Category Archives: Film

FILM REVIEW: Hilary Swank in ‘Amelia’

Posted on October 19, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Freckle-faced, prairie-voiced and fiercely independent, Hilary Swank’s depiction of aviator Amelia Earhart in Mira Nair’s biographical film “Amelia” is of a high order. It ranks with recent real-life portrayals of Ray Charles by Jamie Foxx … Continue reading →

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World Soundtrack Awards: Wins for Desplat, Rahman, Hamlisch

Posted on October 18, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett GHENT, Belgium – French Golden Globes Award-winner Alexandre Desplat (above right) was a double honouree at the 9th World Soundtrack Awards on Saturday as he was named film composer of the year and picked up the prize … Continue reading →

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McCartney, Coldplay winners at ASCAP London awards

Posted on October 15, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Paul McCartney was named songwriter of the year at the 29th annual ASCAP Awards in London on Wednesday night, as Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” won song of the year and Universal Music collected the publisher … Continue reading →

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There’s always a Ray in the movies, now there’s Blu-ray

Posted on October 4, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett There’s always a Ray in the movies. Scriptwriters really like the name. Michael Keaton, Dan Aykroyd and Gregory Hines each played a guy named Ray three times, Harvey Keitel twice. Kevin Costner was Ray in “Field Of … Continue reading →

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VENICE FILM REVIEW: Michele Placido’s ‘The Great Dream’

Posted on September 13, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett VENICE – A kind of Italian “The Way We Were” although without that film’s epic ambition, Michele Placido’s “Il Grande Sogno” (The Great Dream) tells of a love triangle set against the political turmoil and student protests … Continue reading →

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VENICE FILM REVIEW: George A. Romero’s ‘Survival of the Dead’

Posted on September 12, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett VENICE – George A. Romero’s latest zombie fest, “Survival of the Dead,” is a polished, fast-moving and entertaining picture whose mainstream success will depend on the mass audience tolerance of its tendency to become an abattoir of … Continue reading →

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VENICE FILM REVIEW: ‘Around a Small Mountain’

Posted on September 11, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett VENICE – Jacques Rivette’s “Around a Small Mountain” (36 vues du Pic Saint Loup) is a fable about chance encounters and lost love set against a small traveling circus in France but it feels more like the … Continue reading →

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VENICE FILM REVIEW: ‘Between Two Worlds’

Posted on September 11, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett VENICE – Striking images and the suggestion that life is a series of random events that might be repeated make “Between Two World”, Vimukthi Jayasundara’s tale of life in Sri Lanka, intriguing. With no narrative arc, the … Continue reading →

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VENICE FILM REVIEW: Fatih Akim’s ‘Soul Kitchen’

Posted on September 10, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett VENICE – Filled with boisterous good spirits, Fatih Akim’s “Soul Kitchen” tells of a young Greek-German man’s attempts to make a success of a funky restaurant despite a series of mishaps. The film won the Special Jury … Continue reading →

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VENICE FILM REVIEW: Shinya Tsukamoto ‘s ‘Tetsuo’

Posted on September 8, 2009 by admin

By Ray Bennett VENICE – Japanese filmmaker Shinya Tsukamoto shows what a “Transformers” movie would be like on a shoestring budget with “Tetsuo the Bullet Man”, which features a man whose mother was an android and whose half-human half-machine body … Continue reading →

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