John Malkovich

Latest Articles

Review: The Three Musketeers

Paul W.S. Anderson's gimcracky adaptation
Despite an inspired climax, it's all for fun, but not fun for all.
By PETER KEOUGH | October 25, 2011

John Malkovich freaks out at ArtsEmerson

You don't know Jack
In the flesh, the thing itself was about as odd and amusing as it had appeared on paper: John Malkovich delivering the "confessions" of convicted Austrian serial killer Jack Unterweger while accompanied onstage by a Baroque orchestra and a couple of sopranos singing arias.
By JON GARELICK | September 30, 2011

Groundlings, rejoice: The 11 most anticipated theater shows of the fall

Stage worthies
Fall came early to Boston boards this year, bringing with it "Summertime."
By CAROLYN CLAY | September 14, 2011

Review: Red (2010)

Grandfather claws: Willis and crew aren't the retiring types
If the late Krzysztof Kieslowski's Red had been a comedy action thriller about retired CIA agents, it would probably be nothing like this adaptation of the DC graphic novel.
By PETER KEOUGH | October 13, 2010

Review: Secretariat

Horse sense? Lane, Malkovich keep it sweet and simple
Secretariat keeps it sweet and simple
By JEFFREY GANTZ | October 06, 2010

Review: Saturday Night

Franco's debut documentary possibly better than an actual episode of Saturday Night Live
Actor James Franco’s debut feature, a behind-the-scenes look at the December 6, 2008, episode of Saturday Night Live , is kind of like Jean-Luc Godard’s Sympathy for the Devil with less music and more fart jokes.
By PETER KEOUGH | April 21, 2010

Rainbow Nation

The US isn't the only country exploring its complex racial history. South Africa prepares for its moment in the sun.
After a torturous history of being treated like second-class citizens, the black population in this country stunned the world by pulling off the unimaginable: voting a black man in as president.
By LANCE GOULD | January 28, 2010

Same old song

Reissued and remastered CDs give classic releases a fresh face
Most music fans can probably be forgiven, at this point, for being doubting Thomases at the alleged demise of the major-label music industry.
By DANIEL BROCKMAN | December 08, 2009

Same old song

Review: Disgrace

Jacobs's adaptation of Coetzee's novel plenty disturbing
Australian filmmaker Steve Jacobs's adaptation of South African writer J.M. Coetzee's 1999 novel doesn't add much clarity to the debate on race in America, but it's plenty disturbing.
By PETER KEOUGH | September 23, 2009

Review: Cold Souls

Paul Giamatti can't heat up Cold Souls
What if human souls were as interchangeable as hearts, kidneys, movie concepts, and auto parts? Writer/director Sophie Barthes's feature debut toys with the notion, but instead of breaking new ground, Cold Souls settles for rehashing elements from other films.
By PETER KEOUGH | August 17, 2009

Review: The Great Buck Howard

Forgoes ambiguities in favor of schmaltz
The Great Buck Howard, a "mentalist" whose "effects" include guessing numbers and putting people to sleep, played The Tonight Show , but these days he's lucky if he gets a gig in Bakersfield.
By PETER KEOUGH | March 18, 2009

Sex and food and Abraham Lincoln

Gift books for every (perverse) taste
We put out a call to our contributors to suggest appropriate holiday gift books and what do we get back?
By PHOENIX STAFF | December 05, 2008

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

Mother courage

Angelina Jolie goes on a tear in Changeling
How many ways can Angelina Jolie cry?
By PETER KEOUGH | November 05, 2008

Light Reading

The Coen Brothers have talent to Burn
Every now and then so-called independent filmmakers have to make money and prove to the studios that they have some traction at the box office.
By PETER KEOUGH | September 09, 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

Portuguese man of war

Manoel de Oliveira at the HFA
Manoel de Oliveira occupies a unique seat on the global film culture’s board of directors.
By MICHAEL ATKINSON | March 12, 2008

Polis Is This: Charles Olson and the Persistence of Place

The best film about an American poet ever made
Ferrini and Riaf present the complex American literary figure Charles Olson in a clear way by focusing not on the facts of his life but on the facts of his work.
By WILLIAM CORBETT | September 12, 2007

War zones

Fall films face terror at home and abroad
The party’s over. Time for the lessons to begin.
By PETER KEOUGH | September 12, 2007

Not about heroes

Lyric Stage’s Arms and the Man ; Gold Dust Orphans’ The Milkman Always Comes Twice
Guns and cocoa butter are the subjects of George Bernard Shaw’s 1894 Arms and the Man , the first of the great Irish contrarian’s “Plays Pleasant.”
By CAROLYN CLAY | May 10, 2007

Color Me Kubrick

Alan Conway gets krunked
In the 1990s, British grifter Alan Conway posed as director Stanley Kubrick and bilked the ignorant out of small change or sex acts in sordid scams.
By PETER KEOUGH | March 21, 2007

Eragon

Lord of the Rings wanna-be
“Into the sky to win or die,” proclaims an elfin-faced boy as he mounts a dragon to do battle against the forces of a tyrannical king. Watch the trailer for Eragon (QuickTime)
By TOM MEEK | December 20, 2006

The future of an illusion

Reflections on 40 years spent in the dark
When I first realized that movies would, for better or worse, dominate my imagination forever, I really gave no thought to the forces at work creating these transfiguring images on a screen.
By PETER KEOUGH | November 15, 2006