Tag Archives: Michael Gambon

Cheers to our Will, not sorry old George

By Ray Bennett Today is St. George’s Day named for the patron saint of several places  such as Aragon, Catalonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal and Russia. Oh, and England. We English, of course, don’t mark April 23 in … Continue reading

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Stephen Frears’s ‘Victoria and Abdul’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – That Judy Dench stars as the venerable English queen in “Victoria and Albert” tells you all you need to know about what to expect from another tale of one of the widowed monarch’s odd friendships.

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TV REVIEW: Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins in ‘Cranford’

By Ray Bennett LONDON – As pretty as an English village green in summer and as bracing as a winter’s meadow brook, the BBC-TV’s new five-part period drama “Cranford”, which starts on Sunday, is an instant classic. Starring some of … Continue reading

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THEATRE REVIEW: ‘Henry IV Part 1 and Part 2’

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Nicholas Hytner’s immaculate National Theatre production of William Shakespeare’s “Henry IV, Part 1” is so vibrant and enthralling that it cries out to finally be made as a movie. Michael Gambon as Falstaff (above) and … Continue reading

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FILM REVIEW: Matthew Vaughn’s ‘Layer Cake’

By Ray Bennett LONDON – In Matthew Vaughn’s cleverly made British gangster film, the thing crooks always overlook is that the criminal world, like the English class system, is made up of layers. It’s very dangerous to forget what layer … Continue reading

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THEATRE REVIEW: Samuel Becket’s ‘Endgame’

By Ray Bennett LONDON – John Fowles, author of “The Magus” and “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”, once pictured Samuel Beckett as he goes home to Mrs. Beckett after a long day spent writing. He puts on his slippers and sits … Continue reading

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