You should watch both movies in their entirety before you come to a conclusion about which one is better. You can't judge from bits and pieces. Both films have their merits, and both have their (big) flaws.
The biggest flaw for Hollisdaysburg is that the two female leads look the SAME, so it is very difficult to keep the story straight and to know what is going on. Bad casting. I will say, the humor in this one is a mile better than in Not Cool. I hate gross out humor, it caters to the lowest common denominator. I laughed a few times in Hollidaysburg, and I don't think once in Not Cool.
Shane's style is okay for youtube, but to squander an opportunity to make a film like he did is just... sad. He totally missed the chance to show off his directing chops by making an intelligent film.
With that said, I'd probably pick Shane's movie to watch again, if I had to. The main female character is memorable in Not Cool, and the story flows better. I can barely tell you what Hollidaysburg was about, and I just watched it. It was fairly boring, it ended way too abruptly, and there was almost no backstory on the characters. I knew nothing about them by the time the film was over.
The flaws of each movie make it really hard for me to decide which one I would want to win. Not Cool is, like you said, a piece of cinematic garbage, but it flows, the editing is better, and the female lead is actually memorable. If the editing and flow for Hollidaysburg was better, it would be the clear winner, by a mile. But the fact that many, many people have stated that they couldn't tell Tori and Heather apart (which makes the film very hard to follow and keep straight) is too big of a flaw to overlook. It makes the film almost unwatchable.
I think Anna has more potential than Shane, so I'd probably pick her as the winner. I say thins because Shane is 26 years old, and his comedy hasn't evolved since he got his start on youtube. In fact, it's probably devolved. He doesn't realize that what works on youtube doesn't work for a feature film. He made this movie to cater to his current audience, which was colossal mistake. He should be trying to expand his audience base, but this movie will fail at that. I can't imagine anyone outside of his current fan base liking it. This was his chance to make a good, smart comedy. Ugh, I'm so disappointed with it. He needs to mature before he attempts another movie. He shows a tad of promise in directing and editing, but his sense of humor sucks.
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Gabe1972
9 years ago
You are right, I can't really make a fully informed decision without seeing all of the film, but what I saw was enough for me to know that I didn't want to see anymore, and it was enough to give me a taste of his style.
I also agree that Hollidaysburg could have used some improvement, especially with editing and the flow of the story, but I didn't really have too much of a problem telling the two female leads apart. I can see how people could, though. I've had that problem with other films, though.
In the end, like you say, I think Anna has more potential, as Shane seems to be stuck in Youtubesville and wasted a great opportunity. Or, perhaps he didn't, and this was a true indicator of his talent when it comes to the big screen, or straight to DVD, for that matter. That's not to say that he couldn't find more ways to prosper with what he is known for. Perhaps some day he will learn and do better with another opportunity, but I'm not so sure.
I think that Anna has something to say, and with practice, she will get better at saying whatever it is.
The Paul Thomas Anderson or Darren Aronofsky of comedy they are not, nor do I think they will ever be, but at least one may have a future.
The plural of mouse is mice. The plural of goose is geese. Why is the plural of moose not meese?
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