Category Archives: Film

Silent screen beauty Anita Page dies at 98

Posted on September 9, 2008 by admin

This is how Anita Page’s obituary begins in The Guardian: When Gene Kelly sang You Were Meant for Me to Debbie Reynolds in Singin’ in the Rain (1952), there was an echo of the first time this romantic ballad was performed on … Continue reading →

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VENICE: Guillermo Arriaga worries about ‘The Burning Plain’

Posted on September 8, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett VENICE – Veteran screenwriter and first-time director Guillermo Arriaga sat by the pool at a hotel on the Venice Lido and confessed that he was not calm, not calm at all. He completed his film “The Burning … Continue reading →

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VENICE: ‘The Wrestler’ wins the Golden Lion

Posted on September 6, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett U.S. movie “The Wrestler” won the Golden Lion for best picture at the Venice International Film Festival on Saturday at the close of the 11-day competition on the Lido. The film stars Mickey Rourke as an ageing … Continue reading →

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VENICE FILM REVIEW: Gerardo Naranjo’s ‘I’m Gonna Explode’

Posted on September 4, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett VENICE – Two restless teenagers decide to run away together but do it by camping out on the roof of the boy’s rich father’s hilltop villa in Mexican filmmaker Gerardo Naranjo’s effervescent thriller “I’m Gonna Explode.” Engaging … Continue reading →

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VENICE FILM REVIEW: Bohdan Slama’s ‘A Country Teacher’

Posted on September 4, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett VENICE – A big-city natural history teacher arrives at a small rural Czech school and makes a great impression until his unresolved emotions about being homosexual threaten to ruin his life in Bohdan Slama’s absorbing drama. An … Continue reading →

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VENICE FILM REVIEW: Sallie Aprahamian’s ‘Broken Lines’

Posted on September 4, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett VENICE – Sallie Aprahamian’s film is a dour romance involving a man conflicted following the death of his domineering father and a woman who feels trapped having to look after a disabled partner. Written by leads Dan … Continue reading →

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VENICE FILM REVIEW: Coen Bros’ ‘Burn After Reading’

Posted on September 4, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett VENICE – When Randy Newman was writing the score for the Mel Gibson western “Maverick,” director Richard Donner asked him if he could write some funny music. “Funny music? What’s funny music?” asked Newman. “I could stick … Continue reading →

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VENICE FILM REVIEW: Werner Schroeter’s ‘Nuit de chien’

Posted on September 3, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett VENICE – Noir doesn’t get any darker than in Werner Schroeter’s film version of Uruguayan novelist Juan Carlos Onetti’s “Nuit de chien” (Tonight), a grim tale set in a state-controlled South American city torn apart by competing … Continue reading →

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VENICE FILM REVIEW: Haile Gerima’s ‘Teza’

Posted on September 3, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett VENICE – An idealistic doctor returns from years in Western Europe to help his African nation fight poverty and hunger and is caught between a criminal military regime and an implacable resistance movement in Haile Gerima’s film … Continue reading →

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VENICE FILM REVIEW: Semih Kaplanoglu’s ‘Milk’

Posted on September 3, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett VENICE – Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu’s slow and perplexing feature “Milk” has something to do with how hard it is for young men in rural Central Anatolia to leave their mothers, but its point is obscured in … Continue reading →

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