PETERSON REVIEWS
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The Idea of You
Notes on ‘Letter from an Unknown,’ Max Ophüls’ masterpiece of unrequited love.
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‘Now and Then’ is an Underrated Coming-of-Age Movie
Lesli Linka Glatter’s feature-length debut is the rare coming-of-age film to foreground the mundane moments of female friendship.
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‘Oh, Canada’ and ‘Nickel Boys’ Look Back on Painful Pasts
For South Sound: New movies from Paul Schrader and RaMell Ross, reviewed.
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‘The Fall’ is More Than Just a Feast for the Eyes
In addition to being a visual treat, Tarsem Singh’s criminally underseen fantasy film is also pretty moving.
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‘Mother’ Never Lets You Guess Its Next Move
You can never be too certain where Bong Joon-ho’s 2009 drama is going to go next.
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John Carswell’s American Graffiti
For 425: Catching up with a Snohomish County man who’s amassed the world’s largest collection of graffiti and urban art on canvas.
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Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande Are Magnificent in ‘Wicked’
Plus: Ridley Scott revisits the ‘Gladiator’ universe nearly 25 years later.
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‘The Grifters’ is Elevated by Its Female Leads
This 1990 adaptation of the 1963 Jim Thompson novel wouldn’t make as much of an impression without Anjelica Huston and Annette Bening.
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Life Changes
‘Emilia Pérez,’ ‘Juror #2,’ and ‘Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point,’ reviewed.
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‘Strange Fascination’: An Auspicious Beginning to a Compelling Partnership
This noir-adjacent melodrama from 1952 marked the start of a six-film-long collaboration between director Hugo Haas and actress Cleo Moore.
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Shadows and Light
Joseph H. Lewis’ lean and mean ‘The Big Combo’ is a low-key triumph of the film noir form.
APRIL 2026
The Theme is ‘High Anxiety’
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Jean Gillie is the Reason to See ‘Decoy’
Jack Bernhard’s 1946 noir never completely grabs you, but Gillie’s impressively vicious performance almost makes up for it.

March 27, 2026

February 4, 2026

November 6, 2025

Superheroines
On Julia Loktev’s towering, terrifying ‘My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow.’
March 30, 2026
Everything Everywhere
William Greaves’ ‘Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One’ is almost 60 years old and still feels ahead of the curve.
March 11, 2026


Next Big Things
Gregory La Cava’s ‘Stage Door’ is often at once hysterically funny and brutally pragmatic about the personal toll a career in entertainment can take.
March 4, 2026












