Philip Seymour Hoffman

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Review: Norman

Suburban settings
Cancer seems to be the breakout star of indie films this season. In Jonathan Segal's Norman , it gets its hands on the title character's father and is the catalyst for his emotional turmoil and social alienation, though you get the feeling he was never too well adjusted to begin with.
By NINA MASHUROVA | October 18, 2011

Review: The Ides of March

George Clooney's new directorial effort
Though more contemporary than Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005), George Clooney's new directorial effort seems less topical.
By PETER KEOUGH | October 04, 2011

Interview: Jonah Hill straightens up

Money man
The Superbad star has embraced his inner math geek for his role in Moneyball , the film adaptation of Michael Lewis's best-selling book.
By SEAN KERRIGAN | September 20, 2011

Review: Jack Goes Boating

Philip Seymour Hoffman's in ship-shape
Always a meticulous, quirky, and sometimes revelatory actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman in his directorial debut nurtures his splendid cast into similar performances.
By PETER KEOUGH | September 22, 2010

Review: Pirate Radio

Richard Curtis’s boat rocks
A rusty, red-painted trawler bobs in the waves of the North Atlantic. Inside is a claustrophobic warren of rooms: tiny, brine-smelling bunks, a well-stocked bar, and, crucially, a broadcast booth, its shelves crammed with the latest 45s and LPs, its turntables manned in shifts by a motley squad of hirsute rogues.
By MIKE MILIARD | November 16, 2009

Face off

Doubt explores the quicksand of certainty
If you were an ordinary Catholic boy in parochial school, giving nuns as hard a time as you were getting, you probably ended up with the usual stories of ruler-rapped knuckles. If you grew up to be talented playwright John Patrick Shanley, you ended up writing Doubt: A Parable , a fascinating exploration of the quicksand of certainty.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | September 15, 2009

October lite

The outlook is still gloomy, but film finds time for childish things
We expected the vampires, the werewolves, the zombies, and the homicidal maniacs. Same thing with the android doubles, the alien abductors, the sexually abused pregnant teenager, the Apocalypse, and the post-Apocalypse. But kids' movies?
By PETER KEOUGH | September 17, 2009

2009 Oscar predictions

Martyr complex
This year the Oscars will honor the men who suffer for our sins and the women who don't wear make-up.
By PETER KEOUGH | February 11, 2009

Crossword: ''The worst of 2008''

Hey, at least I avoided talking about the economy
Hey, at least I avoided talking about the economy
By MATT JONES | January 07, 2009

Review: Doubt

Nun story
John Patrick Shanley's Doubt on screen
By CAROLYN CLAY | January 12, 2009

Word play

Doomsday is just a state of mind in Synecdoche, New York
The end of the world has always appealed to movie audiences, no more so than now that the prospect is looking more and more likely.
By PETER KEOUGH | November 10, 2008

Interview: Charlie Kaufman

Straight poop
People either love or hate Charlie Kaufman.
By PETER KEOUGH | November 04, 2008

New blood

ART and the Huntington (and Boston theater) get a youth transfusion
The famously adventurous American Repertory Theatre is soon to be taken over by a woman who spent her summer directing . . . the vintage Broadway hits Kiss Me, Kate and Hair ?
By CAROLYN CLAY | September 10, 2008

Autumn peeves

Films with a full agenda
With pundits already reading political significance into summer blockbusters like The Dark Knight (“Is Batman a stand-in for George Bush? Discuss.”), the meatier movies of fall arrive not a moment too soon.
By PETER KEOUGH | September 11, 2008

Crossword: ''A little bit of everything''

More random words in a mesh
More random words in a mesh
By MATT JONES | July 09, 2008

The Boston Phoenix–Alumni Film Critics’ Poll

Our first-ever round-up of the past year’s best movies, with a little help from our friends
It’s true, the Boston Phoenix has never won an Oscar.
By PHOENIX STAFF | February 13, 2008

Are we grading on a curve?

Peter Keough’s Oscar Scorecard
It’s a solid B, which isn’t bad considering the vagaries of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences.
By PHOENIX STAFF | January 23, 2008

The Oscars go to Hell

The Devil knows what the nominations will be for this year’s Oscars
Maybe it’s just as well if the writers’ strike forces a cancellation of the Oscars show.
By PETER KEOUGH | January 18, 2008

Charlie Wilson's War

Waged by amiable actors
The supporting players are splendid.
By GERALD PEARY | December 19, 2007

The Savages

Fear and self-laceration
I’m glad to see the return of director Tamara Jenkins, idle since her wonderful Slums of Beverly Hills (1998).
By PETER KEOUGH | December 18, 2007

Family plots

Sidney Lumet shows how it’s done
Sidney Lumet may be 83, but his new film makes Quentin Tarantino and even the Coen Brothers look geriatric.
By PETER KEOUGH | November 07, 2007

Paler than thou

Jim Gaffigan’s off-white superheroes
Comic-book-style superheroes have been a staple of TV since George Reeves put on Superman’s red cape and blue tights in 1951.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | September 19, 2007

Yankee know-how

Telluride’s new American wave?
Back from the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, I proclaim a renaissance of American cinema.
By GERALD PEARY | September 12, 2007

Betting your brain

You just think you’re going to win
It's no surprise that it feels good to win money.
By SAMANTHA HENIG | April 25, 2007

The 100 unsexiest men 2007: 20-11

These guys couldn't turn on a radio
These guys couldn't turn on a radio
By | April 12, 2007

Worst in breed: Movies

The Unsexiest men 2007
Who are the unsexiest movies men of 2007?
By PHOENIX STAFF | April 12, 2007

Infamous

Where's the story?
Comparisons are invidious but also inevitable, especially in this camp follower to last year’s lauded Capote . Watch the trailer for Infamous (QUickTime)
By PETER KEOUGH | October 11, 2006

Fall back

This season, Hollywood lives in the past
If you cannot remember the past, so Santayana said, you’re condemned to repeat it. Watch trailers for this fall's new releases.
By PETER KEOUGH | September 13, 2006

Strangers With Candy

A lot of famous people like it; we're not sure why
Upon reading the cast of supporting players in this prequel to the short-lived Comedy Central series starring Amy Sedaris (David’s sister) as recovering crack whore Jerri Blank, I couldn’t help but get excited. Watch the trailer for Strangers With Candy (QuickTime)
By BRETT MICHEL | July 05, 2006

Mission implausible

Mission: Impossible III will self-destruct in 7500 seconds
Like the adrenaline shot that invigorates one of his characters, television wunderkind J.J. Abrams’s stab at the billion-dollar Tom Cruise spy franchise briefly gets your heart pounding, only to ultimately fail at bringing much-needed life to the latest reworking of Bruce Geller’s TV relic.
By BRETT MICHEL | May 05, 2006