Category Archives: Film

TIFF FILM REVIEW: Natalie Portman in ‘Jackie’

Posted on September 13, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Chilean director Pablo Larrain’s “Jackie” purports to tell what Jacqueline Kennedy did in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. If the film is to be believed, the answer is: not … Continue reading →

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Amma Asante’s ‘A United Kingdom’

Posted on September 12, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Amma Asante’s “A United Kingdom” tells with wit and relish the true story of the Forties romance between a black African Prince and a white English typist and the perils they face in both their … Continue reading →

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Tom Ford’s ‘Nocturnal Animals’

Posted on September 12, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Tom Ford’s “Nocturnal Animals”, starring Amy Adams and Jake Gylenhaal, is a handsome but fragmented drama about a woman in her 40s who feels alienated from life until a novel written by a former husband … Continue reading →

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Garth Davis’s ‘Lion’

Posted on September 11, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – “Lion” tells the incredible true story of a 5 year-old Indian boy named Saroo who gets lost and ends up 1000 miles away from his impoverished family, lands in an orphanage and is adopted by … Continue reading →

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Oliver Stone’s ‘Snowden’

Posted on September 10, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Oliver Stone’s docudrama “Snowden”, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt as NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden, is a typically well-crafted Stone film that combines biography with a passionate defense of the man’s actions. Snowden is a hero in Stone’s … Continue reading →

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Arrival’

Posted on September 9, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Science-fiction movies that threaten to depict creatures from outer-space generally leave me cold but Denis Villeneuve’s “Arrival” presents a plausible “what if?” grounded in a contemplative question for humankind with another standout performance by Amy … Continue reading →

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: Pedro Almódovar’s ‘Julieta’

Posted on September 8, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Pedro Almódovar’s sublime “Julieta” is a reminder of how, in the hands of a master, a lifetime’s drama can be shown movingly and memorably in little more than an hour and a half of great … Continue reading →

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TIFF FILM REVIEW: ‘The Magnificent Seven’

Posted on September 8, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Antoine Fuqua’s “The Magnificent Seven” is a rousing Western adventure with stylish set pieces, interesting characters sketched quickly, and a great deal of carnage. It moves fast and loud and should please action fans and … Continue reading →

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Why Wilder and Brooks stopped making films together

Posted on August 31, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks made three films together and each one is regarded as a comedy classic. Neither man achieved the same degree of success on his own but Wilder, who died Monday aged … Continue reading →

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‘Jeannie’ Barbara Eden dreamed of being a TV cop

Posted on August 23, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Barbara Eden, who turns 85 today, is remembered most fondly as the sexy genie in the Sixties sitcom “I Dream of Jeannie” but what she really wanted to be was a TV cop.

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