Film critic Michael Phillips has taken a buyout at the Chicago Tribune after he says the paper eliminated the role.
“Writing about a valiant and inspiring city and its champions of cinema, and the individual talents who shine, has been great for my soul. New adventures await,” he shared on X on Tuesday.
“To all the humans on this insanely compromised platform: Thanks for reading,” the writer added.
Phillips, prior to being the film critic for the Chicago Tribune, in the years following the death of the Chicago Tribune’s most famous and celebrated critic Gene Siskel, served as a drama critic for the Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and other papers.
In 2006 he became a frequent guest host on “At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper,” filling in for Ebert as he went through extensive medical treatments for cancer. In 2009, after Ebert had left the show completely, he was hired along with New York Times critic A.O. Scott to be a full-time host. The show suffered from low ratings and was canceled the following year.
Phillips appeared regularly on Turner Classic Movies and hosts a radio program about film music for a Chicago radio station.
With Phillips taking the buyout, the city that arguably turned film criticism into something that was appreciated (and hotly debated) by everyday folk, no longer has a fulltime film critic. (This was pointed out by Brian Tallerico, editor of RogerEbert.com, on X.) Six months ago, the Chicago Sun-Times got rid of their film critic too. As critic Sam Adams noted on X, “If they made Siskel and Ebert today it would be two empty chairs.”
