Category Archives: Reviews

TV REVIEW: The Coen Bros’ ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’

Posted on November 12, 2018 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – The Coen Brothers have taken Netflix for a ride with their anthology production ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’. It’s a western ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ in which they have dusted off some mostly hoary old … Continue reading →

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FILM REVIEW: Billy Wilder’s ‘Some Like It Hot’

Posted on November 4, 2018 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Billy Wilder’s 1959 comedy ‘Some Like It Hot’, which is running in selected theatres in the United Kingdom ahead of its 60th anniversary, is the funniest comedy you’ll see this year, or any year. Restored in 4K … Continue reading →

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FILM REVIEW: Drew Goddard’s ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’

Posted on October 11, 2018 by admin

By Raymond Bennett  LONDON – A priest, a traveling salesman, and two young women walk separately into a hotel-casino on the California/Nevada border and all hell breaks loose. They aren’t who they seem to be and neither is the exotic … Continue reading →

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Alfonso Cuaron’s ‘Roma’

Posted on September 14, 2018 by admin

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’

Posted on September 14, 2018 by admin

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’

Posted on September 14, 2018 by admin

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

Posted on September 13, 2018 by admin

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’

Posted on September 11, 2018 by admin

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’

Posted on September 10, 2018 by admin

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’

Posted on September 8, 2018 by admin

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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