Category Archives: Film

Drinking wine in the sunshine with Patrick Swayze

Posted on August 18, 2017 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Patrick Swayze jumped menacingly from the corral fence to the dusty ground of his ranch in the flats next to the Angeles Forest in La Canada. “Steve McQueen said what?” he said. “There’s nothing tough … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Music | Tagged 'Dirty Dancing', 'North and South', Jennifer Grey, Lesley Anne Down, Lisa Niemi, Patrick Swayze, Patsy Swayze, Steve McQueen | Comments Off

FILM REVIEW: Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Wind River’

Posted on August 4, 2017 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – The bleak but beautiful frozen wilds of Utah substitute readily for Montana in Taylor Sheridan’s taut, violent and gripping crime drama “Wind River” in which Jeremy Renner is both cool and moving as a troubled … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Reviews | Tagged 'Wind River', Ben Richardson, Elizabeth Olsen, Graham Greene, Jeremy Renner, Jon Bernthal, Nick Cave, Tantoo Cardinal, Taylor Sheridan, The Weinstein Company, Warren Ellis | Comments Off

The night Jeanne Moreau and I had square bottoms

Posted on July 31, 2017 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Standing alone in the middle of the stalls before a concert in Ghent, I saw the petite figure of a woman enter the hall and stroll to the seat directly in front of me. She … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Memory Lane | Tagged Burt Lancaster, Flanders International Film Festival, Jeanne Moreau, Orson Welles, Tony Curtis | Comments Off

FILM REVIEW: Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dunkirk’

Posted on July 22, 2017 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” is a spectacular fireworks show filled with exciting action but as a record of an iconic World War II event it falls short and as human drama it’s a damp squib. When … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Reviews | Tagged 'Dunkirk', Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, Fionn Whitehead, Hans Nejrno, Hans Zimmer, IMAX, Jack Lowdon, Joe Wright, Keith Park, Kenneth Brannagh, Mark Rylace, Operation Dynamo, Science Museum, Seamus McGarvey, Tom Hardy, Warner Bros. | Comments Off

Do film critics matter any more?

Posted on July 13, 2017 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – When everyone is a critic, who needs critics? It’s a question asked more and more in the movie industry as the ranks of mainstream critics dwindle and the tide of those with something to say online … Continue reading →

Posted in Comment, Film, Media, News | Tagged Anna Smith, Charles Gant, Charles McDonald, David Gritten, Henry Fitzherbert, Jason Solomons, Sean Evans, Zak Brilliant | Comments Off

FILM REVIEW: Vincent Perez’s ‘Alone in Berlin’

Posted on June 30, 2017 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – For those who have not read Hans Fallada’s terrifying novel “Alone in Berlin”, Vincent Perez’s film version is probably a mildly absorbing drama about two people bucking the odds. For those who have read it, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Music, Reviews | Tagged Alexandre Desplat, Alone in Berlin, Brendan Gleeson, Daniel Bruhl, Emma Thompson, Hans Fallada, Vincent Perez | Comments Off

Lalo Schifrin on his love of the music for ‘Tango’

Posted on June 21, 2017 by admin

By Ray Bennett Argentinian composer Lalo Schifrin, who turns 85 today, is known for his concerts, recordings, film scores such as “Bullitt”, “Cool Hand Luke” and “Dirty Harry” and TV shows such as “Mission: Impossible” and “Mannix” but one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Memory Lane, Music | Tagged 'Bullitt', 'Cool Hand Luke', 'Dirty Harry', 'Mannix', 'Mission: Impossible', 'Tango', Aleph Records, Ástor Piazzolla, Carlos Saura, Dizzy Gillespie, Lao Schifrin, Three Tenors, Vittorio Storer | Comments Off

Twenty of the best films of the century so far

Posted on June 19, 2017 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – The New York Times critics have named their choices of the best movies of the 21st century so far. They include titles such as “I’m Not There”, “L’Enfant” and “The 40-Year Old Virgin” but … Continue reading →

Posted in Comment, Film | Tagged '12', 'All Is Lost', 'Carlos', 'Children of Men', 'Happy-Go-Lucky', 'I Served the King of England', 'Julieta', 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, 'The Band's Visit', 'The Educators', 'The Master', 'The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes', 'Tulpan', 'Under the Skin', 20 best films of 2017, Apocalypto, New York Times 25 best films of 2017, Synecdoche N.Y., Taiyang zhaocheng shengqi, The Constant Gardener, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Sun Also Rises | 1 Comment

A subjective list of movie scores that I like very much

Posted on June 5, 2017 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – “A good music score,” two-time Academy Award winner Randy Newman told me, “cannot turn a bad movie into a good movie but it can raise its IQ by a couple of notches.” My friends at … Continue reading →

Posted in Comment, Film, Music | Tagged Film scores, soundtracks, World Soundtrack Awards | Comments Off

Memories of KFMF’s brilliant 2017 birthday party

Posted on May 28, 2017 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Most big film shindigs including Festival de Cannes and events from Berlin to Venice are like being in a bubble. When you’re there, nothing else matters. As soon as it’s over, you forget about it. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Krakow Film Music Festival, Music | Tagged Agata Grabowiecka, Andrea Marlowe, Christine Russell, Doreen Ringer-Ross, Eleni Mitsiaki, Gary Marlowe, Gorka Oteisa, Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, Jean-Michel Bernard, Joanna Broniec, Jon Broxton, KFMF, Krakow Film Music Festival, Martin Tillman, Michael Todd, Peter Ebbinghaus, Ray Costa, Restauracja Destino, Richard Bellis, Robert Piaskowski, Robert Townson, Sara Andon, Shaun LeMone, Trevor Morris, Valerie Dobbelaere, Zoe Morris | Comments Off