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PETER KEOUGH

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Review: The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

Nicolas Roeg's enigmatic sci-fi film
Star Wars came out the year after Nicolas Roeg's enigmatic sci-fi film (re-released now in an uncut version), and after that no studio was likely to make anything similar again, nor would many audiences have the patience to watch it.

By: PETER KEOUGH | August 10, 2011

Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Better before the CGI took over
As I watched Caesar (Andy Serkis), the übermonkey, and his primate minions break free of their human chains en route to conquering the world, I thought: 1) there are a lot of apes in San Francisco, 2) there aren't a lot of cops, and 3) this movie was better before the CGI took over.

By: PETER KEOUGH | August 04, 2011

Hollywood's apes: monkey puzzle or intelligent design?

Primate directive
For nearly a century apes have haunted the screen, and the link between man and ape has obsessed filmmakers.

By: PETER KEOUGH | August 04, 2011

Review: Life in a day

Amateur filmmakers submit snippets of their lives
Sometimes it seems like universal access to video and the Internet has resulted in just a lot of amateur porn and wearying narcissism.

By: PETER KEOUGH | August 02, 2011

Review: The Change Up

The old body-switch premise
You know the summer movies are bottoming out when they resort to the old body-switch premise.

By: PETER KEOUGH | August 02, 2011

Review: The Devil's Double

Like Scarface , but with a difference
Watching this litany of murder and debauchery in the gilded splendor of Saddam's Baghdad, in which Dominic Cooper plays both Saddam's psycho son Uday and the Iraqi good guy Latif, who was forced to serve as his double, I thought: this is like Scarface, but with a difference.

By: PETER KEOUGH | August 02, 2011

Review: The Guard

John Michael McDonagh's cop story
With equal parts In the Heat of the Night , Coup de Torchon , and good old Irish blarney, John Michael McDonagh's Connacht-set cop story would be too clever by half if not for Brendan Gleeson's canny performance.

By: PETER KEOUGH | August 02, 2011

Review: Cowboys & Aliens

Favreau's pastiche of Western and sci-fi movies
As Dolarhyde, the cattle baron lording over the frontier town in Jon Favreau's pastiche of Western and sci-fi movies, Harrison Ford has the best lines. Like: "That's ridiculous!" — said when someone explains why Independence Day -like aliens are blasting the neighborhood.

By: PETER KEOUGH | August 03, 2011

Review: The Future

Miranda July's shaggy kitten story
First of all let me confess that I'm a sucker for a cute, sad little kitten, especially one with a bum leg; like little Paw Paw, a miserable shelter stray with renal problems and a tiny cast, whom I found the most appealing character for much of Miranda July's odd, affecting movie.

By: PETER KEOUGH | August 04, 2011

Review: Another Earth

Twisted psychology
Apparently it's getting harder to meet compatible partners these days in independent movies.

By: PETER KEOUGH | July 26, 2011

Review: A Little Help

Jenna Fischer plays a long-suffering mom
Playing one of the few "normal" people on The Office , Jenna Fischer evinces a quiet sweetness with a tart edge that sustains her amongst the misfits; she's long-suffering, but her rueful irony spares her from victimization.

By: PETER KEOUGH | July 26, 2011

the first avenger, short take captain america

Review: Captain America: The First Avenger

Rueful innocence and sneaky humor
Joe Johnston's adaptation of the Marvel comic book exalts the virtues of optimism, decency, and perseverance in a rousing adventure of old-fashioned adolescent exuberance.

By: PETER KEOUGH | July 26, 2011

Review: Crazy, Stupid Love

Rehashing the same smarmy stereotypes
Despite a few hopeful moments, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa's glib romantic comedy settles into the same smarmy stereotypes: women are mothers or whores, or some variation thereof, and that's all men are interested in.

By: PETER KEOUGH | August 04, 2011

Review: The Tree

Adjusting to loss
In a less drastic take on grief than her role in Lars von Trier's Antichrist, Charlotte Gainsbourg plays Dawn, a wife and mother of four children whose idyllic life on a farm in the Australian outback shatters when her husband drops dead.

By: PETER KEOUGH | July 19, 2011

Review: Tabloid

Errol Morris pokes fun at tabloid journalism
After taking on former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara in The Fog of War (2003), and probing the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Standard Operating Procedure (2008), Errol Morris deserves to have fun.

By: PETER KEOUGH | July 13, 2011

Review: Zookeeper

Slapdash comedy
Local viewers might be amused by director Frank Coraci's Boston geography in this slapdash comedy; for example, taking a right turn on Queensberry onto Storrow Drive and then over the Zakim Bridge en route to the airport. Makes as much sense as the plot, I suppose.

By: PETER KEOUGH | July 12, 2011