The Avengers (Season 5, Episode 10: Never Never Say Die): under-cooked plot fails its cast and ideas
Robert Day, “The Avengers (Season 5, Episode 10: Never, Never Say Die)” (1967) Now this is the episode that should have been the Return of the…
nausika
The Avengers (Season 5, Episode 23: Murdersville): good episode with suspense, tension and some horror
Robert Asher, “The Avengers (Season 5, Episode 23: Murdersville)” (1967) Major Paul Croft (Eric Flynn) has retired from the army and bought a mansion on the…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
The Guillotines: long-winded wuxia film groans under the weight of being all things to all people
Andrew Lau Wai-keung, “The Guillotines” (2012) An overly fussy and long-winded film on brotherhood and loyalty, and how changes beyond a society’s control affect individual people…
German and German-language Films, Spanish Films
The Diadem / MiniKillers: two trashy films that highlight how good a good actor can be
?, “The Diadem” (1966) Wolfgang von Chmielewski, “MiniKillers” (1969) Two curious short films from Germany and Spain respectively, both feature the English actor Diana Rigg in…
Tsar to Lenin: an incredible compilation of archival footage of the Russian Revolution
Herman Axelbank and Max Eastman, “Tsar to Lenin” (1937) Presented by Mehring Books and the Socialist Equality Party, “Tsar to Lenin” is an incredible historical document…
The Avengers (Season 5, Episode 20: Dead Man’s Treasure): fun and childhood fantasy turn deadly and dangerous
Sidney Havers, “The Avengers (Season 5, Episode 20: Dead Man’s Treasure)” (1967) A courier, mortally wounded, just manages to stumble into Steed’s home and mutter to…
The Wild Wild West (Season 4, Episode 4: The Night of the Sedgewick Curse): clever and intelligent combination of horror and science fiction
Marvin Chomsky, “The Wild Wild West (Season 4, Episode 4: The Night of the Sedgewick Curse)” (1968) I don’t recall this series from my childhood yet…
The Avengers (Season 5, Episode 15: The Joker): psychological thriller hints of psychological damage done by Cold War
Sidney Hayers, “The Avengers (Season 5, Episode 15: The Joker)” (1967) Oops! As Steed (Patrick Macnee) excitedly races down the staircase to greet Peel (Diana Rigg)…
The Avengers (Season 5, Episode 6: The Winged Avenger): flighty fantasy let down by tedious and repetitive violence
Gordon Flemyng and Peter Duffell, “The Avengers (Season 5, Episode 6: The Winged Avenger)” (1967) The father-and-son team of stony-hearted corporate vultures at Simon Roberts &…
The Avengers (Season 5, Episode 9: The Correct Way to Kill): satire on upper class English culture and mores
Charles Crichton, “The Avengers (Season 5, Episode 9: The Correct Way to Kill)” (1967) Soviet agents are being cut down almost as soon as they arrive…