http://www.grouchoreviews.com/ Tue, 15 May 2012 22:09:03 GMT Film/DVD reviews, interviews and features. http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4333 /reviews/4333 Cohen‘s act wears thin...still, The Dictator has several memorable moments... Tue, 15 May 2012 20:11:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/796 /reviews/796 You‘ll empathize with Plowright‘s appropriation from Dorothy Parker: ‘What fresh hell is this?‘ Mon, 14 May 2012 07:56:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4328 /reviews/4328 By asking the audience to take far too much on faith, Dark Shadows can only be an interesting failure. Fri, 11 May 2012 15:14:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4327 /reviews/4327 Currish...the film‘s niche audience is indiscriminate aging dog lovers; people lovers should look elsewhere.     Thu, 10 May 2012 15:42:40 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4326 /reviews/4326 “Eat Gray Love“...the whole enterprise [is] too platitudinous, but with powerhouse actors like Dench, Nighy and Wilkinson, even a critic can agree it‘s better to be plucky than a sour stick-in-the-mud. Thu, 10 May 2012 15:36:26 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4323 /reviews/4323 Plenty fun: as per the Jackie Chan standard, it‘s total nonsense, but unpretentiously entertaining and occasionally ingenious. Thu, 10 May 2012 04:16:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4262 /reviews/4262 A mood piece, as abstract and engrossing as the many Bach piano selections laid on the soundtrack. Mon, 07 May 2012 16:27:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4316 /reviews/4316 It‘s quite possible that The Avengers has more action than any movie ever made...[but] for all its thrill-ride clutter, The Avengers is just about as simplistic as them fightin‘-robot pictures... Wed, 02 May 2012 00:31:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4315 /reviews/4315 Pessimism, sweetness, raunch and loopiness make for a pleasantly offbeat blend. Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:15:15 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4314 /reviews/4314 Eighty-eight minutes of sublime silliness...should appeal in equal measure to adults as to children. Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:41:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4310 /reviews/4310 The airy Novak makes a strong impression, Stewart‘s comic chops remain in fine fettle, and the distinctive supporting cast can‘t be beat... Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:52:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4309 /reviews/4309 This story framed as a historical account of the only woman to stand up to Napoleon doesn‘t quite conquer our interest, though it is itself an intriguing piece of Hollywood history due to the presence of Brando in an iconic role. Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:06:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4313 /reviews/4313 Decide for yourself if the narration is a necessary concession for kids: it‘s a take-it-or-leave-it proposition that doesn‘t make but also doesn‘t quite break Chimpanzee. Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:34:19 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4312 /reviews/4312 A sensitive and fairly subtle work, with the deceptive simplicity of a well-honed short story. Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:29:28 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/273 /reviews/273 Those who identify as fans of the Halloween films will want to see Halloween: Resurrection, the eighth in the series; those who don‘t care about Halloween won‘t. That said, Halloween: Resurrection co... Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:23:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4308 /reviews/4308 A reasonably entertaining miniseries...made with obvious attention to (if not always success in) pleasing genre fans. Fri, 13 Apr 2012 23:46:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/features/247 /features/247 The San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 19-May 3, and it‘s once again loaded up with intriguing international titles... Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:26:59 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4306 /reviews/4306 A next-generation Scream, a self-referential horror film that tongue-in-cheekily deconstructs its own genre. Fri, 13 Apr 2012 04:47:16 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4305 /reviews/4305 Since the halfwitty Damsels in Distress wants to have it both ways, its satire is about as cutting as a plastic knife through a porterhouse. Fri, 13 Apr 2012 04:39:55 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4303 /reviews/4303 ‘How Green Was My Valley, How Smart Was My Horse.‘ Fri, 06 Apr 2012 22:49:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4304 /reviews/4304 Predictability is the fatal flaw of any American sequel, and while this one comes closest in tone to the original film, that‘s a decidedly double-edged sword. Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:53:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/interviews/340 /interviews/340 The surprise every morning of when that face was finally on: it was somebody that wasn‘t me. You know, I never thought of how masculine or feminine she was. Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:11:47 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/features/246 /features/246 The Year‘s Best Films 1. The Tree of Life  No studio release this year was more ambitious, emotional, or elegant than The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick‘s searching epic about our place in a family, a town, a galaxy, the universe. Emmanuel Lubezki‘s innovative cinematography beautifully painted with light and shadow and color, while boy lead H... Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:24:52 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/interviews/220 /interviews/220 Jim used to always con you into doing things by saying, ‘Oh no, it‘ll be great. It‘ll be really nice.‘ Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/interviews/339 /interviews/339 You know, ‘I‘m gonna direct this film about a woman and her struggle to conceptualize God‘...It‘s like, ‘Are you insane?  Are you possessed?‘ Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:58:31 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/interviews/338 /interviews/338 I have no interest in manipulating a performance. I want to unleash a performance. And I want to witness a performance. And obviously use my camera as tellingly as I can to capture that. Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:31:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/interviews/337 /interviews/337 There is a certain level of privacy that leaves immediately when you set foot in this small town, y‘know? Everybody heard what you had for dinner last night and who you had over. Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:28:32 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/features/244 /features/244 The Year‘s Best Films 1. Blue Valentine  This master class in acting from the next generation of top talent (Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams) takes the pulse of modern love. With American divorce rates still hovering near 50%, few stories could be more wistfully relevant than this intimate look at the birth and death of love. First-time di... Fri, 24 Dec 2010 03:52:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/features/243 /features/243 The Year‘s Best Narrative Films 1. Sita Sings the Blues  Notice a theme here? 2009 was a banner year for animated films, and the most creative was this little charmer written, directed, produced, and animated by Nina Paley (it’s legally available for free online, but don’t be a cheapskate: make a donation or buy the DVD). Paley app... Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:54:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/features/242 /features/242 The Year‘s Best Films 1. Waltz with Bashir  Waltz with Bashir works equally well as a potent anti-war film and as a creative examination of the nature of memory. Mature and possessed with significant psychological depth, Ari Folman’s animated film is an autobiographical documentary as much as it is anything else. Folman, unable to recon... Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:13:46 GMT Peter Canavese