Category: the classics
-
On ‘The Watermelon Woman’
Notes on Cheryl Dunye’s personal, inventive drama.
-
The Cutthroat Thrills of ‘Murder by Contract’
‘Murder by Contract’ is a lean, no-nonsense movie.
-
That Most Important Thing
On ‘Cane River’ and ‘Shirley.’
-
The Indelible Paranoia of ‘The Parallax View’
The storyline is so rife with close calls and contrived developments that I ultimately enjoyed ‘The Parallax View’ not as I would, say, ‘All the President’s Men,’ which was as mistrustful as it was plausible-feeling. It’s more like fretful, intelligently designed pulp fiction.
-
Everyone is on Their A-Game in ‘Some Like It Hot’
The movie, aside from 1953’s ‘Niagara,’ is also the one, I think, which best showcases Monroe’s preternatural relationship with the camera.
-
‘The Daytrippers’: High Stress on the Road
Is Eliza being cheated on? In ‘The Daytrippers,’ a great quasi-road comedy movie from Greg Mottola, the question, posed at the beginning of the film, will be answered at the end of a long, messy day.
-
‘The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years’ Improves Upon Its Predecessor
On Penelope Spheeris’ follow-up to her groundbreaking 1981 documentary.
-
Lesson in Survival
Five films by Zhang Yimou, starring Gong Li.
-
‘Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice’ is a Brainy Sex Comedy
On Paul Mazursky’s 1969 comedy classic.
-
‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ and ‘The Invisible Man,’ Reviewed
One of the best movies of 2019 and an unexpectedly great horror adaptation.
-
‘The Bad News Bears’ is a Terrific Sports Comedy
Especially first-rate are the scenes featuring just Walter Matthau and Tatum O’Neal, who, while also being the most well-drawn characters in ‘The Bad News Bears,’ have a funny, jagged onscreen relationship.
-
The Horrors of Self-Optimization in ‘Seconds’
On Frankenheimer’s excellent black comedy.
Peterson Reviews 