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E-Demon [2018] Earth From Space (Nova) [2012] Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words [2016]
Eden Lake [2008] Edge of Tomorrow [2014] Ek Ajnabee [2005]
El Gringo [2012] Elephant White [2011] Elevator to the Gallows [1958]
Eli [2019] Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things [2019] Empathy, Inc. [2018]
The Empty Man [2020] Encounters of the Spooky Kind [1980] EndZeit [2018]
The Endless [2017] Enemy [2013] Enemy from Space [1957]
The Enforcer [1976] Enola Holmes [2020] Enter the Void [2009]
Entrapment [1999] Equilibrium [2002] The Equalizer [2014]
The Equalizer 2 [2018]
The Equalizer 3 [2023] Eternals [2021] Europa Report [2013]
Event Horizon [1997] Ever After [2018] Every Time I Die [2019]
Evil Dead Rise [2023] Evil Souls [2015] Exam [2009]
Excalibur [1981] The Expendables [2010] The Expendables 2 [2012]
The Expendables 3 [2014] The Exorcist III [1990] Extinction [2018]
The Eye [2002] Eye for an Eye [1996] Eyes Without a Face [1960]

Empathy, Inc. [2018]


            
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This was a surprise! After getting talked into investing his in-law's money into a virtual reality startup, that allows you to experience other's lives, a man discovers something far more insidious. Delivered in a surreal B&W, retro neo-film noir style, this film had me fully engaged all the way to the dreadful but inevitable ending. Letting the story drive the film, there's no fancy dialogue or overly dramatic acting making the characters far more realistic as they attempt to deal with events far beyond their experience. Proof that a micro budget art film can still totally rock!

Evil Dead Rise [2023]


            

An earthquake isolates an old apartment building and reveals a vault with lots of demon conjuring goodies. Let the bloodbath begin. My hats off to Lee Cronin (writer / director) for fully embracing the Evil Dead mythos and slamming us along side the head with an assault of demonic violence and squishy good fun that us fans are thriving for. With steady pacing, good dialogue, adequate acting and stellar make-up, fx and imaginative gags and kills, this tension and anxiety filled mishmash of malevolence can only be described as jolly good fun. Let 'er rip!

Extinction [2018]


            

A man has nightmare visions of an alien invasion. Then there's a real invasion. The first half of this film is quite compelling. The invasion sequence, although too dark, was handled well with aewsome, immersive sound that made you feel you like you were right in the middle of it. Unfortunately, the 'big' reveal came off as lazy and simplistic ...I had far better story lines running in my head and the horrors of intolerance was not one of them. Then after this big reveal? ...another contrived chase sequence and that's it. Apt example of a great premise totally wasted.

Enola Holmes [2020]


            

Sherlock's sister, Enola, and her mother were inseparable. When her mother disappears, Enola goes on a journey to find her and gets wrapped up in a scandal on the way. Taking place around 1900, this was a light and enjoyable period piece with a good story and acting. Dare I say, a women's movie (my wife liked it far more than me), I never really felt connected to the characters and, therefore, I wasn't particularly invested in how things turn out for them. I don't think Enola breaking the 4th wall by narrating directly to us helped the film, either. Good fun, though.

The Enforcer [1976]


         

Straddled with a new female rookie, Dirty Harry tries to hunt down a terrorist group. Heavy emphasis on the relationship between veteran & rookie (Tyne Daly) which was rather entertaining. Lots of good banter and the usual Harry wit made for some rather humorous moments plus a few good action sequences. Everyone else, however, wasn't particularly likable and the villains didn't strike me as authentic in the least. But the ending was a bummer. It was just so sad and I don't see how that ending was expected to improve the film at all. Good film with some bad choices.

Evil Souls [2015]


         
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People who knew each other as kids are kidnapped by a psycho who terrorizes and tortures them. This is a no-budget, amateur production that blatantly looks the part. The priest was acted well and the old lady in the mental health facility was genuinely disturbing but the others were bad, especially the non-authentic psycho who was just a long haired dude acting like an obnoxious loon. They could have given us far more backstory but stuck to the cheap thrills. It held my interest for 90 mins but the final scene was incomprehensible and resolved nothing.

Exam [2009]


         
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8 candidates, vying for a highly coveted position in a mysterious corporation, enter a final exam where they have 80 minutes to answer one question ...and they don't know what the question is. Reminiscent of films like Cube, this exquisitely well-written psychological character study has our candidates going from confusion to helpful cooperation to resentment to hostility to outright chaos and violence as the human need to win takes on monumental proportions. Top if off with an ending that shows the question was there all along, but missed by everyone, was perfect.

Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things [2019]


         

This biodoc of Ella was a sheer delight. It's received a lot of flak for not presenting more about her personal life than what is generally known. That's fine with me. One of my complaints with biodocs is they become too focused on the person while ignoring their contributions. Their body of work is the reason I watch and this one struck a fantastic balance between personal details, heartfelt moments among friends and relatives, all while presenting an extensive catalog of music as both a foreground and background soundtrack. What a classy and talented lady!

The Exorcist III [1990]


            
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A series of brutal killings, reminiscent of a serial killer's victims from 15 years before, leads a detective to a man locked up in a mental hospital who seems to know quite a lot about the murders. Didn't pay much attention to the sequels until I was told that I ought to see this one. What a surprise! Superbly written and directed by William Peter Blatty featuring outstanding performances by everyone, especially the powerhouse acting of George C. Scott and Brad Dourif (with all the best quotable lines) as they square off against each other. Great entertainment!

Earth From Space (Nova) [2012]


        

In depth documentary on all of the incredible discoveries we've learned via the satellites we have observing the earth. Gaining a much better understanding of weather patterns and climate, how the essential elements of life are shuffled around through a vastly complex system, and quite a few other fascinating things. Tightly written and exquisitely presented, it's amazing the amount of information it delivers in a 2-hour period and in an easily understood format. One of the best Nova's I've seen, if you want to know how the earth works, watch this!

Eternals [2021]


         
  
Before the Infinity Stones, there were the Celestials who created a race of beings known as Eternals sent to various worlds to protect from savage beasts known as Deviants. Covering a time span of 7,000 years, we get to know the Eternals sorta well. As far as MCU films go, this is a somewhat weak film, we don't care about the characters as much as usual, some of their development was a bit shallow, and some of the concepts required more explanation. I was mystified on a few points as to what was happening. Still good MCU excitement and eye candy.

Encounters of the Spooky Kind [1980]

aka Gui da gui / Spooky Encounters

            

A politician hires a warlock to kill the husband of the wife he's having a fling with. Starring, directed and co-written by Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, this Chinese supernatural comedy is an unusual tour de force of slapstick weirdness that mostly works. Featuring one gag after another, some were dragged out far to too long and the humor does get overly silly and wacky at times. But, when it does work, it works well and the Jackie Chan style fight choreography was exceptionally impressive. Good English dubbing, as well. Overall, quite entertaining.

The Empty Man [2020]


            

Initially presenting itself as a conjuring game (think Slender Man, Candyman or Bloody Mary), the film slowly descends into something far more sinister with cosmic ramifications. A man is trying to find a friend's daughter making this more a procedural crime mystery than cosmic horror and, despite it's 137 min length and slow pace, it thoroughly hooks the viewer with it's philosophical implications and constant state of unease. Helping with that is the stellar performance by James Badge Dale. Extremely well written, subtle, cosmic horror at it's finest.

Enemy from Space [1957]

aka Quatermass 2

      

Upon investigating a remote area of England, where strange, seemingly controlled meteorites are falling, Dr. Quatermass discovers that Earth is being invaded. Once again, put aside the limitations and misconceptions of a typical '50's sci fi monster movie and there's a lot good stuff here. The style of the invasion was rather original and it had a sense of dread to it. Biggest threat, though (which quite often seems to be the case) is the ignorance of people. They can really make a mess of things.

The Eye [2002]

aka Gin gwai

         

A young woman sees for the first time since she was 2 due to a corneal transplant. Then she begins seeing dead people. Overly melodramatic with dreadful pacing, once the film establishes she can see dead people, the viewer is trapped into watching her misery for more than 30 mins with no progression to the story. When things finally do start moving forward again, it got more interesting but still dragged out ad nauseum and the ending was a downer. Would have been much more exciting as a half hour Twilight Zone episode.

Eli [2019]


            
  
A young boy goes to a secluded medical center in an attempt to cure his auto-immune disorder that prevents him from living outside a sterile, isolated environment. The trick for this film is to get to the end. Up to that point, I was getting increasingly frustrated; the contrived practice of parents dismissing everything their child says due to medication, nightmares, hallucinations ...that gets really old. There were some other seemingly obvious problems, as well. But once the twist is revealed, it all makes sense. Needed more impact but not bad.

Eye for an Eye [1996]


         
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After a rapist/murderer is released on a technicality, the mother of the victim plans a scheme to kill the offender. Despite all the familiar faces and John Schlesinger directing, this film is sort of lifeless. I think it's because there's hardly any musical score at all so there's really no sense of tension, danger, threat, etc., it just falls flat ...not to mention being rather slow-paced. I don't think Sally Fields was the right choice for the part, either. The vengeful climax was fitting and entertaining but nothing we haven't seen before.

Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words [2016]


         

Although Zappa is a much better overall biographical documentary on the life and career of Frank Zappa, this one is a collage of candid views and interview appearances of one of the 20th century's finest composers. Multiple interviews (which he regards as 2 steps removed from the Inquisition) talking about comedy, home life, politics, his irreverent and totally honest views on life in general and, of course, his extensive library of incredibly unique music. Required item for every Zappa aficionado's library.

Elephant White [2011]


            
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A hit man is hired to start a war between two rival trafficking rings ...I think. That's the problem. For me, it was never really clear what was going on or what the goals were. Rather it was somewhat chaotic with some scenes that turned out to be visions or dreams. Action wise, it was fine with some good shootouts, the pacing was great and I really liked the relationship between the hit man and the girl until the big twist ending which I'm sure they thought would be a big surprise but, for me, a big disappointment. Flawed but sorta fun.

Eyes Without a Face [1960]

aka Les yeux sans visage

         

A doctor scalps the faces off of women in hopes of successfully grafting the face onto his daughter who lost hers in an auto accident. Artfully stylistic and phenomenally dull pretty much sums this one up. I know people go crazy for these art films and, yes ...they are interesting from a artistic point of view. But watching a car pull into a driveway, driver get out, walk into house, take off hat and coat, dramatic pause, walk up flight of stairs, dramatic pause, walk up another flight of stairs ...to me, that's just padding without purpose and it bores me to death.

Enemy [2013]


            
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An unassuming, timid, history professor sees his doppelganger as an extra in a film and goes about finding him. They may look, act and sound identical but they are about as far from being alike as you can get. What ensues is a surreal, unnerving, atmospheric piece that crawls along at a snails pace but managed to keep me tied up in tension throughout. ...and what's with the spider? Very creepy film that's definitely unique. Kudos to Gyllenhaal for creating two distinct and unique characters.

Event Horizon [1997]


            

If you travel to another dimension and back, what might you bring back with you? This Barker / Lovecraftian premise has produced some truly horrific tales (From Beyond, Hellraiser, The Mist) but this film tends to just hand us a series of gruesome events that aren't very horrific or satisfying. Even the visions of hell are nothing more than quick flashes that you can't appreciate. It's not bad, and I did like it quite a bit ...it just doesn't seem to embrace its premise as well as it's promising.

El Gringo [2012]


         
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An American, with a satchel containing $2 Million, gets stuck in a small, lawless Mexican town. Good example of film makers not knowing how to make films. They couldn't decide whether to make this witty or serious and failed on both fronts. The characters were blase, the dialogue bad, and the action sequences (except when El Gringo is trying to catch a bus ...a sequence that was exceptionally well done) were edited in a really odd fashion that made them simply difficult to watch or understand. Skip it.

Eden Lake [2008]


            
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Straw Dogs meets Wolf Creek in this innocent-couple-on-vacation-meets-nasty-local-sociopathic-kids movie. The film is intense, quite visceral, rather relentless, and quite heartbreaking. However, the best films of this type are the ones where the victims finally decide they've had enough and fight back. The film's problem here is they rarely fought back making for a sadistic exercise in futility and brutality that does not end well. Although an excellent film of it's type, if didn't fully work for me.

Ek Ajnabee [2005]


         
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Bollywood remake of Man on Fire. A down-and-out, alcoholic mercenary is given the job of bodyguard for a young girl to prevent her kidnapping. The first hour was loaded with far too much sap - the relationship between the girl and bodyguard is wonderful, but ...we get it, let's move on. The editing and photography was weird making it difficult to watch. Despite all that, the performances were excellent and I really enjoyed this film ...even with a completely different ending.

The Equalizer [2014]


         

A man, with incredible fighting skills, has put his past behind him to live a quiet life. But when a girl he has befriended is placed in the hospital, he comes out of seclusion and goes to war. We've seen similar stories plenty of times before (The Foreigner, Taken, etc.) but Denzel Washington turns in a superb performance as an ultra-calculating avenger and Marton Csokas does the same as a totally sociopathic gangster. Great character development, great action and overall an excellent and exciting film.

The Equalizer 2 [2018]


         

Our hero now helps random people in serious trouble while maintaining a low profile as a Lyft driver. When an old friend is killed, all bets are off. Far less action and far more drama than the first film with a couple sub-plots that, for me, tended to drag things down a bit. I think I would have preferred they concentrated on a more elaborate main story and this one didn't have a real villain you can sink your teeth into. But Denzel's still there in top form and, even with my petty issues, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

The Equalizer 3 [2023]


            

After being shot, McCall ends up in a tiny Italian village that's lorded over by a ruthless party of gangsters. He doesn't like that. Having less action to show off his skills, this film concentrates on the drama of the story and the wonderful relationships he develops with the locals ...making those moments when he does his thing all the more potent. Some will be disappointed because of the lack of action but I loved this film. Although there isn't as worthy an adversary as in the first film, the characters, good and bad, were a joy to watch. Denzel is awesome!

Europa Report [2013]


            
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An ultra-realistic travelogue of a manned flight to Europa to search for signs of life. Presented as the occurrences that took place aboard the ship filmed through a variety of cameras, flight comms and computer data that comprised the last communications from the ship. Giving equal attention to the actual events on Europa and the human psyche in dealing with scientific discovery vs total catastrophe, this film was tense, personal, and highly visual.

The Expendables [2010]


            

A group of mercenaries get hired to kill a general of an island nation for $5mil. Upon doing some reconnaissance, things get personal. Movies that feature old action stars are fun for me simply because I grew up watching these guys and they're still putting out action films. And, wow... what an action film! Sylvester Stallone has proven that he can direct. This film has some of the best choreographed action and fight scenes I've witnessed ...and filmed properly so that they're discernible. Great, exciting stuff!!

The Endless [2017]


            
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After leaving a cult 10 years ago, two brothers receive a mysterious old video from said cult and it prompts one of them to insist they go back for a visit. Thus begins a film that starts normally enough and moves along at a slow pace (in fact, I almost turned it off) but then it subtly begins to mess with reality until you're not quite sure what's going on ...you just know it's bad, malevolent, and never ending. Twisting time and reality, no explanations or solutions are ever provided, which makes it all the more compelling and horrific. Good film and example of subtle cosmic horror.

Enter the Void [2009]


            
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Nearly the entire film is presented as the astral journey of the soul of a young man who's killed by the police and shows us his life story and see what affects his death is having on everyone he knows. It's presented in a surrealistic psychedelic assault on the senses that had me wondering if I was going to have a seizure or throw up. Bleak and tragic, the people were completely uninteresting whose lives were ruled by drugs, sex, psychological problems and abject misery. And it went on for 160 mins!! God, what an abysmal waste of time.

Edge of Tomorrow [2014]

aka Live Die Repeat

         
  
A military reporter, who's been railroaded into being a combat soldier, finds that he has the ability to reset time after the mutual deaths of himself and an alien on the battlefield. Probably one of the finest modern sci fi films made, it covers a dozen different sub-genres including, alien invasion, monsters, combat, time travel, cybernetics, etc. Everything from the story to the aliens to the weaponry to the portrayals are so well crafted, there's nothing left to do but strap yourself in and hang on for dear life.

The Expendables 2 [2012]


            


Our crew of motley old timers are coerced into retrieving at item in a plane crash by the CIA to pay back a debt. Story's good, action is top shelf, of course, and the banter is always great fun and quite enjoyable. It was pretty cool to see practically every major action star since the '80's make an appearance, as well. Doesn't seem quite as tight as the first one, storywise, but good fun, nonetheless.

The Expendables 3 [2014]


         

Another CIA job goes sour except, this time, an arms dealer turns out to be an ex-Expendable that was supposed to be dead. Barney decides to go after him with a new crew. Three movies into the franchise and the films are still just as fun and exciting. Part of that excitement is the new but very familiar faces that keep showing up. And to have Ronda Rousey as one of the new faces?? No complaints here. They still rock!

E-Demon [2018]

aka The Viral Demon

            
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A member of a Skype group, known for pranks, opens a witches trunk as a joke and unwittingly releases a demon that passes quickly to the others. The Unfriended series set the standard, imo, for a realistic and spontaneous depiction of the entire events taking place on a computer screen. This one did not. We have both web cams and head cams and the scenes shift around between sources willy nilly without any logical reason. Also, the constant computer glitching is not realistic ...it's irritating. Illogical and poorly made compared to similar films.

Equilibrium [2002]


         
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In a future, totalitarian society, feelings are outlawed, all art and books are destroyed, and everyone is forced to take a drug that locks out emotions. One of their enforcers, a cleric, stops taking his meds and begins to feel. I found it odd that in this dystopian world there are no CCTV cameras but that aside, this is an excellent film with a great study of a character slowly becoming human accented with some fantastic gun battles and fight scenes. Story evolves at a steady, logical pace and overall, an extremely intelligent and fun film.

Entrapment [1999]


         

An insurance agent (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is assigned to go undercover in an attempt to catch master thief (Sean Connery) in the act. Our two leads are certainly likable and fun to watch and the chemistry between Catherine and Sean is OK ...I've seen better and worse. They continue to hit the viewer with little mini-twists along the way keeping your attention but, being as I've seen a lot of heist films, this one came off as kinda flat. It was good for an evening's entertainment but I wouldn't put it on my "heist movies to see before you die" list.

Every Time I Die [2019]


         
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A thought provoking tale of guilt, denial, and an untethered soul triggered by an affair among friends. That's all you should know going into this because anything more would spoil the numerous little twists and discoveries this journey takes. You won't fully understand what's happening for the first hour and that's exactly as it should be. Don't read any movie descriptions as most basically tell you far too much. Watch the appropriately cryptic trailer instead. This is actually a well written, nicely designed thriller that kept me guessing throughout.

Elevator to the Gallows [1958]

aka Lift to the Scaffold

            
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A corporate exec kills the head boss at the behest of the boss' wife (who he's having an affair with) and effectively makes it look like suicide. When he returns to the office to fix a careless mistake, he initiates a comedy of errors and coincidences that ends up involving 4 more people and 2 more murders. French noir with a Miles Davis soundtrack, this was quite a treat to watch as one thing after another turns a simple crime into a total mess. Even the cops get everything backwards. Nicely done.

Ever After [2018]

aka EndZeit

            
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First off, this is NOT a zombie movie. It is a deeply personal journey of survival in a post-apocalyptic, zombie infested world. Two girls, one incredibly apathetic and the other just pathetic, find themselves stuck in the wilderness between two human occupied cities. Although the film has an atmosphere of constant danger, it's only occasionally realized. Most of the film is just the two girls moralizing, philosophizing, dredging up guilts of the past, etc., making it rather dull. Wasn't bad but if I'd known it wasn't a zombie film, per se, I might have skipped it.

Excalibur [1981]


            

An epic version of one of the many stories surrounding King Arthur and his sword of power, Excalibur. The director, John Boorman, wanted to do The Lord of the Rings but couldn't get the rights so he did this instead ...and quite well. Although a bit dated by today's historical fantasy standards, it's still quite compelling with a cast of actors that were virtually unknown then but are big stars now. Nostalgic, exciting story that's well worth the 2 1/2 hour sit through.

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