Kevin Hart and the Oscars: Readers respond
Last week, baiduhai movie critic Michael Phillips wrote a column about comedian Kevin Hart “stepping down” as host of the 2019 Academy Awards. (Hart had previously tweeted homophobic comments...
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Kevin Hart isn’t the problem. The Oscars are the problem.
Congratulations to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for putting out a fire it personally started by offering Kevin Hart the 2019 Oscars hosting gig. Congratulations, and good...
5 movies that just missed Michael Phillips’ top 10
Can we talk about end-of-year lists a sec? Mine come out next week. Invariably the assembly of these lines requires a lot of scrambling to catch up with films I...
‘Becoming Astrid’ review: How a young writer’s private life fueled the fearless Pippi Longstocking
With some screen biographies, you go in pre-disposed to like the film because you’re hot for the music (“Bohemian Rhapsody”), or you admire the subject’s political brinksmanship (“Darkest Hour”). Or...
‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ review: Just what we need, ANOTHER Scottish Christmas zombie musical
According to the Scottish Christmas zombie musical “Anna and the Apocalypse,” ground zero for the war on Christmas will take place in the waterfront burg of Little Haven. In actuality...
‘Roma’ review: A master filmmaker remembers his Mexico City childhood
Alfonso Cuaron’s new film, “Roma,” gives you so much to see in each new vignette, in every individual composition, in fact, that a second viewing becomes a pleasurable necessity rather...
Two nuns, one microphone and a question for Chicago: ‘Are you happy?’
Like “The War at Home,” another ‘60s-focused documentary returning this week to the Gene Siskel Film Center, the early Kartemquin Films project “Inquiring Nuns” captures a specific time and place...
‘The War at Home’ review: When UW-Madison lit the fires of revolution
Back in a 4k digital restoration, “The War at Home” returns this week to the Gene Siskel Film Center. The legitimate question: What can a nearly 40-year-old documentary, covering a...
‘Burning’ review: Steven Yeun of ‘The Walking Dead’ co-stars in slippery Korean noir
Film history, which mutates every week, has given us a sub-species of the mystery genre that knows how to keep a secret, even from itself. Films in that category resemble...
‘The Favourite’ review: Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz make ruthless power plays for queen’s affection
The benign flowering plant known as Queen Anne’s Lace closely resembles hemlock, which brings us straight away to the pleasurably nasty triumph “The Favourite.” In this film, vaguely ridiculous extravagance...