| E -
ALL FILMS 2003-6/2009 |
| EAGER
BODIES (d. Xavier Giannoli) Love Story with a particularly French
twist. Great acting. *** 1/2 |
| EAGLE EYE
(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
(d. Taika Waititi) ** 3/4 |
| EARLY
IN THE MORNING (d. Gahité Fofana) * 3/4 |
| EARTH
AND ASHES (d. Atiq Rahimi) Wide screen Afghanistan AFF plays like a
despairing Irani film: old man & young boy war victims wandering
desert. *** |
| EARTHLING
(d. Tristan & Wolfgang Bayer) Stunning, fascinating docu about family of
nature photogs on a 7 year adventure journey. *** 3/4 |
| EARTHLINGS
(d. Shaun Monson) V. Hard to watch docu about human speciesism: abuse of
animals for food, clothing, science etc.. *** 3/4 |
| EARTHSEA
(d. Robert Lieberman) V. Surprisingly together, if hokey, sf miniseries,
mediocre acting...but the f/x are fine and the project works. ** 1/2 |
| EASTERN PROMISES (d. David Cronenberg) Stylized violence...best Mortensen
tattoos since Indian Runner. *** 1/4 |
| EASY VIRTUE (d.
Stephan Elliott) *** |
| EAT
THIS NEW YORK (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 (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 2: SLOPPY SECONDS (d. Phillip Bartell) Funny gay farce, well acted with a
fairly novel script. ** 3/4 |
| EDEN (d.
Declan Recks) Intimate, disturbing, well played drama of a marriage troubled
by the 10 year itch. *** |
| EDEN IS WEST (Eden à
l'ouest) (d. Costa-Gavras) ** 3/4 |
| EDEN'S
CURVE (d. Anne Misawa)V. 1/2* |
| EDGE OF HEAVEN, THE (d. Fatih Akin; Germany) *** 3/4 |
| EDGE OF LOVE, THE (d. John Maybury) Fine cast, nice evocation of blitz
England and arty circle doings; but turgid drama doesn't spark. ** 1/2 |
| EDI (d.
Piotr Trzaskalski) Poland AFF Drama about a down and outer in
present day Poland. *** |
| EDUART (d.
Angeliki Antoniou; Greece) *** 1/4 |
| EDUCATION OF CHARLIE BANKS,
THE (d. Fred Durst) Fascinating character study of nerd
vs. charismatic sociopath (and Jason Ritter is amazing.) *** 1/4 |
| EDUCATION
OF GORE VIDAL, THE (US doc. d. Deborah Dickson) Fine,
intelligent documentary about Vidal through his words & work. ***
1/2 |
| EDUKATORS,
THE (d. Hans Weingartner) Gripping drama of 3 foolish young German
revolutionaries & their caper gone wrong. *** 1/2 |
| EDY (d.
Stephan Guérin-Tillié) Cool, noirish film about killer insurance scammers. **
3/4 |
| EFECTO
IGUAZÚ, EL (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 (d. Stephan Anspichler) Harrowing docu: Swiss nurse's AIDS
hospice in Ivory Coast. ** 3/4 |
| EIGHT BELOW
(d. Frank Marshall) Deserted dogs in the Antarctic winter do their thing.
Pretty (Paul Walker especially), but vapid. ** 1/4 |
| EKLAVYA
(d. Vidhu Vinod Chopra; India) *** |
| EL
ALAMEIN (d. Enzo Monteleone) Spare and powerful story of Italian
platoon on the losing side at the battle of El Alamein. *** |
| EL
ALQUIMISTA IMPACIENTE (d. Patricia Ferreira) Thriller/policier...lurid
murder of a nuclear plant worker. ** 3/4 |
| EL
AURA (d. Fabián Bielinsky; Argentina) *** 1/4 |
| EL BENNY (d. Jorge
Luis Sanchez) ** 3/4 |
| EL
BONAERENSE (Argentina/Chile d. Pablo Trapero) Naive country
bumpkin makes good in the big city police department. ** 3/4 |
| EL
CABALLERO DON QUIXOTE (d. Manuel Gutierrez Aragon) Boring sequel to Don
Quixote. * 3/4 |
| EL CANTANTE
(d. Leon Ichaso) ** 3/4 |
| EL
CRIMEN DEL PADRE AMARO (d. Carlos Carrera) Mexico AFF.
Anti-clerical satiric melodrama in small Mexican parish. *** 1/4 |
| EL EMBRUJO DE
SHANGHAI (d. Fernando Trueba) Drama of post-WWII in Barcelona from a teenage
boy's pov. Pretty but confusing. ** |
| EL LUGAR DONDE
ESTUVO EL PARAISO (d. Gerardo Herrero) Diverting melodrama of intrigue in the
Peruvian Amazon. ** 3/4 |
| EL OTRO LADO DE
LA CAMA (d. Emilio Martinez-Lazaro) Spanish sex comedy with music &
dance, about couples playing musical beds.. *** |
| EL PERRO DEL
HORTELANO (d. Pilar Miro 1996) Historical Lope de Vega comedy about a
fickle countess. ** 1/2 |
| EL
REY (d. Antonio Dorado) Involving history of a '60s Columbian drug lord,
Scarface revisited. ** 3/4 |
| EL SOL DEL
MEMBRILLO (d. Victor Erice 1992) Arty semi-documentary about an artist
sloooowly painting a quince tree. ** |
| EL VIAJE DE
CAROL (d. Imanol Uribe) Touching story of a girl whose life is shattered by
the Spanish civil war. *** 1/4 |
| ELDORADO
(d. Bouli Lanners; Belgium) ** 3/4 |
| ELDRA
(d. Tim Lyn) UK AFF. Charming story about a young gypsy girl's coming
of age. *** |
| ELECTION (d. Johnny
To) *** |
| ELECTION 2 (d.
Johnny To) *** |
| ELEGY (d.
Isabel Coixet) Superb acting by entire company, lovely, moving adult plot.
Cruz should win actress Oscar. *** 3/4 |
| ELEPHANT
(d. Gus Van Sant) I'm still reeling from the cumulative effect of this
ephebiphile's dream. Shot amazingly like Le Fils, stomach churning *** |
| ELEPHANT AND THE SEA,
THE (d. Woo Ming Jin) * 1/2 |
| ELEVEN MEN OUT (d. Róbert Douglas) Predictable troubles for Iceland gay
soccer team. ** 1/4 |
| ELINA
(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 (d.
José Padhila) *** 3/4 |
| ELIZABETH I
(d. Tom Hooper) V. Historical epic, good but histrionic perf by Helen Mirren.
Drama over historicity. *** |
| ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE (d. Shekhar Kapur) Bombastic, overdone, disappointing bodice
ripper. ** 1/4 |
| ELIZABETHTOWN
(d. Cameron Crowe) ** 3/4 |
| ELLE S'APPELLE
SABINE (d. Sandrine Bonnaire) *** |
| ELLIE
PARKER (d. Scott Coffey) Home movie quality video with a stupendous
performance by Naomi Watts which lifts the film to watchability. *** |
| ELSA &
FRED (d. Marcos Carnevale) *** 3/4 |
| EM (d. Tony Barbieri) ** 3/4 |
| EMMA (d.
Diamuid Lawrence, 1996) V. The Kate Beckinsale/BBC version. Not my
favorite Austin story, but Andrew Davies' scenario quite good. *** |
| EMMANUEL
JAL: WAR CHILD (d. C. Karim Chrobog) *** |
| EMMA'S BLISS (d.
Sven Taddicken) *** 1/4 |
| EMPEROR'S
WIFE, THE (d. Julian Vrebos) Stylized modern dress story of court intrigue.
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers charismatic as chancellor to Max Beesley's emperor. **
1/2 |
| EMPIRE
FALLS (d. Fred Schepisi)V. HBO family saga of small town New England doings.
Fine cast, sprawling, unfocused script. ** 3/4 |
| EMPTIES (d. Jan Sverak)
*** |
| EMPTY NEST (El Nido
Vacio) (d. Daniel Burman) *** |
| EN LA
CAMA (d. Matías Bize; Chile) *** 1/4 |
| ENCARNATION (d.
Anahi Berneri) ** 1/4 |
| ENCHANTED
(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 (d. Werner Herzog) + Fascinating docu footage of
Antarctica & modern scientific explorers. *** 1/2 |
| ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE
WORLD (d. Werner Herzog) Fascinating footage of
Antarctica & modern scientific explorers. *** 1/2 |
| END OF
THE CENTURY (d. Fields & Gramaglia) V. The Ramone's were never my cuppa
musicwise; but this informative, of uninspired docu about group digs
deep. *** |
| ENDURING
LOVE (d. Roger Michell) Dynamite, kinetic opening leads to a story of
divinely inspired romantic obsession. Daniel Craig is wonderful. *** 1/4 |
| ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN
THE ROOM (d. Alex Gibney) V.Well made docu about
complexity, maybe not as informative as it might have been.*** 1/4 |
| ENVY
(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
(d. Alberto Lecchi & Jorge Nisco) V. HBO miniseries à la SE7EN from
Argentina. Literally the best tv series I've ever seen. **** |
| ERAGON
(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 (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 |
| ESCAPE, THE (d.
Kathrine Windfeld) *** |
| ÉTÉ SANS POINT
NI COUP SUR, UN (A No-hit, No-run Summer) (d. Francis Leclerc) ** 3/4 |
| ETERNAL SUMMER
(d. Leste Chen and Patrick Mao Huang) * 3/4 |
| ETERNAL
SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (d. Michel Gondry) Writing, acting, directing,
f/x tour de force; also an affecting love story. **** |
| ETHAN
MAO (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 (d.Jake
Barsha) * 3/4 |
| EULOGY
(d. Michael Clancy) A screwball family comedy with an outstanding cast,
entertaining, but a ridiculous script and only intermittently funny. **
1/4 |
| EUPHORIA (Ejfroija)
(d. Ivan Vyrypaev) ** 1/2 |
| EVAN ALMIGHTY (d. Tom Shadyac) Good f/x money shot; but that's about it for
this bloated, unfunny "comedy". ** |
| EVENING (d. Lajos
Koltai) *** 1/2 |
| EVENT, THE
(Canada d. Thom Fitzgerald) Emotionally shattering AIDS drama
about a sick man whose friends throw an assisted suicide party *** 1/4 |
| EVERGREEN (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 (d. Jan Troell; Sweden) *** |
| EVERY LITTLE STEP (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 (d. various) ** 3/4 |
| EVERYDAY
PEOPLE (d. Jim McKay) Pleasant enought HBO tv movie about a Brooklyn
deli and the consequences of its closing. ** 3/4 |
| EVERYONE ELSE (d.
Maren Ade) *** 1/4 |
| EVERYTHING
IS FINE (d. Yves Fournier) *** |
| EVERYTHING
IS ILLUMINATED (d. Liev Schreiber) ** 1/2 |
| EVERYTHING STRANGE
AND NEW (d. Frazer Bradshaw) *** |
| EVERYTHING'S
GONE GREEN (d. Paul Fox) ** 3/4 |
| EVIL
(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) (d. Mikael Håfström) V. + One of the best depictions of
boarding school sadism ever filmed. *** 1/2 |
| EX DRUMMER (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. ** |
| EXILED (d. Johnny To) **
1/4 |
| EXORCISM
OF EMILY ROSE, THE (d. Scott Derrickson) ** 3/4 |
| EXPIRATION
DATE (d. Rick Stevenson) *** |
| EXPIRED (d. Cecilia
Miniucchi) ** 1/2 |
| EXPLICIT ILLS (d. Mark Webber) Somewhat muddled continuity, but a quite
moving anti-poverty drama with some memorable perfs. *** |
| EXPLODING GIRL, THE
(d. Bradley Rust Gray) *** 1/4 |
| EXTREME
OPS (d. Christian Duguay)V. Silly, unlikely action film: extreme sports
vs.Serbian terrorists. Good cast (Devon Sawa, Rupert Graves, Rufus Sewell)
wasted. ** 1/4 |
| EYE, THE
(Thailand d. Danny & Oxide Pang) Horror film, not especially scary,
blind woman cured with a corneal transplant who sees dead people. ** 1/2 |
|