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Category Archives: Comment
How ‘Oz’ made Judy Garland a legend
By Ray Bennett LONDON – Judy Garland was born 100 years ago today and died more than half a century ago but her legend lives on. Mostly, that is thanks to the enduring popularity of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Film, Music
Tagged 'Over the Rainbow', 'The Wizard of Oz', Bert Lahr, Fred Astaire, Jack Haley, James Mason, Judy Garland, Louis B. Mayer, Mervyn LeRoy, Mickey Rooney, Ray Bolger, Shirley Temple
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When Warren Beatty changed Hollywood forever
By Ray Bennett LONDON – One afternoon early in September 1967, the film writers and critics of London gathered in a West End cinema for a screening of a gangster movie starring a pretty-boy Hollywood actor. The cinema was packed … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Film, Memory Lane, Recalling ...
Tagged 'Bonnie & Clyde', 'Heaven Can Wait', 'Shampoo', 'Splendor in the Grass', Faye Dunaway, Jack Warden, James Mason, Julie Christie, Natalie Wood, Warren Beatty
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Me and the Bengals and a man named Benny
By Ray Bennett LONDON – Two years after arriving in Canada in the late Sixties, I joined The Windsor Star newspaper just across the river from Detroit and discovered American football. In the office, aside from the sportswriters, the most … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Memory Lane
Tagged Anson Mount, Benny Grant, Cincinnati Bengals, Playboy Magazine, Super Bowl, The Windsor Star
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Memory Lane: The time before everything was streamed
By Ray Bennett LONDON – Living, as I do, in turn-of-the-century London, it’s easy to become nostalgic for the long-ago 1900s. I know we’re just a few weeks into 2000 but it seems like forever. I recall the first single … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Film, Memory Lane, Music
Tagged 'Long Tall Sally', 'Love Me or Leave Me', cyberspace, Doris Day, Internet, Little Richard
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MEMORY LANE: On being British
By Ray Bennett (November 1999) LONDON: We British cherish our loonies and it it’s no surprise that the House of Lords has lasted so long. Only last week, a bill was passed in the House of Lords than deprives hereditary … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Memory Lane
Tagged BBC, House of Lords
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BFI celebrates the films of Robert Altman in major season
By Ray Bennett LONDON – Robert Altman movies spanning five decades are to be screened in a major season at the British Film Institute. Running from May 17 to July 31, the programme will present 34 films in chronological order … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Film, News
Tagged 'Nashville', BFI, Robert Altman
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My wish list for the 2020 Oscars: ‘Little Women’
Best Picture My favourite film of the year is Greta Gerwig’s ‘Little Women’ with its splendid filmmaking, intelligent update of the story and wonderful performances. The film I admire most is Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Parasite’ with its biting satire, great comedy, … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Film
Tagged Alfre Woodard, Bong Joon-ho, Cho Yeo-jeong, Diane Warren, Florence Pugh, Joaquin Phoenix, Kang-ho Song, Oscars 2020; 'Little Women'; 'Parasite', Timothée Chalamet
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‘The Go-Between’ and ‘The Criminal’ restored for Blu-ray
By Ray Bennett LONDON – Blacklisted American film director Joseph Losey was a major force in British cinema in the 1960s and ’70s and two of his best pictures – ‘The Go-Between’ and ‘The Criminal’ – will be released on … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Film, News
Tagged 'The Criminal', 'The Go-Between', Alan Bates, John Dankworth, Joseph Losey, Julie Christie, Michel Legrand, Stanley Baker, Studiocanal, Vintage Classics
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Film Review Brief: Trevor Nunn’s ‘Red Joan’
By Ray Bennett LONDON – Trevor Nunn’s slightly old-fashioned espionage drama ‘Red Joan’, which opens in the United Kingdom today, won’t set any box-office records but it is an absorbing drama. Sophie Cookson (pictured above with Stephen Campbell Moore) is … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Film
Tagged George Fenton, Red Joan', Sophie Cookson, Toronto Inernational Film Festival, Trevor Nunn
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There’s always a Ray in the movies
By Ray Bennett LONDON – From ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ to ‘Ghostbusters’ to ‘Field of Dreams’ and now ‘Raymond & Ray’, there’s always a Ray in the movies and television.