By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Jessica Swale’s thoroughly entertaining play “Nell Gwynn”, about the strumpet turned actress who beguiled a king of England and became a queen of the London stage, is filled with laughter and music and a few tears and best of all Gemma Arterton in the title role. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – The Natural History Museum’s exhibition “Otherworlds: Visions of Our Solar System”, on show now through May 15, is as good as a movie as it takes visitors on a journey through space with spectacular still images and clever dialogue, and it even has a terrific score by Brian Eno. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – The infamous treatment of filmmakers in Hollywood during the communist witch hunt of the 1940s and 1950s should have made for a powerful movie but Jay Roach’s “Trumbo” misses the target. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – In the discussion about diversity in the top prizes of the Academy Awards, the depth of the problem for the Academy is clear as in the 14 awards from 2001 to last year, on the AMPAS database I could find only one Latin American (Benicio Del Toro) nominated for 70 acting spots and only two black men (America’s Lee Daniels and the U.K.’s Steve McQueen) and two female directors (Sophia Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow) were among the 70 nominees for best director. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – There was only one standing ovation at the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards Sunday night and it was for someone who was not there: Alan Rickman, who died on January 14.
The audience responded immediately and enthusiastically when Kate Winslet, as she accepted the award for best supporting actress for “Steve Jobs”, said tearfully that it seemed odd to celebrate in a week that had seen the loss of her co-star and director. The applause was loud and sustained. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – On Oct. 8 1972, a new young artist from England played his sixth U.S. concert in Detroit at the Fisher Theatre. This is what I wrote in The Windsor Star newspaper two days later: Remember the name. In rock ‘n’ roll there was Elvis Presley and the Beatles and now there is David Bowie. Forty-three years on and that hasn’t changed.
After an extraordinary career, Bowie has died of cancer aged 69. I was lucky enough to see him perform several times in Detroit but I’ll always remember that first revelation.
My review continued: Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – Quentin Tarantino’s western “The Hateful Eight” reveals him as a horrible sham who relies on the skills of talented filmmakers to make his pictures look and sound great despite his absence of talent as a director. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – The nominees for original music in the Bafta Film Awards announced this morning are Thomas Newman for “Bridge of Spies”, Ennio Morricone for “The Hateful Eight”, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Carsten Nicolai for “The Revenant”, Jóhann Jóhannsson for “Sicario” and John Williams for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. Continue reading
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – If you like musical theatre, beg, borrow or steal a ticket to see the Chichester Festival Theatre’s dazzling production of Broadway classic “Guys and Dolls”, which opens at the Savoy Theatre on Jan. 6 and runs to March 12.
The good news is that it will then tour the United Kingdom. A critical and popular hit at Chichester, the show was presented in a few other cities and so in previews in the West End from Dec. 10 it is already pitch perfect. Continue reading
Six things we learned from the 88th Academy Awards
By Ray Bennett
LONDON – There were not many surprises at the 88th Academy Awards on Sunday but we did discover a few things about Oscar, predictions, balloting, marketing, music, and sentimental choices.
1/ Hollywood will always protect the brand. Continue reading →