Latest news with #AsteroidCity
Cosmopolitan
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
When 'The Phoenician Scheme' Will Be Available to Stream and How to Watch
It's Wes Anderson season, baby! You know what that means: Intricate production design, tons of stars, tightly constructed visual symmetry, and plenty of deadpan humor. Sign me TF up!! This new film follows Benicio Del Toro's Zsa-zsa Korda, a wealthy businessman, who appoints his estranged daughter as the heir to his estate after multiple assassination attempts of his life. Naturally, there are then lots of shenanigans. It sounds very Wes Anderson. The movie premiered at Cannes earlier this month and is now out in some, but not all, theaters. Here's everything we know about how you can watch it. If you're in New York or Los Angeles, you're in luck, because you can see the movie this weekend! The movie is out in limited release now, and will hit wide release next week Friday. So that means if you can't see it this weekend, you'll be able to see it next weekend. BUY TICKETS NOW Oh, so you hate movie theaters? Is that what you're saying? JK, fine. The movie will eventually be on streaming, fear not. This movie is distributed by Focus Features and Universal Pictures, so that means it will likely go to Peacock. That's where it will be streaming for free. But if you're not a Peacock subscriber, you will likely be able to watch it elsewhere, too. Anderson's last movie, Asteroid City, is available to rent and buy on all the typical places you can rent movies. So it's probably going to be true for this movie, too. It probably won't actually be on those streaming platforms for a while yet because it is a theatrical release. So if you want to see it ASAP, you'll have to get to the theater.
Time Magazine
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
Every Wes Anderson Movie, Ranked
In honor of Wes Anderson 's latest film, The Phoenician Scheme, it's worth taking stock of the director's impressive filmography. But it's no easy feat to rank all of Anderson's films, which are always expertly made, if not always kindly received. In the nearly 30 years since he released his debut, Bottle Rocket, Anderson's visual style has become so recognizable it's been turned into a popular meme that the director himself is not all that interested in giving credence to. To be fair, a meticulously shot TikTok send-up doesn't quite get at the care and craft that goes into Anderson's films. Anderson has been accused of many things: putting style before substance, being too sardonic as to lack emotionality, leaning too hard into nostalgia, becoming too fastidious for his own good. But his fans know that within all the jewel box recreations, symmetrical framing, and pastel details, are films full of pathos. It certainly helps that he continuously employs some of the most interesting actors in Hollywood—Ralph Fiennes, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, his go-to guy Bill Murray, just to name a few—to drolly deliver his message. With his earliest films, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, Anderson made intricately designed deadpan comedies about grief, dysfunctional families, and loneliness. As he has matured as a filmmaker, so have his films. His most recent pictures, The French Dispatch and Asteroid City, have used complicated interlocking story structures to deal with mortality, existential dread, and tyranny. All three themes are in play in The Phoenician Scheme, a dark comedy about a ruthless billionaire (Benicio del Toro) who must reconcile with his estranged daughter (Mia Threapleton) if there is any hope of keeping his checkered legacy alive. Anderson's films are always idiosyncratic and never straightforward; many are still trying to unpack the ' You can't wake up if you don't fall asleep ' line from Asteroid City. It's why it can be hard for some viewers to connect with his films. But the more you watch of his work—and yes, his 2023 short film collection, The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar and Three, did make the list—the more it becomes clear that he is a director who is very in touch with the harsh and sad realities of the world. He just chooses to wrap it all up in a perfectly tied millennial pink bow to keep audiences on their toes. From Bottle Rocket to The Phoenician Scheme, here's a ranking of all of Wes Anderson's movies and the most valuable performers for each one. 13. Bottle Rocket (1996) Nearly 20 years after its release, Anderson's debut offers very little sense of the brilliance that was to come. That isn't a slight to Bottle Rocket, a charming crime comedy about a couple of budding small town crooks played by brothers (and Anderson's long time buddies) Owen and Luke Wilson, who are not playing brothers in the movie despite having the same Texas drawl. (Their older brother, Andrew, also pops up in the film playing the brother of a different character.) But this movie feels more fly by the seat of your pants than anything Anderson would conceive of doing now. In those days, Anderson thought he would follow in the footsteps of John Cassavetes, a pioneer of indie film who was known for his raw, improvisational directing style. This looser, more straightforward approach works for the smaller scale and scope of Bottle Rocket, which begins with Luke Wilson's Anthony leaving a voluntary treatment facility in Arizona after suffering a nervous breakdown. There is a spontaneity to everything his dimwitted friend Dignan (Owen) does in his mission to help Anthony get back on his feet by recruiting him for a team of part-time criminals led by Mr. Henry (James Caan), the owner of the Lawn Wranglers landscaping company. The two rob a local bookstore, but, no surprise, the job doesn't go as smoothly as they hoped. They end up hiding out in a motel a few towns over where Anthony falls in love with Inez (Lumi Cavazos), a Paraguayan housekeeper who only speaks Spanish. Hijinks definitely ensue, most notably in the form of a slap dash robbery gone unsurprisingly wrong at the local cold storage facility. This Looney Tunes -esque scene, which ends with Dignan in a freezer, feels like the blueprint for Chas' emergency escape plan in The Royal Tenenbaums. And that's the thing about Bottle Rocket —it's downright quaint compared to the more ornate films Anderson has become known for, but thematically, this comedy about two young men looking to find their purpose in life, is just as earnest and sincere as the rest of his filmography. The movie's MVP: Owen Wilson as Dignan, a well-meaning slacker with ridiculous dreams of grandeur. It's easy to laugh at his 75-year plan built around doing crime and mowing lawns, but it's hard not to respect the hustle. 12. The Darjeeling Limited (2007) Three somewhat estranged brothers, played by Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman, look to process the loss of their father (Bill Murray) and reconnect with their mother (a standout Anjelica Huston) by traveling around India by rail. The hope is that by visiting the country's spiritual sites together, the men will mend their broken brotherly bond and finally put their family back together. The film received the most tepid reviews of Wes Anderson's career, but its reputation has grown in recent years. Some of that comes from the way in which it was shot. The director's longtime cinematographer Robert Yeoman captures the joy of traveling around a foreign land through the Anderson gaze, from the buttery yellow sunshine to the intricately hand-painted luggage to a fantastically designed romantic mode of transportation. But for all the care it takes with India's sweeping views, The Darjeeling Limited does little to humanize the people who live there. Early on, the film pokes fun at these desperate Americans who claim they want to experience the real India, but spend more time bickering over their dad's belongings, ignoring the rules of the train, getting high on foreign pharmaceuticals, and performing pseudo sacred rituals with peacock feathers. Yet, later on, these clueless men find enlightenment at the expense of a young Indian boy's life. At the climax of the movie, the brothers come upon three local kids as they try to make their way across a raging river. When their boat flips over, the men jump in to save the boys, only for their rescue mission to end in tragedy. ('I didn't save mine,' Brody's character says as he holds the boy's limp body in his hands.) When they arrive in the boy's village, they are welcomed with open arms and are even invited to attend the funeral, but this scene is only there so that we can get a flashback of them together on the day of their father's wake. (Also, to cast Irrfan Khan as the dead boy's grieving father and give him nothing to do is a crime.) The nameless boy becomes nothing more than collateral damage on the men's superficial spiritual journey, cheapening any real progress that the brothers had made. A shame since there is a lot to be moved by in this story, written by Anderson, Schwartzman, and the director's frequent collaborator (and Schwartzman's cousin) Roman Coppola, about three broken men trying to ditch their family baggage—by the end, quite literally—and find their way back to one another. The movie's MVP: Adrien Brody as Peter Whitman, the middle brother who is struggling with the reality that he is about to become a dad just as he is starting to work through his complicated feelings surrounding his own late father. It's Brody's first appearance in the Andersonverse, but you understand why it wouldn't be his last. 11. Isle of Dogs (2018) Wes Anderson's second stop-motion feature is a whimsical political thriller about an island of misfit dogs. In 2038, after two highly contagious diseases, snout fever and dog flu, start spreading through the canine community of the fictional Japanese city of Megasaki, the cat-loving Mayor Kobayashi (voiced by Kunichi Nomura) banishes all stray and domesticated dogs to a floating garbage dump with the diabolical intent of eradicating the entire species and replacing them with robot dogs. The mayor's 12-year-old ward and distant relative Atari (Koyu Rankin) flies to the island with the goal of saving his beloved pet Spots (Liev Schreiber) from certain death. But once he discovers what his uncle has planned, he finds himself on a mission to save man's best friend. To do this, he enlists the help of a group of displaced dogs that includes Chief (Bryan Cranston), a lifelong stray who bites and is quick to let everyone know it. With a cast that includes Ed Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, and Harvey Keitel as Gondo, the leader of a pack of alleged cannibal dogs, Isle of Dogs is a dog lovers dream. Despite the horrors these neglected doggos have endured, they are droll, eccentric, and incredibly perceptive beings. Basically, they're the four-legged versions of the archetypical Anderson characters. The film's political plot, which involves the assassination of a political rival, a thwarted cure for dog flu, and an enterprising American foreign-exchange student (voiced by Greta Gerwig) may wear thin for some viewers. (Though, the movie's heavier themes of deportation, xenophobia, and demagogy feel as prescient as ever.) Same goes with Anderson's choice to not use subtitles for some of the Japanese-speaking characters, which, as the New York Times pointed out in its review of the film, could leave viewers feeling as if 'few of the Japanese characters, including Atari, have the depth or dignity given the dogs.' But the message at the heart of Isle of Dogs, that saving others is the only way to save one's self, is enough to turn the most cynical viewer into a believer—and maybe even a dog lover. The movie's MVP: Bryan Cranston brings a real Glengarry Glen Ross vibe to his performance as Chief, a short-haired Oceanic speckle-eared sport hound who proudly disobeys anyone who tries to tame him. That initial gruffness is what makes his journey to becoming a good boy all the more heartwarming. 10. The Phoenician Scheme (2025) Like Wes Anderson's previous film, Asteroid City, there is a Russian nesting doll-like structure to The Phoenician Scheme. This time, the complicated plot—perhaps, unnecessarily so—is quite literally hidden in shoeboxes. Set in 1956, Benicio del Toro plays Zsa Zsa Korda, a cold-blooded industrialist who, after barely surviving the latest of many attempts on his life, believes his long-gestating multi-level business venture is going to get him killed. In order to keep his life's work afloat, an international construction scheme, the details of which are kept in those aforementioned shoe boxes, he calls upon his estranged daughter, nun-in-training Liesel (Mia Threapleton, who happens to be Kate Winslet's daughter) to become the sole heir of the family fortune. Unfortunately, his ruthless business practices—using slave labor, intentionally causing a famine in a third world country, all of which he is quite proud of—don't quite jive with her holy aspirations. In order for him to get what he wants, he'll have to choose between building his portfolio or saving his humanity. Taking cues from John le Carré and Michael Powell, Anderson constructs an espionage family drama about the battle for the soul of capitalism that just so happens to be his funniest movie in years. The movie's MVP: With a hangdog expression that can be both sympathetic and menacing, Benicio del Toro perfectly embodies the embittered and embattled billionaire tycoon experiencing an inopportune dark night of the soul. 9. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2024) The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, Anderson's Academy Award-winning short based on the 1977 Roald Dahl short story of the same name, feels like a children's pop-up book come to life. To tell the tall tale of the pseudonymous protagonist, an obscenely wealthy man, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, who teaches himself to see things without his eyes, and the three additional Dahl stories—'The Swan,' 'The Ratcatcher,' and 'Poison'—production designer Adam Stockhausen created elaborate theatrical sets that would make Max Fischer jealous. The shorts are filmed like mini stage plays in which the leads read Dahl's stories word-for-word straight to camera. 'In order to support the storytelling, we wanted to make a kind of blocking and staging that could happen live,' Anderson explained in a behind-the-scenes video. 'We make our way through spaces without actually leaving the same set, we just bring in pieces of scenery. And the scenes could change while the actors stay engaged with the audience.' This approach makes each film feel delightfully tactile and frenetic. Members of the cast, which include Dev Patel, Rupert Friend, Ralph Fiennes, and Ben Kingsley, often change costumes and switch characters mid-scene right in front of our eyes. This highly controlled bit of chaos makes it feel as if anything can happen. It's a delicate dance that is hard to take your eyes off of, even if it can feel exhausting watching these actors flutter around. But perhaps the most exciting part of Anderson's second adaptation of Dahl's work is that it is more than just a visual feast. Close your eyes and it becomes a star-studded audiobook read at 2x speed. The movie's MVP: Ralph Fiennes in The Ratcatcher, in which he plays the 'Rat Man' who may or may not be part rat. Either way, by channeling his inner vermin, Fiennes gives a tour de force performance in under 20 minutes. 8. The French Dispatch (2021) A love letter to the New Yorker, Wes Anderson's tenth film channels the feeling of reading a magazine. Each story in the anthology film is presented as an article written for the titular fictional publication's final issue following the death of their owner and founder. There is a 'Shouts & Murmurs'-esque opening section where the cycling reporter (played by a beret-wearing Owen Wilson) takes readers on a tour of the rather mundane French city Ennui-sur-Blasé that has become the international outpost for the Liberty, Kansas-based publication. There are three longer 'features,' inspired by real New Yorker articles, that delve into the relationship between a mentally ill incarcerated artist (Benicio del Toro) and his prison guard (Léa Seydoux), a student protest led by a chess savvy gang led by a French-speaking Timothée Chalamet, and a high octane profile of the police chief's chef from lovelorn food journalist Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright), a character loosely inspired by James Baldwin. The epilogue takes the form of an obituary for the magazine's late founder, but also acts as Anderson's charming ode to the golden age of longform journalism. Each section takes on different styles, tones, and aspect ratios, becoming a Whitman's sampler of Anderson iconography that will delight his most fervent admirers, but likely infuriate those who wrote him off long ago. The movie's MVP: Jeffrey Wright, in his Anderson debut, brings a poignancy to the final section of the film that stays with you long after the credits roll. 7. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) Fantastic Mr. Fox, Anderson's stop motion debut and first adaptation of a Roald Dahl novel, is a playful reimagining of a work by one of literature's most inventive authors, made by one of Hollywood's most visionary directors. Mr. Fox, a clever, but impulsive robber-turned-newspaper columnist voiced by George Clooney, gives up a life of thievery to raise a family with his supportive wife (Meryl Streep), misfit son (Jason Schwartzman), and monosyllabic nephew (Eric Anderson). Lately though he's found himself yearning for the excitement of his former life. When an opportunity arises to steal from his nasty farmer neighbors, he takes it in hopes of setting his family up for a better life, but also in hopes he'll get his mojo back. It's the classic 'one last job' storyline led by carefully handcrafted anthropomorphic animals. And like those stories, everything that could go wrong does. Mr. Fox is ambushed by a violent bodyguard rat (played by Willem Dafoe), contends with a rabid beagle, and is nearly drowned by a river of cider. Not to mention, his antics nearly get his poor neighbors killed. Mr. Fox soon realizes that in order to become a better husband, father, and friend, he must put those he loves before his selfish desires. It's a teachable moment, which is why Fantastic Mr. Fox has become a go-to animated flick for cinephile parents who prefer Miyazaki over Disney. But the feature feels a bit like a wolf in sheep's clothing. On the outside, it appears as if it's a sweet children's movie about a fox who lets his pride get in the way of loving others. On the inside, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a wry and incredibly sincere look at a dad in the midst of a midlife crisis, which just so happens to be a fantastic idea for a stop-motion picture. The movie's MVP: George Clooney and his smoky baritone turn Mr. Fox into Danny Ocean. 6. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) Many critics and fans believe The Life Aquatic, a silly, sometimes sardonic, and deeply sincere ode to the renowned red beanie-wearing oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, is Wes Anderson's most underrated film to date. Anderson's melancholic fourth film, which he co-wrote with Noah Baumbach, is about a man who can't let go of the past. And like its messy protagonist, the titular washed-up ocean explorer and documentarian played by Bill Murray who is embarking on an expedition to murder the jaguar shark that killed his best friend, the movie is a little all over the place. It has all the playful hallmarks of an Anderson movie: eccentric costuming in the form of Team Zissou's matching cherry red beanies and sky blue jumpsuits, a whimsical soundtrack full of Seu Jorge's Portuguese-sung David Bowie covers, a stop-motion underwater creature, and a breathtaking full-scale model of the interior of Zissou's ship, which feels like a quite literal response to all those who have said his movies are like little dioramas. But for all its brightness, the film lacks the warmth of his earlier films, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. Zissou's need for revenge has caused him to become bitter. He's more focused on making a new documentary and regaining his relevance than connecting with his surviving crew, which includes his estranged wife (Anjelica Huston) and his possibly long lost son (Owen Wilson). Life Aquatic, like Zissou, keeps the audience at an arm's length, which, for better or worse, is by design. I would argue for worse, since the scene in which Zissou is moved to tears when he finally comes face-to-face with the murderous speckled shark may be the most emotionally impactful moment of any Anderson film. The movie's MVP: While I could make a case for everything Willem Dafoe is doing, this is hands down Bill Murray's movie—and possibly the best dramatic performance of his career. 5. Moonrise Kingdom (2012) Moonrise Kingdom tells the bittersweet story of two star-crossed 12-year-olds who fall in love and run away together, only for their romantic rendezvous to turn into a slapstick search and rescue mission. Set on the fictional New England island of New Penzance in the 1960s, Sam (Jared Gilman), an emotionally disturbed orphan, and Suzy (Kara Hayward), a sophisticated, yet troubled girl in the vein of Margot Tenenbaum, long to grow up and get away from the chaos that surrounds them. And who could really blame them. The adults in Moonrise Kingdom are either thoroughly unhappy, in the case of Suzy's parents (played by Frances McDormand and Bill Murray), or rather delusional, like Sam's self-important troop master (Edward Norton). They believe they know what's best for these prepubescent kids, but Anderson questions whether these tweens who follow their hearts can't teach the disillusioned adults a little something about life and love. In Anderson's hands, Moonrise Kingdom is a French New Wave take on the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. He leans into the artifice of his storybook world that is designed to look like a faded Polaroid. But he takes his young protagonists' heightened emotions very seriously. He never questions whether what they are experiencing is really love knowing they believe it is. It all makes for an eccentric, yet exhilarating look at what it feels like to fall in love for the first time. And a reminder to never get so old that you forget what it was like to feel so deeply. The movie's MVP: Bruce Willis' lovelorn local officer, who becomes Sam's greatest ally, offered a side of the actor that he hadn't tapped into for far too long. 4. Asteroid City (2023) Asteroid City is a whole lot of movie to take in in one sitting. It's a family drama, a coming-of-age romance, a classic western, and an alien invasion picture all rolled into one. It's a story within a story that is structured as a TV show about a playwright trying to put together a production called 'Asteroid City.' It's a meta-narrative with intertwining storylines, two of which are happening simultaneously, bouncing back and forth between the making of the titular play, which is shot in black and white, and the finished production itself which is set in a fictional 1950s desert town seen in all its technicolor glory. The cherry on top may be that Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman, and others are playing characters in the production of 'Asteroid City' and also the actors that play those characters. Are you still with me? If not, I can't blame you. That labyrinthine structure is what led some critics and fans to write the film off. But for those willing to embrace Asteroid City 's complicated format you will be rewarded with a heady meditation on grief, hope, and the cosmic unknown. The movie's MVP: Twenty-five years after Rushmore, Jason Schwartzman expertly pulls double-duty as Augie Steenbeck, a widowed war photographer, and Jones Hall, the sorrowful method actor who plays him in the titular production. 3. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) Taking its cues from J.D. Salinger and Orson Welles's The Magnificent Ambersons, The Royal Tenenbaums is a wistful comedy about a fractured family of former child prodigies. When charismatic absentee dad Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) loses his home, he goes looking for help from his ex-wife (Anjelica Huston) and three currently down on their luck kids—disgraced tennis player Richie (Luke Wilson), recently widowed dad Chaz (Ben Stiller), and his adopted playwright daughter (Gwyneth Paltrow). Royal's estranged family isn't all that interested in a reunion so in order to make his way back into their life, and, more importantly, into their grandiose New York City home, he pretends to be on the brink of death. Anderson has always been interested in the complicated relationships between parents and kids, especially those amid a tense reconciliation. But out of all his bad dads, Royal may be the worst. Early in the film, Royal seems completely unable to say or do the right things. It is only because of his two red Adidas jumpsuit-wearing grandchildren, who are struggling to find some autonomy under the watchful eye of their uptight father, that Royal feels compelled to become the dad that his once gifted children need. Full of sadness and regret, The Royal Tenenbaums is a touching redemption story about a man who finally learns to put others first. The movie's MVP: If you believe Bill Murray, the late Gene Hackman was not the easiest actor to work with on The Royal Tenenbaums set. But perhaps Hackman's natural gruffness is what makes Royal Tenenbaum such an endearing curmudgeon. Just watch his final scene with Stiller's Chas and try not to cry, I dare you. 2. Rushmore (1998) Only two years after Bottle Rocket, Wes Anderson returned with a uniquely stylized coming-of-age comedy that would become his calling card. Rushmore stars Jason Schwartzman, making his film debut, as Max Fischer, an odd, overly confident teenage boy whose life revolves around the titular private school. (Fun fact: much of the film was shot at St. John's in Houston, where Anderson actually went to school.) That is, until the 15-year-old social outcast and failing student falls in love with a lovely, but lonely first-grade teacher twice his age (played by Olivia Williams), who also happens to be the object of wealthy industrialist Herman Blume's affection. This bizarre love triangle results in Max and Herman (Bill Murray) waging a war of one-upmanship to the sounds of the '60s British invasion. It's easy to laugh at Max, who with his bushy eyebrows and collegiate enthusiasm is the anti-Ferris Bueller. He's not taking days off from school, but spending every moment he can there, joining the fencing club, saving Latin, and staging high school productions of gritty films like Serpico. But Anderson never treats Max like a joke. Instead, he paints a sympathetic portrait of a lonely kid who was forced to grow up too soon after the death of his mom. His arrogance is a defense mechanism, a way to cover up his deep rooted sadness and fear that he will lose everything and everyone he loves. Max's melancholy is what bonds him to Herman, an immature man with failed aspirations. But it's their decision to fill their respective voids with the romantic notion that there is something more out there that makes this such a moving look at what it means to find closure. The movie's MVP: Rushmore is a real two-hander; it just doesn't work without both Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman. But the fact that Schwartzman, in his first film, was given the difficult task of stealing laughs away from a comedy legend, and so often succeeds in doing so, gives him the slight edge. 1. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) It's Anderson's most critically acclaimed film to date—and most award-winning, taking home four Academy Awards—but it's also his most realized. Eighteen years into his career, Anderson took everything he had done well up to then—ornately composed framing, stop motion animation, matte paintings, rear projection, well-cast ensembles—and added a few new flourishes—boxier frames, smaller aspect ratios, nesting doll storytelling—to create a millennial pink-soaked madcap caper centered around M. Gustave, a charismatic hotel concierge played by Ralph Fiennes, and Zero, his lobby boy (Tony Revolori). After Gustave inherits the prized painting, 'Boy With Apple' from a wealthy octogenarian governess he had once bedded, he becomes the target of her rotten son (Adrien Brody), lawyer (Jeff Goldblum), and personal hit man (Willem Dafoe). Soon Gustave and Zero embark on a wild goose chase through the made up European country of Zubrowka just before the start of World War II. Throughout the decade-spanning romp, Anderson leans into the nostalgia of the Central European architecture and customs, while also nodding to the real world fascist politics of that time. It makes for a thoughtful and timeless look at the cost of our declining civility. The movie's MVP: Ralph Fiennes should have won an Oscar for his pitch perfect take on an old world dandy with a thing for older ladies and good manners, which makes the fact that he wasn't even nominated all the more tragic.
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
The return of ‘Bleak Week,' plus the best films in L.A.
Hello! I'm Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies. Following its recent premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, 'The Phoenician Scheme,' the new film by Wes Anderson, opens in Los Angeles this weekend. Each new Anderson picture still feels like something of an event, simply because it is so fun to see what he is up to this time, what idiosyncratic subset of the world will he explore and make his own. Personally, I have been taken with how densely packed his last few films have become. 'The French Dispatch' and 'Asteroid City' had a layered approach to storytelling that took some time to fully unpack. So it is likely 'The Phoenician Scheme' has yet to reveal itself, in need of some extended unraveling of its energetic story of an ambitious 1950s international businessman, Anatole 'Zsa-zsa' Korda (Benicio del Toro, who we spoke to for our summer preview), and his estranged daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), on an a series of business deals. The cast, typical for Anderson, is packed, also including Michael Cera, Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Richard Aoyade, Riz Ahmed, Charlotte Gainsbourg and many more. (Never fear, Willem Dafoe and Bill Murray are in there somewhere.) In a review of the film, Amy Nicholson wrote, 'Lately, Anderson has been on a tear of using his perfectionist aesthetic to defend the act of ambition itself — to honor artisans who create masterpieces in a world of philistines. The only thing he loves more than a carved credenza (and here, they're decorated with hieroglyphics) is the craftsperson who made it and the aesthete who bought it, instead of settling for something disposable. I was never a fan of Anderson's until 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' clicked him into focus. It was hard to believe he knew what he was talking about when his earlier movies tried to sell us on love between human beings. But a hotelier's love of his linens? That I'll buy.' Amy added, 'It's not that you have to believe that there is a force out there more powerful than Zsa-zsa, or heck, even money itself. But if that doesn't move you, at least Anderson deserves reverence for negotiating how to get all these A-list talents to act in his movie for peanuts. He's managed to build yet another dazzler, a shrine to his own ambition and craft. And while it sometimes feels a bit drafty in the corners, the accomplishment itself is plenty.' The fourth edition of the American Cinematheque's 'Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair' program begins Sunday with screenings at all three of its local venues through Saturday, June 7. Having already expanded to the Paris Theatre in New York last year, Bleak Week is now spreading to several more cities and venues: the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, Ore.; the Music Box Theatre in Chicago; the Texas Theatre in Dallas; Trylon Cinema in Minneapolis; Coolidge Corner Theatre in Boston; and the Prince Charles Cinema in London. 'We look to expand our never-ending film festival whenever possible,' said Grant Moninger, artistic director of the American Cinematheque, via email, of the program's ongoing expansion. This year's series will open with a 35mm screening of Akira Kurosawa's 1952 'Ikiru' at the Egyptian Theatre introduced by Bill Hader. French filmmaker Claire Denis will be present for screenings of a handful of her titles, including a 35mm presentation of 2001's 'Trouble Every Day' with a Q&A moderated by Barry Jenkins. Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold will be present for a tribute, including films they have made together and Corbet's separate acting work. To be screened: Michael Haneke's 'Funny Games,' Lars von Trier's 'Melancholia,' Fastvold's 'The World to Come' and Corbet's 'The Childhood of a Leader' and 'Vox Lux.' Other Bleak Week highlights include John Hillcoat's 2005 'The Proposition' with a Q&A with the filmmaker and cast, Michael Curtiz's 1950 'The Breaking Point' in 35mm and Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1943 'Day of Wrath' screened from a nitrate print. What may once have seemed a slightly cracked idea has grown into one of the Cinematheque's signature programs. And there is no end in sight. 'After year one, which had 33 films, we had the worry that maybe we would have no titles left for next year — if there even was a second edition,' said Chris LeMaire, senior film programmer, via email. 'But each time we start programming the next Bleak Week, there seem to be endless possibilities.' 'Our lineup this year in L.A. has 55 films and we probably cut another 50 titles from our initial list,' added LeMaire. 'Across all the venues, Bleak Week includes over 100 titles this year, from all corners of the world and all eras of cinema history, from as early as 1919 to 2025. We're never going to run out because many of the greatest films deal with the human condition, which naturally leads to some difficult truths.' Alan Arkin's 1971 'Little Murders' will screen in 35mm with a Q&A with star Elliott Gould moderated by screenwriter Larry Karaszewski. A screening of the black-and-white director's cut of 2007's 'The Mist' will be followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Frank Darabont and actor Thomas Jane. Filmmaker Costa-Gavras and producer Michèle Ray-Gavras will be present for a double-bill of 1982's 'Missing' and 1970's 'The Confession.' Actor Gabriel Byrne will be at a 35th anniversary screening of Joel and Ethan Coen's 1990 'Miller's Crossing.' I will be moderating a Q&A with Gus Van Sant following a screening of 'Last Days.' There will also be the U.S. premiere of a 4K restoration of 'Christiane F.' and the West Coast premieres of 4K restorations of 'Withnail and I,' 'Forbidden Games,' 'The Sweet Hereafter' and 'Happiness.' (A Q&A for 'Happiness' will feature performers Lara Flynn Boyle and Camryn Manheim, moderated by Vera Drew.) Where downbeat entries like Mark Romanek's 'Never Let Me Go,' Ryan Coogler's 'Fruitvale Station,' Narcisco Ibáñez Serrador's 'Who Can Kill A Child?' or Elem Klimov's 'Come and See' more obviously fall within the thematic concept of 'Bleak Week,' titles such as Bennett Miller's 'Moneyball' or Boaz Davidson's 'The Last American Virgin' do not make such an apparent fit. 'We work outside of academic and algorithmic models,' said Moninger. 'This allows for an emotional reaction to films and a more expansive Bleak Week program. The festival is a tapestry of bleak moments and feelings that can be presented in all types of cinema, including the occasional comedy. We are not measuring the hopelessness of each film but creating something by bonding together a wide variety of challenging, unpromising cinema, which I hope builds to something positive.' This weekend the UCLA Film & Television Archive will be hosting ''Going My Own Way' Celebrating Ivan Dixon,' a tribute to the actor and filmmaker, including the local premiere tonight of a new 35mm print of the restoration of his 1973 film, 'The Spook Who Sat by the Door.' The film tells the story of the first Black CIA officer (Lawrence Cook), who leaves his token position at the organization to use what he learned there to train a Black guerrilla fighting force in Chicago. 'The Spook Who Sat by the Door,' which was added to the National Film Registry in 2012, had a truncated release with it first came out due to its revolutionary politics, with some accounts that the FBI became involved in suppressing it. 'It's just one of the most powerful meditations on the meaning of freedom that I've ever seen,' said UCLA programmer Beandrea July. 'It's so nice to see a movie that really knows what it is and doesn't apologize for it. It doesn't equivocate, it's not trying to explain itself to people who aren't interested in really understanding. It's so satisfying to watch because it's like finally someone actually speaks to the thing with the same oomph that the thing demands.' On Saturday, along with the second screening of the film, there will be a showing of Christine Acham and Clifford Ward's 2011 documentary 'Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise and Fall of 'The Spook Who Sat by the Door,'' which examines the long saga of the film, its reception and release. Acham will be present at screenings throughout the weekend as will Nomathande Dixon, Ivan Dixon's daughter, as well as Natiki Hope Pressley, daughter of Sam Greenlee, author of the book on which the film is based. Dixon, who died in 2008 at age 76, was best known for his role as Sgt. James Kinchloe on TV's 'Hogan's Heroes,' a part he left before the show had ended to move behind the camera and begin a prolific career directing for television. Also screening will be the 1964 film 'Nothing but a Man' starring Dixon and directed by Michael Roemer, who died just last week at age 97. The film tells the story of racial tension in a small town; Dixon considered the film his favorite of his performances. The film will be paired with a 1960 episode of 'The Twilight Zone' starring Dixon and Kim Hamilton. The series will conclude Sunday with two pieces Dixon directed for television, 1983's 'Frederick Douglass: Slave and Statesman,' starring 'Blacula's' William Marshall, and an adaptation of Philip Hayes Dean's 'The Sty of the Blind Pig' starring Mary Alice and Scatman Crothers. The Dixon family lived for many years in Altadena. What was once their home was destroyed in the January fires, a circumstance that gives the weekend an even greater emotional resonance. 'It's special for the family because his wishes were never to have a memorial,' said Nomathande Dixon. 'And this is something that feels like a tribute to him in our hometown of L.A. So we're very appreciative of that. And I think he would've been thrilled.' 'Michael Clayton' in 35mm At Vidiots on Saturday will be a 35mm screening of 2007's 'Michael Clayton' with writer-director Tony Gilroy in person. The film marked the feature directing debut for Gilroy, who previously had a successful career as a screenwriter and has gone on to be showrunner of the recent series 'Andor.' George Clooney stars in the film as a fixer for a powerful New York City law firm. He finds himself drawn into an already complicated situation involving defending an agricultural conglomerate in a class-action lawsuit when one of the firm's top lawyers (Tom Wilkinson) has a nervous breakdown. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, with Tilda Swinton winning for supporting actress for her role as the conglomerate's chief counsel. In his original review of the film, Kenneth Turan wrote, 'Watching this film makes you feel that Gilroy, best known for writing credits on all three 'Bourne' films, has poured the energy pent up during a decade and a half in Hollywood into this strong and confident directorial debut about desperate men searching for redemption in a cold and ruthless world. … As a director, Gilroy has an unmistakable instinct for the emotional jugular and a breakneck storytelling style that pulls you through his movie, no stragglers allowed.' Sofia Coppola and Kirsten Dunst with 'The Virgin Suicides' On Sunday afternoon, the Academy Museum will screen Sofia Coppola's 1999 feature debut, 'The Virgin Suicides' with the filmmaker and star Kirsten Dunst in person. (There will also be a signing for Coppola's new book of Corinne Day's on-set photos from the film.) The story of five sisters in 1970s Michigan who all die by suicide, the film set the stage for Coppola's gently incisive explorations of female interiority and a recurring collaboration with Dunst. In his original review of the film, Kevin Thomas wrote, 'Sofia Coppola shows an impressive maturity and an assured skill in adapting Jeffrey Eugenides' novel 'The Virgin Suicides' to the screen for her directorial debut. As the title suggests, it's a challenging undertaking that requires a smooth passage from pitch-dark humor to a stark finish. The result is a highly affecting film unafraid to exact an emotional toll. … While subtle in the utmost, Coppola leaves us with an understanding of how things could turn out as they did.' 'Frances Ha' and 'Girlfriends' The New Beverly will host a double feature of Noah Baumbach's 2012 'Frances Ha' and Claudia Weil's 1978 'Girlfriends,' two sharply insightful portraits of female friendship, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 'Frances Ha' was the first screenplay co-written by Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, both who would (of course) go on to collaborate on the script for the mega-successful 'Barbie,' directed by Gerwig. In 'Frances Ha,' Gerwig plays a 20-something woman coming to grips with life as an adult while struggling to accept the end of a friendship by which she has long defined herself. In his original review of the film, Kenneth Turan declared it 'Effortless and effervescent, 'Frances Ha' is a small miracle of a movie, honest and funny with an aim that's true.' Of Gerwig and Bambach's collaboration, he noted, 'For the actress, a quicksilver presence with a fluid face who couldn't be more natural on screen, 'Frances' is an opportunity to build a character of unexpected complexity. For the director, having a gifted collaborator able to be so completely present adds a lightness his films have not always had and has made possible an irresistible command of the moment.' I spoke to Baumbach and Gerwig about the film when it was premiering at film festivals in Telluride and Toronto. 'The writing of it and the acting of it were separate for me,' Gerwig said at the time. 'The writing of it was such a huge thing, but the acting of it was scary. I really was worried I wouldn't be right for it.... It didn't feel like, 'I wrote this great part, and I'm perfect for it.'' 'I can say I totally had Greta in my head,' Baumbach said. 'I always thought, 'I can't wait for Greta to play this part.'' 'Girlfriends' stars Melanie Mayron as Susan Weinblatt, a young photographer in New York City, who finds her life starting to unravel when her best friend (Anita Skinner) moves out of the apartment they share together. The supporting cast also includes Christopher Guest, Bob Balaban and Eli Wallach. Selected for the National Film Registry in 2019, the film was praised by Stanley Kubrick when it was originally released; he declared it 'one of the very rare American films that I would compare with the serious, intelligent, sensitive writing and filmmaking that you find in the best directors in Europe.' Lena Dunham likewise sparked to the film, once recalling of her first viewing, 'It felt eerie, in the true sense of the word, how familiar this film was to me. … I almost thought, 'Have I seen this and been gently ripping it off for the last five years?''
Euronews
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Film of the Week: 'The Phoenician Scheme' - Wes Anderson's empty shell
After three decades delighting audiences with ornamental eccentricities and highly stylised aesthetics, is Wes Anderson now simply recycling his same old tricks? Worse, has he forgotten that immersive world-building becomes the crafting of empty shells without precious emotional payoffs? On the back of 2023's Asteroid City and judging by this year's offering, it's a frustrating 'yes' on both counts. Set in 1950, The Phoenician Scheme starts off with a bang. Literally. Corrupt tycoon Anatole 'Zsa-zsa' Korda (Benicio Del Toro), one of the richest men in Europe, is attempting to survive his latest assassination attempt and escape from his sixth plane crash. It's an incredibly promising way to kick things off: explosions, blood, the surprise ejecting of a useless pilot... It's a blast. Once he's come to terms with the fact that his enemies may soon punch his ticket, the industrialist visits his estranged daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton) and tells her that she is to be his sole heir. Despite his other nine boys. After entrusting his empire to Liesl, who is training to become a nun and whose pious reservations regarding her father's less-than-ethical practices run deep, Korda enlists her to aid him in his latest business venture. Considering the government is planning to sabotage his most audacious project yet in the fictional country of Phoenicia – the details of which he has neatly contained within shoeboxes – he plans a whistle stop tour to visit investors and donors to collect promised advances on the project. Along for the racketeering ride is Bjorn (Michael Cera, who was born to be a perfect addition to the Andersoniverse).He's a Norwegian tutor specialising in the insect world, who may not be as scholarly or as bumbling as he seems... The trio embark on a fast-paced trip that features glorified cameos from dandies Leland (Tom Hanks) and Reagan (Bryan Cranston), a fez-wearing nightclub owner named Marseilles Bob (Matthieu Amalric), American sailor Marty (Jeffrey Wright) and Cousin Hilda (Scarlett Johansson), all the way to the final-level boss - the dastardly Uncle Nubar (a bearded and bushy eyebrowed Benedict Cumberbatch). This all sounds good on paper, but despite a promising pre-credits kick-off and a pleasing pace which lulls you into thinking that dire Asteroid City was a minor mishap and that The Phoenician Scheme could very well be a return to form for Anderson, this latest flight of fancy ends up frustratingly shallow. The rapid-fire and hyper-articulated dialogue falls flat; the starry roll-call of A-listers is wasted; the insistent gag about offering each investor a souvenir hand grenade becomes bizarrely tiresome; and unlike previous offerings The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, The Grand Budapest Hotel or Fantastic Mr. Fox, nothing registers on an emotional level. As joyful as it is to see Benicio Del Toro playing a nonchalant capitalist with redemption (ish) on the mind, he is given precious little in terms of character evolution – especially when compared to similar Anderson archetypes previously played by Bill Murray, Ralph Fiennes and George Clooney in the three aforementioned (and far superior) adventures. These films had heart and emotional payoffs to match the delightfully offbeat and twee antics. All we get here is twee. Not that Wesheads will be left wanting. They'll still have a great time marveling at production designer Adam Stockhausen's craft, with the impeccably manicured sets and Anderson's devotion to symmetry still a visual treat to behold. But not even an amusing blink-and-you'll-miss-him cameo from Bill Murray playing God during one of the Bergman-esque afterlife segments or Anderson newcomer Mia Threaplton stealing every scene she's in with her spot-on deadpan delivery ('They say you murdered my mother. I feel the need to address this') can save The Phoenician Scheme. Like Anderson's recent output (minus the messy but unfairly maligned The French Dispatch), his latest caper lacks the emotional core that ought to complement the stylish visuals. The director may tick off his treasured hallmarks – precise framing, immaculate detail, neglectful parents seeking their warped version of absolution – but it lacks soul, to the point of toppling into parody. So, while not as pleased with itself as Asteroid City was, this brisker and more linear adventure still gives off the impression that Anderson and his regular co-writing compadre Roman Coppola are simply keen to enjoy themselves more than their audience. Anderson may have become a genre onto himself, but considering The Phoenician Scheme ends up joining Asteroid City as one of his least rewarding films to date, the master of the meticulously crafted confection should do well to remind himself the following: sacrificing human depth in favour of quirk for quirk's sake will only make audience members nostalgic for his older and far less empty spectacles. Even The French Dispatch apologists. The Phoenician Scheme is out in cinemas now.
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Wes Anderson reveals why he ‘stole' this famous Satyajit Ray scene for Asteroid City: ‘The concept is very odd'
It's no secret that American filmmaker Wes Anderson is a huge fan of the late Satyajit Ray. Talking to THR India on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival, where he presented Satyajit's 1971 film Aranyer Din Ratri after spearheading its restoration, he admitted to copying a famous scene from it for his 2023 film Asteroid City. (Also Read: Sharmila Tagore, Simi Garewal attend Aranyer Din Ratri Cannes screening, hang out with Satyajit Ray fanboy Wes Anderson) When asked about the memory game scene from Asteroid City, Wes admitted it was 'copied' from Aranyer Din Ratri. 'Yes, well, stole it. The way that scene was done…it's the most beautifully…First of all, that concept of the scene is very odd because it's a game. But we learn about these characters so much while they play these games, and they're saying these things,' he explained. He also added that he loved the way the film was shot, and how it revealed so much about the characters, 'Then the way it's photographed. I mean, the cast is obviously a special cast. But the way it's photographed is very striking. And the moment when we choose to start going from face to face, there's more emotion in this scene than you would think there's any reason to be. My family and I began to play this game after I saw the movie.' In Aranyer Din Ratri, which stars Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhendu Chatterjee, Rabi Ghosh, Pahari Sanyal and Sharmila Tagore in lead roles, a famous scene shows the camera pan to different characters sitting in a circle as they play a memory game. Wes recreated the scene in his film Asteroid City, which stars Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Grace Edwards and others. Aranyer Din Ratri is considered one of the best films made in India. It received a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.
