Monthly Archives: June 2008

FILM REVIEW: ‘Mamma Mia!’

Posted on June 29, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – No matter how many blockbusters there are, Universal Pictures’ screen version of the global hit stage musical “Mamma Mia!” is the most fun to be had at the movies this or any other recent summer. … Continue reading →

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EDINBURGH FILM REVIEW: Robert Carlyle in ‘Summer’

Posted on June 28, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett EDINBURGH – Robert Carlyle and Steve Evets make a credible pair of survivors at the nasty end of life’s social stick as an ill-tempered dyslectic looking after his quadriplegic buddy in Kenny Glenaan’s uneven slice-of-life drama “Summer”. … Continue reading →

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EDINBURGH FILM REVIEW: Manijeh Hekmat’s ‘3 Women’

Posted on June 27, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett EDINBURGH – A woman and her mother and daughter each lose their way in Manijeh Hekmat’s “3 Women,” an observant but choppy portrait of life in modern Iran that treats heavy traffic and savage traditional practices with … Continue reading →

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EDINBURGH FILM REVIEW: Robert Beaucage’s ‘Spike’

Posted on June 27, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett EDINBURGH – When a car full of attractive people breaks down in the woods and things start to go bump in the night, American director Robert Beaucage’s creature feature “Spike” appears to be set on a well … Continue reading →

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EDINBURGH FILM REVIEW: ‘A Film With Me In It’

Posted on June 27, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett EDINBURGH – The bodies keep piling up and so do the laughs in Irish director Ian Fitzgibbon’s clever and very funny black farce “A Film With Me In It.” With an attitude towards sudden death as droll … Continue reading →

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EDINBURGH FILM BRIEF: Gerardo Olivares’ ’14 Kilometers’

Posted on June 27, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett EDINBURGH – The “14 Kilometers” in Gerardo Olivares’ ambitious tale of African refugees seeking a better life in Europe is the stretch of water that separates the northern tip of Africa from Spain. To reach it, the … Continue reading →

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The best little real ale pub in Edinburgh: Halfway House

Posted on June 25, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett No visit to Edinburgh is complete without stopping in at the Halfway House pub on Fleshmarket Close in Old Town between Cockburn Street and Market Street. It is one of the best real ale pubs in Britain … Continue reading →

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Comedian George Carlin dies

Posted on June 24, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett I saw George Carlin, who died today aged 71, perform live in Detroit and Los Angeles and he always put me on the floor. One of his most observant and funniest routines was simply about “stuff”: my … Continue reading →

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EDINBURGH FILM REVIEW: Juliette Binoche in ‘Summer Hours’

Posted on June 23, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett EDINBURGH – French filmmaker Olivier Assayas’s film “Summer Hours” was commissioned to help celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. Its depth of character, therefore, comes as something of a surprise. He has chosen … Continue reading →

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EDINBURGH FILM REVIEW: ‘Stone of Destiny’

Posted on June 23, 2008 by admin

By Ray Bennett EDINBURGH – The “Stone of Destiny” in Charles Martin Smith’s pedestrian new film is the macguffin that a group of Scottish nationalists plan to repatriate from the heart of England in order to encourage the movement for … Continue reading →

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