Michael Phillips – Page 83

In 2001, Nichols directed Emma Thompson in the HBO adaptation of Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winner "Wit," one of Nichols' most intimate and incisive works.

From Hyde Park to ‘The Graduate’ and beyond: Terrific new Mike Nichols biography illuminates the path of a Chicago-bred improv master

January 27, 2021 at 12:49 p.m.

Fall, 1949. Igor Michael Peschkowsky, a German Jewish emigre raised in Nazi-era Berlin and then New York City, arrives by train for the first day of his freshman year at...

Even with Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan front and center, little in the trailer of "The Dig" seemed particularly promising,? I gave it a go and it's good. Some of it's true, too: Along the east coast of Britain in 1939, with war clouds looming, self-taught Suffolk archeologist Basil Brown was hired by ailing widow Edith Pretty to discover if anything of value lay beneath the earth mounds on her property. There was indeed, and the remains and artifacts of a sixth-century Anglo-Saxon burial ship stunned the world. Fiennes is Basil; Mulligan is Edith; around the halfway point of director Simon Stone's film, the focus (for better or worse) shifts to others in the orbit of the excavation effort, particularly characters played by Lily James and Johnny Flynn. Based on the 2007 novel by John Preston, "The Dig" freely mixes fact and invention, overloading the crises a bit but generally succeeding. A fair amount of screenwriter Moira Buffini's dialogue plays out as Terrence Malick-styled voiceover, while the camera focuses on the stark beauty of the surroundings, and men and women actually doing the work. The results are trim, well-made and quite moving. So much for my prejudgments. (Netflix) — Michael Phillips

Review: Justin Timberlake shines in custody drama ‘Palmer,’ new Apple TV movie

January 25, 2021 at 3:13 p.m.

A custody drama starring Justin Timberlake, Apple TV's "Palmer" (streaming Friday) is really more like "Palmer vs. Palmer," set a long way from Manhattan. Timberlake and his cohorts keep this...

What we’re watching: From ‘Walker’ reboot to Brit hit ‘The Sister’

January 22, 2021 at 11:53 a.m.

Wondering what to watch this weekend? Check out our weekly film and TV recommendations. We want to know what you're streaming, too. Tell us about it @ChiTribEnt on Twitter or...

Watch this. Eat that: ‘One Night in Miami’ demands a scoop of Shawn Michelle’s ice cream

January 21, 2021 at 2:54 p.m.

Watch this: 'One Night in Miami' Set in 1964, this juicy Miami story imagines what was said and done when heavyweight champ Cassius Clay (Eli Goree, a ringer vocally for...

‘The Sister’ review: Hulu’s slow-burn thriller was a hit in Britain — for good reason

January 21, 2021 at 7:35 a.m.

"The Sister," a British hit that debuts on Hulu this week, adapts the 2008 Neil Cross novel "Burial" and makes for a clammy, sparingly vicious crime story with a "Blood...

Opinion: At the Biden inauguration, six minutes of poetry just revived a nation’s cultural hopes for the future

January 20, 2021 at 5:23 p.m.

Our new president is a man for prose. In his inaugural address Wednesday, on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, Joe Biden defended the value of truth, facts, science. He...

‘The White Tiger’ review: Servant becomes master in Ramin Bahrani’s propulsive adaptation

January 19, 2021 at 12:31 p.m.

Years ago novelist Aravind Adiga dedicated his book "The White Tiger" to filmmaker and friend Ramin Bahrani, the North Carolina-born writer-director best known for "99 Homes" and other American dreams...

Gene Siskel Film Center names Rebecca Fons director of programming

January 22, 2021 at 8:25 a.m.

The Gene Siskel Film Center has filled its key curatorial position, following the late November retirement announcement of longtime programming head Barbara Scharres. The new director of programming: Chicago-based Rebecca...

What we’re watching: January 15

January 21, 2021 at 12:02 p.m.

Wondering what to watch this weekend? Check out our weekly film and TV recommendations. We want to know what you're streaming, too. Tell us about it @ChiTribEnt on Twitter or...

‘WandaVision’ review: A couple of Avengers struggle to assimilate in suburbia with mixed results — so far

January 15, 2021 at 2:01 p.m.

The early half-hours of "WandaVision," Marvel Studios' new Disney+ TV series, boast special powers of audience division. While it's far too early to assess the nine-episode, $150 million gamble fully,...

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