TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURRENT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES : Excellent Good Fair Poor : VIDEOCASSETTES

“The Brothers Karamazov.” MGM/UA. $59.95. Certainly not good Dostoyevsky--and only intermittently good Richard Brooks--this 1958 MGM adaptation of the literary classic boasts eccentric casting, lugubrious pacing, Hollywood imperial decor and a maudlin climax. But there are some good things too: fiery color by cinematographer John Alton, a cold, fierce job by Claire Bloom as Katya, a touching one by Maria Schell as Grushenka (the role Marilyn Monroe supposedly coveted) and grand, boisterously amusing degeneracy by Lee J. Cobb as Karamazov. Overall: a Classic Illustrated Movie, with the sense of evil and redemption smoothed over. Information: (212) 408-0600. 1/2