Category Archives: Film

TIFF19 announces first galas and closing film ‘Radioactive’

Posted on July 24, 2019 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Working Title’s 19th-century biopic “Radioactive”, starring Rosamund Pike (pictured) as Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie, will have its world premiere at the closing gala of the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 14. Organisers announced … Continue reading →

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Robbie Robertson and The Band doc to open TIFF 2019

Posted on July 18, 2019 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – The documentary feature ‘Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band’ will have its world premiere at the Opening Night Gala of the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 5, TIFF announced today.

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Sidney Lumet on high comedy and great acting

Posted on June 25, 2019 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – American filmmaker Sidney Lumet, who was born 95 years ago today and died in 2011, made a series of fine and gripping social dramas from the 1950s through the 1980s but he was a big … Continue reading →

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‘Under Fire’ with Nolte, Cassidy and Hackman new on Blu-ray

Posted on June 17, 2019 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Great news! Roger Spottiswood’s excellent  1983 political thriller ‘Under Fire’ starring Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman, Joanna Cassidy,  Ed Harris and Jean-Louis Trintignant is out today on Blu-ray Disc in the U.K. from Eureka Entertainment.

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FILM REVIEW: Natalie Portman in ‘Vox Lux’

Posted on May 3, 2019 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 opens today … Continue reading →

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Film Review Brief: Trevor Nunn’s ‘Red Joan’

Posted on April 19, 2019 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Trevor Nunn’s slightly old-fashioned espionage drama ‘Red Joan’, which opens in the United Kingdom today, won’t set any box-office records but it is an absorbing drama. Sophie Cookson (pictured above with Stephen Campbell Moore) is … Continue reading →

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On Stanley Kubrick’s ‘A Clockwork Orange’

Posted on April 5, 2019 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Stanley Kubrick’s controversial ‘A Clockwork Orange’ starring Malcolm McDowell is re-released in the United Kingdom today. As always with Kubrick, it is a striking combination of visual power, evocative music and powerful drama. Now controversial … Continue reading →

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Michael Caine: recalling a class act at the 2000 Oscars

Posted on March 14, 2019 by admin

By Ray Bennett Spending time with Michael Caine is always a pleasure and since today is his 86th birthday, here’s one of my favourite encounters from 2000. LOS ANGELES – It’s ironic that the word on everyone’s lips following Michael Caine’s … Continue reading →

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FILM REVIEW: Cruz and Bardem in ‘Everybody Knows’

Posted on March 8, 2019 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Married Spanish Oscar-winners Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem have become a reliable partnership onscreen and their latest feature together, ‘Everybody Knows’, is a bright addition to their canon. It opens today in the United Kingdom.

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FILM REVIEW: Adam McKay’s ‘Vice’

Posted on January 27, 2019 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – American writer-director Adam McKay’s political satire ‘Vice’ does for Washington what his 2015 film ‘The Big Short’ did for Wall Street with the same mix of techniques that includes sharp humour, characters speaking to camera, … Continue reading →

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