Phil
Groves is the vice president of film at Loews Cineplex
Entertainment, which with 2,448 screens at 262 locations
throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, ranks
as one of North America’s five largest cinema chains.
Groves also currently serves as NATO’s product committee
vice chair.
What about you would most surprise the majority of your
fellow exhibitors?
I wanted to be a doctor before Hollywood seduced me.
What’s the best thing
about living in Los Angeles?
Showbiz, sun and sand.
Leaving aside family members, who was your first role
model?
Scientist-artist Leonardo da Vinci. He was a lefty and
the first hyphenate.
What would you
wish for if a djinn offered to grant one wish (assuming
you couldn’t
wish for more wishes)?
My own personal lane on the freeways. I’d get to
screenings on time that way.
What would you
be if you weren’t a cinema operator?
Filmmaker.
Who is your favorite filmmaker and why?
Pixar. They haven’t screwed up yet.
What was your favorite movie last year?
“Ice Age.”
Which movie or movies are you most looking forward to?
“Last Samurai.”
Who is the most talented actor most people have never
heard of?
Scarlett Johansson.
Which book would you most like to see adapted into a motion
picture?
“Confederacy of Dunces.”
Which TV show do you hate to miss?
No such thing.
What’s
your favorite movie theatre in which you and/or your
partners have absolutely no
investment?
The Paramount Theatre on the Paramount lot.
Which sacred cow would you most like to barbecue?
Monday holidays, with the resulting ad deadline issues.
The industry should take Fridays off for its three-day
weekends.
What’s
the best thing about running a cinema company?
New movies.
What’s
the worst?
Bad new movies.
What do you wish someone had told you earlier?
“One day, there will be e-mail.”
What was the single best piece of advice you ever got?
“Be it, don’t dream it.” 
