Movie Reviews
Titles starting with E
Elysium
What a let-down. From the trailers it looked like it might be interesting. The main attraction was something we haven’t really seen before in a movie: An O’Neill colony. Remember those huge space habitats, concepts that go all the way back to the ‘60s? Put some spin on them, and you’re living on the inside of a donut, or a cylinder. (I was interested because it proves something that I have ... Read more »
Emma
Did you know that Marie Dressler was the top money-making star in 1932 and 1933? Eat your heart out, Greta Garbo! Did you know Wallace Beery was the highest-paid star in Hollywood in 1932? Eat your heart out, Clark Gable! This unlikely couple (by today’s standards) were wildly popular. They co-starred in Min and Bill, a terrific little ... Read more »
The Emperor’s Club
Basically a re-make of Dead Poets Society. Which doesn’t mean it’s bad (see Mona Lisa Smile). Just not one I’ll want to see again and again.
The Emperor’s New Groove
This movie has less of the Disney look and feel of any of the 47 features we’ve watched so far. Somebody said it seemed more like a Warner Brother Looney Tune than a Disney movie. That’s not all bad, of course, and there is a lot of sly humor here, but mostly it’s all knockabout action and slapstick gags. I understand it was what is known as a “troubled” production, and several times came ... Read more »
The Emperor’s New Groove
This movie has less of the Disney look and feel of any of the 47 features we’ve watched so far. Somebody said it seemed more like a Warner Brother Looney Tune than a Disney movie. That’s not all bad, of course, and there is a lot of sly humor here, but mostly it’s all knockabout action and slapstick gags. I understand it was what is known as a “troubled” production, and several times came ... Read more »
Empire Falls
There are a lot of things I could say about this HBO miniseries, now available on video. The great cast. The Pulitzer Prize book it was based on, and how well the longer format fits a mostly quiet story like this. The big surprise near the end, that startled me and Lee. But what I kept coming back to, watching it, was growing up in small towns, and either leaving or sticking around. Miles ... Read more »
Empire of the Sun
If you have a strong stomach, you should try reading about the six-week series of atrocities known as the Rape of Nanking. The invading Japanese Army indulged in an orgy of executions and rapes of Chinese civilians. (There are some fucking Japs [and I use the term deliberately to insult these assholes; if it offends you, go fuck yourself] who to this day deny it happened at all!) Accurate ... Read more »
Employee of the Month
What a mess of a movie. We gave up at the 1-hour point because we simply weren’t interested in what it seemed to be. Then I read a little of the very sparse reviews and found out it was not what it seemed. I collect movies about capers and cons and treasure the good ones. So we started it up again, and sure enough, there was a twist ending. In fact, there were about six twist endings, ... Read more »
Enchanted
Every once in a while a movie manages to navigate the tricky shoals of sentimentality without ever running aground on the reefs of schmaltz. Amelie was one. This is another. I have no problem with sentiment, if it is laid on with humor and artistry. This movie pokes delightful fun at almost every animated Disney movie ever made, while at the same time being true ... Read more »
Encounters at the End of the World
These days Werner Herzog seems to be doing almost as many documentaries as dramatic films. And, Werner being Werner, they tend to be about extreme places and/or obsessed—not to say crazy—people. You can’t get much more extreme than Antarctica. Did you know it’s one of the driest places on Earth? Less than two inches of precipitation per year in the interior, less than the Sahara. Of ... Read more »