Hollidaysburg

Watched this on Amazon Prime. A movie about college students going home for Thanksgiving and how their lives are changing. The basic scenario for this flick has been done 100 times before, but what makes this movie stand out are the well constructed characters that you can empathise with. Together with good actors, great direction and fine music this small budget Indie movie is a definite thumbs up.

I saw this movie years ago and every so often I can't stop thinking about it and need to watch immediately. It's not perfect or anything ground breaking but it's really heartwarming and fun to watch. I love the chemistry with the main 2 character and it's a good message about how it's okay to grow away from old friends. Love this movie and I recommend.

I want to give this a 6.5 but they don't allow decimal point ratings and im a tough grade so not willing to step up to a 7 . This film doesn't habe quite the budget or acting or writing talent of thr above listed films ..but it most definitely captures the essence of that coming of age phase in a young adults life when they are at a lifes crossroads...searching for something with meaning , despite not knowing what meaning that may be and only caring that somehow they find something that allows them to remember how to FEEL ...some of the comedy is forced but the relationship dynamics and events are very real and close to home fkr anyone whos ever been in that place...there is a striking resemblance to Garden State here and I only wanted to post for those of you who adored that movie as I did this is a nice low budget way to scratch the surface of connecting to another group of characters in a way we haven't been able to do to too often since Garden state was released. And in fairness this is virtually a first or second run for most of this cast and in that regard they held their own absolutely fine and there is a clear light at the end of the tunnel for what looks to be several promising young careers ...if you're looking for something light and refreshing with ever so slightly slivers of introspection being offered give this one a shot ...

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.

My wife and I stumbled across "The Chair" docuseries on Tubi, and- as I'm a filmmaker, found it very interesting. I thought the concept of the show was interesting but was infuriated by the final episode in which this film was not deemed the better one.

"Hollidaysburg" is, at least at the time of my writing this, available for free on Amazon Prime. I watched the film with my wife, honestly not expecting much. But it was good. Like really good. There is no indication that this was made by a young, inexperienced crew or a first time director. My only comments were a few strange cuts made to the final edit, but otherwise it was a flawless film. I loved the characters, the story, the humor- all seemed realistic and relatable. I think it's crazy that Anna, Victor and Philip didn't get a writing credit on this! I can't imagine, especially having watched the series, that this- at all resembles the original script from Drew. Aside from character names and motivations, probably.

Having seen a bit of how the sausage is made, it probably skewed my opinion a little, but all the jokes landed, all the beats were there and I felt for all the characters. It was, in the truest sense of the word- a "good" film. It was full of heart and laughs and felt like probably the truest coming-of-age story I've ever seen. We really enjoyed it and I would recommend this to everyone we know.

Congrats Anna and crew for making a much better film than Shane's crapfest. I never had more respect for Zacahry Quinto than when he walked away from the other film via principle. (You gotta watch "The Chair" on Starz or Tubi).