Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

Cortechba Overrated

Micransix Crappy film

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

McMurphy I really liked how it started: Quality filming, acting, and music. But then it got a little convoluted. The main actresses looked too much alike. And the dialogue referenced too many names of characters we couldn't possibly have known well enough to follow.As the stories unfolded, everything went downhill. Protagonists were written to do dubious things with insufficient justification for the audience. It seemed like the drama was being "set up," as opposed to organic and justified.Further actions taken by the characters were frustrating, and also didn't seem natural given the circumstances we'd been given (doing things that didn't make sense in the moment). Maybe if we had been given more background for the dubious and frustrating behavior, things would have felt more understandable and appropriate, but I don't think any amount of background could have been sufficient to justify all the weird actions and reactions by the characters.

defconmusic I watched both of these films "Not Cool" and "Hollidaysburg" because of The Chair documentary/ experiment on Starz.As far as talent goes, there's no question that both Anna Martemucci and Shane Dawson are very talented and IMO both deserve a real shot at making more feature films. It was obvious from the start that Anna had a much more mature attitude and vision for what she wanted her movie to be. That said I believe that Hollidaysburg definitely has heart and besides Anna's almost self destructive 2nd guessing and self doubt, She accomplished a great first time movie. IMO "Not cool" is not even in the same league as Hollidaysburg. Anna's focus was rom/com/drama and Shane's was comedy first story second.The only real mistake made on this movie was the female lead roles not being distinctive enough, and them coming off as lookalikes. At the start of the movie its hard to tell them apart until the story really gets going. The part of this that makes me angry is that this issue was brought to Anna's attention during pre-production and casting and it was ignored or passed over as not important. This could have easily been fixed through some more character development, or even easier a change of hair color or a more stylized wardrobe besides the infamous grey hoodie that kind of makes all the female leads look plain and unattractive. In the case of Heather (Claire Chapelli) I understand the plain depressed kind of look, it suits the Character, but maybe Tori could have been made to have a much darker or lighter hair color to really display their differences. Overall I thought the acting was great, Philip Quinaz's role as Phil was brilliant and added the perfect amount of levity to the parental situation of Scott and Phil's home life. Using Dad's recipe to make the perfect pumpkin pie was awesome! Tobin Mitnick as Scott was believable and the Chemistry between him and Tori (Rachel Keller) was well played. Tristan Erwin as Petroff was top notch and a great supporting role. The relationship between him and Heather was almost more real than Scott and Tori. I also enjoyed Anna's role in the movie as a welcomed understated addition to an already great cast.Shanes's role in his film was nothing but destructive to his film. He cast himself in a role that he had no business playing. Sorry, no one is gonna believe that Shane was ever the coolest and most popular kid in high school. He lacks all the essentials to pull that off just from his energy and looks. To be believable in that role he needed to rely solely on acting ability and really give off a different more masculine energy. That didn't happen on screen at all, and therefore made the chemistry between him and Tori unconvincing.The bottom line here is that For Anna's first real feature film she definitely pulled it off and made a good film. You ended up caring about the characters and what happens to them. You wonder where Tori and Scott will end up. You want to know if Heather continues to pursue Petroff. The comedy was well done and tasteful, the drama was evident, and the romance and chemistry between the characters was believable. Most importantly this film appealed to a much broader audience than Shane's Film. When people want to know about Anna Martemucci's work and look at this film, She is sure to get the opportunity to make more films.Shane won the actual competition because of personal appearances at his showings , that gave him more box office attendance and ticket sales because his fans showed up to see him in person at the theaters. Anna Martemucci made the better movie by far. If you have a choice on which movie to sit down and watch for 2 hours, watch Hollidaysburg so you won't walk away feeling like you just wasted time. For a first time director making her first feature film, Hollidaysburg is a great movie!

Jason Michael Powers Spoiled Rich kids who look like they never touched a drug in their lives sitting around getting high for no reason...all the time. The drug use in this film just did not fit the storyline that was happening. Its like they put it in just to appeal to a certain audience who would never go to see this kind of move to begin with. Plus most of the all WHITE female cast looked alike. In the beginning its confusing because you can not tell who is who. I am not a fan of Shane Dawson's version of this movie either. But this move was just as bad if not worse. I do not feel like I know these characters, I don't feel like I got to know who they were. Which means I could care less about what was going on with them. I liked the core idea of the film. That is why I gave it a 2.

PsychoMichael448 This was such a beautiful little film about going back home and learning to let go. After having seen the trailer I was definitely more excited for this film that Shane Dawson's Not Cool. They are both in competition On Starz' The chair to win a grand prize of $250,000. I have to say I hope this wins because it deserves it. The director has a real eye. The use of lighting and reflection is beautiful as is the framework of almost every shot. The actors are wonderful in their roles. Rachel Keller and Tobin Mitnik are charming and give very subtle performances. Very natural. The supporting characters are the same. As for the plot, have we seen it before?Yes.But what makes this familiar territory so fresh is the fact that its from someone new. This is Anna Mertemucci Directorial debut, and if this in any indication of whats to come she has a bright future. I know I'll be keeping an eye out for her.The film contains some language, sexual situations, and drug use.