E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Suffused with a sense of wonder and open emotion, visuals and music ideally attuned to tale of lost alien befriended by boy in the suburbs. Irresistible film making, story and character punch home thrills, humor and feeling to achieve encompassing finale.
The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
Tense, enthralling WW2 tale as Michael Caine leads his crack German squad to kidnap Churchill while an Irish Donald Sutherland romances Jenny Agutter. Polished and professionally made, character development is highlighted before brutal bursts of violence. Aided by Lalo Schifrin's fine score.
Easy Living (1937)
Vibrant comedy underpinned by satiric swipes easily mixes the physical and verbal as struggling Jean Arthur discovers a discarded fur coat and association with arrogant tycoon Edward Arnold propels her up the social ladder. Ostentatious visuals highlight Depression-era setting. Lightly irresistible.
The Edge (1997)
Rugged B-movie action contrasts with elevated character and nature themes emboldened by feuding Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin crash-landing in brutal Alaskan landscapes to face ferocious Bart The Bear. Muscular, open visuals and propulsive Jerry Goldsmith score.
Edge Of Darkness (1943)
Vivid, visceral style builds tension for Norwegian village under savage Nazi rule, with resistance leaders Errol Flynn and Anne Sheridan finally inspiring bloody uprising. Dominant Franz Waxman score mirrors alternately earnest and melodramatic telling.
Eiffel (2021)
Attractively designed and persuasively scaled when pursuing the ambitious engineering dreams of erecting the Parisienne landmark, focus on driven Romain Duris' frustrated love for assured Emma Mackey is less compelling. Fictitious melodrama never grips despite appealing performers.
The Eiger Sanction (1975)
Strikingly framed climbing sequences, both in arid desert and freezing ice, pack vertiginous punch and tension. as art professor and retired assassin Clint Eastwood seeks revenge and profit. Rooted in 70s attitude, characters and plot make little sense, though action games maintain energy.
El Cid (1961)
Expansive storytelling and production, as honorable Charlton Heston loves strong Sophia Loren and becomes legendary leader in Medieval Spain. Anthony Mann's fluid sense of place, Robert Krasker's luminous visuals and Miklós Rózsa's musical emotion elevate to mythic resonance.
El Dorado (1966)
Robustly casual and good-natured, maintaining a brisk pace through both comedy and action, disabled hired gun John Wayne and washed-up sheriff Dean Martin team with old timer Arthur Hunicutt and inexpert gunman James Caan to confront crooked landowners. Enjoyably unoriginal.
The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain (2021)
Enjoyably reveling in eccentricities of principled artist Benedict Cumberbatch and relationship with joyful governess Claire Foy, shift in emphasis reveals more self-consciously quirky attitude that stifles emotion. Attractive design beguiles the senses.
Elle (2016)
Centered on a blazing, unrepentant Isabelle Huppert, Paul Verhoeven's tale is full of dangerous impulses and dark humour. Always surprising, the loose structure sees an independent woman assaulted in her home and gradually peels away past ghosts and present frustrations.
Elsa And Fred (2013)
Eccentric fantasist Shirley MacLaine and grouchy loner Christopher Plummer spark enjoyable comic timing and feed dramatic potential, let down by predictable story beats. Support cast strains with thin characters, not helped by wavering tone and soft resolution.
Elvis (2022)
Glitzy biopic zips through Presley's life with dynamic Austin Butler selling musical soul, while technical skill provides energy. Less certain of and socio-political relevance and perspective of Tom Hanks' exploitative Colonel, clouding drama and subduing involvement. Music continues to shine.
Embers (2015)
Isolation and loss, visually and mentally, skewer various characters suffering without memory in the aftermath of a global illness. Meditative and understated, the separate studies never quite coalesce, yet precise technique produce moments of effective unease and release.
Emily (2022)
Expressive design uses expansive landscapes and confined interiors to create heady atmosphere in which Emma Mackey's Emily Bronte burns through tragic love and is inspired to create feverish novel. Caustic approach sometimes awkward fit with melodrama. Spirited Abel Korzeniowski score.
Emily The Criminal (2022)
Persuasively gritty social background and fascination of grungy fraud provides texture for Aubrey Plaza's fierce evolvement from compromised victim. Confidently told through involving lead even when plot mechanics grind and dynamics stretch character tensions.
The End Of The Affair (1999)
Soaked in the dread of finality, visually and psychologically, fragmented memories of Julianne Moore and Ralph Fiennes' wartime affair is always intriguing rather than emotionally gripping. Driven performances allied to spiritual release provide an edge.
Enemy At The Gates (2001)
During the Battle Of Leningrad, celebrated Russian marksman Jude Law faces off against clinical German sniper Ed Harris, a violent cat and mouse intrigue across a hellish landscape. Impressive scale is gripping, political depth less secure and romantic sub-plot with Rachel Weisz unconvincing.
L'ennemi (The Enemy) (2020)
After populist politician Jérémie Renier finds broadcaster wife Alma Jodorowsky dead in hotel bathroom, revelations of fractious, unstable relationship provokes equally intense speculation. Commentary on prejudice is told with detached visuals and keeps narrative view intriguingly uncertain.
Enola Holmes (2020)
Brisk, colorful storytelling matches energetic appeal of Millie Bobby Brown's eponymous teenager seeking disappeared mother Helena Bonham Carter and proving independence from Henry Cavill's Sherlock. Though resolution eventually flags, fourth-wall breaking adventure remains highly enjoyable.
Enola Holmes 2 (2022)
Historical basis of Victorian matchgirls strike promotes theme of female empowerment for Millie Bobby Brown's sparky sleuth investigating missing worker. Energetic invention subdued with disjointed narrative, yet characters remain amusing company and tempo is brisk.
Eoneunal (One Day) (2017)
For the most part, an astute balance of sentimental drama and supernatural humour as grieving Kim Nam-gil finds he is the only one who sees inquisitive Chun Woo-hee outside of her comatose body. Brightly told, underpinned by social commentary, uneasy ending.
Éperdument (Down By Love) (2016)
Committed performances illuminate affair between discouraged prisoner Adèle Exarchopoulos and increasingly obsessed warden Guillaume Gallienne. Character and confined space create dramatic tension unraveled by floundering emotion and damp final act.
Equals (2015)
Clinical, sterile design reflects life as well as ponderous misery of central characters' awakening emotions in cold future. Technically robust, oppressive atmosphere contaminates narrative without relief and deadens Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult's relationship.
Escape Clause (1996)
Convoluted if uncomplicated, blunt social message on iniquitous methods of medical insurance crowbarred into revenge tale as edgily superior Andrew McCarthy doubts fidelity and intentions of wife before then suspected of her murder. Leaden thriller without thrills.
Escape From New York (1981)
Jumping off from concept of New York City transformed into a dystopian prison, cynical Kurt Russell is sent to rescue crashed president. Ticking clock narrative spurs controlled visual style, action and suspense set pieces melded with dark future and iconic hero.
Escape Plan (2013)
Efficiently tooled thriller places intuitive security expert Sylvester Stallone in high tech prison alongside calculating inmate Arnold Schwarzenegger, while Jim Caviezel rules with sadistic zeal. Action and narrative twists maintain interest, even if investment relies on performers rising above sketchy characters.
Escape To Athena (1979)
A sometimes awkward blend of comedy, action and wartime resistance drama as a bizarre confluence of international actors attempt to steal treasure from under German noses. It certainly looks good and features a terrific motorbike chase through winding Rhodes streets.
Escape To Burma (1955)
Standard jungle melodrama sees gritty Robert Ryan escape to plantation run by independent Barbara Stanwyck, while principled David Farrar hunts him for murder. Atmospheric sets provide suitably heightened backdrop. Action adventure and final twist less engaging.
Et Ta Soeur (Half Sister, Full Love) (2015)
Even when plot mechanics threaten to snap dramatic naturalism, bright, accessible cast manage to sell laughs and character conflict as discouraged Gregoire Ludig is stuck between half-sisters Virginie Efira and Geraldine Nakache in remote coastal home. Grounded visuals give atmosphere edge. [Faithful remake of Your Sister's Sister (2011)]
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga (2020)
Affection for the annual music festival that long ago became a self-parody, some funny sequences, and Rachel McAdams spirited performance, can't overcome the elongated running time. The riotous songs are both smart and fun.
Everybody Wins (1990)
Curiously uninvolving noir drama, with principled private detective Nick Nolte persuaded by jumpy Debra Winger to prove young convict innocent of murder. Persuasive talent fails to elevate themes of corrupt system legal system and morally bankrupt individuals.
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
Despite twisting plot strands, blurred genres, and weighty as well as playful metaphysics and philosophies, dramatic weight belongs with relationship between dimension jumping Michelle Yeoh and nihilistic daughter Stephanie Hsu. Slickly assembled confusion.
Ex Machina (2014)
Gleaming, clinical visuals mirror the narrative of a God-like recluse creating sentient AI and the android that seeks a life. Traditional, thoughtful sci-fi ideas and themes deepen the claustrophobia and Alicia Vikander is dangerously unpredictable as victim and manipulator.
The Exception (2016)
Involving, enticing love story masquerading as a thriller, with damaged Jai Courtney sent to guard the exiled Kaiser during German invasion of the Netherlands. Intense Lily James and playful Christopher Plummer compensate for drab hero. Unsurprising, enjoyably straightforward.
EXmas (2023)
Despite plot's predictable romantic contrivance, conceit of confident Leighton Meester spending Christmas with aborbed ex Robbie Amell's family is elevated by easy charm and wounding meanness of central couple. Dysfunctional support helps punch home laughs and energy, even if ending fizzles.
Exposed (2016)
Initially intriguing, told with keen visuals, story quickly comes off the rails, lost in confusing emphasis as dour cop Keanu Reeves investigates murder of corrupt colleague. More vital psychology of Ana de Armas, with the mystical and the gritty, messily lost.
Extinction (2018)
An often awkward combination of styles that piles on various twists that highlights concept rather than convincing, empathetic characters. The action of an alien invasion is efficient enough and family dynamics create tension, even if emotions are subdued and set pieces relentless.
Extraction (2020)
A bludgeoning, cruel experience that strips away any sense of character and story to provide an endless succession of action set-pieces as Chris Hemsworth shoots, slices and explodes everyone in his path to rescue a kidnapped boy. Cynically violent and loud.
The Extraordinary Journey Of The Fakir (2018)
Colourful design and energetic set pieces stand out from fractured, fantastical narrative as playful con artist Dhanush leaves Mumbai for Paris and meets rejuvenated Bérénice Bejo and insecure Erin Moriarty across Europe. Immigrant themes and musical numbers are more potent.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
Zac Efron is a convincing and charming serial killer, and the detail and design feel authentic, yet the shift in character perspective tends to dilute the emotion. Only with the final sequences does the intensity build with a dark, true sense of evil.
The Eye (2008)
Violin virtuoso Jessica Alba has eye transplant operation to enable sight, but is soon plagued by horrific visions of the original owner. Unfortunately, neither the narrative nor the visuals take advantage of the potential, fashioning a solidly professional if unremarkable thriller.
Eye Of The Needle (1981)
Produced with suitable grit and a deliberate, involving pace, vicious German spy Donald Sutherland is on the run with a vital secret, while lonely Kate Nelligan is the last person in his way on a remote Scottish island. Propulsive, romantic Rózsa score. Patchy narrative.
Eyes In The Night (1942)
Stilted yet intriguing Nazi spies stealing secrets yarn enlivened by our hero being blind and finding ways to wrest control with the aid of his intrepid Alsatian. A diverting Donna Reed features in the domestic drama sections, though the theatre asides add only to the running time.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Clinical, grainy visuals and burnished design create dreamy, off-kilter background for Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise's marital issues and sexual fantasies. Equally frustrating and intoxicating, weaving an unsettling air around fierce performances and caustic view.