Category Archives: Comment

20 Gene Hackman films you must see

By Ray Bennett With most movie stars it’s not very difficult to sort out a Top 10 of your favourite films but Gene Hackman’s exceptional 40-year career has included so many terrific performances in such a wide range of films … Continue reading

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My picks for the best in film in 2014

By Ray Bennett My Top 10 Films of 2014 Grand Budapest Hotel, Under the Skin, Birdman, Into the Woods, The Imitation Game, Big Eyes, Nightcrawler, Only Lovers Left Alive, The Theory of Everything, Pride.

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Upcoming movies: The winners

By Ray Bennett A snapshot preview of some of the movies to be released over the holiday period and into the New Year. These are the ones that work.

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Upcoming movies: The losers

By Ray Bennett A snapshot preview of some of the movies to be released over the holiday period and into the New Year. These are the ones that don’t work.

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FILM REVIEW: ‘American Sniper’ and ‘Unbroken’

By Ray Bennett Upcoming Hollywood war films “American Sniper” and “Unbroken” are long and grim with a great deal of violence and suffering and they just seem … empty. Directed by Clint Eastwood, “American Sniper” tells of Chris Kyle (Bradley … Continue reading

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Top 10 movies of 2013

By Ray Bennett It’s a very tough call to rank the best movies of 2013 as the top bunch are all so good, but here’s my list:

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My picks for the 2013 Academy Awards

By Ray Bennett Anticipation of this year’s Academy Awards was a pleasure with many great films and terrific performances but then came the nominations for the prizes that lead up to the Oscars and it all went pear-shaped. Inexplicable awards … Continue reading

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Lancaster, Curtis and La Lollo fly high in ‘Trapeze’

By Ray Bennett LONDON – One year before Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis made cynical music together in Alexander Mackendrick’s “Sweet Smell of Success”, they spent some time flying through the air for Carol Reed in “Trapeze”. The 1956 circus … Continue reading

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Krakow festival puts some steel into film music

By Ray Bennett KRAKOW, Poland – Julie Taymor talks about meeting Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono when she made “Across The Universe”, which is filled with Beatles music. Taymor and McCartney alone sit next to each other in a screening … Continue reading

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Best Film in 2011: ‘The Artist’, plus more of the year’s best

By Ray Bennett Here are my choices for the best in film in 2011. Some of these films will be released in the UK over the next couple of months but they are all eligible for the major awards. Best … Continue reading

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