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Michael Phillips

Michael Phillips is a former film critic for the Tribune.

‘Bullet Train’ review: Murder on the disorient express stars Brad Pitt in a pack of assassins on a train out of Tokyo

August 2, 2022 at 10:02 a.m.

In "Bullet Train," Brad Pitt plays a lovable-loser assassin (code name: Ladybug) bent on self-improvement. He's an easygoing sweetie, in the spirit of John Cusack's gun-for-hire in "Grosse Pointe Blank,"...

‘Hoop Dreams’ filmmaker Steve James to premiere new project at the Venice Film Festival on atomic spy Theodore Hall

July 29, 2022 at 11:18 a.m.

The new Steve James documentary "A Compassionate Spy," about the Manhattan Project physicist, Soviet spy and University of Chicago alum Theodore Hall, has been selected for the documentary slate of...

Rebecca Hall is one of the fiercest actors of our time. But “Resurrection” comes up short of her talent

July 28, 2022 at 12:41 p.m.

In the movies, the interior trauma so many women endure years or decades after the end of an abusive relationship is resolved with a cruelly misleading lack of fuss or...

29 years underground and counting: The Chicago Underground Film Festival keeps on digging

July 26, 2022 at 11:19 a.m.

"Underground cinema" means different things to different film programmers and their audiences. For 29 years, as programmer and artistic director of the Chicago Underground Film Festival, aka CUFF, Bryan Wendorf...

Michael Phillips: Mid-insurrection, Donald Trump Jr. texted the ‘Godfather’ line about going ‘to the mattresses.’ Is that any way to treat a classic?

July 22, 2022 at 1:49 p.m.

In his defense, Donald Trump Jr. had a lot going on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021. As the Jan. 6 hearing Thursday evening made clear, the cost of his...

Eva Reign, left, and Abubakr Ali in Billy Porter's directorial debut "Anything's Possible."

Review: ‘Anything’s Possible’ on Amazon Prime, a teen romcom for our times and a promising directorial debut from Billy Porter

July 21, 2022 at 3:17 p.m.

Now streaming on Amazon Prime, Billy Porter's classy , heartfelt directorial debut "Anything's Possible" doesn't work miracles. But it does work, and in ways more interesting than the average streaming...

‘The Last Movie Stars’ review: HBO’s portrait of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward plays out as some of the most irresistible hours of TV this year

July 21, 2022 at 11:03 a.m.

Long before the line "Who are those guys?" became a running gag in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," the public wondered the same thing about Paul Newman and Joanne...

Keke Palmer confronts unidentified flying objects in Jordan Peele's "Nope."

‘Nope’ review: Jordan Peele’s UFO movie pits a Black-owned horse ranch against a very unsettling flying object

July 20, 2022 at 2:24 p.m.

The best, eeriest parts of director Jordan's Peele's third feature, "Nope," are as good as anything in "Get Out" or "Us," and they're very different from either of those earlier...

Roy Scheider as Joe Gideon in Bob Fosse's "All That Jazz."

For one night only, the Music Box brings back ‘All That Jazz,’ the dazzling death wish from Chicago’s Bob Fosse

July 18, 2022 at 12:35 p.m.

It's showtime, folks. Joke all you want about Bob Fosse's jazz hands, deployed throughout "All That Jazz" by Roy Scheider in the very, very Fosse role of Broadway and Hollywood...

Gracija Filipovic´ in a scene from "Murina."

‘Murina’ review: Family ties slither like eels on a gorgeous Croatian isle

July 15, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

A young woman, a born swimmer, backstrokes her way across the Adriatic Sea under a blinding sun in the opening images of "Murina," which begins a weeklong run at the...