Monthly Archives: September 2018

TIFF FILM REVIEW: Alfonso Cuaron’s ‘Roma’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Directors often claim full authorship of their movies in the credits but if ever someone merited that it is Alfonso Cuarón who is the writer, co-editor, cinematographer, producer and director of his dramatic masterpiece titled … Continue reading

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: David Mackenzie’s ‘Outlaw/King’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Chris Pine keeps his Scots burr soft and believable in ‘Outlaw/King’, the saga of Robert the Bruce, the 14th century leader who succeeded where William (Braveheart) Wallace failed in uniting the Scottish clans to fight … Continue reading

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Steve McQueen’s ‘Widows’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Forget the shallow glitz of ‘Ocean’s 8’, the women in Steve McQueen’s full-of-surprises caper movie ‘Widow’ really mean business. The British filmmaker (‘Hunger’, ‘2 Years a Slave’) brings his serious view of the world to … Continue reading

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TIFF18 BRIEFS: ‘Colette’, ‘Non-Fiction’, ‘American Woman’, ‘The Front Runner’, ‘Red Joan’, ‘The Old Man and the Gun’, ‘Vita & Virginia’, ‘Destroyer’

From the Toronto International Film Festival

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Peter Farrelly’s ‘Green Book’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – You don’t expect gentleness and warmth from one of the Farrelly Brothers but that’s exactly what you get in Peter Farrelly’s crowd-pleasing fact-based film ‘Green Book’. Viggo Mortensen and Mahersaha Ali complement each other as … Continue reading

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Brady Corbet’s ‘Vox Lux’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Just as in ‘Jackie’ two years ago, Natalie Portman gives a scintillating performance of a driven and complicated woman in a not very successful picture. Director and screenwriter Brady Corbet’s ‘Vox Lux’, which tells of … Continue reading

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Damien Chazelle’s ‘First Man’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – From the very first image of a man in a narrow tin bucket rattling horribly and bouncing at furiously high speed off the atmosphere, Damien Chazelle’s terrific ‘First Man’ focuses on the terrifyingly claustrophobic nature … Continue reading

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Pawel Pawlikowski’s ‘Cold War’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Pawel Pawlikowski’s ‘Cold War’ is a masterpiece. It’s the story of two lovers whose struggle to be together evokes the complexities of life in Poland following World War II as the richness, beauty and contradictions … Continue reading

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Bradley Cooper’s ‘A Star Is Born’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Enjoyment of Bradley Cooper’s reimagined ‘A Star is Born’ depends almost entirely on having a taste for the singing of Lady Gaga. Her many fans will surely love it. For those less enamoured, probably not. … Continue reading

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Mike Leigh’s ‘Peterloo’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – British director Mike Leigh’s latest, ‘Peterloo’, is a handsome period piece about a terrible incident in British history following victory over Napoleon at Waterloo when working class protestors in a 19th century English town were cut … Continue reading

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