| "E" All Films Watched 2000-2010 |
| All films are rated on a scale of **** (A+), *** 3/4 (A), *** 1/2 (A-), *** 1/4 (B+), *** (B), ** 3/4 (B-), ** 1/2 (C+), ** 1/4 ( C), ** (C-) , * 3/4 (D+), * 1/2 (D), * 1/4 (D-), * (F) |
| Links are to longer reviews on site. A film defined as 70 min.+ visual event. |
| The year included with the film is the year I watched each film. |
| (V) = TV, Video or DVD ( +) = repeat viewing (W/O)= walked out |
| EAGER BODIES (2004, d. Xavier Giannoli) Love Story with a particularly French twist. Great acting. *** 1/2 |
| EAGLE EYE (2008, d. D.J. Caruso) Absurd script well executed. Raises paranoia quotient and chase sequence destruction derby games to new, ridiculous high. Shia is fine. ** 1/2 |
| EAGLE VS. SHARK (2007, d. Taika Waititi) ** 3/4 |
| EAMON (2010, d. Margaret Corkery ) *** 1/4 |
| EARLY IN THE MORNING (2006, d. Gahité Fofana) * 3/4 |
| EARTH AND ASHES (2005, d. Atiq Rahimi) Wide screen Afghanistan AFF plays like a despairing Irani film: old man & young boy war victims wandering desert. *** |
| EARTHLING (2005, d. Tristan & Wolfgang Bayer) Stunning, fascinating docu about family of nature photogs on a 7 year adventure journey. *** 3/4 |
| EARTHLINGS (2006, d. Shaun Monson) V. Hard to watch docu about human speciesism: abuse of animals for food, clothing, science etc.. *** 3/4 |
| EARTHSEA (2004, d. Robert Lieberman) V. Surprisingly together, if hokey, sf miniseries, mediocre acting...but the f/x are fine and the project works. ** 1/2 |
| EASIER WITH PRACTICE (2009, d. Kyle Patrick Alvarez) *** |
| EAST IS EAST (2000, d. Damien O'Donnell) ** 1/2 |
| EAST, WEST, EAST (2010, d. Gjergj Xhuvani; Albania) ** 3/4 |
| EAST/WEST (L'est/ouest) (2000, d. Régis Wargnier) *** 1/2 |
| EASTERN PLAYS (2010, d. Kamen Kalev; Bulgaria) + *** |
| EASTERN PLAYS (2010, d. Kamen Kalev) ** 3/4 |
| EASTERN PROMISES (2007, d. David Cronenberg) Stylized violence...best Mortensen tattoos since Indian Runner. *** 1/4 |
| EASY A (2010, d. Will Gluck) Silly, unrealistic story of high school girl's self-sullied reputation. Moments of forced mirth with a couple of good perfs. Not enough. ** |
| EASY VIRTUE (2008, d. Stephan Elliott) *** |
| EAT PRAY LOVE (2010, d. Ryan Murphy) Romantic & spiritual travelogue. Overlong; but the hot men, and Julia Roberts' charisma & emotional resonance work. ** 3/4 |
| EAT THIS NEW YORK (2004, d. Novack and Rossi) V. Pre-The Restaurant docu about building a neighborhood bistro in Brooklyn & the viscissitudes of the big NYC chefs. *** |
| EATING OUT 2: SLOPPY SECONDS (2006, d. Phillip Bartell) Funny gay farce, well acted with a fairly novel script. ** 3/4 |
| EATING OUT (2004, d. Q. Allan Brocka) Sparkling, well cast lo-budget gay/straight sex farce. Emily Stiles' clever faghag steals the movie from some good looking guys. ** 3/4 |
| EATING OUT: ALL YOU CAN EAT (2009, d. Glenn Gaylord) Clichéd gay romantic comedy; but sweet and sexy, albeit with mediocre, if attractive, actors. ** 1/2 |
| EBAN AND CHARLIE (2002, d. James Bolton) ** 3/4 |
| ECLIPSE, THE (2010, d. Conor McPherson) ** 1/2 |
| EDEN IS WEST (Eden à l'ouest) (2009, d. Costa-Gavras) ** 3/4 |
| EDEN (2008, d. Declan Recks) Intimate, disturbing, well played drama of a marriage troubled by the 10 year itch. *** |
| EDEN'S CURVE (2005, d. Anne Misawa) V. 1/2* |
| EDGE OF HEAVEN, THE (2007, d. Fatih Akin; Germany) *** 3/4 |
| EDGE OF LOVE, THE (2009, d. John Maybury) Fine cast, nice evocation of blitz England and arty circle doings; but turgid drama doesn't spark. ** 1/2 |
| EDGE, THE (2010, d. Alexei Uchitel; Russia) *** |
| EDI (2003, d. Piotr Trzaskalski) Poland AFF Drama about a down and outer in present day Poland. *** |
| EDUART (2007, d. Angeliki Antoniou; Greece) *** 1/4 |
| EDUCATION OF CHARLIE BANKS, THE (2009, d. Fred Durst) Fascinating character study of nerd vs. charismatic sociopath (and Jason Ritter is amazing.) *** 1/4 |
| EDUCATION OF GORE VIDAL, THE (2003, US doc. d. Deborah Dickson) Fine, intelligent documentary about Vidal through his words & work. *** 1/2 |
| EDUCATION, AN (2009, d. Lone Scherfig) Superb '60s character study of a 16 yr. old English girl & her family who are seduced by an older, romantic roué. *** 3/4 |
| EDUKATORS, THE (2005, d. Hans Weingartner) Gripping drama of 3 foolish young German revolutionaries & their caper gone wrong. *** 1/2 |
| EDY (2006, d. Stephan Guérin-Tillié) Cool, noirish film about killer insurance scammers. ** 3/4 |
| EFECTO IGUAZÚ, EL (2004, d. Pere Joan Ventura) Doc. about 1800 striking Spaniards who camped out in a Madrid shanty town for 6 months in 2001. *** 1/4 |
| EGOISTE: LOTTI LATROUS (2007, d. Stephan Anspichler) Harrowing docu: Swiss nurse's AIDS hospice in Ivory Coast. ** 3/4 |
| EIGHT BELOW (2006, d. Frank Marshall) Deserted dogs in the Antarctic winter do their thing. Pretty (Paul Walker especially), but vapid. ** 1/4 |
| EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER (18 anni dopo) (2010, d. Edoardo Leo) W/O |
| EKLAVYA (2007, d. Vidhu Vinod Chopra; India) *** |
| EL ALAMEIN (2004, d. Enzo Monteleone) Spare and powerful story of Italian platoon on the losing side at the battle of El Alamein. *** |
| EL BENNY (2007, d. Jorge Luis Sanchez) ** 3/4 |
| EL BOLA (2002, d. Achero Mañas) *** 1/2 |
| EL CANTANTE (2007, d. Leon Ichaso) ** 3/4 |
| ELDORADO (2009, d. Bouli Lanners; Belgium) ** 3/4 |
| ELDRA (2003, d. Tim Lyn) UK AFF. Charming story about a young gypsy girl's coming of age. *** |
| ELECTION 2 (2006, d. Johnny To) *** |
| ELECTION (2006, d. Johnny To) *** |
| ELEGY (2008, d. Isabel Coixet) Superb acting by entire company, lovely, moving adult plot. Cruz should win actress Oscar. *** 3/4 |
| ELEPHANT AND THE SEA, THE (2007, d. Woo Ming Jin) * 1/2 |
| ELEPHANT (2003, d. Gus Van Sant) I'm still reeling from the cumulative effect of this ephebiphile's dream. Shot amazingly like Le Fils, stomach churning *** |
| ELEVEN MEN OUT (2006, d. Róbert Douglas) Predictable troubles for Iceland gay soccer team. ** 1/4 |
| ELINA (2004, d. Klaus Haro) Like Evil, a story of schooling in Sweden in the '50's, only this time a stubborn little girl vs. a stubborn teacher. Academy bait left me cold. ** 3/4 |
| ELITE SQUAD (2008, d. José Padhila) *** 3/4 |
| ELIZABETH I (2006, d. Tom Hooper) V. Historical epic, good but histrionic perf by Helen Mirren. Drama over historicity. *** |
| ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE (2007, d. Shekhar Kapur) Bombastic, overdone, disappointing bodice ripper. ** 1/4 |
| ELIZABETHTOWN (2005, d. Cameron Crowe) ** 3/4 |
| ELLE S'APPELLE SABINE (2008, d. Sandrine Bonnaire) *** |
| ELLIE PARKER (2005, d. Scott Coffey) Home movie quality video with a stupendous performance by Naomi Watts which lifts the film to watchability. *** |
| ELLING (2001, d. Petter Næss) *** 1/2 |
| ELSA & FRED (2006, d. Marcos Carnevale) *** 3/4 |
| EM (2008, d. Tony Barbieri) ** 3/4 |
| EMBRUJO DE SHANGHAI, EL (2003, d. Fernando Trueba) Drama of post-WWII in Barcelona from a teenage boy's pov. Pretty but confusing. ** |
| EMMA (2009, d. Diamuid Lawrence, 1996) V. The Kate Beckinsale/BBC version. Not my favorite Austin story, but Andrew Davies' scenario quite good. *** |
| EMMA (2010, d. Jim O'Hanlon) V. Nicely done...yet another Austen adaptation; but ideal casting & gorgeous production got me involved. *** 1/4 |
| EMMANUEL JAL: WAR CHILD (2008, d. C. Karim Chrobog) *** |
| EMMA'S BLISS (2007, d. Sven Taddicken) *** 1/4 |
| EMPEROR'S CLUB, THE (2002, d. Michael Hoffman) ** 1/2 |
| EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES, THE (2002, d. Alan Taylor) ** 1/4 |
| EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE, THE (2000, d. Mark Dindal) ** |
| EMPEROR'S WIFE, THE (2004, d. Julian Vrebos) Stylized modern dress story of court intrigue. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers charismatic as chancellor to Max Beesley's emperor. ** 1/2 |
| EMPIRE (2002, d. Franc Reyes) ** 1/2 |
| EMPIRE FALLS (2005, d. Fred Schepisi) V. HBO family saga of small town New England doings. Fine cast, sprawling, unfocused script. ** 3/4 |
| EMPTIES (2008, d. Jan Sverak) *** |
| EMPTY NEST (El Nido Vacio) (2008, d. Daniel Burman) *** |
| EN LA CAMA (2006, d. Matías Bize; Chile) *** 1/4 |
| ENCARNATION (2008, d. Anahi Berneri) ** 1/4 |
| ENCHANTED (2007, d. Kevin Lima) Fun script, flaccid direction. Too bad Julie Taymore didn't get a chance with this script. ** 3/4 |
| ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (2009, d. Werner Herzog) + Fascinating docu footage of Antarctica & modern scientific explorers. *** 1/2 |
| ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (2008, d. Werner Herzog) Fascinating footage of Antarctica & modern scientific explorers. *** 1/2 |
| END OF LOVE, THE (2009, d. Simon Chung; Hong Kong) Mediocre digital film: story of young gay hustler/druggie involved with Christian sect. Nicely acted. ** 1/2 |
| END OF THE CENTURY (2004, d. Fields & Gramaglia) V. The Ramone's were never my cuppa musicwise; but this informative, of uninspired docu about group digs deep. *** |
| ENDGAME (2010, d. Pete Travis) V. Fine, if very low key, historical semi-thriller about negotiations leading to end of Apartheid. Miller & Hurt are especially good. *** |
| ENDURING LOVE (2004, d. Roger Michell) Dynamite, kinetic opening leads to a story of divinely inspired romantic obsession. Daniel Craig is wonderful. *** 1/4 |
| ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE (2010, d. Lemkin & Sambath) V. Vital, if turgid, docu of Cambodian killing fields from bottom up collected by man whose family died. *** |
| ENEMY AT THE GATES (2001, d. Jean-Jacques Annaud) ** 3/4 |
| ENGLAND! (2001, d. Achem Von Borries) *** |
| ENIGMA (2002, d. Michael Apted) ** 3/4 |
| ENRICO MATTEI: THE MAN WHO LOOKED AT THE FUTURE (2010, d. Giorgio Capitani) *** |
| ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM (2006, d. Alex Gibney) V.Well made docu about complexity, maybe not as informative as it might have been.*** 1/4 |
| ENTER THE VOID (2010, d. Gaspar Noé) Tour de force doesn't come close to describing this amazing film which completely bowled me over. **** |
| ENVY (2004, d. Barry Levinson) It started ok, clever with some good yuks. Black & Stiller are a great comedy team & Walken rules; but the film totally falls apart in 3rd act. ** |
| EPITAFIOS (2006, d. Alberto Lecchi & Jorge Nisco) V. HBO miniseries à la SE7EN from Argentina. Literally the best tv series I've ever seen. **** |
| ERAGON (2006, d. Stefen Fangmeier) It's supposed to be bad; but try as I might I couldn't fail to enjoy it...nicely paced, good f/x. *** |
| ERES MI HEROE (2004, d. Antonio Cuadri) Excellent coming of age story of 13 year old boy during the death of Franco era. Manuel Lozano is great as the kid. *** 1/2 |
| ERIN BROKOVICH (2000, d. Steven Soderbergh) *** 1/4 |
| ERSKINEVILLE KINGS (2010, d. Alan White) V. Static '99 Aussi film about 2 brothers mourning their recently passed abusive dad. Hugh Jackman in early good form. ** 1/2 |
| ESCAPE, THE (2009, d. Kathrine Windfeld) *** |
| ESTHER KAHN (2002, d. Arnaud Desplechin) *** 1/2 |
| ÉTÉ SANS POINT NI COUP SUR, UN (A No-hit, No-run Summer) (2008, d. Francis Leclerc) ** 3/4 |
| ETERNAL SUMMER (2007, d. Leste Chen and Patrick Mao Huang) * 3/4 |
| ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004, d. Michel Gondry) Writing, acting, directing, f/x tour de force; also an affecting love story. **** |
| ETHAN MAO (2004, d. Quentin Lee) Involving drama in the Araki mode of a Gay Asian boy kicked out of home into life of street hustler. ** 3/4 |
| EUGENE (2009, d.Jake Barsha) * 3/4 |
| EULOGY (2004, d. Michael Clancy) A screwball family comedy with an outstanding cast, entertaining, but a ridiculous script and only intermittently funny. ** 1/4 |
| EUPHORIA (Ejfroija) (2007, d. Ivan Vyrypaev) ** 1/2 |
| EUREKA (2001, d. Shinji Aoyama) *** 1/4 |
| EVAN ALMIGHTY (2007, d. Tom Shadyac) Good f/x money shot; but that's about it for this bloated, unfunny "comedy". ** |
| EVELYN (2002, d. Bruce Beresford) ** 3/4 |
| EVEN THE RAIN (También La Lluvia) (2010, d. Icíar Bollaín; Spain) *** 1/2 |
| EVENING (2007, d. Lajos Koltai) *** 1/2 |
| EVENT, THE (2003, Canada d. Thom Fitzgerald) Emotionally shattering AIDS drama about a sick man whose friends throw an assisted suicide party *** 1/4 |
| EVERGREEN (2004, d. Edid Zentelis) A low-budget Seattle HD video/film about a lower class girl who is ahamed of her family. Good acting. ** 1/4 |
| EVERLASTING MOMENTS (2008, d. Jan Troell; Sweden) *** |
| EVERY DAY (2010, d. Richard Levine) ** 3/4 |
| EVERY LITTLE STEP (2009, d. James Stern & Adam Del Deo) Superb meta-docu (film about trying out for a musical about trying out). Riveting & emotional. *** 3/4 |
| EVERY OTHER WEEK (2006, d. various) ** 3/4 |
| EVERY STEWARDESS GOES TO HEAVEN (2002, d. Daniel Burman) ** 3/4 |
| EVERYBODY'S FAMOUS (2000, d. Dominique Deruddere) *** 1/4 |
| EVERYBODY'S FINE (2009, d. Kirk Jones) I'm not a father; but DeNiro's situation is one that hit me with particular emotional wallop. Fine script, rings true, engrossing. *** 1/2 |
| EVERYDAY PEOPLE (2004, d. Jim McKay) Pleasant enought HBO tv movie about a Brooklyn deli and the consequences of its closing. ** 3/4 |
| EVERYONE ELSE (2009, d. Maren Ade) *** 1/4 |
| EVERYTHING IS FINE (2008, d. Yves Fournier) *** |
| EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED (2005, d. Liev Schreiber) ** 1/2 |
| EVERYTHING STRANGE AND NEW (2009, d. Frazer Bradshaw) *** |
| EVERYTHING'S GONE GREEN (2006, d. Paul Fox) ** 3/4 |
| EVIL (2004, d. Maiael Hafström) A 50's Swedish boarding school's sadistic system and its affect on a rebellious kid. A cross of If and Rebel Without a Cause. *** 1/2 |
| EVIL (Ondskan) (2008, d. Mikael Håfström) V. + One of the best depictions of boarding school sadism ever filmed. *** 1/2 |
| EX DRUMMER (2007, d. Koen Mortier) * 1/4 |
| EX, THE (Jesse Peretz) Unfunny comedy. Braff and Bateman are worth admission; but the plot has holes & doesn't hold together. ** |
| EXCITED (2010, d. Bruce Sweeney) *** |
| EXILED (2007, d. Johnny To) ** 1/4 |
| EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (2010, d. Banksy) Controversial docu about street art & L.A. hipster art scene. I had no idea all this was happening. *** 1/2 |
| EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, THE (2005, d. Scott Derrickson) ** 3/4 |
| EXPERIMENT, DAS (2001, d. Oliver Hirshbiegel) *** 1/2 |
| EXPIRATION DATE (2006, d. Rick Stevenson) *** |
| EXPIRED (2007, d. Cecilia Miniucchi) ** 1/2 |
| EXPLICIT ILLS (2009, d. Mark Webber) Somewhat muddled continuity, but a quite moving anti-poverty drama with some memorable perfs. *** |
| EXPLODING GIRL, THE (2009, d. Bradley Rust Gray) *** 1/4 |
| EXTRA MAN, THE (2010, d. Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini) ** 1/4 |
| EXTRACT (2009, d. Mike Judge) Often funny comedy with iconic Jason Bateman perf. Judge replaces biting edge satire with more traditional farce structure. *** 1/4 |
| EXTREME OPS (2004, d. Christian Duguay)V. Silly, unlikely action film: extreme sports vs.Serbian terrorists. Good cast (Devon Sawa, Rupert Graves, Rufus Sewell) wasted. ** 1/4 |
| EXTREME OPS (2002, d. Christian Duguay) ** 1/2 |
| EYE, THE (2003, Thailand d. Danny & Oxide Pang) Horror film, not especially scary, blind woman cured with a corneal transplant who sees dead people. ** 1/2 |
| EYES WIDE OPEN (2010, d. Hair Tabakman) *** 1/4 |