Category Archives: Reviews

FILM REVIEW: ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’

Posted on June 16, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON — Designed to give devoted fans of the 2007 “Transformers,” which grossed more than $700 million worldwide, more of the same, Michael Bay’s sequel “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is a nonstop whirl of flying, battling … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: Helen Mirren in ‘Phaedre’

Posted on June 15, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – The National Theatre’s production of Jean Racine’s tragedy “Phaedre,” in a version by British poet Ted Hughes, is so full of “woe is me” lamentations that when John Shrapnel as Theramene begins his round-the-houses description … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: ‘The Cherry Orchard’ and ‘The Winter’s Tale’

Posted on June 10, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Simon Russell Beale leads a splendid British and American cast in William Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” and Anton Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard” as the Bridge Project – which began at the Brooklyn Academy of Music … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: Tom Stoppard’s ‘Arcadia’

Posted on June 9, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – There are many terrific productions on currently in London’s West End but none is better than the revival of “Arcadia” at the Duke of York’s theatre, which is revealed as probably Tom Stoppard’s finest play. … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: Jude Law in ‘Hamlet’

Posted on June 4, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Anyone who expects a fey and fragile prince from Jude Law in the Donmar’s new West End production of “Hamlet” is in for a surprise as he renders the troubled Dane as rugged and fit, … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: ‘Sister Act” the musical

Posted on June 3, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Brash and sentimental but witty and tuneful, the stage musical version of Whoopi Goldberg’s 1992 comedy film “Sister Act” is a foot-stomping, hand-clapping success with great songs by multiple Oscar-winner Alan Menken and a star-making … Continue reading →

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CANNES FILM REVIEW: Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Polytechnique’

Posted on May 23, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett CANNES – Denis Villeneuve’s “Polytechnique” is a dispassionate retelling of the massacre of 14 young women at a school in Montreal by a deranged young man with a high-powered rifle in December 1989. Filmed in black and … Continue reading →

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CANNES FILM REVIEW: Michel Franco’s ‘Daniel and Anna’

Posted on May 23, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett CANNES – Michel Franco’s prurient and off-putting little film “Daniel & Ana”, which screened in Directors’ Fortnight, is about a teenage brother and slightly older sister in Mexico City, who are kidnapped and forced to have sex … Continue reading →

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CANNES FILM REVIEW: ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’

Posted on May 22, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett CANNES – The first big question about Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” involves how the filmmaker managed to complete the film when his star Heath Ledger (below) died in the middle of shooting. The answer … Continue reading →

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CANNES FILM REVIEW BRIEF: Juraj Lehotsky’s ‘Blind Loves’

Posted on May 21, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett CANNES – Love is blind, the poets say, and the blind also love but it’s not so easy to clink glasses of celebratory champagne when you and your partner cannot see. Slovakian director Juraj Lehotsky observes this … Continue reading →

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