Monthly Archives: February 2010

Potent mix of eye-popping showmanship and puppet genius

Posted on February 22, 2010 by admin

This should have been posted a long time ago, but better late than never. By Ray Bennett BERLIN – There are many who will take to the flamboyant New York performance artist Joey Arias immediately, although some will find he … Continue reading →

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PREVIEW: James Purefoy stakes a claim for action stardom

Posted on February 21, 2010 by admin

  By Ray Bennett British filmmaker Michael J. Bassett likes rain, mud and gore. Making his third feature film, the sword and sorcery epic “Solomon Kane” due for release by Entertainment on Feb. 19, he tested his star James Purefoy … 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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BERLIN: ‘Boxhagener Platz’ looks back at East Berlin in 1968

Posted on February 17, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett BERLIN – Based on a popular German novel set in East Berlin in 1968, “Boxhaganer Platz” is filled with gentle humor as the folks in a busy neighborhood deal with the every day realities of Soviet rule.

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BERLIN: ‘In the Shadows’ lacks light and shade

Posted on February 17, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett BERLIN – Thomas Arsian’s “In the Shadows” aims to be a character study of a certain kind of man who will do anything to achieve independence including armed robbery and murder, but the result is ponderous and … Continue reading →

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BERLIN: Skarsgard shines as a ‘Somewhat Gentle Man’

Posted on February 16, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett BERLIN – An oddball comedy with criminal undertones, Hans Petter Moland’s “A Somewhat Gentle Man” follows a mild-mannered convict as he gets out of jail seeking mostly a quiet life but possibly also vengeance against the man … Continue reading →

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BERLIN: ‘Hairdresser’ goes for (extra) heavyweight laughs

Posted on February 16, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett BERLIN – The difficulty with Doris Dorrie’s jolly and colorful romp “The Hairdresser” is that when the fat lady sings it still ain’t over. She doesn’t so much sing, really, as chirp, but she keeps on chirping … Continue reading →

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BERLIN: Medicine meets magic in ‘For the Good of Others’

Posted on February 16, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett BERLIN – Modern medicine and old-fashioned superstition clash in Oskar Santos’ well-constructed medical drama about a doctor who discovers that he holds the power to heal in his hands. But only those with a strong ability to … Continue reading →

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BERLIN: Sad tale of closed minds in ‘When We Leave’

Posted on February 15, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett BERLIN – A battered wife leaves her husband and takes her son back home but their reception is not at all what she expected in Feo Aladag’s “When We Leave”, a well-crafted examination of the blindness of … Continue reading →

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BERLIN: Epic ‘Henry of Navarre’ is an entertaining romp

Posted on February 14, 2010 by admin

By Ray Bennett BERLIN – Epic in scale but still betraying its producers’ willingness to cut it into two parts for television sales, Jo Baier’s “Henry of Navarre” should do well in most international markets looking for something in the … Continue reading →

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