PETERSON REVIEWS
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On ‘Viy’
Based on an 1800s horror novella by Nikolai Gogol, ‘Viy’ is frightening in a what-if-this-happened-to-me kind of way.
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‘Stranger on the Third Floor’ Wouldn’t Amount to Much Without Peter Lorre
‘Stranger on the Third Floor’ is also frequently touted as the very first film-noir movie on account of its story and visual style.
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You Want ‘Phantom Lady’ to Get Weirder Than It Does
‘Phantom Lady’ has a decent climactic twist, but it’s whodunit 101 — too straightforward for a movie that practically invites us to imagine alternative, more nightmarish scenarios.
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The Communication Breakdowns of ‘Howards End’
This ambitious, nearly two-and-a-half-hour-long drama additionally functions as a romance, a cultural critique, a comedy of manners, and an ensemble piece.
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‘Fun with Dick and Jane’ is No Fun
The 1977 comedy leaves a bad taste in the viewer’s mouth.
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‘Born in Flames’ is as Urgent as Ever
‘Born in Flames’ galvanizes — reminds us that simply believing in something like a revolution is never enough.
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Rebel Rebel
On ‘Cuties’ and ‘Mulan.’
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The Comedy and Horror of ‘The Devils’
‘The Devils’ lampoons, fairly spectacularly, the weaponization and power-leveraging of religion while chillingly underlining just how frightening the practice is.
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‘Earth Girls Are Easy’ Could Stand to Be Campier
‘Earth Girls Are Easy’ revels in its presentation so much that it forgets a lot of the time to make fun of itself as well.
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Talk a Good Game
On ‘The Burnt Orange Heresy’ and ‘Class Action Park.’
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‘Between the Lines’: For the Love of the Game
In Joan Micklin Silver’s equal parts bighearted and devastating ‘Between the Lines,’ journalists are put on a pedestal — elevated like characters in a soap opera.
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In ‘Original Cast Album: Company,’ Recording an Album is as Tense as a Thriller
One does not need to be familiar with ‘Company’ to be roused by its soundtrack’s making.
OCTOBER 2026
The Theme is ‘Thrills and Chills’
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Sin and Vice
On ‘The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh,’ ‘Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key,’ and ‘All the Colors of the Dark,’ an informal trilogy from Sergio Martino starring Edwige Fenech.
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
