Roger Keen
Roger has been writing about film since the early ’90s and contributing features and reviews to the site since 2005, with a particular inclination towards surreal cinema. He has worked as a film editor and director, and has also published magazine articles, short stories and a memoir about life in the 1970s.
My Content
The Iron Lady
Meryl Streep gives us the rise and fall of Margaret Thatcher, but does it really match up to King Lear?
The King's Speech
Tipped as a big award winner, Colin Firth stars as a monarch with some tricky personal issues to resolve.
Mr. Nice
Rhys Ifans stars as hash smuggler Howard Marks in a funny and unusual biopic from Immortal Beloved director Bernard Rose.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Is greed still good? Roger Keen finds out.
Lipstick on Your Collar
Dennis Potter’s third lip-synch serial finally gets a DVD release from Acorn Media.
Inception
Roger Keen takes a look at Christopher Nolan’s latest—a metaphysical sci-fi actioneer no less.
A New Decade, A New Dimension
Roger Keen asks the big question: after Avatar and Alice has 3-D finally come of age?
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
’70s pop legend Ian Dury is brought to life in a brilliant performance from Andy Serkis, but a question mark hangs over the film as a whole. Roger Keen reviews.
Sherlock Holmes
The Baker Street sleuth but not as we know him—stripped to the waist and leaping off buildings. What is Guy Ritchie playing at? Roger Keen finds out.
Synecdoche, New York
Roger Keen watches the strange world of Charlie Kaufman get stranger still, as he intermingles life and art in ever ascending and myriadly complex ways.
Inglourious Basterds
With a mis-spelt title and a take on World War II you won’t find in history books, Quentin Tarantino blazes back onto cinema screens. Roger Keen reviews.
This Is Spinal Tap: Up to 11, 25th Anniversary Edition
Turn up your volume knobs to the maximum and more as the Spinal Tap legend celebrates its quarter century, with a three disc set that has enough extras to keep the eardrums thrumming till Christmas. Roger Keen reviews.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Two young women, a romantic city, the guy from No Country for Old Men and Woody Allen at the helm - what a combination! Roger Keen explores further.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
David Fincher puts Brad Pitt into reverse gear for this special effects-laden extravaganza - a strong candidate for most talked-about movie of 2009. Roger Keen reviews.
Revolutionary Road
Titanic pair Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio are on a new voyage here, through the choppy seas of a strained and angst-ridden marriage in Sam Mendes' latest drama. Roger Keen reviews.
The Wrestler
Mickey Rourke stars in this portrait of an over-the-hill pugilist, whose day of reckoning is fast approaching. So is Darren Aronofsky's latest the Raging Bull of wrestling movies? Roger Keen finds out.
Kings of the Sun
With this second early 60s classic, Yul Brynner moves from the Russian Steppes to the arid lands of Yucatán, where Mayan priests perform human sacrifices to their gods and the air is thick with the scent of tribal conflict and lust.
Taras Bulba
In the first of two Yul Brynner Classics from Optimum, the most famous bald-headed actor in history plays the eponymous warlord, battling Turks, Poles and his own wayward son, Tony Curtis. Roger Keen reviews.
Female Agents (Les Femmes de l'ombre)
Sophie Marceau stars in this terrific French World War II spy thriller about an SOE operation to preserve the secrets of the D-Day landings - a girls-and-guns movie with a difference. Roger Keen reviews the Revolver DVD release.
Cassandra's Dream
Woody's back in Britain with another noirish tale that evokes his 2005 Match Point. Though it has the fine talents of Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell and Tom Wilkinson on board, some are saying it's his worst film ever. Roger Keen reviews the Optimum DVD release.
The Duchess
Keira Knightley stars as the glittering socialite, bucking the trends of patriarchal eighteenth century life. Is this just another stuffy British costume drama or something rather better? Roger Keen finds out.
Sex and the City
Four years after the TV show finished, Carrie and the girls finally get their act together for the chick-flick event of the year. So how do they fare in the journey from small to big screen? Roger Keen takes a look.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le Papillon)
Based on Jean-Dominique Bauby's harrowing memoir of locked-in syndrome, Julian Schnabel's film is a triumph of storytelling innovation that packs a big emotional punch into the bargain. Roger Keen reviews.
There Will Be Blood
Daniel Day-Lewis and Little Miss Sunshine's Paul Dano are pitted against one another in this sprawling tale of the 1900s Californian oil boom, which, as the title suggests, has some unpleasant surprises in store. Roger Keen reviews.
Dennis Potter at LWT Volume 2
Roger Keen reviews this latest release of archive Potter from Network, consisting of three early plays plus some South Bank Show interviews with the man.
