PETERSON REVIEWS
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‘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.
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Things Fall Apart: Two by Uli Edel
Two by Uli Edel.
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Turbulence
Two ‘90s gems — ‘Drylongso’ and ‘The Doom Generation’ — are restored and as invigorating as ever.
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‘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.
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‘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.
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‘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.
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Reality Bites in ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ and ‘Reality’
A dazzling animated movie and an acting showcase, reviewed.
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‘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.
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Short Takes: ‘The Little Mermaid,’ ‘You Hurt My Feelings,’ and ‘Master Gardener’
Disney, Nicole Holofcener, and Paul Schrader.
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‘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.
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‘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.
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‘Cactus Flower’ Makes It Seem Easy to Do Comedy
Everybody is on their A game in this pitch-perfect farce.
NOVEMBER 2026
The Theme is ‘Sibling Bonds’
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‘Visible Secret’ is a Low-Key, Surprisingly Spooky Romantic Comedy
Ann Hui’s 2001 movie posits what a rom-com might look like with a ‘Sixth Sense’-esque underlay.
October 16, 2026
August 19, 2026
May 25, 2026
Smoke and Mirrors
Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s inventive documentary isn’t just about the disgraced entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes.
October 19, 2026
Ghost World
Kaneto Shindō’s ‘Kuroneko’ is still forward-looking in its contempt for patriarchal devastation.
October 15, 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
