PETERSON REVIEWS
I’m on Spring Break. Posts will resume on April 20.
-
Odds & Ends: February 2024
Notes from the last month.
-
‘Drive-Away Dolls’ is a Goofy Road Comedy
Plus: ‘Madame Web’ is not necessarily better than you’ve heard — but it might be more entertaining.
-
‘The Way He Looks’ is a Deeply Felt Teen Romance
Daniel Ribeiro’s rom-com is anchored by a moving lead performance from Ghilherme Lobo.
-
‘Something to Talk About’ Barely Gives You Anything
The movie flimsily approaches potentially rich material.
-
The Soul and Sensitivity of ‘The Blue Caftan’
Though driven by a narrative that sounds straight out of a melodrama, this romantic drama proves more emotionally subtle than sensational.
-
There’s Always Tomorrow
On ‘Sylvie’s Love’ and ‘One Night in Miami.’
-
‘Stepmom’ is a Maudlin, Sometimes Effective, Tearjerker
Chris Columbus’ 1998 melodrama has five credited writers — and it shows.
-
‘Millennium Mambo’ is a Haunting, Lyrical Study of a Life in Stasis
‘Millennium Mambo’ doesn’t need us to know too much about its characters’ inner lives; it’s more about capturing feelings and moods — the listlessness of a woman floating through life because she isn’t sure what else to do.
-
The Coming-of-Age Horrors of ‘Lisa Frankenstein’ and ‘How to Have Sex’
New movies from Zelda Williams and Molly Manning Walker, reviewed.
-
‘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.
-
‘The Story of a Three-Day Pass’: An Early Triumph for Melvin Van Peebles
Van Peebles would only get bigger — and bolder.
-
Small Gestures, Big Problems in ‘Charulata’
On Satyajit Ray’s masterful romantic drama.
APRIL 2026
The Theme is ‘High Anxiety’
ASDFJHGSD
The Unrelenting Grimness of ‘Frozen River’
Misty Upham and especially Melissa Leo are excellent in this frostbitten drama.
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
Peterson Reviews 