Out of the Furnace

It doesn't surprise me to learn that CinemaScore audiences assigned "Out of the Furnace" an average grade of C+ this weekend. It's bleak and unremitting, as far from a crowd pleaser as mainstream movies get. But the first half is very good, and even the second half - which becomes a fairly standard revenge story - contains some of the riveting scenes that merit a recommendation for true film fans.

4:44 Last Day on Earth

It takes a director as supremely untalented as Abel Ferrara to make the end of the world a matter of apathetic ennui, which he's done in the direct-to-dustheap bomb "4:44 Last Day on Earth."