iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

'Tis autumn! Also, it's ep 9 of "The Movie Racket"-- @aduralde.bsky.social and I get into Vincente Minnelli's "hundred or more hidden things" that make a film linger a while, be it Minnelli or Orson Welles or Barry Jenkins or Jane Schoenbrun's "Camp Miasma." www.filmspotting.net/episodes-arc...

filmspotting.net

“A picture that stays with you is made up of a hundred or more hidden things” with Alonso Duralde | The Movie Racket — Filmspotting

God is in the details.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 03/09/2026

the literal position of the trump administration is that any school that has any more than a smattering of black students is engaged in illegal racial discrimination against whites www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/b...

nytimes.com

Trump Moves to Strip Tax Exemption From Schools That Aid Minority Students (Gift Article)

The Treasury Department released rules that would prevent schools with race-based programs from qualifying for tax-exempt status, a threat to both higher education and other private schools.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics @ameracadpeds.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

A statement from AAP President Dr. Andrew Racine on today’s executive order on U.S. childhood vaccines: www.aap.org/en/news-room...

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Thanks to @thehighsign.bsky.social for classing up “The Movie Racket” in general, and the subject of Columbia Pictures mogul Harry Cohn’s ass in particular. www.filmspotting.net/episodes-arc...

filmspotting.net

"If my fanny squirms, it's bad. If my fanny doesn't squirm, it's good" with Dana Stevens | The Movie Racket — Filmspotting

The Movie Mogul Posterior Test

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

who’s the PR strategist on this, Ross Douthat?

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Is it that simple? A good movie=3 good scenes, and no bad ones? Give a listen to ep 3 of the new #filmspotting podcast interloper #TheMovieRacket, hosted by #me, joined by veteran story analyst Billy Mernit. And Walter Brennan gets the last hippity-hop with the exit music. omny.fm/shows/filmsp...

omny.fm

"A good movie is three good scenes and no bad ones” with Billy Mernit | The Movie Racket - Filmspotting

Examining the wisdom of Howard Hawks.

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Bedroom>living room! Dog>landscape? In the new ep of "The Movie Racket"-- #Filmspotting- produced, me-hosted -- @theamynicholson (a pip!) and I get into 11 Rules for Box Office Appeal, the (likely alcohol-fueled) memo Preston Sturges wrote circa 1941. We're in the #Filmspottting feed, friend.

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

A brand new something to download, first thing Monday: “The Movie Racket,” the latest @Filmspotting podcast. Host, me; Ep 1 guest, Michael Shannon. Show intro explains the idea, but I’ll tease it with: Nobody knows anything. There’s gold in them thar axioms!

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Nina Metz @ninametz.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

“The Justice Department’s senior leadership closed an investigation of Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery before career staffers who were concerned about the acquisition had an opportunity to object, according to people familiar with the matter.”

wsj.com

Exclusive | Justice Department Decision to Allow Paramount Deal Surprised Staff Investigators

Department staffers investigating the Warner acquisition were leaning toward recommending a challenge to the merger, people familiar with the matter say.

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Not just a blueprint for this moment, but THE blueprint. No going back.

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Mom, still sharp and amazing at 93, breezed through this 2023 interview, and I'll always love the image of a gang of first-year Catholic college girls in the middle of Nebraska, dancing back to the dorm after seeing "An American in Paris." www.chicagotribune.com/2023/05/12/c...

chicagotribune.com

Column: For Mother’s Day, a critic, his mother and a screenful of memories

Who else am I going to interview for Mother’s Day? My barber? Mom was up for it, so here it is. Name: Jean Gallagher Phillips, born in Racine, Wisconsin, raised in Kenosha. Age: 90. Disposition: excel...

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Thoughts and prayers for the most heartless, brainless, headless presidential administration imaginable. It’s called PUBLIC HEALTH. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/h...

nytimes.com

Hantavirus Response Shows How Trump Cuts Have Compromised U.S. Preparedness

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Saw Lester’s “Three Musketeers” for the first time since ‘74. Loved it at 13, current me didn’t. But amid this US political and moral nightmare the key line now belongs to Heston’s Cardinal Richelieu: “Vengeance? An expensive luxury. Statesmen cannot afford it.” #Richelieu2028

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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 31/03/2026

This is unconstitutional. Voting is a fundamental right for every American. Illinois will keep administering free and fair elections – and what Donald Trump puts on a piece of paper will not change that.

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Every leader and every citizen, in fact

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Philip Bump @pbump.com · 26/01/2026

Of course he does. Is this a joke? He defended the guy who killed Good. He’s told multiple people that he thinks protesters should be attacked. He told people at a rally to rough someone up. He’s said nothing as ICE has hurt people for months. He doesn’t get to walk away from this now.

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Thin on the page, but the all-pro duo of "Send Help" -- Rachel McAdams and dir. Sam Raimi -- rescues the movie from itself. It's "Cast Away" if Wilson the volleyball were a total a-hole. My review for the @sfchronicle: www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...

sfchronicle.com

‘Send Help’ review: Rachel McAdams saves Sam Raimi’s grisly ‘Survivor’ riff

Sam Raimi’s “Send Help” plays like “Cast Away” meets “Survivor,” elevated by Rachel McAdams, who brings humor, control and bite to a grisly premise.

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Rebecca J. Ritzel @rjritzel.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Excellent overview of America's imperiled touring artist visa situation by @sisario.bsky.social.

nytimes.com

‘An Unbelievable Mess’: Artists Are Stymied by Trump Travel Bans

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 10/01/2026

rare to see an american politician speak in these terms and it rocks

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

Try it. You’ll like it. Also, volunteer. Help out at a food bank. Talk to people. Listen to people. Remember why we’re all here. And a good 2026 to you, friends.

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

And start w Part 1. They’re numbered in order!

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

I learn a lot every year, but this year I got SO much from Alison, Adam and Josh every which way. Thanks to all, including Sam and Joe “House Call” DeCeault. Take a listen.

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

Yes, and Ted Sarandos has already indicated his displeasure in anything more than 2 weeks. So.

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KYGrace💙 @kygrace.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

This is an American patriot.

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

Apparently the Netflix algorithm picked up on the phrase “you ran guns to Ethiopia” and boom: prequel

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Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

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...

chicagotribune.com

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.

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

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.

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

And yet five of the nine would probably get rid of the Voting Rights Act for free

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Next on my reading list. It can, and has, happened anywhere.

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Justin LaLiberty @jlalibs.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

What an absolute treasure Diane Keaton was. Her wit never tired, nor did her style.

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Laying the groundwork for martial law, with the instigating provocation to be named later, exceeds the meaning of "unusual."

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Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

Kimmel won. Winning matters, wins are how we’re going to prevent this autocratic slide.

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Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

“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...

nytimes.com

Texas Tech Moves to Limit Academic Discussion to 2 Genders

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Peter Sagal @petersagal.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

I think there is a direct relationship between punishing people for mourning George Floyd and punishing people for not mourning Charlie Kirk.

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

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)

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

...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)

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

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)

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

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.

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Michael Phillips @mrmichaelphillips.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

"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...

chicagotribune.com

‘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.

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Anne Caprara @annecaprara.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

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.

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