Critics » Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese

Peter Canavese

""I got a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it." —Groucho Marx in Duck Soup "

Agrees with the Tomatometer 81% 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:
1821
Total QuickRatings:
3
Location:
San Jose, CA

Listing Of All Reviews & Articles

Showing 1 - 50 of 1821
Previous | Next
Rating T-Meter Title | Year Add Date
3.5/4 98% Gravity (2013) " Moves us closer to an art-house/blockbuster hybrid paradigm that could be Hollywood's salvation...a survivalist adventure that captures the primal terror of present death while exploring the will or won't to live." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Oct 3, 2013
2/4 8% Runner Runner (2013) " The odds of hitting a 'runner runner' flush (in Texas Hold 'Em) are 'roughly four percent.' Coincidentally, those are the same odds you'll be satisfied with your purchase of a ticket to Runner Runner." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Oct 3, 2013
2.5/4 88% Rush (2013) " Typically slick, both overstated and undernourished when it comes to the drama. All the same, Rush makes for a pretty good fall night at the movies: fast and furious, but not too stupid." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Sep 27, 2013
3/4 95% Enough Said (2013) " A comedy of separation anxiety and conjoining anxiety...When Holofcener gets Dreyfus and Gandolfini alone, Enough Said is a beautiful thing." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Sep 27, 2013
3.5/4 91% Stand by Me (2000) " Exquisitely captures the vulnerability not only of youth, but of the male identity." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Sep 26, 2013
2.5/4 59% Afternoon Delight (2013) " Feels rather 'been there, done that' for a movie that keeps (idly, as it turns out) threatening to turn transgressive. Still, by putting utility player Hahn front and center, Soloway earns instant good will." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Sep 13, 2013
3.5/4 99% Short Term 12 (2013) " In a film full of humane performances, Larson stands out, personifying the necessary vulnerability and strength Cretton captures of the workplace." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Sep 13, 2013
2.5/4 60% Riddick (2013) " As violent, macho fantasies go, this one is surprisingly engaging, a throwback to '80s sci-fi actioners like Predator in its striking visual approach...its juicy pulp dialogue...and its unabashed hard-"R" gusto." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Sep 5, 2013
3/4 84% Kon Tiki (2013) " With a man-against-the-elements adventure like this one, the emphasis is, and should be, largely on spectacular depiction of the environment, and [the] directors...make use of the biggest budget yet afforded to a Norwegian film... [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews
Posted Sep 4, 2013
3.5/4 97% To Be or Not to Be (1942) " To Be or Not to Be has all the hallmarks of a Lubitsch comedy: a solidly constructed plot, good comic pacing, a light touch, and strong performances from top to bottom. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews
Posted Sep 3, 2013
3.5/4 74% The Grandmaster (2013) " More than anything, perhaps, The Grandmaster is a feminist tragedy that, at least in this cut, seems to lose interest in Ip Man and pass the torch to the considerably more fascinating Gong Er..." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 28, 2013
1/4 3% Getaway (2013) " Getaway does inspire escapism, as its title implies, but not in the way the filmmakers had in mind: rather, you’ll be looking for the exits." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 28, 2013
2/4 46% Closed Circuit (2013) " Despite breathless proclamations about 'the biggest, most high profile murder case in British history' and timely trappings of closely held government secrets threatening to come to light, it all turns out to be rather boilerplate." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 26, 2013
3.5/4 89% The World's End (2013) " You can go home again. But it's going to involve a lot of drinking." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 22, 2013
2.5/4 31% Austenland (2013) " As a tart analogy for our escapism into literature and romantic comedies, Austenland is, itself, enaging, if not particularly sharp." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 22, 2013
1.5/4 10% Killing Season (2013) " Comes full up with heavy-handed signifiers, from Ben's choice of reading (Hemingway...) to a hammered motif of lapsed Christianity (the climax takes place in a rotting church) that underlines the theme of living with the sins of the past. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 19, 2013
3.5/4 91% The Spectacular Now (2013) " A mature film about immature people, tenderly performed by its young leads and skillfully adapted, by (500) Days of Summer screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, from Tim Tharp's YA novel." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 15, 2013
2/4 30% Kick-Ass 2 (2013) " Give this to Kick-Ass 2: it's never boring...Even so, Kick-Ass has lost most of its transgressive charge along with its element of surprise and its heroes' disturbingly unwavering conviction." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 15, 2013
2.5/4 73% Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013) " Despite admirable work from Whitaker and Winfrey, Lee Daniels' The Butler is nearly crushed by its own symbolic weight and its contrivance of a central character arc from keeping one's head down to learning to stand up." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 15, 2013
2.5/4 26% Jobs (2013) " Faced with almost three decades of complicated history, Jobs does a fair job of telling the story of Apple and conveying something of what made its co-founder unique. " — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 15, 2013
3/4 —— Doctor Who - Spearhead From Space (1991) " In many ways, Spearhead from Space is terribly clunky...[but it] remains an historically important adventure and one with recognizable influences on stories to come... [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 13, 2013
3/4 —— DCU: Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox () " For all its apocalyptic fate-of-the-world theatrics, this...[adaptation of] the 2011 graphic novel Flashpoint by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert...has an emotional core to give purpose to its crazy amounts of mayhem. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 13, 2013
3.5/4 98% Mud (2013) " A highly personal tale of undergrown men and overgrown boys experiencing the growing pains of love turned unrequited, and the realization that nothing-not freedom, not security, not innocence, not love-lasts forever. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 13, 2013
2.5/4 59% Cavalcade (1933) " It's hard not to see Cavalcade today as a corny contraption... [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 12, 2013
3.5/4 92% The Devil's Backbone (El Espinazo del diablo) (2001) " Pure, uncut del Toro. The filmmaker accomplishes riveting scenes of suspense and scares he honestly come by, sticking the landing of every effect he attempts. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 12, 2013
3.5/4 100% Lord of the Flies (1963) " While showing great fidelity to his source, Brook succeeded in delivering a version of Lord of the Flies that could best be described as psychological horror... [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 9, 2013
3/4 100% Wild Bill (2013) " With a concept and influences consciously in mind; fine performances by Creed-Miles, Poulter, and Williams; and approving cameos...Fletcher is able to put his best foot forward in this creditable debut." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 8, 2013
3.5/4 86% The Driver (1978) " Hill has remained a steadily stylish presence in the idiom of action cinema. His genres of concern tend to be the Western and the urban crime drama, and the twain meet in neo-noir The Driver. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 8, 2013
4/4 96% In the Family (2012) " On paper, In the Family is an 'issue movie'...But in practice, it's a made-to-scale love story and a thoughtful family drama. In other words, it's a true rarity of contemporary cinema. [Blu-ray]" — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 8, 2013
2.5/4 68% Elysium (2013) " There's a tough-mindedness there that's admirable, even if it's preaching to a mall-multiplex choir. But one wishes Blomkamp were less concerned with his Halo-style run-and-gunning and more interested in the subtler repercussions..." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 8, 2013
.5/4 47% We're The Millers (2013) " Mean-spirited to squishy does not a convincing trajectory make...That wouldn't be so much of an issue if We're the Millers weren't such a dismally unfunny endurance test, but there you are." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 7, 2013
2/4 38% Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013) " Yes, Percy faces his Charybdis, but...Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters not surprisingly feels more dutiful than creatively energized." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 7, 2013
2.5/4 63% 2 Guns (2013) " While we've seen plenty of R-rated action buddy comedies before, the stream of amusing banter here comes with plotting that has a few good tricks in reserve." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 1, 2013
3/4 91% Blue Jasmine (2013) " Blanchett's edgy comic brio, in Jasmine's blithely imperious manner, magically complements her tragic mental fragility and self-defeating desperation." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Aug 1, 2013
3/4 93% Still Mine (2013) " Handled with care and patience by McGowan, proves mightily compelling, and deftly sidesteps sentimentality and cliche." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Jul 25, 2013
2.5 69% The Wolverine (2013) " Handsome but flatfooted, The Wolverine comes tantalizingly close to working, which makes it all the more disappointing that Mangold comes up short." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Jul 25, 2013
3/4 —— Robot Chicken DC Comics Special () " 'Blackout comedy' for the Comic-Con set, the nerd's Laugh-In...all in good fun." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Jul 22, 2013
2/4 20% Girl Most Likely (2013) " The kind of movie you root for to get its act together..Take the great Kristen Wiig out...and it would be unbearable." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Jul 18, 2013
3/4 99% 20 Feet From Stardom (2013) " Neville does a good job of highlighting songs that are especially characterized by backup singers, like Lou Reed's 'Walk on the Wild Side,' and introducing us to some of the 'unsung' talent that made those hits possible. " — Groucho Reviews
Posted Jul 18, 2013
2/4 65% Turbo (2013) " Kids...will probably ho-hum their way through Turbo happily enough and forget it moments later. But they deserve better, too, than this lackluster, generic kiddie flick." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Jul 17, 2013
2/4 47% I'm So Excited! (2013) " A perverted comedy of manners, with the characters spilling drinks, secrets, and sperm...but coming more from a place of 'I'm going to make my dolls kiss. Won't that be naughty?' than one of productive social satire." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Jul 3, 2013
2/4 75% Despicable Me 2 (2013) " Culminates in a double-music video finish designed to see audiences out in a pop-narcotic laughing-gas daze. As a tactic, it's a poor substitute for a satisfying story." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Jul 3, 2013
3/4 31% The Lone Ranger (2013) " Prompts 'The Cosplay Kid' of the Comic-Con era of cinema to swallow the sins of our forefathers and the ones we countenance today." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Jul 3, 2013
2/4 64% Unfinished Song (2013) " If you're an inveterate softie looking to hydrate your eyes, yes...can't bear the thought of missing good work by Redgrave and Stamp, maybe...low tolerance for having your intelligence insulted (or dreadful renditions of "Love Shack"), it's a definite no." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Jun 27, 2013
2/4 65% The Heat (2013) " The meeting of McCarthy's stinging zingers and Bullock's practiced exasperation almost justifies The Heat, but it's more of a lob than a fastball." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Jun 27, 2013
2/4 84% Fill the Void (2013) " The film is undeniably a celebration of community, but on Shira, one gets the disturbing whiff of Stockholm Syndrome." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Jun 20, 2013
2.5/4 59% The Bling Ring (2013) " True crime with a dash of social satire...Coppola remains mesmerizingly stylish, but...The Bling Ring winds up being skin deep: superficial characters portrayed superficially in a shallow-pool reflection of shallowness." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Jun 20, 2013
3.5/4 78% Monsters University (2013) " May be the most thoughtful and, in social terms, realistic film ever made about the college experience." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Jun 20, 2013
3.5/4 84% Much Ado About Nothing (2013) " Whedon goes for a kind of radical naturalism, an understated approach that suggests the characters could be your friends and neighbors." — Groucho Reviews
Posted Jun 12, 2013
Showing 1 - 50 of 1821
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