Michael Phillips – Page 128

‘The House That Jack Built’ review: Lars von Trier’s really boring serial killer movie

January 31, 2019 at 12:14 p.m.

The Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier has coped with depression, alcohol abuse and a fairly justifiable persecution complex for years now. In 2011 he shot his mouth off at the...

‘El Angel’ review: In Argentina, a baby-faced teen grows into a master criminal

January 31, 2019 at 12:14 p.m.

A sleekly fashioned true-crime story without much on its mind, “El Angel” comes from Argentine filmmaker Luis Ortega, who works from various accounts of the serial killer Carlos Eduardo Robledo...

‘Stan and Ollie’ review: Steve Coogan, John C. Reilly shine as comedy lions in winter

January 9, 2019 at 8:00 a.m.

I can only guess at how “Stan & Ollie” will work for anyone unfamiliar with, or resistant to, the blithe charms of Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy, whose bowler hats...

Andrew Bujalski's 2013 comedy "Computer Chess," shot on ancient 1980s video equipment, returns in a newly struck 35MM film print Wednesday at the Chicago Film Society's Northeastern Illinois University venue.

Before ‘Support the Girls,’ there was ‘Computer Chess,’ a deadpan comedy about programmers

January 9, 2019 at 1:09 p.m.

There are film fanatics, and then there are fanatics for the analog photochemical wonder that is a movie projected on film. That’s right: old-fashioned, softer-edged, mellow and expressive film. On...

Mahershala Ali accepts the award for best supporting actor in a motion picture for his role in "Green Book" during the 76th Golden Globe Awards Sunday.

Sunday’s Golden Globes: Seriously? THESE are the champions?

January 7, 2019 at 2:10 p.m.

With big wins for the toothless, well-acted Civil Rights-era heartwarmer "Green Book" and the sexless, well-acted Freddie Mercury Queen biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody," Sunday’s Golden Globes stuck to the middle of...

Try these 10 movies on for size, chills and seasonal diversion

January 2, 2019 at 1:56 p.m.

Our region remains in the throes of snow deprivation. The atmospheric niceties many of us associate with the calendar’s early months have gone AWOL. Here’s how bad it is these...

Director Bing Liu's recent documentary "Minding the Gap," shot in Rockford, has been shortlisted for Academy Awards consideration.

Chicagoan of the Year: Bing Liu, Rockford filmmaker could make a splash at the Oscars

December 28, 2018 at 8:27 a.m.

Come Jan. 22, filmmaker Bing Liu finds out if his career-making documentary, “Minding the Gap,” jumps from a shortlist of 15 to the five documentary feature nominees in the 91st...

‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ review: Can love survive the hate a society gives its own people?

January 8, 2019 at 1:05 p.m.

The first thing we see in “If Beale Street Could Talk” emerges as text on a black screen, a quotation from author James Baldwin. “Beale Street,” he wrote, “is a...

‘Vice’ review: Christian Bale, Amy Adams star in Dick Cheney biopic full of … itself

January 31, 2019 at 12:18 p.m.

Adam McKay’s restless Dick Cheney lament, “Vice,” belongs to a subgenre of recent political biopics one might characterize as “The Important, the Powerful and the Generally Pathetic,” with the subjects...

‘Second Act’ review: Jennifer Lopez scams her way to the top, ‘Working Girl’ style

January 8, 2019 at 1:05 p.m.

Manhattan! The wondrous toy. The isle of joy. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. Nobody can deny it: New York City and environs have been...

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