Monthly Archives: September 2017

FIMUCITÉ Concert: Warriors From the Silver Screen

By Ray Bennett TENERIFE – “Exceptional!” That’s the word used by maestro Diego Navarro – the superstar of the Fimucité Film Music Festival, who knows a thing or two about great orchestras – to describe the performance of the festival’s … Continue reading

Posted in Music, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on FIMUCITÉ Concert: Warriors From the Silver Screen

TIFF FILM REVIEW: Scott Cooper’s ‘Hostiles’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Scott Cooper opens his muscular Western tale “Hostiles” with a horrifying sequence of slaughter and he sustains a palpable level of dread as a group of travellers journey hundreds of miles through some of the … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Reviews, TIFF Toronto International Film Festival | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on TIFF FILM REVIEW: Scott Cooper’s ‘Hostiles’

TIFF FILM REVIEW: Aaron Sorkin’s ‘Molly’s Game’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Aaron Sorkin’s “Molly’s Game” assumes that to watch obnoxious rich men play the most boring form of poker is actually entertaining. Its story of a glamorous woman whose attempts to exploit the bad behaviour of … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Reviews, TIFF Toronto International Film Festival | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on TIFF FILM REVIEW: Aaron Sorkin’s ‘Molly’s Game’

TIFF FILM REVIEW: ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” is so full of surprises that when Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), carries an open bottle of wine across a restaurant toward a table where her ex-husband sits with his pretty young … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Reviews, TIFF Toronto International Film Festival | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

TIFF FILM REVIEW: Joe Wright’s ‘Darkest Hour’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Gary Oldman is an unlikely choice to play Winston Churchill but his portrayal of the iconic British statesman in Joe Wright’s ‘Darkest Hour’ is masterful and bound for all the major awards. He is supported … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Reviews, TIFF Toronto International Film Festival | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on TIFF FILM REVIEW: Joe Wright’s ‘Darkest Hour’

TIFF FILM REVIEW: Armando Iannucci’s ‘The Death of Stalin’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Having savaged British and American politics on television with “The Thick of It” and “VEEP”, Armando Iannucci turns his wickedly satirical eye on Russia with a perceptive and hilarious depiction of what might have happened … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Reviews, TIFF Toronto International Film Festival | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on TIFF FILM REVIEW: Armando Iannucci’s ‘The Death of Stalin’

TIFF FILM REVIEW: Darren Aronofsky’s ‘mother!’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Darren Aronofsky’s “mother!” is pure hokum but it is very enjoyable hokum, a tub-thumping thriller with a gorgeous young woman (Jennifer Lawrence) spiralling into all kinds of fiendish and inexplicable horror. It’s completely pointless but, … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Reviews, TIFF Toronto International Film Festival | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on TIFF FILM REVIEW: Darren Aronofsky’s ‘mother!’

TIFF FILM REVIEW: Saul Dibb’s ‘Journey’s End’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Saul Dibb’s film version of R.C. Sherriff’s “Journey’s End”, a drama about soldiers at the front line of trench warfare, is a valiant attempt but possibly simply because it is a film, it lacks the … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Reviews, TIFF Toronto International Film Festival | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on TIFF FILM REVIEW: Saul Dibb’s ‘Journey’s End’

TIFF FILM REVIEW: Guillermo del Toro’s ‘The Shape of Water’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” is a dazzling piece of cinema, a fairy tale for grownups that celebrates the joys of life amid every day banality with the occasional touch of horror. It … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on TIFF FILM REVIEW: Guillermo del Toro’s ‘The Shape of Water’

TIFF FILM REVIEW: ‘Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool’

By Ray Bennett TORONTO – “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” is a disappointingly dismal film about a has-been Hollywood actress who has an affair with an on-the-make young British actor while she deals with her fading career and a … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Reviews, TIFF Toronto International Film Festival | Comments Off on TIFF FILM REVIEW: ‘Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool’