at how grassroots organizations work to fight the increasing privatization of water, hoping to end the imbalance in access to the precious resource that has already had mortal consequences for so many. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

A petty criminal's attempt to turn his life around takes both him and a young boy on an unexpected journey in this independent drama. Twentysomething Daniel Carter (Mark Webber) has been in trouble with the law ever since he was a kid, and his latest misadventure has led him to performing community service at a grade school in the East Village. Daniel strikes up a close friendship with one of the students he's working with, Boone (Antonio Ortiz), an eight-year-old who has shown surprising resilience despite a blighted home environment. When Boone doesn't show up for school one day, Daniel asks some questions and learns his mother has become seriously ill and a foster family has taken him in. Boone is eventually put up for adoption, and Daniel hopes to gain custody of the boy, convinced helping the boy will give him a chance to turn his life around. However, his age and criminal record make Daniel an unfit father in the eyes of the court, and when Daniel's father refuses to help, he has a brainstorm -- Boone has mentioned that he has an older sister in Dallas, so Daniel snatches the boy from his foster parents and hits the road for Texas, planning to reunite Boone with his family. Just Like the Son received its world premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A working vacation takes two former lovers into a strange and dangerous place in this offbeat independent thriller. Margaret (Catherine Kellner) is a photographer who has landed an assignment with the federal government to document toxic waste sights along the U.S.-Canadian border. With a long drive ahead of her, Margaret decides she'd like some company, so she asks her former boyfriend Jay (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who doesn't have much else to do, to tag along. Any hopes Jay held for a reconciliation are dashed when Margaret reveals she's engaged to be married, but that soon proves to be the least of his worries. After driving for a few hours, Jay and Margaret keep getting lost and seem to be going in circles, but no matter how far they drive, their gas gauge never changes. As the landscape becomes more puzzling, so do the people they encounter, who seem at once emotionally distant and menacing. But where have argaret and Jay ended up -- and is there any way they can get out? Road was the first feature film from writer and director Leslie McCleave. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Ishai Setton's comedy drama The Big Bad Swim concerns the people who sign up to attend a beginner adult swim class. Some of the people involved in the class include Amy (Paget Brewster), whose marriage is on the rocks; Jordan (Jess Weixler), a stripper; and the teacher Noah (Jeff Branson), who eventually experiences romantic sparks with Amy. Another subplot involves a documentary film being made about Jordan. The Big Bad Swim had its world premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A European exile finds herself a stranger in a strange land when she comes to the United States in this independent romantic comedy-drama. As a man ponders what to do with his family's estate after the death of his grandmother, he thinks back to how she first came to America shortly after World War I. Olaf (Tim Guinee) is a Norwegian-American farmer looking for a wife to share his home on the Minnesota prairie, and with eligible women in short supply locally, he sends away for a mail-order bride. Inge Ottenberg (Elizabeth Reaser) soon arrives at Olaf's doorstep, but while she's pretty, smart, and amiable, he's taken aback to discover she's not Norwegian but German, which after several years of anti-German propaganda does not make her popular with her new neighbors. Inge isn't very good with English, making it even harder to keep her background a secret, and the local pastor, Rev. Sorrensen (John Heard), is so outraged at the presence of a presumed Hun he refuses to perform their wedding. But Inge struggles to make friends with her new neighbors, in particular Olaf's best friend, Frandsen (Alan Cumming), a gadget fancier whose wife, Brownie (Alex Kingston), is better with mechanical items than he is. In time, Inge's cheerful nature and love of music begin to make an impression on the community as she shares her favorite tunes on her ever-present gramophone. Sweet Land was the first feature film from writer and director Ali Selim. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The British erotic thriller Dot the I is the debut film of writer/director Matthew Parkhill. Carmen (Natalia Verbeke) is a young Spanish Flamenco dancer engaged to the wealthy Barnaby (James D'Arcy). Right before their wedding, she meets Brazilian actor Kit (Gael García Bernal). Following their passionate encounter, the secret lovers attempt to cover up their betrayal. Also starring Tom Hardy and Charlie Cox. Dot the I premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

In the late '30s, mandolin player and bandleader Bill Monroe had the idea of merging the lonesome sound of classic Appalachian string bands with the speed and melodic force of the blues. As Monroe put together a band that could play the new sound he heard in his head, a new musical style called bluegrass was born, and with the dawning of the 21st Century, the sound Monroe pioneered was not only alive and well, but gaining a whole new generation of fans, thanks to the success of the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Bluegrass Journey is a documentary which offers a look at the history of bluegrass as well as a glimpse of its current stars as they perform for fans and jam with fellow greats. The film includes interviews and performances from the Del McCoury Band, Nickel Creek, Jerry Douglas, Tom O'Brien, Tony Rice, and many more. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

At first glance, ABC's weekly, hour-long The Mole wasn't all that different from the many other reality shows of the era (the series debuted January 9, 2001). A group of ten diverse individuals were whisked off to various exotic locales in the U.S. and Europe, where they competed in physical and mental challenges, ranging from bungee jumping to trivia quizzes. On each episode, one of the contestants was eliminated (or, as it was defined on this series, "executed") until only one was left to collect a grand prize of up to one million dollars. The main difference here was that one of the contestants was a "mole," planted by the producers to undermine and sabotage the other players, escaping detection and exposure all the while. At the end of each episode, the remaining players took a quiz on what they thought were the "facts" about the mole, whose identity remained unknown throughout the competition; those who scored lowest were removed from the show. Three players remained on the last episode of each season, and by the rules of logic one of these had to be the mole. The "legitimate" player who correctly guessed the mole's identity won the grand prize -- which, if the mole had done his or her job well in the past episodes, had been considerably reduced from the original one million dollars via bribes and other financial giveaways.

Hosted during its first two seasons by future CNN news commentator Anderson Cooper, The Mole began its run with a contest involving ten players. Once this was over with and the winner collected 510,000 dollars, the series returned in the fall of 2001 for The Mole II: The Next Betrayal -- which went on hiatus after three episodes, due to a combination of bad ratings and the viewers' collective grief in the wake of 9/11. The Next Betrayal returned in May of 2002 to complete the game, with the winner earning 636,000 dollars. Season three was launched in January of 2003 as Celebrity Mole: Hawaii. Per its title, the contestants -- whittled down from ten to seven -- were all prominent media personalities, including actors Stephen Baldwin, Corbin Bernsen, Erik von Detten, Michael Boatman, and Kim Coles, comedienne Kathy Griffin, and supermodel Frederique. Ahmad Rashad took over as host for this and the series' subsequent season, titled Celebrity Mole: Yucatan, which was launched in January of 2004. Stephen Baldwin and Corbin Bernsen returned to the game, competing against the likes of Dennis Rodman, Angie Everhart, Mark Curry, Tracey Gold, Keshia Knight-Pulliam, and Ananda Lewis. The Mole was based on an Australian series of the same name, which debuted February 21, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Playwright and character actor Tom Gilroy made his feature directorial debut with this dialogue-driven character study set against the backdrop of the changing seasons. Liev Schreiber plays Paul, a short-fused ex-con who finds unlikely comfort, stability, and camaraderie when he takes an odd job in park maintenance. On his first day, he's teamed with Murph (Ned Beatty), a groundskeeping veteran who manages to defuse an outburst between Paul and their snide supervisor (Campbell Scott). Paul sticks with the job, and, as the months pass, he and Murph work their way through events both mundane and monumental, all the while sharing their hopes, regrets, and ambitions. Shot in sequence over a one-year period, Spring Forward received a third-place mention for best first feature at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide