Featured
Meet the writers, reviewers and historians who comprise the Phoenix Critics Circle. Learn more about their favorite movies and genres, and find out where you can read their work online.
Phoenix Film Festival
Art House Film Wire
Jeff’s enthusiasm for movies began during his childhood as a way to "escape" small-town life for a couple hours at a time. Although he does not live in a small town any longer, his love for movies has not wavered. Jeff began writing film reviews in 2008 during his journalism school days and instantly became hooked with the work. He pens weekly reviews for the Phoenix Film Festival and Art House Film Wire, hosts monthly Phoenix Film Society screenings/Q&As and programs features for the Phoenix Film Festival and Peoria Film Fest. When Jeff is not watching (and talking about) movies, he spends time at the gym/yoga studio and volunteers at a no-kill animal shelter. Some of his favorite movies are “Pulp Fiction”, "City of God", "Waking Ned Devine", and "The Secret in Their Eyes".
thecinemafiles.com
themovierevue.com
Passionate about many things, film has been a cornerstone throughout Ben’s life. Writing has always been a natural talent, but it wasn’t something that he tapped fully into until 2015 following an interesting experience with an advanced screening of Woman in Gold.
Since then, Ben started writing reviews on his own website, themovierevue.com. His passion led him to the Phoenix Film Society, where the 2015 Phoenix Film Festival Fall Showcase films Time Out of Mind and Spotlight really caught his attention.
After becoming a Reel Friend in 2016, the decision was made clear that this hobby was the start of a beautiful second career. It led to being picked up by electricbento.com in June, 2017.
When Ben isn’t working his day job, he can be found in a movie theater. Sometimes, twice a day. Oh, and he loves both Star Trek and Star Wars.
Fox 10-TV
Michael Dixon, Film Critic for Fox 10-TV in Phoenix, is a veteran fine-arts critic, and an award-winning radio and television personality. He has hosted talk shows for CBS Radio, and frequently appeared on KAET, KQED, WETA public television, and his arts criticism and travel articles have appeared in Phoenix Magazine, Phoenix Home & Garden, and The Phoenix Gazette. Michael has written the Program Notes and been the broadcast voice of the Phoenix Symphony, and the Arizona Opera. A graduate in theatre from the University of California, Riverside, he spent three seasons as Artist-in-Residence with the California Inland Shakespeare Festival and is a voting member of Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG/AFTRA). Catch his reviews Fridays at 9:15 AM on Channel 10.
The Arizona Republic
USA Today Network
I learned to read from my grandmother’s Addams Family collections. My plans to become a professional basketball player sadly stalled when I stopped getting any taller after seventh grade.
I’ve been a cop reporter, a city and county government reporter, a features columnist, a sports columnist, TV critic, an editor and a writer covering pop culture. Now I’m a movie critic. I think The Simpsons is the greatest TV show ever, Holy War is my favorite Matthew Sweet song and the Washington Redskins are my favorite team in all of sports. Harry Dean Stanton is always great, licorice never is. I’ve read Dracula more than once (“you are wise for one who has not yet lived a single lifetime”), and might again. I was an English major in college and love Faulkner and such, but my favorite book is Instant Replay by Jerry Kramer.
Shari became fascinated by films when at the age of seven she saw a movie being made in front of her house. As a teenager she immersed herself in the culture of film and became a cinephile, working in a video store. Since then she expanded into film criticism writing for txtmovieclub.com for the last seven years and she has written, directed and produced several short films and is currently working on projects with her production company, Good Stew Productions, which she created with a few of her friends. Her favorite movies are “The Big Chill” and “Lonely Boy” and she enjoys watching Woody Allen films above all others.
Kevin first began writing freelance film critiques in 2010. Two years later he was asked to join The Red Carpet Refs, an online entertainment news and review site whose Facebook community is nearing 20,000 fans. His tastes range the full gamut, from art film experiences to low brow humor.
The Arizona Republic
Blindspotters Podcast
Amanda Luberto has been an avid consumer of pop culture for as long as she can remember. So much so that her first memory is of watching The X-Files and her summer breaks were spent escaping the Arizona heat via air conditioned movie theaters. The best way to describe her personality is a mixture of her favorite directors: Wes Anderson and David Fincher. In addition to writing reviews for The Arizona Republic, she co-hosts a movie podcast about shamelessly removing movies out of your cinematic blindspot called "Blindspotters."
Joel Massie is one-half of The Massie Twins, identical twin film critics who have been professionally reviewing movies full time for over 8 years, appearing on TV, radio, online, and in print. Their work can be seen at www.GoneWithTheTwins.com and their latest book “The Movies That Time Forgot” is available now at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.
Mike Massie is one-half of The Massie Twins, identical twin film critics who have been professionally reviewing movies full time for over 8 years, appearing on TV, radio, online, and in print. Their work can be seen at www.GoneWithTheTwins.com and their latest book “The Movies That Time Forgot” is available now at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.
The Arizona Republic
Whiskey and Popcorn
Kaely Monahan has been reviewing live theater and films since 2013 when she started covering at Everything Theatre in London. When she returned to Phoenix, she began the movie review podcast Whiskey and Popcorn which she presently co-hosts with Tuesday Mahrle. In the past, she has served both as Vice President and President of the Phoenix Critics Circle. Currently, she is a podcast producer and film critic for The Arizona Republic and is a Rotten Tomatoes critic. Kaely has a passion for independent and Arizona-made films and is a nerd for movie history, which she has explored on the Valley 101 podcast. Some of Kaely’s favorite films include “Jurassic Park,” “Bringing Up Baby,” and “Roman Holiday.”
You can follow all her work on X/Twitter @kaelymonahan
Matthew Robinson is a local to the Phoenix area who has been creating and supporting film for several years. He formed the blog/website Dark of the Matinee in 2010 with the intention of writing about horror/sci-fi/genre films. Dark of the Matinee now covers most major studio theatrical releases, indie VOD/DVD releases, the latest cult Blu-ray releases and more. Matthew has also run the Arizona Filmmaker Showcase for over 3 years. The Showcase is a monthly forum held at FilmBar for local AZ filmmakers to bring their films to Phoenix audiences and support their efforts at no cost to the filmmaker. Matthew currently teaches in the Film and Media Studies program at ASU.
The Hollywood Reporter
Slashfilm
Josh's work can be found on The A.V. Club, ScreenCrush, Slashfilm, Film School Rejects, and the Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog. He's hosted the Mousterpiece Cinema podcast about the films of the Walt Disney Company since June of 2011. Josh has also written a book of criticism on Pixar, Yesterday is Forever: Nostalgia and Pixar Animation Studios, for The Critical Press.
Braden Timmons is an award-winning filmmaker and film critic. His love for film started after seeing Spider-Man in theaters in 2002. In 2018, he began discussing horror films on YouTube and working on film production. After beginning a YouTube channel – Braden recognized he wanted to develop his skills in film criticism, writing and directing. He is currently a horror film critic on YouTube, co-host for Fear Freaks Podcast and a writer for The Streamr Entertainment.
lamplightreview.com
Drinks and Discourse
A long time obsessive of all things pop-culture, especially film, Kyle Wilson acted and studied theater at Arizona State University. Now as a founding member of The Lamplight Review, he gets to write about the industry he loves on a daily basis and rant about it as co-host of the weekly podcast Drinks and Discourse.
TheCodaFilms.com
Phoenix Film Festival
Monte Yazzie is the film reviewer for the North Phoenix publication “The Foothills Focus” and Festival Manager for the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival. He continues to write consistently for www.dailydead.comand their recently launched magazine “Deadly”, and is a regular contributor to the Phoenix Film Festival and IHSFF website. Monte launched the website www.thecodafilms.com in 2011, you can find all his film reviews and work as an independent filmmaker there.