ROTTEN TOMATOES: Peter Canavese

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PETER CANAVESE

Agrees with the Tomatometer 80% of the time.

Biography: Since 1987, Peter "Groucho" Canavese has been writing film reviews and articles in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he is a member of the San Francisco Film Critics Circle. Peter authors and maintains an exhaustive website called GrouchoReviews and is the chief film critic for monthly ON Magazine (since 1995), and Celluloid Dreams, a weekly radio show devoted to film (Celluloid Dreams runs on KSJS�90.5 FM�every Monday at 5pm). Since 2009, he has regularly contributed film reviews to Palo Alto Weekly. His reviews have also appeared in the San Jose Mercury News (1991-1994), in Bay Area weekly Alternate101 (2007-2008), and on Portland's 1190 KEX drive-time show Mark & Dave (2008).

Favorites: Citizen Kane, Brazil, Duck Soup, Ikiru, North by Northwest, 8 1/2

Publications: Groucho Reviews, ON Magazine, Palo Alto Weekly

Total Reviews: 1348
Total QuickRatings: 3

Location: San Jose, CA

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Rating	T-Meter	Title \| Year	Add Date (default)

Rotten .5/4	Rotten 11%	I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009)	" Does [Chris] Columbus owe somebody a favor?" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jul 10, 2009
Rotten 2.5/4	Rotten 44%	The Girl From Monaco (2009)	" *The French comedy-drama The Girl from Monaco* demonstrates how an excess of libert� and fraternit� can be hazardous to the health, especially where there is an absence of egalit�.*" — Groucho Reviews* Posted Jul 10, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 97%	The Hurt Locker (2009)	" With the help of a well-informed screenplay by journalist Mark Boal, Bigelow dispenses with the red-wire/blue-wire lies Hollywood told you and replaces them with a heady brew of documentary realism and action poetry." — Groucho Reviews Posted Jul 10, 2009
Fresh 2.5/4	Fresh 71%	Bruno (2009)	" *Ribbing for your pleasure, Br�no* is crafted to cause a flurry of varied reactions, even within a single viewer.*" — Groucho Reviews* Posted Jul 10, 2009
Fresh 2.5/4	Rotten 35%	The Edge of Love (2009)	" *Maybury tackles the great Dylan Thomas in The Edge of Love, a speculative investigation into a cloudy period of the poet and dramatist's personal life. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews* Posted Jul 8, 2009
Fresh 2.5/4	Rotten 44%	Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)	" Has enough crisp sight gags, character moments, frantic mayhem and musical interludes...to box the family crowd into a state of punch-drunk love." — Palo Alto Weekly Posted Jul 3, 2009
Rotten 2.5/4	Fresh 61%	Tetro (2009)	" *There's still much to admire in the visual craft and offbeat cultural sampling Coppola heroically brings to a homogenized cinema, but Tetro* rides off the rails.*" — Groucho Reviews* Posted Jul 3, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 88%	For All Mankind (1989)	" For All Mankind is about what makes these men all the same...and, to some extent what makes us all the same: our infinitesimal smallness in the humbling vastness of the universe. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jul 2, 2009
Rotten 1.5/4	Rotten 23%	Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)	" *Hollywood likes nothing more than having its cake and eating it too, which explains the confusions of P.J. Hogan's Confessions of a Shopaholic. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews* Posted Jul 1, 2009
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 66%	Public Enemies (2009)	" True-crime story or romantic myth-making? This was the question I brought in to Michael Mann's Public Enemies...and, though seemingly an either-or proposition, the question still on my mind when I walked out." — Groucho Reviews Posted Jul 1, 2009
Rotten 1.5/4	Rotten 24%	Predator 2 (1990)	" Undeniably bad, but sort of a nice try. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 28, 2009
Fresh 2.5/4	Rotten 30%	Morning Light (2008)	" A vanity project...[but also] a sincere love letter to sailing, as seen through the eyes of a handful of very lucky youngsters. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 28, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 84%	In the Realm of the Senses (1976)	" Like his characters, Oshima is determined to explore and transgress sexual boundaries, if they even exist, by posing a challenge to conventional morality. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 28, 2009
Fresh 4/4	Fresh 98%	Do the Right Thing (1989)	" *A towering achievement in American cinema, Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing* takes a hard look at a community in crisis. [Blu-ray]*" — Groucho Reviews* Posted Jun 28, 2009
Fresh 3/4	N/A	Burn Notice - Season 2 (2008)	" Creator Matt Nix manages convincing action sequences and a sense of danger while keeping the show essentially optimistic and light-footed. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 28, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 75%	The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)	" Remains a potent statement about the horrors of war and a valid testament to the girl who could answer them by writing, 'I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are really good at heart.' [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 28, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 89%	Dancemaker (1998)	" Though the dances themselves are sometimes histrionically shot or overedited, Diamond ultimately succeeds in putting Taylor's best foot forward in this wholly memorable film." — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 28, 2009
Rotten 2.5/4	Rotten 22%	Jonas Brothers - The Concert Experience (2009)	" As sunglasses and guitar picks fly...and mics and pointing drumsticks thrust out of the screen, it's a sort of metaphor for the whole film (and the band it captures) to ponder which effects are "real" and which are manufactured in a computer. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 28, 2009
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 60%	Spaceballs (1987)	" *Despite the dirty jokes hidden in plain sight ('Never underestimate the power of the Schwartz!'), Spaceballs* is a PG-rated comedy that makes silliness sublime. [Blu-ray]*" — Groucho Reviews* Posted Jun 28, 2009
Fresh 2.5/4	Rotten 46%	Whatever Works (2009)	" Part of Boris' worldview seems to be to excuse the movie in which he stars. Try not to overthink it, Allen seems to say: just enjoy it." — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 26, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 97%	Food, Inc. (2009)	" Usefully, it provides counter-balance to its own doom-saying with numerous suggestions of how to deal with the corporatization of food." — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 26, 2009
Fresh 2.5/4	Rotten 51%	Cheri (2009)	" Doesn't so much get anything wrong; it just fails to go oh so right." — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 26, 2009
Rotten 2/4	Rotten 44%	My Sister's Keeper (2009)	" Undeniably manipulative, not only in its plot, but in its dramatization of it." — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 26, 2009
Rotten 1.5/4	Rotten 13%	Friday the 13th - Part 3 (1982)	" *Not since Psycho* has a movie taken such advantage of the phallic nature of slasher horror. [Blu-ray]*" — Groucho Reviews* Posted Jun 25, 2009
Rotten 1/4	Rotten 35%	Friday the 13th - Part 2 (1981)	" Basically only for completists looking to see Jason take center stage for the first time. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 25, 2009
Fresh 2.5/4	Fresh 71%	Fracture (2007)	" Doesn't hold up to a lick of scrutiny, which is a shame, since it provides such juicy material for a pair of contrasting actors..." — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 25, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 94%	Last Year at Marienbad (1961)	" Gorgeous and elliptical...also became [for some] an instant subject of derision as a prototype for the impenetrable European art film." — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 24, 2009
Rotten .5/4	Rotten 19%	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)	" Never in the field of blockbuster movies has so much been spent on so little." — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 24, 2009
Rotten 2.5/4	N/A	Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009)	" Groening's notoriously prickly fanbase may well overlook the inclusion of nearly the entire extended universe of Futurama characters and focus on the negative: the warmed-over story and jokes. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 19, 2009
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 73%	Primal Fear (1996)	" An unfolding mystery in which truth is elusive, and twists are the order of the day...gives Norton a career-making opportunity to strut his stuff. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 19, 2009
Rotten 1.5/4	Fresh 62%	Arctic Tale (2007)	" Arctic Tale isn't a documentary. They say it right there in the title, see? It's a tale. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 19, 2009
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 84%	Mean Girls (2004)	" *Like Heathers* with the edges filed down a bit...the kind of smooth, clever (and rare) entertainment that critics and audiences can all enjoy, guilt-free. [Blu-ray]*" — Groucho Reviews* Posted Jun 19, 2009
Rotten 2.5/4	Rotten 45%	The Last Kiss (2006)	" The Last Kiss isn't afraid of exploding romantic conventions--um, at least not at first. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 19, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 77%	Seabiscuit (2003)	" Writer-director Ross's true-believer American salesmanship%u2014inspired by Frank Capra and honed in Dave and Pleasantville--suits this story of American entrepreneurship, optimism, and resilience. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 19, 2009
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 60%	Valkyrie (2008)	" [A] pleasing throwback to 1970s war-intrigue pictures. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 19, 2009
Rotten 1/4	Rotten 26%	Black Sheep (1996)	" *It's nice to see the two together, practicing their easy screen rapport--and no doubt more so given Farley's untimely passing--but Black Sheep* is still a clunker. [Blu-ray]*" — Groucho Reviews* Posted Jun 19, 2009
Fresh 2.5/4	Rotten 50%	The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)	" A diverting but typically silly Roger Moore entry in the Bond canon. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 19, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	Fresh 91%	Field of Dreams (1989)	" Widely regarded as a modern populist classic, the film is both a fabulist fable and a celebratory baseball movie that acknowledges scandal within the sport but also the game's transcendent ability to rise above attempts to damage its integrity. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 19, 2009
Fresh 4/4	Fresh 98%	The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)	" The sublime film music, now-iconic situations (like the climactic ghost town shootout), and sure visual style add up to a pitch-perfect genre pic that ongoingly influences generations of hip filmmakers. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 19, 2009
Fresh 4/4	Fresh 94%	Fargo (1996)	" *The Coen Brothers have always loved to go far, a tactic they don't forgo in Fargo. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews* Posted Jun 19, 2009
Fresh 3/4	N/A	24 - Season 7 (2009)	" In the end, the trashy but entertaining Season Seven will be best remembered for giving the show 'buzz' again. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 19, 2009
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 79%	Miracle (2004)	" Miracle capitalizes on its understanding of team dynamics: the bonding of pain and gain alike, the ownership of integrity over ego, the satisfaction of communal accomplishment. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 19, 2009
Fresh 2.5/4	N/A	Fatal Attraction (1980)	" The film's moderate artistic success rests on Lyne's unsettling soft-lit style and the resonant leading performances by Douglas, Archer, and Close, who brilliantly does all the work the screenplay doesn't...[Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 19, 2009
Rotten 1.5/4	Rotten 17%	Year One (2009)	" There's no shortage of anatomical jokes, scatological jokes, and fart jokes, toilet humor being the last refuge of a spent comedy writer." — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 19, 2009
Fresh 3/4	Fresh 89%	Moon (2009)	" Jones has a very interesting existential idea here, and though he frustratingly doesn't exploit its every possibility, he does give a great actor an opportunity for a tour-de-force performance." — Palo Alto Weekly Posted Jun 19, 2009
Rotten 2.5/4	Fresh 66%	Away We Go (2009)	" Its dull colors and folk-rock soundtrack...attempt to achieve the oft-chased feel of '70s cinema--in this case, Hal Ashby or Mike Nichols. It's a game try, but the transparently schematic result too often gets under the skin in the wrong way." — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 18, 2009
Rotten 2/4	Rotten 46%	The Proposal (2009)	" Though there's definitely an audience for the story's increasingly sunny sweetness, the film sparks to life pretty much only when the estimable duo of Bullock and Reynolds bickers." — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 18, 2009
Rotten 1.5/4	Rotten 41%	Indecent Proposal (1993)	" Would you sell your body for a night, to the tune of a million dollars? What makes for five minutes of interesting conversation, alas, does not make for an interesting two-hour movie. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 17, 2009
Rotten 2/4	Rotten 16%	Striking Distance (1993)	" *Like the box of generic corn flakes, Striking Distance* isn't so terrible, but you'll forget it the second you're done with it. [Blu-ray]*" — Groucho Reviews* Posted Jun 17, 2009
Fresh 3.5/4	N/A	Lost - The Complete Second Season (2005)	" Lost's redemption songs continue to compel, all the way up to another thrilling cliffhanger finale that doles out mortal terrors and, for some, escape. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews Posted Jun 16, 2009

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0/4	The Number 23 Offsite
0/4	See No Evil Offsite
0/4	Alone in the Dark Offsite
0/4	White Noise Offsite
0/4	Surviving Christmas Offsite
0/4	My Mother Likes Women Offsite
.5/4	I Love You, Beth Cooper Offsite
.5/4	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Offsite
.5/4	Bride Wars Offsite
.5/4	Friday the 13th Offsite

PETER CANAVESE

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