Category Archives: Film

BERLIN FILM REVIEW: ‘Counting of the Damages’

Posted on February 13, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett BERLIN – It’s never a good sign at a festival press screening when the person to your right gets up and leaves after 15 minutes and the one to your left falls asleep, but they were both … Continue reading →

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BERLIN FILM REVIEW: ‘Arias With a Twist: The Docufantasy’

Posted on February 12, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett BERLIN – There are many who will take to the flamboyant New York performance artist Joey Arias immediately although some will find he has to grow on you. But he does grow on you in Bobby Sheehan’s … Continue reading →

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BERLIN FILM REVIEW: Semih Kaplanoglu’s ‘Honey’ (Bal)

Posted on February 11, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett BERLIN – The third film in Turkish filmmaker Semih Kaplanoglu’s trilogy about a young poet named Yusuf, “Honey” (Bal), sees him as a 6-year-old learning the harsh realities of nature as his beekeeper father disappears in the … Continue reading →

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FILM REVIEW: Andy Serkis in ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’

Posted on January 8, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Rowdy and a bit ragged but wholly entertaining, Mat Whitecross’s “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” is a biopic of British punk rocker Ian Dury with a sensational lead performance by Andy Serkis, best … Continue reading →

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‘Up’ director Pete Docter talks about his fly-away hit

Posted on January 5, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Pete Docter says that many people seem to have the impression that making computer animation is easy: “Somehow, they think, oh, it’s computers. You just type in ‘make movie’ and enter. They have the thought … Continue reading →

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‘Up In the Air’ tops my 2009 Top 10 list

Posted on January 1, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett Jason Reitman’s ‘Up In the Air’, starring George Clooney and Vera Farmiga (pictured) with Anna Kendrick, is my pick as the best movie released in the United States in 2009. My Top 10 list for The Hollywood … Continue reading →

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FILM REVIEW: ‘St. Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold’

Posted on December 18, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Strident, clumsy and pointless, “St. Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold” is a sequel to the 2007 attempt to revive the squealing sexy schoolgirl appeal of a series of Ealing Comedies from the 1950s. … Continue reading →

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Sergey Dvortsevoy’s brilliant ‘Tulpan’ opens in UK

Posted on November 13, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett I had a very enjoyable dinner at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival two summers ago with Kazakhstan film director Sergey Dvortsevoy to celebrate his marvelous film “Tulpan”, which finally reaches cinemas in the United Kingdom this … Continue reading →

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FILM REVIEW: Sam Taylor-Wood’s ‘Nowhere Boy’

Posted on October 29, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Sam Taylor-Wood’s “Nowhere Boy” is a passable look at the early life of John Lennon when he was estranged from his mother and raised by his aunt. Fans who hope to discover more about the … Continue reading →

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FILM REVIEW: Ray Winstone in ’44-inch Chest’

Posted on October 22, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – When a man’s wife breaks the news that she has met someone else after 21 years of marriage, the husband and four friends kidnap her lover while they decide if they should kill him in Malcolm … Continue reading →

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