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While there are several classic films dedicated to the Halloween and Christmas holidays, those set during Thanksgiving are few and far between. Enter Jordan Weiss’ and Dan Brier’s Sweethearts starring Kiernan Shipka and Nico Hiraga, a hilarious holiday rom com that arrived on Max Nov. 28.

The film follows Jamie (Shipka) and Ben (Hiraga) as they realize, in their first semester of college, that they need to break up with their high school sweethearts Simon (Charlie Hall) and Claire (Ava DeMary) respectively because the relationships are holding them back. Their best friend Palmer (Caleb Hearon) offers to host a small soiré the night before Thanksgiving where they plan to break the news, but chaos ensues as a night of parties, absinthe, drugs and more combine to create a perfect storm of events.

Find the full Sweethearts soundtrack below:

“I Wanna Dance With You” by Royel Otis “To The Letter” by...

“Sweethearts” does not disappoint in delivering college nostalgia and a party playlist to match.

Jordan Weiss, creator of “Dollface,” made her directorial debut with the Max original rom-com and said that her collaboration with co-writer Dan Brier mirrored the relationship between on-screen best friends, Jamie (Kiernan Shipka) and Ben (Nico Hiraga).

“There’s so many benefits to Dan [Brier], and I’s real life, male-female perspectives,” director and executive producer Jordan Weiss told TheWrap. “I love that our soundtrack had a mix of Tyler, The Creator and Carly Rae [Jepsen]. We both brought our own music tastes, and I think it helps it appeal to a broader audience.”

“The DNA is very mixed,” Dan Brier added.

The film follows two college freshmen, who make a pact to break up with their high school sweethearts over Thanksgiving break. Their breakup plot does not quite go to plan, leading them on a chaotic night...

Warning: This article includes Major Spoilers for Max's Sweethearts!

Max’s Sweethearts is packed with upbeat songs that help shape the pacing and tone of the movie. While Christmas and New Years Eve-themed rom-coms are abundant, Thanksgiving-themed films aren’t a staple of the genre, setting apart the HBO Max original movie Sweethearts. The show follows Jamie and Ben, a pair of best friends who make a pact to break up with their high school sweethearts on Drunksgiving – the day before Thanksgiving, where all the high schoolers party and drink. However, their plan doesn’t go as smoothly as they hoped, taking the pair all across a rural Ohio city.

The Keirnan Shipka movie might have a divisive ending, with the lead couple not getting together, but it’s still a fantastic movie that keeps the audience's attention. The story includes laugh-out-loud moments and likable moments that are held together with an A+ soundtrack.

Nick Gravenites, a Chicago blues musician who relocated to San Francisco in the 1960s and played an important role in that city’s burgeoning rock scene, died Wednesday, September 18, after many months of failing health. He was 86.

His death was announced by family on his Facebook page. Details about cause or place of death were not disclosed, with the post noting that details will follow as they arrive. “The Gravenites family appreciates all of the fans and loved ones who have been there for us during this time,” the Facebook note states.

A GoFundMe page to defray medical costs for Gravenites was set up last April, in part by longtime friend and colleague Barry Melton of Country Joe and the Fish.

Gravenites was born on October 2, 1938, in Chicago, and by the mid-1950s immersed himself in the city’s blues scene, forming, as his website bio puts it, a “coterie...

Danny Kalb, who led the downtown blues scene in New York during the 1960s and 1970s as a guitarist with his band the Blues Project, died Saturday at a nursing home in Brooklyn where he lived. He was 80. His death was confirmed by his brother, Jonathan.

The Blues Project was never a big name nationally, but worked steadily in various incarnations into the 21st century. Its mix of blue standards was augmented by folk, pop, soul and jazz along the way.

Kalb lent his vocals to the blues songs, and his groups were respected by musicians on the scene for their penchant to experiment with new forms.

Daniel Ira Kalb was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Mount Vernon, N.Y. He attended the University of Wisconsin and met Bob Dylan, who was passing through on his way to New York.

“Dylan crashed with me for a few weeks...

Jan. 23

7:30 p.m.

Museum of the Moving Image

35 Avenue at 37 Street

Astoria, NY 11106

Hosted by: Academy Film Archive

Mark Toscano, a preservationist at the Academy Film Archive, presents an evening of restored masterworks and rarities as part of the Museum of the Moving Image’s Avant-Garde Masters series.

After being closed for three years, Momi has recently reopened with a $67 million renovation that features a brand new 267-seat theater and a 68-seat screening room.

The films of this particular screening have been chosen by Toscano based on an inspiration from Keewatin Dewdney’s 1967 film The Maltese Cross Movement, which is included in the lineup. Dewdney’s film and the others “playfully explore many elemental and metaphorical aspects of celluloid cinema.”

A couple other highlights in the lineup, which is listed in full below, include an early experimental film by indie screenwriting expert J.J. Murphy, Sky Blue Water Light Sign,...