PETERSON REVIEWS
space
I’m on Spring Break. Posts will resume on April 20.
-
‘Primal Fear’ is Glossy Garbage
‘Primal Fear’ is cheaply fun, but some of that fun is weighed down by thoughts of the better movie it could have been.
-
Things Fall Apart: Two by Uli Edel
Two by Uli Edel.
-
Turbulence
Two ‘90s gems — ‘Drylongso’ and ‘The Doom Generation’ — are restored and as invigorating as ever.
-
‘Runaway Bride’: A Match Made in Hell
It’s hard to buy that someone who’s nationally humiliated you could be your soulmate, and ‘Runaway Bride’ isn’t charming enough to do any convincing otherwise.
-
‘The Cotton Club’ is Slight But Beautiful to Look At
Even the encore cut of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1984 box-office flop feels dramatically hollow.
-
‘8 Million Ways to Die’ is an Uneasy, But Engaging, Neo-Noir
The movie always feels uncomfortable. Its attempts to be a labyrinthine mystery, a squalid noir, and a somewhat serious study of alcoholism’s destructiveness all have a similar quality to walking around in clothes that don’t fit.
-
Reality Bites in ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ and ‘Reality’
A dazzling animated movie and an acting showcase, reviewed.
-
‘8MM’ is Almost Comically Grim
‘8MM’’s portrayal of the underground-porn world conversely has the texture of one imagined by a well-off 60-something who wouldn’t know much about that kind of thing.
-
Short Takes: ‘The Little Mermaid,’ ‘You Hurt My Feelings,’ and ‘Master Gardener’
Disney, Nicole Holofcener, and Paul Schrader.
-
‘Wendy and Lucy’ is a Moving — and Harrowing — Survival Drama
Williams isn’t given a lot to say, but her performance emits her character’s unspoken convictions in a way that tells us everything we need to know about a tenacious young woman struggling to maintain that tenacity.
-
‘The Last Hurrah’ Plays Like Political Fan Fiction
John Ford’s 1958 movie isn’t among the political satires to have an angry, acidic touch. Its objects of scorn are teased mostly in a hair-ruffling way.
-
‘Cactus Flower’ Makes It Seem Easy to Do Comedy
Everybody is on their A game in this pitch-perfect farce.
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 