PETERSON REVIEWS
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The Blissful Myopia of ‘Atlantic City’
Despite the overwhelming presences of failure and missed opportunity — like no matter how hard you try, you cannot effectively, cleanly, run away from your past — it still feels, to me, like an optimistic movie.
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On Humphrey Bogart’s Last Move
‘The Harder They Fall’ is a solid, economic thriller.
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Dark Victory
On ‘Da 5 Bloods’ and ‘The King of Staten Island.’
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On ‘The Watermelon Woman’
Notes on Cheryl Dunye’s personal, inventive drama.
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The Good Old Days
‘Where the Boys Are’ and ‘Beach Party,’ reviewed.
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‘Deep Cover’ Challenges Police Procedural Norms
On an invigorating cop noir.
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The Overpowering Loneliness of ‘Separate Tables’
In ‘Separate Tables,’ carefully tucked-away secrets come to the fore
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Beauty is Pain in ‘Death Becomes Her’
Hawn and Streep are both terrific.
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The Cutthroat Thrills of ‘Murder by Contract’
‘Murder by Contract’ is a lean, no-nonsense movie.
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That Most Important Thing
On ‘Cane River’ and ‘Shirley.’
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‘The Great’ is Great
Though some abbreviation could benefit it.
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‘Brute Force’ is Best At Its Weariest
Which is to say when disgust at the prison-industrial complex is at its barest.
JUNE 2026
The Theme is ‘Pride’
ASDFJHGSD
‘Edge of Seventeen’: A Wonderful Coming-of-Age Movie with Few False Notes
Even when the narrative of the film itself isn’t always, it’s a joy to watch a gay coming-of-age movie that neither sugarcoats things nor emphasizes hardship.
May 25, 2026
May 13. 2026
March 27, 2026
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 