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Reviews
Hollidaysburg (2014)
Hollidaysburg = Winner in every way for first time director!
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!
Not Cool (2014)
Not Cool hits the mark on Dawson demographic of 12-16 y.o girls
First let me say this, I had no idea who Shane Dawson was prior to watching The Chair on Starz. I very much enjoyed the entire series and watching how these films actually come together and get made. I respect Shane Dawson and the fact that he stayed true to his goal of targeting a certain demographic and making no apologies about making a movie for his target fans. This "vision" he had for this movie and his target audience both helped and hurt him. It held him back in the holly wood aspect, but helped him in the actual theaters because his fans showed up for him (only when he was actually making a personal appearance),and helped him win the grand prize. Lets be clear, I've seen both movies, and Hollidaysburg is definitely the better movie in every way. Hollidaysburg has mass appeal where as Shanes movie will have a much more difficult time finding an audience that likes it outside the 12-17 y.o girl demographic.
The first mistake of this movie (which sinks it from jump street) is the total miscasting of the Lead Character. Shane decided he would be the lead for this movie and play a character that's suppose to have been the really cool popular guy in his high school. Prom King and all around ladies man that every girl had a crush on. REALLY? This was a HUGE ego driven mistake that really affected the movie. Shane is in no way believable as the "cool guy". He's not good looking or masculine enough, he certainly doesn't have the voice or the style to pull this off ,and his energy is just kind of feminine IMO. The whole cutting the hair storyline only works if your hair is cool to begin with. I guess in the teen world a red haired Beiber cut is cool? So Because Shane's role as the cool guy is in no way convincing it takes away from the Chemistry between him and the female Lead(Cherami Leigh) Tori. This makes the main storyline between Scott and Tori not very believable from jump street.
The second miscasting is Drew Monson as Joel. Although I believe Drew is immensely talented as an actor he's in no way right for this role. He's supposed to be the guy that went away to college and became a kind of a pimp with lots of action from the women in college. He comes back to the burg and wants to land his high school crush Janie(Michelle Veintimilla) as his girl.The problem again lies in the fact that Joel (Drew Monson) has very little if any Masculine energy AT ALL. Maybe its just me, but from his energy and presence I find it hard to believe that Joel (Drew Monson)is not gay. He's putting his hair behind his ear with two fingers every ten seconds in the movie, and his hanging hand gestures just read feminine/gay all day long. So even though the interactions between Joel and Janie are hilarious at times , its just not believable because of the Chemistry, or lack of.
Cherami Leigh as Tori is brilliant, as are the rest of the cast in the female roles.Lisa Schwartz's role as Tori's blind sister Marissa was AWESOME. She really brought her A game to her role and I was left wanting more from her and Tori's interactions. As for the humor in the movie and all the talk about offensive material and politically incorrect , blah blah blah. The humor is no more offensive then any other film with this type of humor. Its blatant in your face over the top slapstick comedy with stereotypes and politically incorrect overly sexual information technology driven satire. This kind of humor resonates with today's youth and even managed to get a few chuckles out of me.
The bottom line is this, If it not for the miscasting of the main characters Shane actually could have this movie much better. His off the wall you tube characters were pretty funny and the actual storyline or plot of the movie were not bad. Its the execution that came out bad. Wrong casting, not enough character development between Scott and Tori. We get no real vested insight into to Scott's Psyche besides the fact that you GET NO idea who Scott's original girlfriend is that broke up with him at the start of the movie. Why would "The most popular cool guy in high school" have ever wanted to be with a total psycho dumb over top type chick. Remember that the premise here is that Scott is supposed to be hurt from the breakup and Discovers Tori by accident Literally. The comparisons to 16 candles and other teen comedies that were hugely popular really don't have any place here. Those movies were cast perfectly and all had a very clear and defined storyline with really great character development that helped you buy in. NOT-COOL has none of that going for it with exception to some of the less important female roles.
Shane stuck to his vision and demographic, and came out with a seriously flawed movie that only appeals to his core fans. Although talented He missed a real opportunity to gain some mass appeal and make a teen comedy that could have gained him some real recognition as a filmmaker who is serious about telling stories to a broad audience.