Michael Phillips
@mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social
Past: Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, etc.
Present: Film, theater, arts, culture; writing, editing, talking, teaching. Director, U of I Ebert Fellowship. Weekly on Classical WFMT-FM's "Soundtrack." Frequent "Filmspotting" guest.
Present: Film, theater, arts, culture; writing, editing, talking, teaching. Director, U of I Ebert Fellowship. Weekly on Classical WFMT-FM's "Soundtrack." Frequent "Filmspotting" guest.
Yes, and Ted Sarandos has already indicated his displeasure in anything more than 2 weeks. So.
Just checked - for 2025 among wide releases, WB has averaged a 35 day window, slightly above the industry average (which makes sense since they've had a bunch of big hits). The industry average is about 33 days.
December 6, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Yes, and Ted Sarandos has already indicated his displeasure in anything more than 2 weeks. So.
Reposted by Michael Phillips
This is an American patriot.
December 5, 2025 at 3:14 PM
This is an American patriot.
Apparently the Netflix algorithm picked up on the phrase “you ran guns to Ethiopia” and boom: prequel
The opening of this email from Netflix about their acquisition of Warner Brothers does not have me feeling super-confident about how they will treat the classic film archive now in their care. "Franchises" like ... Casablanca? Which is the single classic movie mentioned in a list of TV shows & IP?
December 6, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Apparently the Netflix algorithm picked up on the phrase “you ran guns to Ethiopia” and boom: prequel
Right on.
Goddamn @theamynicholson.bsky.social COOKED with this FRANKENSTEIN review. Bow down to one of the greats. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
October 25, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Right on.
NY-and-thereabouts friends: If you can swing by Astoria and the Museum of the Moving Image 4:30pm Sat. Nov. 1, I'll be here with these good people. movingimage.org/event/the-st...
The State of Film Criticism – Museum of the Moving Image
It’s become distressingly rare for arts journalists of all kinds to maintain staff jobs. For this free event, the Museum invites an illustrious panel to discuss the embattled profession of film critic...
movingimage.org
October 20, 2025 at 8:15 PM
NY-and-thereabouts friends: If you can swing by Astoria and the Museum of the Moving Image 4:30pm Sat. Nov. 1, I'll be here with these good people. movingimage.org/event/the-st...
Reposted by Michael Phillips
They were already living in one of Chicago’s worst apartment buildings. Then came the ICE raid. Our story @chicagotribune.com breaks down the “mind-blowing violation of the Fourth Amendment” that occurred and the propaganda from the U.S. government.
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/19/i...
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/19/i...
They were already living in one of Chicago’s worst apartment buildings. Then came the ICE raid.
In what appears to have been a warrantless operation, the federal government will not say how many people were detained, who remains in custody and what happened to the children.
www.chicagotribune.com
October 19, 2025 at 12:36 PM
They were already living in one of Chicago’s worst apartment buildings. Then came the ICE raid. Our story @chicagotribune.com breaks down the “mind-blowing violation of the Fourth Amendment” that occurred and the propaganda from the U.S. government.
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/19/i...
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/19/i...
Favorite sign at one of the many, many rallies across America today, this one in Albuquerque: "I like my democracy neat, no ICE." Clearly the work of domestic terrorists.
October 19, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Favorite sign at one of the many, many rallies across America today, this one in Albuquerque: "I like my democracy neat, no ICE." Clearly the work of domestic terrorists.
And yet five of the nine would probably get rid of the Voting Rights Act for free
Supreme Court running out of funding before they can get rid of the VRA would be really funny
Supreme Court 'expects to run out of funding' in hours due to shutdown: report
October 18, 2025 at 4:18 PM
And yet five of the nine would probably get rid of the Voting Rights Act for free
Next on my reading list. It can, and has, happened anywhere.
A prophetic 1933 novel has found a surprising second life – it holds lessons for us all | Charlotte Higgins
A prophetic 1933 novel has found a surprising second life – it holds lessons for us all | Charlotte Higgins
Sally Carson’s Crooked Cross was written and set during the rise of nazism. It shows both how extremism takes hold, and the moral certainty needed to resist it, says the Guardian’s chief culture writer, Charlotte Higgins
www.theguardian.com
October 18, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Next on my reading list. It can, and has, happened anywhere.
Reposted by Michael Phillips
What an absolute treasure Diane Keaton was. Her wit never tired, nor did her style.
October 11, 2025 at 8:30 PM
What an absolute treasure Diane Keaton was. Her wit never tired, nor did her style.
Laying the groundwork for martial law, with the instigating provocation to be named later, exceeds the meaning of "unusual."
Breaking News: President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the military should use U.S. cities as “training grounds” at an unusual meeting focused on culture wars. It was unclear why they needed to gather senior military leaders from overseas to tell them this face to face.
Live Updates: Trump Addresses Rare Military Gathering as Government Shutdown Looms
nyti.ms
September 30, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Laying the groundwork for martial law, with the instigating provocation to be named later, exceeds the meaning of "unusual."
Thanks to the good people at rogerebert.com. It's a sadly beautiful re-watch right about now, in the age of "five Watergates a month."
September 30, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Thanks to the good people at rogerebert.com. It's a sadly beautiful re-watch right about now, in the age of "five Watergates a month."
Reposted by Michael Phillips
Kimmel won. Winning matters, wins are how we’re going to prevent this autocratic slide.
September 26, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Kimmel won. Winning matters, wins are how we’re going to prevent this autocratic slide.
Reposted by Michael Phillips
“I’m emotionally shellshocked right now,” said one professor in the Texas Tech system. “What does it say about academic freedom? It says we don’t have it.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...
Texas Tech Moves to Limit Academic Discussion to 2 Genders
www.nytimes.com
September 27, 2025 at 11:31 AM
“I’m emotionally shellshocked right now,” said one professor in the Texas Tech system. “What does it say about academic freedom? It says we don’t have it.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...
Reposted by Michael Phillips
I think there is a direct relationship between punishing people for mourning George Floyd and punishing people for not mourning Charlie Kirk.
BREAKING: The FBI has fired agents photographed kneeling during a 2020 racial justice protest that followed the death of George Floyd, AP sources say.
FBI fires agents photographed kneeling during 2020 racial justice protest, AP sources say
The FBI has fired agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington that followed the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.
bit.ly
September 27, 2025 at 2:18 PM
I think there is a direct relationship between punishing people for mourning George Floyd and punishing people for not mourning Charlie Kirk.
Much obliged, Peter. Truly.
Twenty years of excellence. Thank you! (And curses be upon the Trib for this.)
August 20, 2025 at 4:43 AM
Much obliged, Peter. Truly.
Working w the excellent @ninametz.bsky.social and our editor Doug George has made us all a little better, I hope. I'll be hanging around "Filmspotting" as needed, and inflicting my musical tastes weekly on Classical WFMT via "Soundtrack." To you all: Thanks for reading, and giving a damn. (3/3)
August 19, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Working w the excellent @ninametz.bsky.social and our editor Doug George has made us all a little better, I hope. I'll be hanging around "Filmspotting" as needed, and inflicting my musical tastes weekly on Classical WFMT via "Soundtrack." To you all: Thanks for reading, and giving a damn. (3/3)
...I took the buyout. After 20 very good years here, straddling my two lifelong journalistic loves of theater (first four years, coming from the L.A. Times drama critic post to the Tribune's) and the movies, I feel nothing but gratitude for the chance to do this work in a great cultural city. (2/3)
August 19, 2025 at 2:27 PM
...I took the buyout. After 20 very good years here, straddling my two lifelong journalistic loves of theater (first four years, coming from the L.A. Times drama critic post to the Tribune's) and the movies, I feel nothing but gratitude for the chance to do this work in a great cultural city. (2/3)
A bit of news: The Chicago Tribune has deemed the post of film critic non-essential, and therefore zeroed-out that post. My options were to take a newsroom reassignment to be named later, or a buyout to be taken more or less immediately. So...(1/3)
August 19, 2025 at 2:24 PM
A bit of news: The Chicago Tribune has deemed the post of film critic non-essential, and therefore zeroed-out that post. My options were to take a newsroom reassignment to be named later, or a buyout to be taken more or less immediately. So...(1/3)
My colleague is so right. The prospect of spending even a second being an uncredited unpaid story contributor to an AI collection of other people's ideas: not good.
COLUMN: AI is fundamentally vampiric by nature. I talk with two screenwriters (who also teach screenwriting) about why giving viewers the AI "tools" to generate TV shows based on pre-existing shows will just result in empty, bad television
People should want better for themselves than this!
People should want better for themselves than this!
Column: After a long day, the last thing I want is to tell GenAI to create a TV show for me to watch
Screenwriters weigh in on why a service promising to use your prompts to create a TV show would be bad. It’s fan fiction without the fans.
www.chicagotribune.com
August 7, 2025 at 2:47 PM
My colleague is so right. The prospect of spending even a second being an uncredited unpaid story contributor to an AI collection of other people's ideas: not good.
'Weapons' review: Some of the tonal change-ups may give you whiplash, but it's clever, well-acted and pretty gripping. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/07/w...
‘Weapons’ review: The kids aren’t all right, but the movie works like a fiendish charm
A missing children mystery collides with horror and, yes, humor, in “Barbarians” filmmaker Zach Cregger’s absorbing “Weapons.”
www.chicagotribune.com
August 7, 2025 at 2:43 PM
'Weapons' review: Some of the tonal change-ups may give you whiplash, but it's clever, well-acted and pretty gripping. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/07/w...
"Is it fun? Almost? Kind of? Yes. Almost, and kind of. But there is a strain to it all. Doubling the bodies swapped ends up feeling like six times the chaos, not two: 'Cheaper by the Dozen' with a side of 'The Parent Trap.'” www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/06/f...
‘Freakier Friday’ review: A multiplied Disney reboot for the age of anxiety
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan are two of many repeat players in “Freakier Friday,” and that’s good news. The script, less so.
www.chicagotribune.com
August 7, 2025 at 2:23 PM
"Is it fun? Almost? Kind of? Yes. Almost, and kind of. But there is a strain to it all. Doubling the bodies swapped ends up feeling like six times the chaos, not two: 'Cheaper by the Dozen' with a side of 'The Parent Trap.'” www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/06/f...
Iowa's own Rebecca Fons is now Chicago's loss: The Siskel Film Centerprogramming director heads for London in September to become Head of Cinema for the Barbican Centre. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/07/28/s...
Siskel Center director Rebecca Fons is hired away by London’s Barbican Centre
Rebecca Fons, the director of programming at the Siskel Film Center in Chicago since 2021, is the new head of cinema for London’s multidisciplinary Barbican Centre, effective Sept. 1.
www.chicagotribune.com
July 29, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Iowa's own Rebecca Fons is now Chicago's loss: The Siskel Film Centerprogramming director heads for London in September to become Head of Cinema for the Barbican Centre. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/07/28/s...
Reposted by Michael Phillips
Colbert is a brilliant comedian, great interviewer & w good person. He has a million places in this new age to take his talents, be widely heard and make $$$. I hope he will.What is beyond rescue is much of the legacy media making decisions that will haunt them & their business for decades to come.
July 18, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Colbert is a brilliant comedian, great interviewer & w good person. He has a million places in this new age to take his talents, be widely heard and make $$$. I hope he will.What is beyond rescue is much of the legacy media making decisions that will haunt them & their business for decades to come.