PETERSON REVIEWS
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‘The Fourth Man’’s Stylish Misdirections
On the cusp of his American breakthrough, Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven’s 1983 movie is a stylish, quasi-parodic precursor to his own ‘Basic Instinct.’
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The Stupid Pleasures of ‘Malice’
Though this twisty-turny domestic thriller gets increasingly ridiculous, it’s never boring.
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Poulsbo’s New Film Challenge is Putting Local Creatives to the Test
For South Sound: The husband-and-wife duo behind the Poulsbo Film Festival and the Away with Words bookstore is kicking off the 47.7-Hour Film Challenge on Feb. 28.
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‘The Perfect Guy’ Goes Through the Erotic-Thriller Motions
Sanaa Lathan is stranded in David M. Rosenthal’s lethargic ‘Fatal Attraction’ knockoff.
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‘I’m Still Here’ is a Devastating Family Drama
For 425: Fernanda Torres is outstanding as a matriarch coming to terms with a cruel truth.
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Delirium
Increasingly reappraised after it was tepidly received in 2003, Jane Campion’s ‘In the Cut’ potently flips the script on the typically straight male gaze-dominated erotic thriller.
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Sympathy for the Robot
‘Companion’ and ‘Love Me, reviewed.
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The Charming Trashiness of ‘Wild Things’
John McNaughton’s overheated Florida noir benefits from not taking itself too seriously.
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A Playing-Against-Type Danny Glover (Mostly) Holds ‘Switchback’ Together
Otherwise, this crime thriller is cluttered and overly complicated.
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The Unrelenting Grimness of ‘Frozen River’
Misty Upham and especially Melissa Leo are excellent in this frostbitten drama.
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‘Chilly Scenes of Winter’’s Post-Breakup Blues
Writer-director Joan Micklin Silver potently examines how lost love can push a once-stable person off their rocker.
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‘Presence’: Steven Soderbergh’s Audacious Take on Haunted-House Horror
Shot from a ghost’s-eye view, the adventurous filmmaker’s not-quite-horror movie has more tricks up its sleeve than its ingenious formal gimmick.
SEPTEMBER 2026
The Theme is ‘Based on an Article’
ASDFJHGSD
In ‘Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros,’ It’s All in the Process
Revisiting Frederick Wiseman’s 44th documentary, which trains its gaze on the Troisgros family and its various culinary pursuits.
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
Peterson Reviews 