Category Archives: Comment

My picks for the 2013 Academy Awards

Posted on February 24, 2013 by admin

By Ray Bennett Anticipation of this year’s Academy Awards was a pleasure with many great films and terrific performances but then came the nominations the prizes that lead up to the Oscars and it all went pear-shaped. Inexplicable awards have … Continue reading →

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Lancaster, Curtis and La Lollo under the Big Top in ‘Trapeze’

Posted on July 20, 2012 by admin

By Ray Bennett One year before Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis made cynical music together in Alexander Mackendrick’s “Sweet Smell of Success”, they spent some time flying through the air for Carol Reed in “Trapeze”. The 1956 circus picture is … Continue reading →

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Krakow festival puts some steel into film music

Posted on May 28, 2012 by admin

By Ray Bennett KRAKOW, Poland – Julie Taymor talks about meeting Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono when she made “Across The Universe”, which is filled with Beatles music. Taymor and McCartney alone sit next to each other in a screening … Continue reading →

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Best Film in 2011: The Artist, plus more of the year’s best

Posted on December 31, 2011 by admin

By Ray Bennett Here are my choices for the best in film in 2011. Some of these films will be released in the UK over the next couple of months but they are all eligible for the major awards. 

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West End theatre thrives on excellence and originality

Posted on April 24, 2010 by admin

  By Ray Bennett LONDON – If all the world’s a stage, then it never has been more true than in the British capital right now. The nation’s economy is in dire straits, but that hasn’t stopped theatergoers from flocking … Continue reading →

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London Critics’ Circle awards pick some real winners

Posted on February 20, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett My votes had little bearing on the outcome at the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards for movies released in 2009 but there’s no argument that several winners deserved their prizes, especially “Fish Tank.” It claimed honors as best … Continue reading →

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Clive Owen cracking in warm and funny 'Boys Are Back'

Posted on January 23, 2010 by admin

Clive Owen and Nicholas McAnulty in the Scott Hicks film now playing in the UK I first met Clive Owen at the Edinburgh International Film Festival where he was promoting “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead”, a classic British crime picture … Continue reading →

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Golden Globes may leave the best up in the air

Posted on January 17, 2010 by admin

George Clooney and Vera Farmiga in Jason Reitman’s ‘Up In the Air’ By Ray Bennett LONDON – The Golden Globes film awards are more of a crapshoot than the Oscars and the Baftas but it would be good to see … Continue reading →

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'Up In the Air' tops my 2009 Top 10 list

Posted on January 1, 2010 by admin

George Clooney and Anna Kendrick in Jason Reitman’s ‘Up In the Air’ My Top 10 list for The Hollywood Reporter of the best movies released in North America in 2009. It was a very tough call between “Up In the … Continue reading →

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There's always a Ray in the movies, best of all, 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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