jefflrfe Reviews

The Quarantine Hauntings (2015)

Repetitive, derivative, and pointless...

[3/10 · 27 May 2016]

Another mindless teen "horror" flick, much of which consists of a group of decidedly non-interesting kids traversing some decidedly non-spooky terrain (despite having been shot in "the most haunted place in Australia") while tentatively calling out each other's names.

The home they spend much of their time in seems like some kind of bunker, but what's the point of constantly recording every inch of it on security cameras if none of the characters EVER looks at a monitor to notice the peculiar (though not particularly original) goings on?

Not helping matters is the the fact that lead "actress" Lauren Clark seems to be limited to two expressions; an admittedly dazzling smile, and a vacuous stare. It's impossible to become invested in the fate of any of the characters because they're all (sub)standard issue "horror teens."

Relying on jumpy camera work (and black contact lenses and too much eye shadow to identify the ghosts), the movie can't even whip up a veneer of suspense. Poorly written, shot, acted and edited, at 82 minutes it manages to overstay its welcome before it's half over.

Written and directed by Bianca Biasi and Arnold Perez, and produced by mistake.

'Til We Meet Again (1940)

George Brent was no William Powell...

[6/10 · 20 March 2016]

...and Goulding was no Tay Garnett. Though a pretty faithful remake, right down to McHugh reprising his original role, this has none of the style of the original.

Just compare the two opening sequences -- in Singapore in the original and Hong Kong in the remake. Garnet's camera work is fluid and interesting and draws the viewer in immediately. Goulding's is standard issue and lacking in any spark.

Oberon is admittedly beautiful, but Brent was always a stick of wood. Even with my low tolerance for Kay "Fwancis," I'll stick with ONE WAY PASSAGE, an altogether better and less padded version.

Critic's Choice (1963)

Cast makes it worth it...

[8/10 · 7 July 2013]

The decor alone is worth the price -- I want to live in Hope and Ball's apartment!

Maybe it's because I saw it at such a young age, but it's always been a favorite of mine. Good dialogue, great cast, and just a lot of fun. (Years later I worked with Soupy Sales and told him how much I'd liked his cameo as a desk clerk. He told me that he'd had no idea he was going to do the movie until he got a call from Hope the morning of the shoot asking him, "Wanna come out to Burbank today and do bit with me?")

And to those reviewers who complain that Hope's character "walks out" on the show he's reviewing at the top of the film, there were no such things then as "critic's previews." Nowadays critics attend a production during the final week or two of previews and write their reviews at leisure, to be published the day after the official opening night.

Back then, all the critics attended on opening night, and it was standard operating procedure to leave the theater in time to make it back to the paper to file the review before the deadline. It's not meant to imply that the character doesn't take his job seriously or is a "bad critic" as others have written. The only thing that's inaccurate about that part of the film is that in reality, ALL the other drama critics from ALL the other daily papers would have been "walking out" at the exact same moment to make the exact same deadline.