PETERSON REVIEWS
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‘The Stranger’ is a Family-Reunion Drama with the Lift of a Thriller
‘The Stranger’’s subversiveness, unexpectedly, lies in its optimism — its unspoken plea for open-heartedness.
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‘Choose Me’ is Classed-Up Soap Opera
‘Choose Me’ is made up almost entirely of romantic entanglements.
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Ghosts
On ‘The Trial’ and ‘The Immortal Story.’
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‘Nightmare Alley’ is a Creepy Rise-and-Fall Story
The movie is so rousingly cynical, the possibility of instantaneous death comes off as sort of merciful.
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Slow Deaths
On ‘Black Widow,’ ‘Fear Street Part 1: 1994,’ and ‘No Sudden Move.’
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‘The Lovers’: The Vagaries of Love
‘The Lovers’ was as much of a headache as it was a pick-me-up for its director, Louis Malle, and its star, Jeanne Moreau.
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‘Merrily We Go to Hell”s Downward Spiral
True to its title, ‘Merrily We Go to Hell’ is a movie in which heavenly goodness is in short supply.
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‘Mr. Klein’ is Joseph Losey At His Best
On Losey’s chilling 1976 thriller.
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‘Summer of Soul’ is a Cause for Celebraton
You head home from ‘Summer of Soul’ clinging to any residual bliss.
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Duplicities
On ‘Zola’ and ‘False Positive.’
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Lovefool
On ‘The Heartbreak Kid.’
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‘The Bride Wore Black’: Sweet Revenge
In which Jeanne Moreau becomes an angel of death.
NOVEMBER 2026
The Theme is ‘Sibling Bonds’
ASDFJHGSD
‘Twins of Evil’ is Sharper Than You’d Think
Though mostly made to capitalize on the newly minted sex symboldom of identical-twin sisters Mary and Madeleine Collinson, this 1971 horror movie ends up being a decent critique of puritanical hypocrisy.
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
