PETERSON REVIEWS
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Anna Faris is Next Level in ‘Smiley Face’
I don’t know if hilarity would ensue as dependably as it does if Faris’ performance weren’t genuinely masterful.
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Byland Leans In
The Everett-based musician talks about her new album, upcoming Northwest tour dates, and more in a new interview.
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The Love Games of ‘Challengers’ and ‘The Idea of You’
New movies from Luca Guadagnino and Michael Showalter, reviewed.
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Odds & Ends: April 2024
Notes from the last month.
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River Phoenix Can’t Save ‘A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon’
A dull premise and a hard-to-root-for protagonist torpedo William Richert’s tampered-with coming-of-age comedy.
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‘Linda Linda Linda’ Rocks
This high-school movie makes you want to start a band.
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The Bold Visions of ‘The Beast’ and ‘The People’s Joker’
New movies from Bertrand Bonello and Vera Drew, reviewed.
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‘Dogfight’: A Tender Precursor to ‘Before Sunrise’
Nancy Savoca’s period romance does a lot with a little.
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The Passion of ‘Billie Jean’
‘The Legend of Billie Jean’ is an odd cocktail that goes down easy.
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The Goofy Alarmism of ‘High School Confidential!’
The infamous 1958 high-school drama epitomizes product-of-its-time silliness.
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‘My Own Private Idaho’ is Lucky to Have River Phoenix
Writer-director Gus Van Sant’s insistent overstylization would sink the film if not for the heartbreaking, vivid work of the late actor.
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End Times
‘Civil War’ and ‘Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World,’ reviewed.
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 