The Avengers: Age of Ultron - 5/10 - The plot's a mess, the action overdone and repetitive - two-and-a-half hours of meaningless noise. Even the banter, Joss Whedon's trump card, fell flat here: most of the good lines went to James Spader as the title villain, rather than our heroes. Throw in useless subplots, unnecessary new characters and a superfluous romance between two of the leads, and you've got a bland studio product. I think The Avengers have reached their saturation point but don't worry, there's a decade's worth of sequels and spin-offs to go!
OK, maybe the "9" was a bit generous. But an "8" for sure. I guess I was just excited by the TT transfer, which makes the film look as good as ever without introducing an alternate color scheme, artificially sharpening details, turning everyone's complexion red. And, when I was defending the film to stanton I mentioned 4 explosions--but in fact, there are 6! And there's an incredibly nice bit with a car overturning--and disintegrating--down a slope. And this film has truly one of the greatest endings in cinema history.
I didn't like the first one so there's no reason for me to bother with this.
Raw Deal (1986) - 3/10It is remarkably amateurish all around and dull as well, especially for a flick that's not supposed to be art anyway. It possesses no redeeming qualities what so ever; except - I think it should be shown to movie students as a prime example of what bad scripting, directing and editing (and acting) look like when mashed together. No wonder it was never shown on TV over here.P.S. I thought Sam Wanamaker was actually Robert Loggia for 3/4 of the movie.
I read Keel's book in high school, it's something else whether or not you believe the stories. Reviews scared me away from the movie.
Crime et châtiment / Crime and Punishment (1956) 1080p - 7/10. Dostoevsky updated to 1950s France. It works well--until it doesn't. The big trouble is all the talking. Dostoevsky was, in the estimation of some, a frustrated playwright who novelized dramatic set pieces. Needless to say, this is death to cinema. Still, there are things to like in this film, especially the performances of Robert Hossein, Bernard Blier, Jean Gabin. The ending, though, is hopeless. Wrenched from its original context, it is mawkish and unconvincing. The filmmakers needed to be less faithful to their source and find a way to be true in spirit to the book without slavishly following what was written on the page.
I've only seen the 1935 version – with Peter Lorre as Raskolnikov and Edward Arnold as the Inspector; directed by Josef von Sternberg – and I liked it very much.