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New York Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘The Phoenician Scheme' Review: Benicio Del Toro Plans to Save His Soul
With his diorama-like compositions and tales of longing — usually for a loving family — Wes Anderson has taken audiences most everywhere on the planet: Asia and Europe, New York City and the American southwest, a fox's hole and an island inhabited by dogs. With 'The Phoenician Scheme' he globetrots again, zigging and zagging about, but he adds an unusual place to the list: heaven. Or, more accurately, the pearly gates that stand just outside of heaven, guarding the way lest the unworthy sneak in. These scenes are really snippets, rendered in black and white. In them, we repeatedly glimpse the weapons dealer and generally shady business tycoon Anatole Korda, a.k.a. Zsa-zsa (Benicio Del Toro, who is perfect) standing on some clouds before a robed assembly of what the film bills as the 'biblical troupe,' among whom are F. Murray Abraham, Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Hope Davis and Bill Murray, who, delightfully, plays God. That all of these screen luminaries apparently just popped to Anderson's set for a day to film a tiny scene is indicative of where the auteur stands at this point in his 31-year career. Still boyish in appearance, he's just turned 56, with a bevy of awards under his belt. He's synonymous with his intricate aesthetic, which is perhaps one of the most recognizable in cinema. It's turned him into a brand, with social media creators and critics alike drawn to examining and imitating him. He curated a show at Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum in 2018, and as 'The Phoenician Scheme' was premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, he was simultaneously the subject of a show at the Cinémathèque Française in Paris. He's also built a career on an ever-expanding universe of returning collaborators and players. While some, like Murray, have been around for a long time, Del Toro is still relatively new to the fold, with 'The Phoenician Scheme' only his second Anderson outing (he had a role as a seductive criminal in 'The French Dispatch'). He plays the cold and aloof Korda who, upon surviving his sixth assassination attempt, finally admits he needs to appoint an heir to his business and vast fortune. He has nine sons who live in a dormitory across the street from his house — Korda is not a very good dad — but he also has an estranged daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton, all deadpan chain-smoking charm), who is on the verge of taking her vows at the convent. Liesl's moral sense is as upstanding as her father's is utilitarian, and when he lays out his plan to her, she senses she might be able to do some good even if she doesn't trust him. So she convinces him to take the slightly higher ethical ground toward his big, well, scheme — the details of which are laid out so rapidly, and so sketchily, that it's pretty clear Anderson doesn't care if we really catch on to what Korda wants to do. Despite its title, this is not a movie about a plan, but about the man with that plan and, most important, his soul. In fact, this is a rather soul-obsessed movie, the kind you often see from artists who have been pondering the meaning of life lately. I can't guarantee that's what Anderson's been doing, but I can confirm this is the first of his films that depicts religious inquiry in any explicit way. As Korda and Liesl traipse around the world trying to drum up funding for his scheme, they meet with a series of Korda's acquaintances and associates and relatives, all of whom reveal something about how he's conducted his business, and life, in the past. These include but are not limited to a prince (Riz Ahmed), a pair of brothers (Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston), a nightclub owner with the delightful moniker Marseille Bob (Mathieu Amalric), a guy named Marty (Jeffrey Wright), some militants led by a man named Sergio (Richard Ayoade), and finally two of Korda's family members: his utopian second cousin Hilda (Scarlett Johansson) and the grudge-bearing Uncle Nubar (Benedict Cumberbatch). Yes, that's a lot of names. It's not even all of them. And that illuminates the biggest issue with 'The Phoenician Scheme': It's overstuffed, and thus skims and skitters across the surface of everything it touches, only glancing here and there before it's taking off to the next story beat, the next exquisitely detailed composition. A breath or two or 10 might have been in order, a moment to contemplate what the movie's getting at. You sometimes get the feeling it's afraid to look too hard at itself. That does, however, mirror how Korda has lived his life, until the moment Liesl shows up. With each visit for each new funding plea, some aspect of Korda's life gets aired out briefly, and Liesl gets a better look at who her father really is. She also discusses God and religion and goodness with him, and with the tutor that Korda hires to travel with him and keep things intellectually interesting. The current tutor, Bjorn Lund, is an entomologist, so he's always talking about bugs; he's also played by Michael Cera, who somehow has never been in a Wes Anderson movie before. Thank god he's joined that particular cinematic universe. Korda, preternaturally calm about everything, confronts his past with outward aplomb, but there's an uneasiness growing in him. Between these scenes, we see him at those pearly gates, experiencing the difficulties that might lie in the afterlife. It's as if the mounting self-knowledge, prompted by Liesl's presence in his life, is prompting the long-overdue awakening of his conscience. And that leads to the big question the movie is asking, when you can look behind all that scurrying: Can a man like Korda be great, and also be good? Or are the two incompatible? Must conquering the world and amassing a fortune require exploiting everyone around him? (One of Liesl's innovations in his scheme is banning the use of slave labor, for instance.) Or, to quote a book of which Liesl is quite fond, what is the real profit if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? One of the mottoes by which Korda has lived his life is 'if something gets in your way, flatten it,' a slogan that sounds suspiciously similar to the kind of advice you get from rise-and-grind TikTok gurus or ethically bendy tech executives. But the higher up you get, the flatter everything below you looks. It's easy to forget all those humans down there. Greatness and success, 'The Phoenician Scheme' suggests, are all well and good. But there's joy that comes from returning to the three-dimensional world, to a place where you pray or you cook, where a little scotch and a game of cards with friends at the end of a long day means love.
Vogue
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Vogue
Cory Michael Smith on ‘Mountainhead,' Millennial Jeans, and Jim Carrey
Let me ask you about comedy. Were there any comic actors that you watched growing up in Ohio that you thought: God, I'd like to be able to do what they do? The actor I grew up imitating the most was Jim Carrey. Maybe the first movie of his I watched was Ace Ventura—the second one: When Nature Calls. And Liar Liar was a favorite of mine. I did a lot of imitations of that. But the movie I watched over and over and over again was What About Bob? I loved that movie so much, and I had one friend in high school who also loved it and we would quote it back and forth to each other all the time, and no one knew what we were talking about. There was something about Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss's performances that, you know, ride on the edge a little bit. And so, I guess I have some of that inside me because I imitated these guys for so long. There's a lot of theater experience on your CV. Did all that stage work teach you something that you carry with you now into film? I went to college to study drama and piano. And I started in the theater because it's all I had done—and, frankly, it was all I really had aspirations to do. I had my first starring role off-Broadway in a Mike Bartlett play called Cock that Ben Whishaw had done in London, and I was cast by the same director in New York, which to me was a crazy coup because I love Whishaw. He's an incredible, special talent. And having the director that hired him, hire me—it's like these little moments in a career where there's validation that you're on the right path. Then, I had my Broadway debut at 26 [in Breakfast at Tiffany's], which was not a great experience. I mean, it was not a great production and it didn't do well. And that was really hard. It was a moment when I decided to try going into screen work. There's a certain rigor to theater, a study of language and body—things you don't necessarily learn when working on camera. It's really helpful to understand how a full body is used to tell a dramatic story.
Time Out
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
A limited-edition Wes Anderson bar has popped up in Soho
Pastel facades, retro outfits, deadpan expressions, perfect symmetry and Bill Murray. If you know exactly what we're talking about, then you might be interested to know that something new has popped up in London that could be right up your street. In celebration of the quirky director's new film The Phoenician Scheme, a Wes Anderson-inspired bar has opened up at Bob Bob Ricard in Soho. The venue's Red Room has been temporarily transformed into Marseille Bob's, the fictional bar that stars in the movie. Everything from the drinks to the placemats are based on The Phoenician Scheme 's plot, aesthetic, characters and standout lines. Even the waiters will be sporting white blazers, red carnations and fez hats, replicating the costumes worn in the film. Time Out contributing film critic Kaleb Aftab called Anderson's new film 'action-packed espionage caper with a touch of magic' in which he 'blends his signature style with dashes of film noir and action beats'. See exactly what we thought of the movie here. The pop-up's beverage offering includes 'Tycoon on the Rocks', a pipette-served margarita that changes colour (designed to resemble a poison test) and 'Hand Grenade', a twist on a white negroni, nodding to the line 'would you like a hand grenade?'. For those feeling peckish, snacks will be simple but lavish in a 'nod to the film's indulgent aesthetic'. They'll include giant salted pretzels served in silver bowls and tins of smoked Cantabrian anchovies with butter and brown bread. The pop-up opened on May 23 and will be there until June 22 – make a reservation here. And if that's not enough Wes for you, make sure get your hands on tickets for the Design Museum's exhibition 'Wes Anderson: The Archives' opening in November.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Star who worked with Pedro Pascal and Kaia Gerber is unrecognizable with her kids at a park, who is she?
This versatile actress has a long, impressive resume that mostly includes silver-screen comedies. The 51-year-old super quirky star got her start on Saturday Night Live decades ago. Then came a massive hit movie with an ensemble cast including Melissa McCarthy. This New York native has also worked on a ghost movie and a love story but one of her biggest films was with Pedro Pascal. Now the thespian is on an AppleTV+ series with Kaia Gerber, Leslie Bibb and Carol Burnett. Over the weekend the Hollywood stalwart made a rare appearance in a Pasadena, California park with her two small children. Who is she? From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The 51-year-old super quirky star got her start on Saturday Night Live decades ago. Then came a massive hit movie with an ensemble cast including Melissa McCarthy She is Kristen Wiig. Kristen and her husband Avi Rothman have two children, twins named Shiloh and Luna. They were born in January 2020 via surrogacy after Wiig and Rothman struggled with in vitro fertilization (IVF) for three years. Wiig has spoken about the 'bittersweet' journey to motherhood and the impact her children have had on her life. This comes after news Kristen is set to star alongside Bill Murray in Epiphany. Max Barbakow, the director of Epiphany, said: 'It's a rare, delightful experience when a story takes you on a journey that all at once manages to make you laugh, make you feel, and hold a mirror up to the wonderful absurdities of everyday life. 'It's even more delightful when your spirit guides are Bill Murray and Kristen Wiig. But 'Epiphany' carries that breadth of tone, depth of wisdom, and such a lush sense of cinematic possibility, all while teeing up iconic roles for two already-iconic, totally original unicorns in Kristen and Billy.' The upcoming movie centres on Favorite Ives, an heiress who is facing destitution after spending her entire fortune. The character, played by Kristen, is therefore required to find a rich husband in just two weeks, or she risks becoming homeless. Favorite's search for a rich husband leads her towards Bill's on-screen character, billionaire Oz Bell, who is wowed by her spirit and spontaneity. Despite this, their relationship proves to be very complicated. Bill and Kristen are both serving as executive producers on the comedy project, alongside Jillian Apfelbaum and Margot Hand. Bill remains one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, and the acclaimed actor recently admitted that he actually prefers to play complicated on-screen characters, because he can often relate to their failings. During an appearance at the Sundance Film Festival, he explained: 'It's always interesting when you're playing a guy who has done some damage. I know I've done some damage.' The 'Groundhog Day' star has enjoyed huge success in his career, starring in films such as 'Lost in Translation' and the 'Ghostbusters' franchise. However, Bill also confessed to being 'lazy' at different times in his career. The movie star reflected: 'I've been lazy. I don't have an agent anymore, so I'm not the first person people think of to be in studio movies.' Despite this, Bill suggested that some of his recent film projects - including 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' and 'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' - have given him a renewed sense of enthusiasm for the movie business. The veteran actor - who was a member of the 'Saturday Night Live' cast, before achieving huge success in Hollywood - explained: 'Only in this last year, doing these, has reawakened me about searching for material. 'I've lived the life of a bass … waiting for something to come down at me. If something lands in my mouth, I'll eat it.' Last year she said Wiig never thought she would be in any more Despicable Me movies. The actress voiced the role of Miss Hattie in the first installment of the animation franchise - which centres on a former supervillain turned secret agent named Gru, his adoptive daughters, Margo, Edith, and Agnes, and his yellow-colored Minions - and was delighted to be asked back to play her role in the fourth film. She told Who magazine: 'I was so happy to play Miss Hattie in the first movie, but then just kind of assumed that since the girls were adopted, I wouldn't be in any others. So, the fact that they asked me to come back and be a different character for the next three films is amazing, and working on them has been one of my favorite experiences.' The Bridesmaids star is even excited for her children to be able to see the new film because it has such a 'generational appeal' and is looking forward to sharing something with them that she has been a part of. She said: 'The kids have seen the first film and they just love Minions. So, I'm very excited to see 'Despicable Me 4' with them. It's nice to have something we can all watch together that I've been a part of. 'Given how long the franchise has been around, it has generational appeal. , I wish I had [Miss Hattie's] energy! In this film, you see her mama bear come out, and I think I'm like that with my family a little bit, too. So Lucy loves her work, but family comes first, and that's something I can relate to, for sure'
News.com.au
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Wes Anderson ‘didn't speak' to Gene Hackman after making The Royal Tenenbaums
Hackman died this year, aged 95, with Anderson's offbeat tale, in which he played the titular patriarch of a family of former child prodigies, one of the last he made before retiring from acting. However, unlike many of the stars of the director's films, like Bill Murray or Jason Schwartzman, they never struck up a lasting friendship. The duo apparently got off on the wrong foot due to The Grand Budapest Hotel filmmaker's tradition of paying all his actors an identical flat fee.
