PETERSON REVIEWS
-
The Simple Pleasures of ‘Bhaji on the Beach’
Gurinder Chadha’s slice-of-life 1993 debut emotionally creeps up on you.
-
How the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art is Celebrating a Seminal Northwest Artist
For 425: ‘James W. Washington, Jr.: Many Hats, One Spirit’ debuted at the museum on July 4.
-
Proto-Noir ‘Out of the Fog’ is Engaging But Ineffective
The 1941 drama’s antifascist messages are muddled by its celebrations of conformity and the status quo.
-
Back in Action
‘F1,’ ‘M3GAN 2.0,’ and ‘The Day the Earth Blew Up,’ reviewed.
-
Odds & Ends: June 2025
Notes from the last month.
-
‘Drunktown’s Finest’ is an Affecting Ensemble Drama
Sydney Freeland’s 2014 drama’s realism doesn’t undercut its sensitivity.
-
The Slow Descent of ‘Fox and His Friends’
Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1975 black comedy is rivetingly bleak.
-
A Compassionate Look at Dementia in ‘Familiar Touch’
For South Sound: Writer-director Sarah Friedland’s feature debut dramatizes an 80-something-year-old woman’s transition from self-sufficiency into assisted living with empathy and care.
-
‘Desperate Living’ Feels Like the End of an Era
John Waters’ last movie before making his foray into the mainstream is among his most underrated.
-
‘Lan Yu’ is a Little Too Understated
Stanley Kwan’s romantic drama keeps things at the surface.
-
The Perils of Passion in ‘Materialists’ and ‘Misericordia’
For 425: New movies from Celine Song and Alain Guiraudie, reviewed.
-
The Infectious Optimism of ‘Better Than Chocolate’
Anne Wheeler’s 1999 ensemble comedy is fun without undermining the struggles of its characters.
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 