Michael Phillips (born March 11, 1961) is an American

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

Early life

Phillips was born in

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Wisconsin, fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin, with a population of 99,986 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. S ...

, and spent most of his early years in Racine.

Career

Prior to being film critic for the ''

'', Phillips was the drama critic of the ''Tribune''; the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''; the '' St. Paul Pioneer Press''; ''

The San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

''; and the '' Dallas Times Herald''. From 2006 through August 2008, he appeared frequently on '' At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper'', first as one of numerous guest critics filling in for the late

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

while he was on medical leave, and becoming a semipermanent cohost with

Richard Roeper Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American writer. He is a former columnist and film critic for the '' Chicago Sun-Times'', where he wrote for 39 years dating back to 1986 until his departure in 2025. He co-hosted the television s ...

in the months before Roeper and Ebert ended their association with the series. On August 5, 2009, Phillips was hired along with ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' critic A. O. Scott to replace hosts Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz. The show was cancelled after one season due to low ratings, concluding its run in August 2010. More recently Phillips has introduced films as a guest host of

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

in 2011, 2013, 2016 and early 2017. He appears on the Filmspotting podcast, and hosts a series of programs about movie music, ''The Film Score'', for WFMT-FM (98.7).

Preferences

In an interview with ''Rotten Tomatoes'', Phillips listed his five favorite films (in chronological order): # '' The Passion of Joan of Arc'' # '' His Girl Friday'' # ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...

'' # '' The Band Wagon'' # ''

Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...

Best films of the year

Each year, Phillips prepares a list of the top ten films of the year. In 2009, he also made a list for the films of the 2000's decade.

Filmography

Notes

References

External links

*
Michael Phillips
at the ''

'' 1961 births American columnists American film critics National Society of Film Critics Members American television personalities Living people Writers from Chicago People from Kenosha, Wisconsin Writers from Racine, Wisconsin 20th-century American journalists American male journalists {{authority control