Welcome to the new Groucho Reviews... Please pardon our dust as we complete the site conversion, but we hope you enjoy the new features and look! The content will be picking up soon to keep pace with the summer months--hang tight, and keep coming back for the latest theatrical, Blu-Ray, and DVD reviews, as well as interviews with filmmaking talent...
Groucho Reviews
Latest Reviews
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Get Smart (1995)
The time is right to reappraise the revamp: yes, it's a shadow of the original series, but it has its high points. 
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Before the Rains (2008)
A poor man's rehash of A Passage to India. -
Le voyage du ballon rouge (The Flight of the Red Balloon) (2008)
All suggestion and no imposition, a subtle meditation on how we position ourselves in space and to what end. -
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)
Adamson is willing to jettison Lewis' 'quaint' (I'd say loveable) whimsy and mythical acumen in favor of more martial sequences that'll sucker in the Lord of the Rings crowd. -
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Though Adamson lacks Lewis' storytelling confidence...The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe still comes across as a quirkily diverting children's entertainment. -
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (a.k.a. The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones) (1992)
Approached with an open mind, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles offers an intriguing angle on one of the greatest characters in modern cinema. -
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
The eventual arrival of towering screen presence Sean Connery as Dr. Henry Jones, Sr. alongside Harrison Ford as Dr. Henry Jones, Jr. allows for what may be adventure cinema's most potent pairing. -
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
If it was a sign of the times for Indiana Jones to take on more of a comic-book aspect, the film's accomodation of darker themes and explicit imagery came as something of a shock to many. -
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The postmodern heir to North By Northwest...like any deathless classic, Raiders is a perfect marriage of star and material. -
Speed Racer (2008)
The Wachowski Brothers overshoot the mark with Speed Racer, an eccentric misfire that panders to the ADHD set and—in the adult arena—idiots and acid-droppers. -
Iron Man (2008)
Favreau fully respects the material, and brings to the table a highly developed sense of humor and—praise the heavens—taste. -
Baby Mama (2008)
Read the fine print before signing up for Baby Mama: though it stars Tina Fey, best known for her writing chops, Fey isn't credited for the screenplay. That dubious distinction goes to director Micha... -
Redbelt (2008)
With sly, increasingly expectation-defying films, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet has spent the last decade layering popular entertainments with subversive ideas about social politics.... -
El Orfanato (The Orphanage) (2007)
A series of serviceable creep-outs and jolts...the pretzel-shaped resolution feels like too little too late. -
Dou fo sin (Flash Point) (2008)
Martial arts junkies won't want to miss Flash Point, a sequel to director Wilson Yip and star and action director Donnie Yen's S.P.L. (a.k.a. Sha Po Lang or, for us Americans, Kill Zone). With its em... -
The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
Ask anyone who knows about The Fall of the Roman Empire, and their response is sure to include the word "sumptuous." From back in the day when epic meant upwards of 10,000 extras, gargantuan sets, an... -
Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay (2008)
Right from its faux-important cursive titles, the sequel Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay demonstrates a self-awareness that saves it from the junk heap. With a refreshing lack of preten... -
Mio fratello è figlio unico (My Brother Is an Only Child) (2008)
The Italian dramedy My Brother Is an Only Child traces a boy's journey from a crumbling family home to something like the opposite. Beginning in 1962 with an adolescent passage in the 400 Blows vein,... -
First Knight (1995)
First Knight—a brave attempt at a fresh cinematic angle on Arthurian legend—has a few interesting ideas, but is ultimately brought down by a squishy script, a director (Jerry Zucker) lack... -
Cloverfield (2008)
The mysteriously titled project might just as well have been called "9/11: The Thrill Ride," so thoroughly does it trade on our emotions of that disaster.
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Member of the San Francisco Film Critics Circle
Latest Interviews
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Steve Carell—Get Smart—02/23/08
Probably the riskiest thing I did was being pulled behind a moving SUV down train tracks. Um, that was a little scary. -
Anne Hathaway—Get Smart—02/23/08
I watched anything I could get my hands on that Lily Tomlin was in. I'd watch a lot of Meryl Streep movies. Women who have spectacular timing. -
Peter Segal—Get Smart—02/23/08
I thought it would be interesting to see how he becomes Max. How they met. I know there was one story of how they met, obviously, in the pilot, in 1965, but I thought, 'Okay, what if we take a little license there and come up with our own...' -
Garth Jennings & Nick Goldsmith—Son of Rambow, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy—04/09/08
Being allowed to grow up feeling you're not being watched, not being tracked and able to do stupid things and screw up, being able to make mistakes, I think, was the key. Being allowed to screw up is wonderful... -
Jon Favreau—Iron Man—02/23/08
People might give us a chance who wouldn't normally come to a Marvel-type film.