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Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Tomatometer-approved critic
Michael W. Phillips Jr. started reviewing films at the age of 15, when he walked into the local newspaper office and asked if they wanted a film critic. The paper closed down soon thereafter. He took a break to attend college and start graduate school in History, then he restarted his career as a film critic with a geocities site in 2000. Somewhere in there he had a short-lived professional relationship with a major movie site that he'd rather not discuss. He moved to his own URL in 2004. In 2005, he was hired as a film critic for yet another small, local paper, which ceased publication shortly thereafter. He's reasonably sure he had nothing to do with this, but after closing down two newspapers, he's not positive anymore. He pays the bills by editing print ads for fast food retailers, as well as programming and running the projector at a film revival house. He's also a filmmaker.
Chicago, IL
http://goatdog.com
Movies reviews only
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The story is pretty tired, the depictions of the natives pretty xenophobic ... but it's worth watching for a few moments that transcend the film they're stuck in. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted May 02, 2021
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The genius of this film is that it literalizes the metaphor: these zombie soldiers aren't symbols of some larger issue, they're literally the costs of Bush's war. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Apr 29, 2021
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Sherlock, Jr. (1924) |
I need a different scale to rate this movie. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted May 29, 2015
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Salome (1922) |
- Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Mar 12, 2014
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One Foot in Heaven (1941) |
It's worth watching for March's performance -- although we don't get to hear him preach enough -- and for his take-down of a wealthy family determined to run his church for him. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Feb 03, 2012
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Nevada Smith (1966) |
Not a worthless film, although it's impossible to take seriously. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 30, 2011
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Bridesmaids (2011) |
I laughed almost without pause; at several points I made horselike snorting sounds that hurt the insides of my nose. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 30, 2011
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The Dark Knight (2008) |
Visceral and terrifying. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 29, 2011
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Angels Crest (2011) |
A high-school production of a second-rate Greek tragedian. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 29, 2011
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Contagion (2011) |
A supercharged cross between an episode of CSI and a World Health Organization infographic. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 29, 2011
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Last Pullman Car (1985) |
One of Chicago documentary group Kartemquin Films's many incisive documentaries about social injustice. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 29, 2011
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The Perfect Host (2010) |
It's a film, not a play, and it doesn't work. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 29, 2011
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Midnight in Paris (2011) |
Watchable, and on a certain level, it's quite enjoyable. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 29, 2011
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Stake Land (2010) |
May be the best blunt-force-trauma, tear-your-throat-out vicious vampire film since Near Dark. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 15, 2011
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13 Assassins (2010) |
Miike's sadistic fetishization of violence and suffering is nowhere in evidence. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 15, 2011
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) |
If the best thing about a spy movie is the wallpaper, perhaps you've miscalculated. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 14, 2011
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The Debt (2010) |
Wants to ask deep philosophical questions [but] the protracted ending prevents any of these philosophical darts from sticking. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 05, 2011
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Point Blank (2010) |
Action cinema distilled. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Nov 20, 2011
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Four Brothers (2005) |
Feels like a nervous student's heavily footnoted thesis film. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Nov 20, 2011
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Warrior (2011) |
Suddenly Thunderdome doesn't seem like such a pipe dream anymore. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Nov 16, 2011
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She Demons (1958) |
Seems to have been created by choosing randomly from a selection of 13-year-old boys' 'these are a few of my favorite things' lists. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Nov 05, 2011
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Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951) |
Not a film noir, but you should still invest your time in locating and viewing it. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Oct 30, 2011
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Maniac (1934) |
A truly wretched film that I enjoyed, partly because of and partly in spite of its excessive excrescence. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Oct 17, 2011
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Along the Great Divide (1951) |
Flawed by structural problems in the script but buoyed by its A-list leading cast - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Oct 10, 2011
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Dance, Fools, Dance (1931) |
A wonderful little film on its own, but it's also a handy little primer of early-1930s genre conventions. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Aug 19, 2011
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Tugboat Annie (1933) |
An enjoyable diversion that provides Dressler with ample opportunities to flex her acting chops. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Aug 19, 2011
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Dementia 13 (1963) |
A peerless horror film of the low-budget variety, a sort of how-to guide for future filmmakers on working with a limited budget. - Movie-Vault.com
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| Posted Aug 19, 2011
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The Phantom Planet (1961) |
It's actually quite compelling. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted May 28, 2011
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The Lost Patrol (1934) |
A mostly successful experiment in minimalism that allows Ford to work with his traditional themes. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted May 04, 2011
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Sensuela (1973) |
So low-budget that it appears Brechtian, so confoundingly bad that it borders on brilliant, and so 1970s softcore that it might just be feminist. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Apr 04, 2011
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Do It Again (2010) |
A fanboy's love letter to his favorite band, a desperate and admittedly somewhat selfish wish that they get back together and bring back some of the magic he remembers as a lifelong fan. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Apr 04, 2011
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Daresalam (2001) |
- Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Apr 04, 2011
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The Fighter (2010) |
Chopin playing Chopsticks. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Jan 16, 2011
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True Grit (2010) |
Watching them snipe at each other was one of the undeniable pleasures of the 2010 movie season. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 28, 2010
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Night Catches Us (2010) |
Attempts to pry the lid off a painful chapter of American history that textbook writers and elected officials would rather erase or whitewash. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 26, 2010
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Exam (2009) |
Low-budget but handsomely mounted cross between Cube and 12 Angry Men, with some script input by mystery writer Agatha Christie and literary critic Terry Eagleton. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 19, 2010
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Red Riding: 1980 (2009) |
A huge step up from the unfollowable plot and unfathomable evil of Red Riding: 1974. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 18, 2010
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Death at a Funeral (2010) |
It's almost a checklist of things I don't like, but it won me over in its opening minutes and never let go. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 15, 2010
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Jonah Hex (2010) |
When it works, which it does quite often, it's one of the better comic book adaptations of recent years. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 14, 2010
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Marwencol (2010) |
A painfully intimate, mysterious, joyous film. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 11, 2010
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White Material (2009) |
Possesses a defiant, exhilarating life, a testament to its peerless crafts(wo)manship and its uniqueness. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 07, 2010
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Conviction (2010) |
I charge director Tony Goldwyn and screenwriter Pamela Gray with ineffective assistance of counsel. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 05, 2010
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Unstoppable (2010) |
The most fun I've had at the movies all year. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Dec 04, 2010
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The American (2010) |
There's a lot to value, even if it drinks a little too deeply from the well of stock Euro-assassin-movie characters and situations. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Nov 30, 2010
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Black Swan (2010) |
Shackled by sports-movie clichés, a reductive view of how creativity works, and, most importantly, Natalie Portman's limitations as an actress. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Nov 29, 2010
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It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010) |
Has a genuine understanding of the protagonist, but ends up betraying him. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Nov 28, 2010
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Monsters (2010) |
A somewhat confused spawn of Cloverfield and District 9, with less of an effects budget and less of a coherent self-concept than either of its parents. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Nov 27, 2010
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) |
Has too many plot threads to follow in its willy-nilly efforts to set the stage for the real ending. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Nov 24, 2010
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Let Me In (2010) |
Not as good as the original but able to stand on its own feet. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Nov 23, 2010
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Death Line (1972) |
The first (or only?) ethnographic urban legend horror film. - Goatdog's Movies
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| Posted Nov 16, 2010
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