Category Archives: Places

EDINBURGH FILM REVIEW: Gideon Koppel’s ‘Sleep Furiously

By Ray Bennett EDINBURGH – Lyrical and haunting, Gideon Koppel’s documentary feature “Sleep Furiously” is a love letter to a way of life in rural Wales that is fast disappearing. It is filled with images of the faces and hands … Continue reading

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CANNES: Woody goes Spanish for ‘Barcelona’ soundtrack

By Ray Bennett CANNES – As usual, Woody Allen has scored his new movie, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (which stars Penelope Cruz, left) with synch tracks but instead of the American standards that accompany his Manhattan movies, this time he’s gone … Continue reading

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Festival de Cannes preview: Here comes Indy!

By Ray Bennett LONDON – No question about what film will get the most attention at this year’s Festival de Cannes. Steven Spielberg’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” came in atop a list of the summer’s … Continue reading

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‘Carmen’ casts a spell at the Royal Opera House

By Ray Bennett A long overdue visit to London’s Royal Opera House Friday was a revelation. The vast gorgeous white complex, overhauled in the 1990s, is breathtaking even before you enter the beautiful auditorium. The prices are jaw-dropping but when … Continue reading

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Soho club owner Paul Raymond dies

By Ray Bennett Soho multi-millionaire Paul Raymond, who has died at 82, looks like Peter Sellers on a very bad day in the photos run alongside his obituary in the newspapers. He made his money from nudie magazines and cabaret … Continue reading

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I am trying very, very hard

  He who binds to himself a joy, does the wingéd life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies, lives in eternity’s sunrise — William Blake My photo: Maiden Castle in Dorset near Dorchester, England

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Feat of clay: Terracotta Army marches on

By Ray Bennett The exhibition of China’s 2,000-year-old terracotta warriors at the British Museum is everything it’s cracked up to be. Some 100,000 tickets were sold in advance of the six-month display of a small group of the immense army … Continue reading

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Ye Olde Steak House: a fond farewell

By Ray Bennett I’ve eaten in a great number of restaurants in my life, good, bad and indifferent, but only two ever captured my heart. One is Dan Tana’s on Santa Monica Boulevard, the most enjoyable dining establishment in Los … Continue reading

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And now for something different in Trafalgar Square

By Ray Bennett The sci-fi nuts were out in London’s Leicester Square Monday night for the U.K. premiere of “Spider-Man 3” but a block away on Trafalgar Square it was all about St. George and coconuts. As Monty Python’s famous giant … Continue reading

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Delivering ‘Northanger’ romance at Lismore Castle

By Ray Bennett The daunting edifice in “Northanger Abbey,” ITV’s new version of the Jane Austen novel that aired tonight starring Felicity Jones and JJ Feild (pictured), is actually Lismore Castle in County Waterford, Ireland. Andrew Davies, who wrote the … Continue reading

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