http://www.grouchoreviews.com/ Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:14:36 GMT Film/DVD reviews, interviews and features. http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3210 /reviews/3210 A rousing, high-spirited family entertainment rightly regarded as one for the ages. Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:15:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3205 /reviews/3205 Not just another cop show...traffic[s] in the shadowy moral ambiguity of noir. Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:00:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3206 /reviews/3206 Producer-director Sam White brainstormed the concept of Moe as Hitler, Curly as Göring, and Larry as Goebbels, promising, despite the dark reality, ‘I‘ll make it funny.‘ Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:44:09 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3207 /reviews/3207 A highly satisfying old-fashioned comedy-drama...[with] a strong undercurrent of religion and philosophy that helps Hunt make her film profound in a way that sneaks up on you. Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:07:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3204 /reviews/3204 Another predictable romantic comedy, one that insists that spending time locked into an unhappy marriage doesn‘t breed contempt, but sows love. Sat, 23 Aug 2008 18:58:57 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3203 /reviews/3203 Tone deaf...only slightly better than the worst sitcom you‘ve ever seen. Sat, 23 Aug 2008 18:51:32 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3202 /reviews/3202 Almost worth seeing just for Faris‘ spot-on work...Shelley becomes an endearing character in Faris‘ nonjudgmental hands. Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:44:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3194 /reviews/3194 It‘s Coogan‘s show, in a grotesquely overstated performance that makes sense for the character but isn‘t always easy to watch. Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:44:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3201 /reviews/3201 A clear-headed and comprehensible picture of American fiscal policy, but one that‘s not in the least boring. Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:47:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3061 /reviews/3061 An allegory of what‘s wrong with our country...Mamet has spent the last decade layering popular entertainments with subversive ideas about social politics. Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:50:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3200 /reviews/3200 Preserves a time when one could not only get away with making an allegory with an existential hero, but stock it with an ensemble from the Actors Studio. Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:14:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3199 /reviews/3199 An expertly crafted Hollywod entertainment...[constructed] as a series of grippingly fateful ‘moments of truth.‘ Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:28:37 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3198 /reviews/3198 The plot is such hooey...and the plot holes so gaping that End of Days proves more exasperating than enjoyable. Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:25:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3197 /reviews/3197 [Both] a rousing action thriller...[and] near-parody of the rah-rah American military adventures that filled screens in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:24:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3182 /reviews/3182 A convincing blend of Shakespearean tragedy and Citizen Kane, Nixon paints the thirty-seventh President of the United States as a uniquely American tragic hero... Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:11:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3196 /reviews/3196 Utterly predictable, formulaic, but not entirely unamusing. Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:31:58 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3192 /reviews/3192 A surprisingly consistent level of quality and creative energy...put the loveably corny Super Friends in its place. Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:13:32 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3195 /reviews/3195 The risk paid off: not only does the show still work, but it‘s more spontaneous than it‘s been since the series debuted. Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:24:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3036 /reviews/3036 Competent but fatally lacking in the element of surprise. Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:30:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3180 /reviews/3180 [A] derisive discussion of ‘stupid cookie-cutter pop star stuff‘ is more than a little ironic in this Radio Disney petri dish, but at least the Jonas Brothers are a class act. Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:40:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/interviews/260 /interviews/260 He’s very effusive and emotionally open in a way that’s not very masculine. And certainly not British...someone who sort of waves his arms around a lot and clutches his bosom. It’s like he actually thinks his life is a movie. Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:50:47 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/interviews/259 /interviews/259 Well, the mythological arc of the saga doesn‘t really continue in these other things...which means we‘re not encumbered by this mythological uber-story of the psychological underpinnings of why somebody turns to be a bad person. Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:54:14 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/features/237 /features/237 Goosebump alert: the disc kicks off with one of the all-time great movie themes, the “Raiders March“...a magnificent, brassy piece of music. Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:27:03 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/interviews/258 /interviews/258 They can‘t run over us if we really want to stand up. So as long as we have our vote, we have some hope. Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:01:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/interviews/257 /interviews/257 Leo: ‘I think living with a gambling addict...whether she had this skill [for lying] before she was married to him all those years ago or not, she certainly developed it over the years and, in fact, we‘ve taught her son to be a pretty handy liar too.‘ Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:19:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/interviews/256 /interviews/256 I lost my virginity to Lorne Greene narrating Lorne Greene‘s Nature Wildlife Theatre. I think he was talking about how bugs gnaw each other‘s heads off while screwing. And here I was, not losing my head at all. Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:23:35 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/features/239 /features/239 The definitive book on the Adam West Batman. Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:32:35 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/features/238 /features/238 Brilliant...essential reading on the modern myth of Batman, its meaning, and its enduring hold on the American imagination. Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:16:00 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/features/89 /features/89 Frank Miller revolutionized Batman (and arguably the comic-book industry) with the hugely successful graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns (1986), about an aged Batman. Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:10:10 GMT Peter Canavese http://www.grouchoreviews.com/features/88 /features/88 Batman in the 1970s took the lead of writer Dennis O‘Neil and artist Neal Adams, who collectively drew the character back into complexity and strength... Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:09:40 GMT Peter Canavese