Michael Phillips – Page 129

‘Welcome to Marwen’ review: A hate crime sparks Steve Carell’s fantasy world — and a seriously misjudged movie

December 19, 2018 at 11:03 a.m.

“Welcome to Marwen” is a misjudgment only a first-rate filmmaker could make. I hope I’m in the minority with this opinion. It’s a drag to respond poorly to the latest...

‘Mary Poppins Returns’ review: Emily Blunt and that ‘Hamilton’ chap take a strenuously jolly holiday

December 17, 2018 at 12:59 p.m.

Families could do a lot worse this holiday season than to take out a home equity loan for a bucket of multiplex popcorn and take in “Mary Poppins Returns,” director...

Written and directed by Barry Jenkins (seated), "If Beale Street Could Talk" stars Stephan James and KiKi Layne, photographed earlier this month at Chicago's West Loop Soho House.

‘Moonlight’ director and DePaul grad take the road to ‘Beale Street’

December 26, 2018 at 4:05 a.m.

James Baldwin wrote his novel “If Beale Street Could Talk,” about young black lives in 1970s Harlem united by love and divided by criminal injustice, in the spirit of a...

‘Roma’ gets lost on the small screen. The Music Box solution: See it in 70mm!

December 14, 2018 at 9:05 a.m.

Shot in a gorgeous, silvery widescreen 65 millimeter format, Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” is being distributed by streaming giant Netflix, a company built on the mission of making the traditional theatrical...

Melissa McCarthy in a scene from "The Happytime Murders."

10 worst movies of 2018

December 13, 2018 at 2:40 p.m.

Most years, I come to the end of our 12 months together in filmdom and end up picking a smallish, nearly flawless picture for my No.1 slot. Then there’s a...

‘The Mule’ review: Clint Eastwood stuck in neutral as Mexican cartel’s best friend

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

Mules are stubborn. Producer, director and star Clint Eastwood no doubt relished the double meaning in the title of his latest film, “The Mule.” The heavily fictionalized drug courier Eastwood...

‘Vox Lux’ review: A narcissistic pop star is born, and Natalie Portman’s drowning in glitter

December 12, 2018 at 12:00 p.m.

In space, stars find their way into existence by way of interstellar molecular clouds at a temperature of just above absolute zero. That’s seriously cold. In “Vox Lux,” the narcissistic...

‘Ben is Back’ review: Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges explore the depths of addiction. Happy holidays.

December 13, 2018 at 7:38 a.m.

In its emotional peaks “Ben is Back,” the new drama from writer-director Peter Hedges, affords Julia Roberts the chance to go full-on “Steel Magnolias” — delivering short, sudden outbursts of...

‘Aquaman’ review: It has surf. It has turf. And not much else.

January 31, 2019 at 12:22 p.m.

After surfacing for a cameo teaser appearance in “Batman v Superman” and a proportional slice of the action in “Justice League,” the DC Comics superhero Aquaman (born in 1941) takes...

"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" takes familiar mythology and finds the right animated incarnation to make it feel fresh.

‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ review: No tangled webs here

December 11, 2018 at 6:24 p.m.

We’ll begin with an unfair apples-and-oranges comparison because, let’s face it, a lot of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has a way of unrolling like an endless roll of Fruit by...

All Stories