Monthly Archives: March 2007

TV REVIEW: The new ‘Doctor’ prognosis is excellent

By Ray Bennett “All the world’s a stage,” says the doctor. “Hmm,” says the playwright, “I might use that.” As the playwright is William Shakespeare, you know he will. One of the pleasures of the reinvented “Doctor Who” series, returning … Continue reading

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TV REVIEW: Sally Hawkins in ITV’s ‘Persuasion’

By Ray Bennett ITV’s excellent new version of “Persuasion” airing Sunday is the best of the U.K. commercial channel’s season of new Jane Austen adaptations. All three were coproductions with WGBH Boston and will be seen in the United States … Continue reading

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FILM REVIEW: ‘The Lives of Others’

By Ray Bennett The McGuffin in Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s vastly overrated film about state repression, “The Lives of Others,” which opens in the U.K. on April 13, is a manual typewriter with a red ribbon. Just the thing you … Continue reading

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FILM REVIEW: Rowan Atkinson’s ‘Mr. Bean’s Holiday’

By Ray Bennett LONDON — Calling his new film “Mr. Bean’s Holiday” sets the bar awfully high for the latest adventures of Rowan Atkinson’s bumbling comic creation. It inevitably invites comparison with Jacques Tati’s priceless 1953 farce “Mr. Hulot’s Holiday.” … Continue reading

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Theatre review: Maggie Smith in ‘The Lady from Dubuque’

  By Ray Bennett LONDON — The appearance of the Grim Reaper at a dinner party is social death, as Monty Python once demonstrated. It’s true even when, as in Edward Albee’s darkly comic and highly entertaining “The Lady From … Continue reading

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‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ dazzles in home entertainment

By Ray Bennett Triple Academy Award-winner “Pan’s Labyrinth,” Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro’s engrossing fantasy picture that combines mesmerizing visual effects with harsh drama, has become Optimum Releasing’s fastest-selling foreign-language DVD in the U.K. Optimum said the 2-disc edition, which … 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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Elton John at 60 recalling happy days

By Ray Bennett I can recall when none of my friends wanted to see Elton John, who turns 60 today. It was 1971 and the only Elton John record anyone had heard was the ballad “Your Song.” I was working … Continue reading

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TV REVIEW: Jonathan Pryce is right as Sherlock Holmes

By Ray Bennett LONDON — Putting together the correct elements for a cracking good Sherlock Holmes yarn is not as elementary as it might seem but the BBC appears to have the mix right in “Sherlock Holmes and the Baker … Continue reading

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TV REVIEW: Felicity Jones in ‘Northanger Abbey’

By Ray Bennett Lust and adventure figure in Andrew Davies’s imaginative and entertaining adaptation of “Northanger Abbey” starring Felicity Jones and JJ Feild (pictured), the second in ITV’s Jane Austen season airing Sunday at 9 p.m. on ITV1. Here’s how … Continue reading

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