The Greatest Hits

a bittersweet movie 10/10

the love story I've watched just the best 👌

💕💕

Magandang pelikula!

Having watched this film and been pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it, I then did what I usually do and searched for others' reviews. Interesting to find some negativity but more so to find the positive reviews coming from the slightly older generation, as I am. I wonder why that is? The film deals a little with tragedy but with a little added sugar to sweeten the darkness. Every character is likeable and honest. I felt for Harriet's loss but also hoped for her future. I was pleasantly pulled along with the story and never lost interest, was never bored. The final moments may split the audience and have them drawing comparisons with other films. But for me, although not surprising, was the inevitable, perfect finish. I really liked it.

Two stars might seem generous after sitting through "The Greatest Hits," a film that attempts to blend the sweet nostalgia of classic tunes with the sci-fi twist of time travel, only to miss the mark on both counts. Harriet, our protagonist, finds that certain songs can zap her back to bygone moments with an old flame, a concept that initially sounds as charming as a mixtape from a high school sweetheart. However, this cinematic journey quickly devolves into a clunky mashup of "Back to the Future" and a broken jukebox that skips the best tracks. The movie tries to tug at the heartstrings with its sentimental trips to the past, but the nostalgia is as authentic as an '80s tribute band playing from a crumpled setlist. The real discord begins with the lack of chemistry among the cast. Harriet's adventures in time should add layers to her character, yet they flatten her into a two-dimensional figure less lively than a vinyl record's B-side. Her emotional tug-of-war between the past boyfriend and the new guy is as compelling as choosing between stale bread and slightly staler bread. The plot hopes to weave these relationships into a tapestry of learning and growth, but instead, it unravels faster than cheap headphones. Each flashback, meant to be a poignant peek into what once was, feels more like stumbling upon an awkward old Facebook photo that everyone forgot to untag. Moreover, the film's attempt to imbue depth through music-driven time travel ends up feeling like a gimmicky afterthought. Each musical cue that sends Harriet hurtling through time is predictably on-the-nose, with song choices so literal that they'd make even a karaoke DJ cringe. By the final act, one can't help but feel that the only thing this movie transports us back to is a time when we hadn't yet watched it. "The Greatest Hits" tries to hit high notes with its innovative premise but ends up stuck in a loop of missed opportunities and flat performances. In the end, the only thing I wanted to rewind was my decision to watch it.

As I get older, I find more movies, commercials, ad nauseum using the music of my youth to send a "message." When I was a child in the late 1960's and discovered music, I attached memories to that music. Now, for example, I have to turn off a diarrhea commercial when it uses a song from the 1970's. I really want to watch a hemorrhoid commercial that uses a "Taylor Swift" song instead of a classic rock, blues or R&B song. It is intellectual laziness on the part of advertisers, Hollywood, and the entire entertainment industry. My final example of what used to be entertainment is a great movie. I re-watched "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" the other night. There was an obscure actor named Bob Dylan in that movie. He wrote and sang most of the soundtrack. "Knocking on Heaven's Door", to me, is the scene where Slim Pickens is dying after being shot by Billy, not some car commercial from Peugeot. I would love to be around when this generation gets to watch a commercial for heartburn to the tune of Miley Cyrus...

Two stars might seem generous after sitting through "The Greatest Hits," a film that attempts to blend the sweet nostalgia of classic tunes with the sci-fi twist of time travel, only to miss the mark on both counts. Harriet, our protagonist, finds that certain songs can zap her back to bygone moments with an old flame, a concept that initially sounds as charming as a mixtape from a high school sweetheart. However, this cinematic journey quickly devolves into a clunky mashup of "Back to the Future" and a broken jukebox that skips the best tracks. The movie tries to tug at the heartstrings with its sentimental trips to the past, but the nostalgia is as authentic as an '80s tribute band playing from a crumpled setlist. The real discord begins with the lack of chemistry among the cast. Harriet's adventures in time should add layers to her character, yet they flatten her into a two-dimensional figure less lively than a vinyl record's B-side. Her emotional tug-of-war between the past boyfriend and the new guy is as compelling as choosing between stale bread and slightly staler bread. The plot hopes to weave these relationships into a tapestry of learning and growth, but instead, it unravels faster than cheap headphones. Each flashback, meant to be a poignant peek into what once was, feels more like stumbling upon an awkward old Facebook photo that everyone forgot to untag. Moreover, the film's attempt to imbue depth through music-driven time travel ends up feeling like a gimmicky afterthought. Each musical cue that sends Harriet hurtling through time is predictably on-the-nose, with song choices so literal that they'd make even a karaoke DJ cringe. By the final act, one can't help but feel that the only thing this movie transports us back to is a time when we hadn't yet watched it. "The Greatest Hits" tries to hit high notes with its innovative premise but ends up stuck in a loop of missed opportunities and flat performances. In the end, the only thing I wanted to rewind was my decision to watch it.

I had NOT YET seen this movie when I wrote this review, and you may think this CRAZY, but... Just the IMDB DESCRIPTION is something I have been trying to do!!! For years!!! ??? So I was in SHOCK seeing there is a FILM based around what I have been trying to DO... That means someone else ALSO had thought about it, as a possibility! What a... "surprise". (understatement) -- but yes... I put on songs that I KNOW I listened to in my room, in Africa... and lie down, hoping that when I open my eyes... I will be BACK there... (I am in Iceland, now) So, I am VERY interested in seeing this film! :-O -- Yes, yes... I know... Its "fantasy"... and "make bellieve"... etc. BUT there are just SO MANY THINGS I would CHANGE, if I could pop back to Africa. To TELL myself what to do, and what NOT to do. That would have helped. -- I will check out the fim as soon as I can... and add an "EDIT" to this "PRE-REVIEW". (This might even be an IMDB "first".) EDIT: wow... Its NOT like I imagined... and now I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but... In MY case, I was hoping I would just GO BACK and replace myself, in Africa, and a new life would start from there... changing stuff. (or I would see myself and afvise). They took a kind of "flashback" method. I just wanted to go back and live it, correcting mistakes... -- Ok, she does that too, in a way. Sometimes it felt a BIT on the "soppy sentimental" side... but it is a LOVE story!?! How can there NOT be "soppy" stuff... but it was all "tastefully" done, and that kinda saved it. I was more worried about the guy leaving his classic car OPEN... On the STREET... downtown... at NIGHT! We KNOW what riffraff crawl out of their dark holes, to do mischief. That KINDA got me "concerned". She also called "Max"... "David"... in the shop... I found it werid she didn't then say "DAVID" TO DAVID, when he walked right by her... ??? - I would have... Anyway. -- I am NOT going to lie, that there were no "soft eye" moments, for an audience member (me) on the journey though this film... ♥ ... and the MUSIC!!! OMG! So many GREAT covers... Cure... and I have always been a "Roxy" fan. You will know what I mean, if you see the film. -- However: To stay true to my rating system, I cannot give this more than a 7... but easily 7.6 * It was great. I liked it. Also the camera, absolutely STEADY, following the topless classic car, through the Los Angeles hills... Where I have ridden my motorcycle before. Beautiful. ♥ I regret nothing about seeing this film, and, in my opinion, the end WILL blow you away. ♥ Exquisite. I better stop, its making its way to an 8 !!! *phew* The MUSIC used in the film for memorable moments, took me back to the film "only lovers left alive" title/tt1714915/ although in a somewhat different way. -- I have now watched "Press Play"... another romantic time travelling film, and TO ME, the first part of that movie seemed "RUSHED"... When the lovebirds meet, its very clear they have no "chemistry", then they are rushed together, unconvincingly. In "Greatedt Hits" its a slower, more believable relationship that develops. Of the two, I find THIS movie better. I'd watch THIS again, not the other one. (I have no idea which came first, I'd have to check.)

Films that have records and romance seem to be made more frequently that 15 years ago. It must be the so called return of the records on vinyl, because romance was in existence before 1949 and also during the low point of vinyl sales between the mid nineties and late 00's. High Fidelity was deemed the tombstone, the last movie of the dying medium, that records and romance came hand in hand, but since there is a comeback of the medium, it could as well be the springboard for everything that followed. So here are the pros for this movie: the main idea is clever, there is romance, there is a very sweet and tender performance by Lucy Boynton, there is nice photography and nice set ups of listening rooms, record shop, library, clubs, etc. The music is good enough to carry some of the weight of the movie. The things that hold back this movie are the awkward dialogues, that do not convey the mixed feelings they were supposed to deliver, and feel a bit iffy. The dialogues are also responsible for the weird pacing, which feels either too slow, giving the same information in many ways, or too fast, making leaps in the relation that feel un-natural. The new developing romance changes gears all too often, when it started way too fast without any justification, or without giving efficient information to back it up. Then the ensuing conversations trying to remedy a situation / relationship that hasn't really begun, feels way too much and not justified, a bit forced, too. I don't know if it is a faulty script or bad editing, but there is something wrong there. And then I found it out while watching the film: a nice proof for her time travel, to anyone that asks, would be to name a specific public place and hide/bury an item there that would be found in the future, the second time they search. I knew this would be the solution, because it was the only reason he would be so negative to her experience, when he seemed so loving otherwise. It was carrying the plot in a most obvious way, shaking the balance all the while. The cast couldn't carry the weight of the uneven script, and the open but hasty ending tries to smooth the corners and solve the time travel paradoxes, but actually hardly saves the day and ties loose ends. And her sacrifice rang so many familiarity bells, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It will eventually come to me and probably you!