PETERSON REVIEWS
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‘Notting Hill’: A Star-Crossed Romance
Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant do wonders to soften — but not completely distract from — the contrivances of Roger Michell’s romantic comedy.
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‘The Story of a Three-Day Pass’: An Early Triumph for Melvin Van Peebles
Van Peebles would only get bigger — and bolder.
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Small Gestures, Big Problems in ‘Charulata’
On Satyajit Ray’s masterful romantic drama.
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‘The Crime is Mine’: Murder is Their Business
François Ozon’s frothy screwball comedy homage harkens back to the heightened style of 2002’s ‘8 Women.’
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A Doomed, One-Sided Love in ‘Senso’
On Luchino Visconti’s sumptuous, devastating melodrama.
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‘Go Fish’: A Heartfelt, Pioneering Romantic Comedy
Rose Troche’s breakthrough was a milestone for lesbian representation.
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‘Mystic Pizza’ is an Essential Coming-of-Age Comedy
Roger Ebert now-famously predicted that the film’s three leads would soon become movie stars; the promising ebullience of their performances still shines through.
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Odds & Ends: January 2024
Notes from the last month.
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‘The Car’ is About What You’d Expect
A hybrid of ‘Christine’ and ‘Jaws,’ this thriller about a self-driving car that hits the gas only so that it can kill people isn’t necessarily bad, but it doesn’t do anything that interesting with its premise, either.
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On Steve McQueen’s So-Called Vanity Project
Notes on ‘Le Mans.’
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‘Death Race 2000’ is a Tongue-in-Cheek Dystopian Thriller
The performers — particularly the in-on-the-joke cool Mary Woronov and the comically always-fuming Sylvestor Stallone — know precisely what kind of movie this is and seem to be luxuriating in the material, just as we are.
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The Poignance of ‘Crossroads’
Watching Britney Spears in her one and only movie hits differently now than it might have in 2002.
JANUARY 2026
The Theme is ‘Endings’
ASDFJHGSD
‘In the Bedroom’ is a Powerful Meditation on Grief
On actor turned director Todd Field’s first effort as a filmmaker.
November 6, 2025
October 27, 2025
September 17, 2025
The Hunger
Antonio Pietrangeli’s 1965 black comedy ‘I Knew Her Well’ is one of its decade’s most undersung works.
December 18, 2025
Parallel Lines
Zeinabu irene Davis’ one and only feature-length movie, 1999’s ‘Compensation,’ has gotten a well-deserved second life this year.
December 3, 2025
Do the Right Thing
Abbas Kiarostami’s Koker trilogy-commencing ‘Where is the Friend’s House?’ empathetically sees the world through a particularly well-meaning child’s eyes.
November 12, 2025
Peterson Reviews 