Phil Villarreal, a Star critic since February 2001, reviews films and video games, and writes a weekly series of essays on his favorite films from the past entitled "ReView."

Born in 1978 in Douglas, Villarreal moved with his family to Tucson at age 8. He attended Mountain View High School and the University of Arizona, where he wrote a humor column for the campus paper and graduated with a degree in business management in 2000.

He began working at the Star as a college freshman in 1996 as a freelance sportswriter, covering hockey and high school sports. He worked as a part-time sports correspondent until 2000, when he signed on as a general assignment features reporter. After taking the film critic position, Villarreal won first place at the Arizona Press Club's 2001 competition for best film, video and television criticism.

He also won back-to-back first place awards (2004 and 2005) in the Arizona Newspaper Association Better Newspapers Contest, for best column, feature or criticism. Villarreal was named a Star Employee of the Year in 2003.

Villarreal runs every day to stave off the popcorn and soda weight. He runs a Web site, becauseitoldyouso.com, and blogs at philmguy.com. He's a huge fan of football and basketball, and lives with his wife, Jessica, and son, Luke, on the Northwest Side.

Phil reviews movies and video games, and gives us the latest big screen news in his AZNightBuzz blog, "Philm Guy."
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Every week, Phil reviews a classic movie. Read all of his past "ReViews" at azstarnet.com/review

Contact info:
E-mail: pvillarreal@azstarnet.com

Phone: 573-4130