Musical time travel, nocturnal serial killers, and mutant spiders. Speaking of time travel, the War Between the States, again? Here is what our critics reviewed this week!
The Greatest Hits
A TBI and vinyl make for a physical trip down Memory Lane
MontiLee Stormer – Movie Reelist
For a 94-minute film about putting one’s life on hold for the memory of another, it manages to condense a lot of pathos into dense but chewable chunks. The ethics of the film are clear – if Harriet can travel through time to correct the guilt she can’t get past, how does everyone else’s future fall into place? Can you miss what you never had? If it was meant to be, will it happen no matter what? The Greatest Hits wants you to take a peek and answer those questions for yourself, even if it’s a romance dramedy.
Movie Review – ‘Greatest Hits’ is grief and guilt with a sprinkling of time travel
Becky Fixel – Week 99er
The Greatest Hits could easily have been just a fluff movie set up like a rom-com. Thankfully, it isn’t that. Yes, there are love stories throughout the story, but it focuses more on the loss and the sacrifices that can be made for the ones you love. It examines what could happen if paths change, or if you make a different choice. It’s gutting at times, and it doesn’t hold back the pain of loss and desperation to change circumstances that are out of your control. It’s the “what if I did this instead” come to the screen, and it’s a relatable feeling for everyone at one point in our lives or another.
The Greatest Hits – Love, Memories and a Twist
Mark Eaton – Movie Reelist
Boynton brilliantly portrays what it is like attempting to survive each day when still so overcome with grief. Her ability to connect so personally with both love interests in the story is a testament to her acting ability. And Boynton’s love of music is apparent after previous roles in music-based films like Sing Street and Bohemian Rhapsody.
Movie Review – ‘The Greatest Hits’ strikes the right note
Civil War
In a dystopian future America, a team of military-embedded journalists races against time to reach Washington, D.C., before rebel factions descend upon the White House.
Chris Williams – Chrisicisms
And if that’s not the story Garland wants to tell, that’s his prerogative. The problem is that he doesn’t seem to know what story he’s interested in, and his refusal to properly build the world or give depth to his characters means Civil War is largely two hours of provocative imagery and abandoned ideas.
Review: Civil War
Carl Wheeler – The Reel Godfather
However, the promise of a deeper exploration of this fractured America fizzles out. The film spends more time on action sequences, which while competently shot, feel repetitive and ultimately detract from the film’s central themes. The human cost of war is relegated to brief moments of shock value, failing to resonate on a deeper level.
Time for a Reel CIVIL WAR review
Sting
Charlotte is a rebellious 12-year-old girl who finds a tiny spider in her rundown apartment building. She keeps it in a jar, but it soon starts to grow at a monstrous rate and develop an insatiable appetite for blood. As her neighbors begin to disappear, Charlotte and her family find themselves in a desperate fight for their lives against a ravenous arachnid with a taste for human flesh.
MontiLee Stormer – Movie Reelist
Sting starts as a story of the working poor living in a death trap and evolves into a killer monster movie where the death trap is the least of their worries. Sometimes not all of the edges meet, and the logic is wildly uneven, but for a monster movie with exactly one giant spider, you’re not paying super close attention, saying of course you don’t tap out during the opening credits
Movie Review – ‘Sting’ brings the crawlies
Carl Wheeler – The Reel Godfather
Now, as a horror fan, I can appreciate well-crafted creature effects. The special effects in Sting are undeniably impressive, making this eight-legged beast sickeningly realistic. But it’s a double-edged sword for me. On one hand, I applaud the artistry. On the other, I want to curl up and never uncurl again.
Time for a Reel STING review
LaRoy, TX
Broke and depressed, Ray (John Magaro) is mistaken for a dangerous hitman and given an envelope of cash. Along with his P.I. friend Skip (Steve Zahn), he must escape the actual hitman to make it out of LaRoy alive.
MontiLee Stormer – Movie Reelist
LaRoy, Texas isn’t exactly a buddy film. It’s an ensemble cast that comes together in twos and threes never crowding the screen or overwhelming the story. It doesn’t rely on overt humor, but the subtle absurdity from everyday incompetence. It’s a movie to come away from feeling like you might could watch it again when recommending it, and you should. The second time is even better
Movie Review – ‘LaRoy, Texas’ is subtle absurdity with small-town mayhem
Night shift
While working her first night shift at a remote motel, a woman begins to suspect that the property is haunted.
MontiLee Stormer – Movie Reelist
Night Shift doesn’t care if you figure out the who or the why because it’s about the journey, from the layers of dust in #13, to the nostalgia of ancient, if clean bedding, to the quirks of the characters who haunt the grounds. There’s the wary Gwen who knows she’s in a horror movie, the transient Alice running away from her problems, and the supernatural presence that lingers in the periphery, terrifying and deliberate. The humor is casual and delightfully awkward, which makes the jumps and screams authentic. Night Shift is giving Identity (2003) and Vacancy (2007), keeping the dread constant, even as you’re laughing off the absurdity of Yogi the Stuffed Bear or side-eyeing the gurgling sinkhole in the abandoned pool.
Movie Review – ‘Night Shift’ carves new life into tired tropes
