The Adventures of Mark Twain

The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985) – This Twain retrospective/primer features fantastic clay work, and it feels true to his spirit in many ways, but it’s got a weird meta thing going on, and while the almost Quay-ian “Mysterious Stranger” segment is a true highlight, much of the rest of the film may be too juvenile and slow for many viewers, even as it touches on dark and complex themes. 6

Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 (2013) – The rather obvious plot turns on a mind-bogglingly stupid decision, and there are various other brain-damaged aspects to the script (e.g., Tony has to see missiles coming toward his house on the news?), but even with the faithful-angering twist and pedestrian final act, it’s a pretty entertaining film throughout, which is due in large part to Downey himself; there’s not much actual Iron Man in this overlong film, but with cold-blooded assassin Tony Stark killing just about everybody, who needs him? 6

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead (1936) – Never remotely certain what it wants to be, this film runs a peculiar gamut of genres in its short running time, going from gangster to bizarro Frankenstein to warm-fuzzy psychotherapy to proto-Ghost Rider supernatural fantasy; it raises some issues of philosophical interest, but only addresses them superficially. 5

Frankenstein 1970

Frankenstein 1970 (1958) – Karloff’s effort and some good atmosphere can’t carry this pointless film, which is simultaneously boring, over-the-top, and cliched, with horrendously expository dialogue, idiot characters, and the body-part disposal toilet. 4

The Eagle

The Eagle (2011) – It’s a fine-looking period with a nice soundtrack, but with a bare-bones story and underdeveloped characters and themes, it doesn’t have a lot of steam behind it; all the nauseating shaky-cam action in the world can’t disguise the embarrassingly incompetent military tactics written into the first half-hour. 5   

Dark Passage

Dark Passage (1947) – The first person perspective is used to interesting effect and Bacall does good work in this piece of noir that, while it holds the interest, relies on a cavalcade of convenient coincidences to make it go and paints itself plot-wise into a corner in which resides an underwhelming finale. 6