Michael Phillips – Page 59

Benedict Cumberbatch, left, and Jesse Plemons in a scene from "The Power of the Dog."

Column: 2022 Oscar nominations are in — what the Academy got right, and what it got wrong

February 8, 2022 at 1:48 p.m.

If Netflix is the big dog in Hollywood now, then "The Power of the Dog" is the dog behind the dog at this year's Academy Award nominations, announced Tuesday. The...

John Bradley and Halle Berry take a wall down "2001" lane in a scene from "Moonfall."

‘Moonfall’ review: The moon is about to kill us. Halle Berry can’t rescue this Roland Emmerich trip.

February 4, 2022 at 10:41 a.m.

Jazz great Slim Gaillard's interpretation of "How High the Moon" includes this existential pearl: "Everybody's wondering how high the moon / The moon never wonder how low you are." It's...

‘Night’s End’ is a Chicago-made horror film from Jennifer Reeder and Brett Neveu — it streams in March on Shudder

February 3, 2022 at 3:18 p.m.

"Night's End," screenwriter and longtime Chicago playwright Brett Neveu's tale of a dicey exorcism performed in a classic Chicago two-flat, makes its streaming premiere March 31 on Shudder, the horror,...

Seidi Haarla plays a Finnish woman traveling to the top of the world in "Compartment No. 6."

‘Compartment No. 6’ review: A train trip to the Arctic circle, and a lively clash of personalities, makes for an early 2022 movie highlight

February 3, 2022 at 7:40 a.m.

If a movie puts two strangers together in a new city, or en route to one, two words tend to come up in comparison. They are: "before" and "sunrise," thanks...

Coming soon: ‘Gaslight,’ ‘Fatal Attraction’ and more in Film Center’s ‘Bad Romance’ series. Plus: Facets celebrates Galentine’s Day!

January 31, 2022 at 1:09 p.m.

On the phone recently, Rebecca Fons was discussing the 1987 one-night-stand-like-hell-it-is thriller "Fatal Attraction," and its place in the upcoming "Bad Romance" retrospective at the Gene Siskel Film Center, where...

For the first time in two years, the invaluable Chicago Film Society unveils a full season. What’s in store?

January 28, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

This weekend, the cinephiles running the nonprofit Chicago Film Society embark on their first full indoor season since the advent of the pandemic nearly two years ago. The 16 programs,...

Revisiting ‘The Conversation’: Why Coppola’s 1974 mystery gave Gene Hackman his most brilliant — and difficult — hours on screen

January 27, 2022 at 6:10 p.m.

Harry Caul and "The Conversation" are back, listening in on a new generation of rampant, justifiable paranoia. Writer-director Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 drama came out between "The Godfather" (1972), the...

‘France’ review: Léa Seydoux plays a lost soul of French TV journalism

January 21, 2022 at 5:15 a.m.

Continuing its gently rug-pulling ways through Jan. 27 at the Gene Siskel Film Center, writer-director Bruno Dumont's "France" gives Léa Seydoux, most recently in "The French Dispatch," a full range...

‘The Velvet Queen’ review: In the Tibetan mountains, a French wildlife photographer tracks a special kind of cat

January 20, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

Beautiful if surprisingly gabby, the nature documentary "The Velvet Queen" (opening Friday at the Music Box) chronicles the renowned wildlife photographer Vincent Munier and his pal, writer Sylvain Tesson, as...

Buster Keaton in a scene from the 1928 silent movie "The Cameraman,'' directed by Edward Sedgwick.

Column: If you don’t know the silent films of Buster Keaton, you’re missing out. A movie critic remembers an early favorite.

January 21, 2022 at 12:47 p.m.

At some point in my childhood, there it was: My first Buster Keaton. Was he on WGN-TV? PBS? One of the two, probably. In the days before streaming, Blockbuster Video...

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