Michael Phillips – Page 136

‘Life Itself’ review: From ‘This Is Us’ creator, an emotional mugging

December 12, 2018 at 5:16 p.m.

Not to be confused with Roger Ebert’s autobiography, or anything good, actually, “Life Itself” is an emotional mugging, not a movie. Writer-director Dan Fogelman, creator of NBC-TV’s warm bath of...

Bradley Cooper arrives for the premiere of "A Star Is Born" during the 75th Venice International Film Festival in August in Italy. His appearance Sept. 18, 2018, in Chicago was decidedly less glamorous.

Why Bradley Cooper initially said ‘no’ to ‘A Star Is Born’

December 12, 2018 at 5:00 p.m.

The last time I saw Bradley Cooper he was stepping off a speedboat onto a red-carpeted dock outside the Excelsior Hotel, on the lovely spit of land across the water...

Chicago Film Festival rolls out full Oct. 10-21 lineup; crowd-pleasing ‘Green Book’ among the offerings

December 12, 2018 at 4:53 p.m.

Sharing themes and the mass-audience appeal of “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Hidden Figures” and other movies, the 1962-set comedy-drama “Green Book” won the Toronto film festival “People’s Choice Award” on Saturday....

Starting Friday at the Music Box: See it in 70!

December 12, 2018 at 4:35 p.m.

The whole wide world comes to Lakeview starting Friday, when the sixth edition of the Music Box 70 Millimeter Film Festival opens its gauge to the widest possible aperture. This...

Director Alfonso Cuaron accepts the Golden Lion award for best film for the movie "Roma" at the Venice Film Festival.

‘Roma’: A Mexican reverie shows the Toronto film fest what’s what

December 12, 2018 at 4:34 p.m.

If Federico Fellini hadn’t already used the title “Amarcord,” which is “I Remember” in Italian, the Mexican-born writer-director Alfonso Cuaron might’ve been tempted to call his latest remarkable picture something...

‘Widows,’ a juicy Chicago thriller starring Viola Davis, premieres at Toronto film festival

December 12, 2018 at 4:24 p.m.

The most audibly Canadian audience response I heard in the first few days of the Toronto International Film Festival came midway through the Chicago-set crime thriller “Widows,” which made its...

Director Errol Morris, right, in the cinema before the screening of his documentary "American Dharma."

Steve Bannon interview: At Venice Film Fest, a temporary movie star is born

December 12, 2018 at 4:01 p.m.

America, Steve Bannon told me the other night, is no country for anyone who wants to “hug it out” with the opposition party in the name of finding common ground....

Model Annabelle Belmondo arrives for the premiere of the film "The Sisters Brothers" presented in competition on September 2, 2018 during the 75th Venice Film Festival at Venice Lido.

Report from Venice: Will Oscar lightning strike again for these movies?

December 12, 2018 at 3:48 p.m.

About an hour into the Venice Film Festival world premiere of “A Star is Born” on Friday, a bolt of lightning apparently struck the Sala Grande auditorium. Zapping the digital...

‘A Star is Born’ has triumph, heartache, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. It can’t miss.

December 12, 2018 at 4:22 p.m.

“Maybe it’s time to let the old ways die.” So sings Bradley Cooper’s grizzled music giant Jackson Maine, the Garth Brooks/Willie Nelson/Bruce Springsteen mashup who meets the humble but driven...

‘Madeline’s Madeline’ review: When life becomes a dangerous long-form improv

December 12, 2018 at 4:06 p.m.

When we first see the teenager played by the fierce newcomer Helena Howard in “Madeline’s Madeline,” she’s pretending to be a cat and encouraging her beaming mother, played by the...

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