PETERSON REVIEWS
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‘Sing Sing’ is a Moving Tribute to the Power of Art
Plus: Eurohorror-inspired ‘Cuckoo’ is elevated by thrillingly committed performances from Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens.
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‘Desperately Seeking Susan’ Makes You Wish You Were as Cool as Madonna
Susan Seidelman’s sophomore feature works best as a showcase for the then-emergent pop star’s rebel-girl charisma.
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‘Pal Joey’ Leaves a Bad Taste in Your Mouth
Frank Sinatra and Kim Novak are winning in this rosy adaptation of the pessimistic stage musical, but one might leave the film turned off by how strenuously it seems to want to deflate Rita Hayworth.
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Olivia Rodrigo Spills Her ‘Guts’
Notes from the 21-year-old singer-songwriter’s performance in Seattle last night.
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Domestic Disturbances
‘Last Summer’ and ‘Trap,’ reviewed.
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‘Obsessed’: TV-Dinner ‘Fatal Attraction’
Aside from its climactic fight and fun performances from Beyoncé and Ali Larter, this 2009 soap opera pales in comparison to the 1980s and ‘90s domestic thrillers it’s clearly inspired by.
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Detour
On the formulaic perfection of ‘Red Rock West.’
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‘Romeo Must Die’ is a Curious Mash-Up
Andrzej Bartkowiak’s genre hybrid doesn’t particularly work, but the performances from Hollywood newcomers Aaliyah and Jet Li make it worth watching.
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The Slow Simmer of ‘Summer of Sam’
Much about Spike Lee’s last movie of the 1990s is dynamic and engaging, but it’s hard not to feel, after a while, like he’d explored much of what it covers better earlier in his career.
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Holy Smoke
On ‘The Burning.’
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‘No Way Out’ is Pleasantly Preposterous
Kevin Costner’s breakthrough movie only gets more ridiculous as it goes on, but there’s a charm to its silliness.
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‘Let’s Do Something Bigger’: Filmmaker Erica Tremblay on ‘Fancy Dance’
I caught up with the writer-director to discuss her feature-directing debut, which has Northwest ties.
SEPTEMBER 2026
The Theme is ‘Based on an Article’
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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
