Michael Phillips

Michael Phillips is a former film critic for the Tribune.

Aran Sabbah and Mohammad Alsurafa in "To a Land Unknown." (Watermelon Pictures)

Review: ‘To a Land Unknown’ at Facets is an absorbing refugee crisis drama

July 18, 2025 at 10:03 a.m.

Danish-Palestinian Mahdi Fleifel's debut feature asks, How can the political not be personal?

Joaquin Phoenix tangles with a pandemic, social unrest and his own political ambitions in writer-director Ari Aster's "Eddington." (Richard Foreman/A24)

‘Eddington’ review: Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal, once upon an early COVID time in the West

July 22, 2025 at 1:59 p.m.

Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone take on early 2020 pandemic crises of every sort in Ari Aster's "Eddington."

Jacqueline Stewart, University of Chicago cinema and media studies professor and founder of the South Side Home Movie Project, on June 30, 2025, at the Arts Incubator in Washington Park. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Column: 20 years ago, UChicago’s Jacqueline Stewart went hunting for home movies. She found pure Chicago history.

July 10, 2025 at 1:04 p.m.

Returning to UChicago after the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, Jacqueline Stewart celebrates a singular South Side home movie stash.

A superman and his dog, plus robot: "Superman" stars David Corenswet as the interstellar alien emigre. (Warner Bros. Pictures)

‘Superman’ review: This latest reboot opens strong, and that dog Krypto’s a pip

July 9, 2025 at 10:51 a.m.

Besides a very good dog named Krypto, James Gunn's "Superman" gives us a five-star Lois Lane thanks to Rachel Brosnahan.

Eva Victor in "Sorry, Baby," which she also wrote and directed. (Philip Keith/A24)

Review: ‘Sorry, Baby’ is a witty, moving portrait of life in the aftermath of a college assault

July 4, 2025 at 6:04 p.m.

A college assault shadows the present-day life of a literature professor in "Sorry, Baby," Eva Victor's bracing first feature.

Scarlett Johansson plays a covert operations expert on an island that really needs one in "Jurassic World Rebirth." (Jasin Boland/Universal Studios)

Review: ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ is tense but a downer, with dinosaur fatigue part of the story

July 1, 2025 at 2:49 p.m.

While far from an uneven franchise's worst, "Jurassic World Rebirth" has a peculiar sense of pacing and a grim endurance-test tone.

Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine and director William Wyler on the set of the 1961 film adaptation of "The Children's Hour." (Alamy/Mirisch Corp.)

Column: The new book ‘Sick and Dirty’ examines the not-so-hidden queerness of classic Hollywood

June 27, 2025 at 5:30 a.m.

In "Sick and Dirty," author Michael Koresky takes a clear-eyed look at golden age Hollywood's stealth queerness on screen.

Kathleen Chalfant in "Familiar Touch." (Music Box Films)

‘Familiar Touch’ review: A coming-of-old-age story, compassionate and clear-eyed

June 27, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

The writer-director Sarah Friedland and actress Kathleen Chalfant avoid every storytelling pitfall in a movie about a woman in a memory care facility.

Brad Pitt plays a has-been driver recruited for one last shot at Formula One glory in "F1." (Warner Bros. Pictures)

‘F1’ review: With Brad Pitt as the seasoned old-timer, it’s ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ on wheels

June 26, 2025 at 9:54 a.m.

"F1" is a pretty decent summer picture, and if it were half as crisp off the track as it is on the track, we'd really have something. But few will...

Nathalie Emmanuel as Julia Cicero and Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina in "Megalopolis." (Lionsgate)

Live at the Chicago Theatre: Francis Ford Coppola, ‘Megalopolis’ and your questions

June 20, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Live Nation presents a multi-city tour, with a July 25 Chicago stop, of "An Evening with Francis Ford Coppola and 'Megalopolis.'"

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