Latest news with #Wes
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘There's no skimming a Wes Anderson script': ‘The Phoenician Scheme' cast on working with the director
According to , the idea for his latest film, The Phoenician Scheme, began with the main character, Zsa-zsa Korda, played by Benicio del Toro. 'I had an idea of a tycoon, a euro tycoon but in the course of time it started mixing with my father-in-law, my wife's father, who was an engineer and a businessman. A kind, warm person, but very intimidating,' Anderson shared during a press conference for the Focus Features film on Wednesday. The film includes a star-studded ensemble including Bryan Cranston, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, and Mia Threapleton and explores themes of faith, personal transformation, and complex family relationships. Del Toro, who previously worked with the Oscar-winning filmmaker on The French Dispatch, embraced the complexities of his role. 'It's layered, it's full of contradictions, which makes it really yummy for an actor,' he said. More from GoldDerby 'Gypsy' and 'Just in Time' producer Tom Kirdahy on serving a 'social and cultural need' through creative work TV Visual Effects supervisor roundtable: 'Black Mirror,' 'The Boys,' 'The Wheel of Time' 'The Wheel of Time' VFX supervisor Andy Scrase: 'I always think of visual effects as the magic of filmmaking' The emotional core of the story is the relationship between del Toro's character and his daughter, played by Threapleton. The actress — whose profile has been steadily rising with acclaimed performances in A Little Chaos and Shadows and who is the daughter of Kate Winslet — immersed herself deeply in the part. 'I had three months from the time of finding out to when I landed in Berlin,' she said. 'I talked to a deacon of the Catholic church, went to Rome ... read the Bible, chatted with Wes about portions of the Bible. I read the script five times in my first week,' she added, driven by what she called 'overwhelming excitedness' and a desire to absorb every detail. That level of detail is a hallmark of Anderson's screenplays, something the entire cast acknowledges. 'There is no skimming in a Wes Anderson script,' says Cranston, who reunites with the director after narrating Isle of Dogs. 'If you miss one little bit, it's not going to track.' Cranston and Hanks arrived in Berlin together for filming and were quick to recognize the magnitude of del Toro's role. 'Basically, most of the conversation Tom and I had on set was, 'Oh my God, what can we do for him?'' Cranston recalled. Del Toro himself admitted that the dialogue-heavy nature of the script presented a challenge — but one he ultimately trusted. 'I went up to Wes and said, maybe we can take this dialogue out,' he said. 'And then I went back to it and it wasn't as good. ... I had to go up to him and go, I think you need to put it back.' Despite the film's structured aesthetic and meticulous scripting, the cast described the filming process as unexpectedly liberating. 'Because Wes is so clear and clearly having so much fun doing this, you kind of just don't think about the plan,' Threapleton explained. 'You're just in the moment. You're actually in that world.' That immersive atmosphere even extended to the costumes. During early fittings, Threapleton improvised a crucial part of her character's look. 'There was a napkin from lunch that was not stained with anything,' she said. 'I quickly pinned this thing to my head and Wes came over ... did that little adjustment thing he does and apparently that's what happened with the veil.' The film also features Michael Cera and Willem Dafoe, along with Johansson, who continues her long-running collaboration with Anderson. The director noted that casting often unfolds organically during the writing process. 'The part for Scarlett, we did think, OK, if Scarlett will do this … then we had her in mind for that,' Anderson said. 'Many of the roles, we sort of cast them as we go. I tend to send the email people and say, this could be maybe October—try to kind of get on the books.' The The Phoenician Scheme hits theaters May 30 and expands wide on June 6. Best of GoldDerby Marilyn Monroe movies: 15 greatest films ranked worst to best Clint Eastwood movies: 20 greatest films ranked worst to best Morgan Freeman movies: 15 greatest films ranked worst to best Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sadly, the FBI: International Series Finale Barely Featured OG Agents Vo and Raines — Grade It
The following contains spoilers from the Season 4 finale — aka finale — of CBS' . Listen, it is somewhat understandable. FBI: International clearly had a two-part Season 4 finale planned, the back half of which would be extremely Wes-centric and set in Tokyo. More from TVLine Spine-Tingling FBI Season 7 Finale Leaves [Spoiler]'s Life in Limbo The Handmaid's Tale Kills Three Major Characters in Last Episode Before Series Finale - Read Recap Chicago Fire Boss Previews Severide's Pascal Doubts, Carver and Ritter's Goodbyes... and Future Returns? Still, given that filming on it wrapped in early May — two full months after the series' cancellation was announced — you'd think they'd have found a way to provide a bit more closure for fans, or at least to feature the agents back in Budapest a bit more. Part 2 of the finale, 'Gaijin,' picked up with Wes (Jesse Lee Soffer) arriving in Tokyo with local cop Reiko (guest star Yoriko Haraguchi), to continue the manhunt for the serial killer who'd been working with Kenzo Takeyama. Given a short, strict leash by Superintendent Kubo, Wes and Reiko saw their investigation heat up with another girl went missing, an American hostess named Heather. Leads were few, until Amanda (Christina Wolfe) worked her magic from Budapest to find a linguistic match between Redditor 'Okamoto' and an American cab driver in Tokyo, named Lloyd. Now, we as viewers know that Lloyd in fact drugged Heather once she was in his cab (and after he failed to chat her up in the club). But in the eyes of Kubo, Wes and Reiko didn't have enough evidence for a search warrant. Wes got the idea to look for victims that predated Kenzo and his partner's spree, and that led them to a girl who had filed, but withdrew, an abduction report. The dress she saved, with blood from her American abductor — coupled with DNA from a water glass Lloyd used — got Wes and Reiko a search warrant, and that revealed that in fact more than 50 girls had been taken. Both incensed, Wes convinced Reiko to reach out to the Takeyamas, and the matriarch OK'd them to search an apartment building Kenzo had had specially upgraded. Though the space was empty, and Reiko got benched for contacting the Takeyamas, Kubo told Wes it was up to him to find Lloyd and Heather, and to that end he hooked up the Budapest crew with Tokyo CCTV. That enabled the team to put Wes on Lloyd's scent, and that night he found and pinned down the cretin. Lloyd agreed to share Heather's location if Wes gave back the cyanide pill hidden in a button. Wes proceeded to find and save Heather, but only gave Lloyd back the button — its secret compartment empty. In the aftermath, Reiko shared that she'd been demoted to desk duty and was inclined to quit, but Wes urged her to fight the good fight and keep being a good cop. Reiko in turn gave Wes the nudge he needed to introduce himself to his half-sister Delila, in Pittsburgh. As for the Budapest crew, the only plot thread going on there involved the career board calling in via video, to reveal who earned a coveted GS-14 spot — Vo (Vinessa Vidotto) or Raines (Carter Redwood). The two held hands as they awaited the decision… but the episode ended without us finding out. What do you think of how ended its final season? Want scoop on , or for any other TV show? Shoot an email to InsideLine@ and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line! Best of TVLine Mrs. Maisel Flash-Forward List: All of Season 5's Futuristic Easter Eggs Yellowjackets Recap: The Morning After Yellowjackets Recap: The First Supper
AsiaOne
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- AsiaOne
Wes Anderson mocks Donald Trump's movie tariffs plan, Entertainment News
Wes Anderson has mocked Donald Trump's movie tariffs plan. The filmmaker, 55, hit out at the US president as rage continues to grow in the film industry about the effects slapping a 100 per cent tariff on movies made abroad will have on the entertainment business. Speaking at a Cannes Film Festival press conference for his new film The Phoenician Scheme, Wes drew laughter from the audience as he remarked: "Can you hold up the movie in customs? It doesn't ship that way." He added: "The tariff is interesting because I've never heard of a 100 per cent tariff before. I'm not an expert in that area of economics, but I feel that means he's saying he's going to take all the money. "And then what do we get? So it's complicated to me." The director was in Cannes for the premiere of The Phoenician Scheme, a dark three-hander shot partially in Germany and distributed by Focus Features. His film stars 57-year-old Benicio del Toro, 36-year-old Michael Cera and 23-year-old Mia Threapleton. Mia, daughter of Kate Winslet, plays Sister Liesel, a chain-smoking nun estranged from Benicio's character, a business magnate named Zsa-zsa Korda. Michael joins Wes' ensemble for the first time as a suspicious private tutor called Bjorn Lund. Also in the cast are Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, Riz Ahmed, Scarlett Johansson, Mathieu Amalric, Rupert Friend and Hope Davis — all of whom have featured in Wes' previous films. Wes said the idea for the film emerged from conversations with his co-writer Roman Coppola. He added: "We were building this on the darkness of a certain kind of capitalist. "But it took us somewhere else. We need a psychiatrist's couch to really answer it properly, and even then I don't know." He described the heart of the story as the father-daughter relationship between Benicio and Mia's characters. Wes also used his press conference for the film to signal future collaborations with Michael and 73-year-old Bill Murray, who was seated in the front row. Shaking hands with Michael, the director said: "Let's shake on it. Sometimes people say yes and they don't really mean it later… I'm just saying, let's get this on the record." [[nid:717709]]
Indian Express
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Cannes 2025: Wes Anderson ratchets up the whimsy in The Phoenician Scheme, doesn't stick the landing
If whimsy had an address, it would be Wes Anderson, whose confections can either delight or dismay. His Cannes competition entry The Phoenician Scheme has nestled firmly into the latter for me: his latest flight of fancy, quite literally, with his lead character traversing the skies in a private jet, being ejected at regular intervals, turns the film into a survival manual. The film is set in the 50s. Benicio Del Toro plays Zsa Zsa Korda, a wealthy businessman who has a half-brother (Benedict Cumberbatch, almost unrecognisable under a thatched beard), a daughter who is a nun, and nine sons. If Korda wasn't properly eccentric, he wouldn't be a Wes character: accordingly, he decides to bequeath his empire to Liesl (Mia Threapleton), whether she likes it or not. His current preoccupation lies somewhere in the Middle East, and off they jump into the jet, along with Bjorn (Michael Cera), a young Norwegian expert on all manner of creepy crawlies, who has been hired as tutor to his offspring. We never know why Bjorn is not left behind in Korda's mansion to fulfil his duties, but then, in a Wes movie, you know better than to ask why because along the way, there is usually much delectation as to sets and costumes and characters declaiming their lines. All of it is here. One of the bathrooms in Korda's mansions that we spend a great deal of time in, with the man himself in a tub, is lensed from the top, so we have a lot of time to observe the precision with which everything else is laid out, including a bottle of bubbly in a bidet. Then there is the plane itself, all very pastel except for the hand grenades found in various hidden places, just before everything goes boom, and Korda and his cohorts find themselves, once more, having miraculously survived an assassination attempt. Speaking of which, one of Liesl's burning questions to her father is whether he had her mother, his third (or fourth?) wife, murdered. He demurs, but you don't quite believe him. And neither does she. In a while, the gang finds themselves sinking baskets in an underground tunnel with a couple of suspicious fellows (Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston). To make things a little more inclusive, Riz Ahmed shows up in a thin moustache (a constant in a Wes film). In some cavern-like nightclub, the jovial Mathieu Amalric comes in a cameo, to save the company from a bandit attack. There's Scarlett Johansson too in a cameo, playing Korda's second cousin with a whole scene to herself, where she is proposed to. The story turns back to Korda, and a late coda, which I liked more than most of the film. You do get the underlying message — about the dangers of rich billionaires with no scruples wanting to get their greedy paws on more of the planet. We have enough of those here and now, wasting precious resources and ruining the environment. But it doesn't land as much as it could have, in all the preciousness. Part of the charm of a Wes Anderson enterprise is to discover the degree to which Wes has out-Wes'd himself. In The Phoenician Scheme, he ratchets the whimsy to such an extent that you feel a much greater distance from the goings-on, on screen.
Style Blueprint
19-05-2025
- Business
- Style Blueprint
TailGate Brewery: Where Beer Meets Big Dreams
Share with your friends! Pinterest LinkedIn Email Flipboard Reddit At TailGate Brewery, beer has always been the star of the show. But if you've spent even one afternoon at one of their lively, colorful taprooms, you know the real magic is in the community they've built — brick by brick, pint by pint. Over the past decade, TailGate has transformed from a bold, one-location dream into a flourishing Tennessee staple, with a footprint that keeps expanding. Pin What began as a small brewery in Nashville has grown into an eight-location powerhouse (plus a TailGate-branded outpost at the Nashville airport), and each taproom buzzes with energy and local pride. Trivia nights, live music, signature pizzas, craft seltzers, cold brew coffee — you name it, TailGate has mastered it. And while other breweries might have expanded quickly to ride a trend, TailGate has taken a different approach: building its brand deliberately, focusing on quality and community every step of the way. Now, after 10 years of innovation and sustained growth, TailGate is entering an exciting new era: the launch of its first THC-infused sparkling water. TailGate Brewery and its offshoot, TailGate Hemp Co., weren't funded by venture capital or family wealth. Founder Wesley Keegan built the business from scratch. 'We're a production brewery first and foremost,' Wes explains. 'Everything else — from pizza to cider, cold brew to sweet tea, and now THC beverages — has been designed to complement that.' Pin TailGate's growth story is worth celebrating in its own right. When Wes opened the brewery a decade ago, the goal was simple but ambitious: create a welcoming space where quality craft beer and good times could go hand in hand. It wasn't about flashy rollouts or quick wins; it was about doing things the right way and fostering real connections with their community. Over the years, that commitment has paid off. TailGate now boasts thriving taprooms across Tennessee, including multiple spots in Nashville, Murfreesboro, Hendersonville, Chattanooga, and more. Each location offers something a little different — a nod to local flavor and neighborhood vibes — but the core experience remains the same: high-quality beer, warm hospitality, and a space that feels like a home away from home. So, what's next? Wes's long-term plan is to open a new location every two years, always with the same thoughtful, intentional approach that's brought them this far. 'Nothing we do is flippant,' Wes says. 'We think about where we want to be five, 10 years from now — and we work backwards from there. It's about staying true to who we are while also evolving to meet what our community wants.' Pin The latest evolution is the leap into the THC space. But, true to TailGate's nature, this wasn't about jumping on a trend. It was about recognizing an opportunity that aligned with their existing offerings. 'We already had the product,' Wes says, referring to the line of crisp, fruit-flavored sparkling waters that have long been popular at his taprooms. 'Those are the 'unleaded' versions we've served for years. Once we navigated the legal requirements, adding THC was a natural next step.' Pin Wes jokes that part of the product's appeal taps into that little spark of 'doing something a bit rebellious' — a throwback to carefree college nights — but with a polished, grown-up twist. 'We're really speaking to that stylish, youthful mom who maybe smoked a few times at a frat party,' he says with a smile, 'but now wants to feel that vibe with a little more control — and definitely a better playlist.' Of course, a word of caution: even though it looks and tastes like your favorite sparkling water, it's not something to sip absentmindedly. 'It's not meant for high-volume consumption,' Wes says. 'It's designed to replace or complement alcohol, not to overdo. It's for savoring and enjoying — something you can feel good about.' Pin As TailGate Brewery enters its second decade, one thing remains unchanged: its commitment to quality, creativity, and community. The current model is proof that slow, steady, intentional growth isn't just possible; it's powerful. And with plans to keep expanding thoughtfully and a focus on delivering innovative products that satisfy evolving tastes, TailGate is showing no signs of slowing down. Depending on where you live, Tailgate Brewery might even ship to you. Check out the website for more details. ********** Give your inbox the Southern makeover it deserves — subscribe to StyleBlueprint's FREE daily emails! About the Author Dallas Jackson A resident of Santa Rosa Beach, FL, Dallas is passionate about brand-building, sports, and life on 30A.
