PETERSON REVIEWS
space
-
‘The Inkwell’ is Marred by Bad Judgment
Matty Rich’s second — and surprisingly last — movie is a pretty good coming-of-age drama until it reaches its ill-conceived conclusion.
-
The Fascinating Parallels of ‘Million Dollar Mermaid’
Esther Williams plays, in this 1952 biopic, the only person who came close to her unusual type of stardom.
-
Fools for Love
‘Pauline at the Beach,’ one of Éric Rohmer’s many vacation-set movies, is also among his best.
-
‘Big Wednesday’ is an Elegiac Ode to the Joys of Youth
John Milius’ 1978 coming-of-age film effectively evokes nostalgic bittersweetness but is hampered by thinly written characters.
-
‘Sorry, Baby’: Eva Victor’s Shattering, Clear-Eyed Filmmaking Debut
For 425: The comedian turned filmmaker’s first movie is by turns devastating and wryly funny.
-
The Simple Pleasures of ‘Bhaji on the Beach’
Gurinder Chadha’s slice-of-life 1993 debut emotionally creeps up on you.
-
How the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art is Celebrating a Seminal Northwest Artist
For 425: ‘James W. Washington, Jr.: Many Hats, One Spirit’ debuted at the museum on July 4.
-
Proto-Noir ‘Out of the Fog’ is Engaging But Ineffective
The 1941 drama’s antifascist messages are muddled by its celebrations of conformity and the status quo.
-
Back in Action
‘F1,’ ‘M3GAN 2.0,’ and ‘The Day the Earth Blew Up,’ reviewed.
-
Odds & Ends: June 2025
Notes from the last month.
-
‘Drunktown’s Finest’ is an Affecting Ensemble Drama
Sydney Freeland’s 2014 drama’s realism doesn’t undercut its sensitivity.
-
The Slow Descent of ‘Fox and His Friends’
Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1975 black comedy is rivetingly bleak.
SEPTEMBER 2026
The Theme is ‘Based on an Article’
ASDFJHGSD
The Harrowing, Empathetic ‘Streetwise’
Martin Bell’s landmark movie about teenage runaways and outcasts getting by in downtown Seattle is a haunting group portrait.
August 19, 2026
May 25, 2026
May 13, 2026
Strong, Stoic Types
Director-star Paul Newman’s 1971 treatment of Ken Kesey’s ‘Sometimes a Great Notion’ perceptively observes the corrosiveness of toxic masculinity.
August 7, 2026
Working Girls
‘Broken Mirrors,’ Marleen Gorris’ 1984 follow-up to her still-transcendent feminist drama ‘A Question of Silence,’ expands on its predecessor’s themes while dramatically improving on its writer-director’s aesthetic command.
July 9, 2026
Found Connections
Donna Deitch’s ‘Desert Hearts’ was a breakthrough for lesbian representation in cinema. It also achieves another rarified thing: Characters who feel like they exist outside a screenplay’s bounds.
June 30, 2026
