PETERSON REVIEWS
space
-
A Compassionate Look at Dementia in ‘Familiar Touch’
For South Sound: Writer-director Sarah Friedland’s feature debut dramatizes an 80-something-year-old woman’s transition from self-sufficiency into assisted living with empathy and care.
-
‘Desperate Living’ Feels Like the End of an Era
John Waters’ last movie before making his foray into the mainstream is among his most underrated.
-
‘Lan Yu’ is a Little Too Understated
Stanley Kwan’s romantic drama keeps things at the surface.
-
The Perils of Passion in ‘Materialists’ and ‘Misericordia’
For 425: New movies from Celine Song and Alain Guiraudie, reviewed.
-
The Infectious Optimism of ‘Better Than Chocolate’
Anne Wheeler’s 1999 ensemble comedy is fun without undermining the struggles of its characters.
-
‘Punks’ is a Lovable Ensemble Dramedy
Writer-director Patrik-Ian Polk’s to-follow TV show — the two-season-long ‘Noah’s Arc,’ which premiered on Logo in 2005 — only expanded on ‘Punks’’ group-of-gay-people-figuring-life-out conceit.
-
‘Kamikaze Hearts’’ Toxic Truth-Blurring
Our inability to confidently distinguish fantasy from fiction in Juliet Bashore’s pseudo-documentary from 1986 is part of what makes it exhilarating.
-
The Heavy Style of ‘The Phoenician Scheme’
Wes Anderson’s trademark aesthetic rigor poses thrills and problems in his latest movie.
-
In the Shadows
‘Victim,’ Basil Dearden’s tense 1961 noir, groundbreakingly depicted gayness with sympathy and homophobia with contempt.
-
‘By Hook or By Crook’ is a Moving Ode to Friendship
Despite its low budget and the sometimes-amateurishness of its performances, it isn’t obvious that 2001’s ‘By Hook or By Crook’ was made by people who came into filmmaking practically on a whim.
-
Acts of Love
‘The Ugly Stepsister’ and ‘April,’ reviewed.
-
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito’s Chemistry Carries ‘Twins’
Ivan Reitman’s 1988 comedy is able to coast a decent amount just on how good the duo is together.
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
