Shannon Holt Movies
A teenage girl sets out in search of her missing best friend, a mischief-making flirt who had been recklessly meeting men online, in this {\thriller| featuring Twilight star Anna Kendrick. Sarah (Kendrick) is a straight-A student and popular athlete, and Jillian (Tania Raymonde) is the girl with the reputation that every parent fears most. Yet despite their differences, Sarah and Jillian have been best friends for as far back as either can recall. Both girls long to escape their small town for something more exciting, though it's Jillian who acts first. Shortly after revealing to Sarah that she is searching for a man online to take her someplace new and exciting, Jillian vanishes without a trace. The only clues that Sarah has to her old friend's whereabouts are a journal, and a cryptic video message sent by Jillian just before she disappeared. Frustrated that the people in town would rather just pretend that Jillian never existed, Sarah enlists the aid of local computer whiz (who harbors a secret crush on her) to trace the origins of the mysterious message and unlock the mystery of her best friend's disappearance.
~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Kendrick, Tania Raymonde, (more)
Love Liza is a psychological drama about a man trying to come to terms with his wife's suicide. Wilson Joel (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) is searching for answers as to why his wife, Liza, killed herself. He is unable to bring himself to read the suicide note Liza left behind. Instead of facing his demons, Wilson becomes addicted to sniffing gasoline. Kathy Bates co-stars as Liza's mother. This film was written by the star's brother Gordy Hoffman, and directed by newcomer Todd Louiso. Love Liza was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kathy Bates, (more)
- 1998
Eric (Topher Grace) looks forward to a passionate evening with Donna (Laura Prepon) at the local drive-in movie (remember those?). Unfortunately, the hospitable Donna has invited Kelso (Ashton Kutcher) and Jackie (Mila Kunis) along for the night. And, in their only series appearance (thus far), Fez's host parents, the Erdmans (Kevin Farley, Shannon Holt), suspect that Fez (Wilmer Valderrama) is indulging in "devil music" (and never mind that he has disguised his Kiss album with a Pat Boone cover). Adding to the confusion, Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp) takes a quiz in Cosmo which culminates in a wild evening at a salad bar(!) with hubby Red (Kurtwood Smith). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
After Susan's friends scoff at George's suggestion of the name Soda for their unborn child, George becomes irate when he learns that the couple is considering naming the baby Seven, the name George plans on naming his child some day. Meanwhile, Elaine finds herself with a stiff neck after pulling a bicycle off the wall at a sporting goods store, Kramer begins keeping track of the things he borrows from Jerry, and Jerry notices that his new girlfriend appears to be wearing the same outfit every time he sees her. Ken Campbell and Shannon Holt guest star. Originally airing February 1, 1996, "The Seven" was the 13th episode of the show's seventh season. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
In the tradition of This Is Spinal Tap, producer/ director/ star Tim Robbins' Bob Roberts is a satire disguised as a documentary. Robbins plays the titular Roberts, a wealthy, well-connected young man running for a senatorial seat in Pennsylvania. On the surface, Roberts is an ingratiating glad-hander, a sincere believer in the restoration of such intangibles as national pride, family values, etc. But the longer Roberts is followed about by documentary filmmaker Brian Murray, the more we become aware that the candidate is a textbook case of cynicism and contempt. Only Giancarlo Esposito, a reporter for an underground newspaper, is willing to dig beneath Roberts' veneer--a habit that leads to the film's ironic conclusion. Several well-known actors make cameo appearances as TV commentators, notably Tim Robbins' longtime partner Susan Sarandon. Bob Roberts started out as a Tim Robbins-directed short subject for the TV series Saturday Night Live, then was expanded into a $4 million feature. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Robbins, Giancarlo Esposito, (more)
- 1991
- R
Charles Lane directed Andy Breckman's script, based on an old "Saturday Night Live" sketch of Breckman's that featured Eddie Murphy. Comic Lenny Henry takes Murphy's place in True Identity as a black man forced to don white face in order to save his life. Henry plays Miles Pope, an agreeable British actor whose luck sours when he finds out that businessman Leland Carver (Frank Langella) is actually a notorious underworld mobster. Carver now wants to rub Miles out and the only way that Miles can escape Carver's retribution is to disguise himself as a man named Frank LaMotta, the Italian-American killer that Carver has hired to kill him. During the story, Miles finds that he has to assume a variety of roles to keep from getting shot --a gay real estate agent, a British lord, James Brown's brother Val, and even Othello. But the biggest shock for Miles comes when he plays the white man and discovers that he is given preferential treatment --not only by whites, but also by blacks and Hispanics. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lenny Henry, Frank Langella, (more)
- 1989
Based on a true story, the two-part TV movie I Know My First Name Is Steven tells the tragic story of Steven Stayner. At age seven, Steven was kidnapped by two men who held him captive in a tiny shed for seven years. One of the men, a habitual child abuser named Kenneth Parnell, sexually assaulted Steven on an almost daily basis during the boy's ordeal. At age 14, Steven finally was able to escape and return to his family. But we are shown that Steven's safe return was far from the happy ending it appeared to be. He's forced to adjust to a family he'd never really known, to convince himself that his parents had never forgotten him, and to put his seven-year hell behind him. While I Know My First Name Is Steven ends on an upbeat note, the real Stayner died in a motorcycle accident only a few months after this film was first telecast in May 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Brain Dead was based on a script by Charles Beaumont, leading some obtuse fans to hail the "return" of that frequent Twilight Zone contributor. Actually Beaumont has been dead since 1967, so this cookie spent a long time in the oven. Stalwart supporting actor Bill Pullman is given star billing as a brilliant brain surgeon who agrees to perform an operation on a psychotic mathematician. This surgery, ostensibly, is to "adjust" the patient's attitude--and, incidentally, to unlock the corporate secrets secreted within the patient's brain. But as Pullman probes about, he begins experiencing first-hand the psycho's fevered, paranoic dreams. Pullman drifts farther and farther from reality, and the audience is implicitly invited to do the same. Bill Paxton also stars in this Roger Corman-style thriller, produced by Corman's daughter Julie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Pullman, Bill Paxton, (more)
