Category Archives: Reviews

FILM REVIEW: ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Prince Philip once landed at Heathrow and someone asked him how was his flight. The Prince said, ‘Have you ever been on a plane? It was like that.” Much can be said of movie sequels. … Continue reading

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THEATRE REVIEW: ‘Much Ado About Nothing’

James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave in ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ at the Old Vic through Nov. 30. By Ray Bennett LONDON – To cast a pair of old-timers – James Earl Jones, 82, and Vanessa Redgrave, 76 – as … Continue reading

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TIFF FILM REVIEWS: ’12 Years a Slave’, ‘The Railway Man’, ‘Philomena’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Of three major films at the Toronto International Film Festival that deal with slavery – “12 Years a Slave”, “The Railway Man” and “Philomena” – it’s no surprise that the most gripping is the one … Continue reading

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Streep, Roberts in ‘August: Osage County’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO: At the start of “August: Osage County” an ageing poet and lifetime alcoholic leaves his family home to go drown in the lake and as the film goes on, the puzzle is why he hadn’t done … Continue reading

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Thompson, Bronson in ‘The Love Punch’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO: An embarrassment for all concerned, “The Love Punch” is an irredeemably stupid concoction that aims to please the older crowd by showing middle-aged, middle-class people behaving as foolishly as possible.

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Ron Howard’s ‘Rush’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Ron Howard’s Formula 1 racing picture “Rush” is top-class entertainment as it relates the 1970s rivalry between two very different drivers with intense drama on and off the track. Chris Hemsworth (“Thor”) stars as charismatic … Continue reading

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Daniel Radcliffe in ‘Kill Your Darlings’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Poetry and poets have seldom fared well in movies and “Kill Your Darlings”, in which Daniel Radcliffe plays “Howl” creator Allen Ginsberg as a young man, is no exception. Directed by New York filmmaker John … Continue reading

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Alfonso Cuaron’s ‘Gravity 3D’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Digital and 3D filmmaking will win more fans if the movies are anywhere as good as Alfonso Cuaron’s spectacularly fine “Gravity”. The picture shows none of the seams of CGI as it depicts with breath-taking … Continue reading

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Prisoners’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – The positive reviews of Canadian director Denis Villeneuve’s second film, a police procedural titled “Prisoners”, are a puzzle since “Criminal Minds” has done this stuff better week in and week out on TV for a … Continue reading

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Jude Law in ‘Dom Hemingway’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO: Petite and cultured Jude Law in his new film “Dom Hemingway” aspires to become a tough-guy London gangster type and fails risibly. He’s bulked up and balding but he’s more Phil Collins than Jason Statham in … Continue reading

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