Category Archives: Festival de Cannes

When Sean Connery offered me a Scotch …

Posted on August 25, 2015 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Sean Connery nudged my arm as a waiter hovered with a tray of champagne, and said, “They have Scotch, you know.” We were on the terrace on Elton John’s house on the cornish that overlooks Nice … Continue reading →

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The serious side of Playboy’s Hugh Hefner

Posted on April 9, 2015 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – At the Festival de Cannes in 1999, the Croisette was filled with promotions for “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and the buzzword was “shagadelic”. When The Hollywood Reporter Cannes Daily ran a picture … Continue reading →

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Glitz returns to the Festival de Cannes

Posted on July 6, 2011 by admin

By Ray Bennett CANNES – The champagne flowed like the old days at the 64th annual Festival de Cannes as the venerable film extravaganza drew filmmakers and stars, and lots of buyers and sellers doing business. Harvey Weinstein said it … Continue reading →

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CANNES FILM REVIEW: Julie Bertucelli’s ‘The Tree’

Posted on May 23, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett French-born filmmaker  Julie Bertucelli’s “The Tree” takes tree hugging to extremes. It will appeal to those who like to believe that upon death human beings take other forms, in this case a towering woody perennial, and bore … Continue reading →

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CANNES FILM REVIEW: ‘Carlos’ by Olivier Assayas

Posted on May 20, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett CANNES – Long, but illuminating and engrossing, “Carlos” directed by Olivier Assayas, details the extraordinary career of the international terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal. Shot in three parts for television, the five-hour and 33-minute production was … Continue reading →

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CANNES FILM REVIEW: Stephen Frears’s ‘Tamara Drewe’

Posted on May 18, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett CANNES – A film that claims to be a literary comedy set in England’s West Country based loosely on Thomas Hardy’s “Far From the Madding Crowd” had better deliver the goods, and Stephen Frears’ new film, “Tamara … Continue reading →

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CANNES FILM REVIEW: Janus Metz’s ‘Armadillo’

Posted on May 18, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett CANNES – Danish filmmaker Janus Metz’s gripping documentary feature “Armadillo”, named for a base in Afghanistan where soldiers from Denmark are fighting against the Taliban, already has created controversy in his homeland. The film depicts six months … Continue reading →

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CANNES FILM REVIEW: ‘5 by Favelas: Now By Ourselves’

Posted on May 18, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett CANNES – Five short films set in the hillside slums of Rio de Janeiro and directed by young filmmakers who live there make up a film titled “5 by Favelas: Now By Ourselves” that renews faith in … Continue reading →

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CANNES FILM REVIEW: Cam Archer’s ‘Shit Year’

Posted on May 17, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett CANNES – Ellen Barkin looks pretty good in black and white, but that’s about all that can be said for California director Cam Archer’s vacuous “Shit Year,” which practically demands the observation that the title is one … Continue reading →

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CANNES FILM REVIEW: Gilles Marchand’s ‘Black Heaven’

Posted on May 17, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett CANNES – The potential perils of anonymity on the Internet are employed for sinister effect in Gilles Marchand’s “Black Heaven” (L’Autre Monde), an intelligent thriller in which the suspense takes its time but pays off well at … Continue reading →

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