Latest news with #TheFrenchDispatch
Winnipeg Free Press
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Wes Anderson's Phoenician Scheme falls a little bit flat
Wes Anderson's cinematic obsessions and stylistic quirks are so distinctive, so immediately recognizable that when trailers for his movies are released, it can be hard to figure out whether it's an actual Anderson preview or just another YouTube pastiche. Devotees might see this latest project, his 12th feature film, as Peak Anderson. Doubters, meanwhile, might suggest the 56-year-old auteur has overshot the peak and fallen into self-parody. For those Anderson viewers who find his works alternately brilliant and exasperating — and sometimes both things simultaneously — The Phoenician Scheme will probably end up classified as minor Anderson. Mixing up a mid-20th-century international caper with family dysfunction, the story (co-written with Roman Coppola) is intermittently interesting, and it's underlaid — of course — with exquisite and elaborate visual tableaux. But the charm often feels forced and twee, the artifice frequently hardens into rigidity, and that tricky Andersonian balance of irony and sentiment is way, way off. The Phoenician Scheme seems destined to land near the bottom end of Anderson's up-and-down oeuvre, somewhere around The Darjeeling Limited and Isle of Dogs. Benicio del Toro (who worked with Anderson in The French Dispatch) plays Anatole (Zsa-zsa) Korda, a super-rich plutocrat who made his fortune from various nefarious sources (including but not limited to war profiteering, bribery, theft, tax evasion and possibly murder). Having survived repeated assassination attempts that have him pondering his mortality, Zsa-zsa decides to bequeath his empire to his estranged daughter Liesl (The Buccaneers' Mia Threapleton), a pious novitiate nun. First, Zsa-zsa takes Liesl to visit a massive infrastructure project involving a canal, a tunnel, a railway line and a dam, to be built in the fictional Middle Eastern kingdom of Phoenicia. Zsa-zsa is perhaps hoping to make up for years of paternal neglect, while Liesl wants to ameliorate her father's brand of rapacious capitalism (which includes engineered famines and the use of slave labour). TPS Productions/Focus Features/TNS Benicio del Toro (left) and Mia Threapleton play a formerly estranged father and daughter in Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme. The mismatched father-daughter pair, along with Dr. Bjorn (Michael Cera), a Norwegian tutor who's been drafted as Zsa-zsa's new private secretary after the last one was blown up, then visit the scheme's principal investors. These include two basketball-playing Americans (Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston); Marseille Bob (Mathieu Amalric), a canned fish aficionado and nightclub owner; Marty (Jeffrey Wright), an easygoing shipping magnate; and stern, uber-wealthy Cousin Hilda (Scarlett Johansson). There are tussles with assassins, secret agents and amiable Marxist revolutionaries (led by Richard Ayoade), as well as conflicts with a consortium of besuited bureaucrats (led by Rupert Friend), who are attempting to scupper Zsa-zsa's business by driving up the price of 'Bashable Rivets.' Threapleton gives a grounded performance as one of Anderson's recurring types — the wise, grave young woman — and Cera is a constant daffy delight, whose pure enjoyment of Andersonian caprice spreads to the audience. Unfortunately, del Toro, who is in almost every scene, is flat — and not just Anderson flat, with that trademark deadpan delivery, but oddly empty. There are many of the usual Andersonian tropes — a distant parent attempting a late-life redemption, excellent luggage, obscure books (Fleas of the Americas), gorgeous tilework and wall coverings, and vintage modes of transport. TPS Productions/Focus Features (From left) Mathieu Amalric, Michael Cera, Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton and Jeffrey Wright get tangled up in The Phoenician Scheme. There's a magpie-like collection of cultural references, from the films of Orson Welles to Boys' Own adventure stories. There are starry cameos, including drop-ins by Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Bill Murray as God (or vice-versa). There is lots of symmetrical, head-on framing and a gorgeous pastel colour palette of sand, ochre and aqua (last seen in Asteroid City). But does this elegant, eccentric cinematic style add up to much? The film's themes ostensibly involve a socioeconomic look at unfettered capitalism, a philosophical examination of morality, and perhaps an allegory for the process of filmmaking and film financing, but Anderson's extension of these declared ideas feels perfunctory. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. The tone is uneven. There are scenes of slapstick violence that try for antic comedy but don't always come off. But the real problem is the dramatic hollowness. Even amidst their arch artifice, the best of Anderson's films, such as Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel, tend to be burnished with gentle melancholy, with laments for lost innocence. There is no affective undertow here, and the final scene, which celebrates the modest pleasures of work and family, doesn't have enough emotional heft to work. Even minor Wes Anderson is worth a look. The Phoenician Scheme is watchable, but it's also, sadly, forgettable. Alison GillmorWriter Studying at the University of Winnipeg and later Toronto's York University, Alison Gillmor planned to become an art historian. She ended up catching the journalism bug when she started as visual arts reviewer at the Winnipeg Free Press in 1992. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
UPI
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
Benicio Del Toro: Imagination runs amok in 'Phoenician Scheme'
1 of 5 | Benicio Del Toro attends the photo call for "The Phoenician Scheme" at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19. Photo by Rune Hellestad/UPI | License Photo NEW YORK, June 6 (UPI) -- Oscar-winning actor Benicio del Toro says writer-director Wes Anderson meticulously plans every scene in his movies, but still welcomes input from his cast. "The approach is the same approach that I do on any movie I do. Just, I think, Wes wants you to be in the moment. He wants you to tell the truth, whatever that means," Del Toro, 58, said in a recent virtual press conference to promote his second collaboration with Anderson, The Phoenician Scheme, in theaters nationwide on Friday. "You have all this dialogue," Del Toro said, "but you can still bring a piece of yourself into it. And there's room for the imagination, too, to run amok. And you've got to have fun. Even if you're drowning, you've got to have fun." Co-starring Scarlett Johannson, Michael Cera, Bryan Cranston, Bill Murray and Tom Hanks, the espionage comedy is set in 1950 and follows Zsa-zsa Korda (Del Toro), an industrialist and arms dealer who wants to bring his estranged daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton) -- a Catholic nun -- into his dangerous, top-secret business. It's Wes Anderson's world, we're just scheming in it. Focus Features (@FocusFeatures) June 6, 2025 "It's layered. It's full of contradictions, which makes it really yummy for an actor to try to bring to life," Del Toro said. "There is an element of my character wanting a second chance at mending a broken relationship. And I think that in the process in order to achieve that, he has to change and he does change. And I like to think that people can change. Not everyone changes, but I think some people can, and for the better." After previously working with Anderson on the 2021 hit The French Dispatch, Del Toro is used to the filmmaker's dense, quirky language. But, this time around, he has a larger role and a lot more to say. "There were a couple of moments where I went up to Wes and I said: 'Well, maybe we can take this dialogue out.' And, then, I went back to it and it wasn't as good," Del Toro recalled. "I had to go up to him and go like, 'I think you need to put it back because we're passing information that I think you need.' But that's why I couldn't join these people [in the cast] every day for dinner. I had to go up into my room and talk to myself." "You had a lot to say," Anderson agreed. "You took the time to absorb everything." Del Toro said another contribution he made to the project concerned Michael Cera's character Professor Bjorn, the tutor of Zsa-zsa's nine sons, who has a habit of sticking around when sensitive information is being shared. "I remember telling Wes, 'Well, I'm giving a lot of private information to my daughter and there is this stranger sitting right there. I feel uncomfortable as the character, giving all this information in front of a stranger. I'm telling her about my bank accounts and my everything, deals, with secrecy,'" Del Toro said. "Wes said to me, 'Well, we'll polygraph him.' And I went, 'Well, OK.' And, very quickly, he came up with this idea of a lie detector, which is a portable pocket polygraph," he added. "In 1950, it was probably the size of this building, but he made it into the pocket version." Despite the heightened reality, Anderson said this is essentially a father-daughter tale. "His whole business plan is really a mechanism for him to get back together with her," Anderson said of Zsa-zsa and Liesl. "He's acting like he's making her his successor and, really, it's more about what's going to happen between the two of them right now," Anderson added. "The business plan almost becomes like a ritual for him to be reunited with his daughter. ... In that sense, his plan goes great." Anderson first approached Del Toro about starring in this film after they wrapped up The French Dispatch. "I had a sort of the idea of a Euro tycoon, somebody who would've been in a [Michelangelo] Antonioni movie or something, that visual," Anderson said. "I did have this idea that he was probably hurting, that he was going to be in physical distress. Somehow, that was the image of this guy who you sort of can't kill." Over the course of time, however, this fictional man with a plan in a suit started mixing with Anderson's father-in-law Fouad Malouf, who, the filmmaker described as "an engineer and a businessman and he had all these different projects and different places." "He was a kind, warm person, but very intimidating," Anderson said. "He had all his business in these shoe-boxes. He walked [Anderson's wife] through his work at a certain point, because he thought if he is not able to see everything through, she needs to know what he's got. "And her reaction was what you say in the movie," Anderson turned to Threapleton, who immediately chimed in, "This is just crazy." "So, yeah, it was a mixture of those two things," Anderson quipped. "Fouad and whatever the first thing I said was."
Business Insider
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
'The Phoenician Scheme' has a star-studded cast — here's where else you might have seen them
Benicio Del Toro plays Zsa-Zsa Korda "The Phoenician Scheme" follows Zsa-zsa Korda, an arms dealer, as he tries to teach his daughter how to run his organization after a near-successful assassination attempt. Benicio Del Toro, who plays the character, who won an Oscar in 2001 for his supporting role in "Traffic." He previously worked with Anderson on his 2021 movie " The French Dispatch." Del Toro also appeared in three Marvel movies as the Collector, and starred in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," "Sicario," and "The Usual Suspects." Mia Threapleton as Liesl Liesl, Zsa-Zsa's eldest daughter, was raised in a convent away from her family's criminal enterprise. Although she wants to be a nun, her father wants her to be the heir to his estate, distracting her from her faith. Mia Threapleton, who plays Liesl, may seem familiar to fans even if they haven't seen her act before. That's because she's Kate Winslet's daughter. Threapleton made her acting debut at 13 with "A Little Chaos." Before "The Phoenician Scheme," her biggest role was playing Honoria Marable in the AppleTV+ series "The Buccaneers." Michael Cera plays Bjorn Bjorn joins Zsa-zsa and Liesl on their adventure as Zsa-zsa's personal tutor about insects. He is played by Michael Cera, who is best known for his roles in films such as "Barbie," "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," "Juno" and "Superbad." Steve Park plays the pilot Early in the film, Steve Park appears as a pilot for Zsa-zsa. This is the third Anderson film Park has appeared after starring in "The French Dispatch" and "Asteroid City." Park has also starred in "Death of a Unicorn," "Mickey 17," "Do the Right Thing," and "Fargo." Rupert Friend plays Excalibur Excalibur leads the shady consortium attempting to sabotage Zsa-zsa's organization in the movie. Rupert Friend, who plays Excalibur, starred in Anderson's 2021 movie "The French Dispatch" and his 2024 short films "The Swan" and "The Rat Catcher." Friend also played Mr Wickham in the 2005 version of "Pride & Prejudice," and starred in the "Obi-Wan Kenobi" and "Anatomy of a Scandal" series. Riz Ahmed plays Prince Farouk Riz Ahmed stars as Prince Farouk, the son of the King of Lower Western Independent Phoenicia, who has partnered with Zsa-zsa to build a tunnel across the region. This is Ahmed's first Wes Anderson movie, but he has starred in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," "Venom," and "Sound of Metal." Tom Hanks plays Leland Leland is part of the Sacramento Consortium, which is in business with Zsa-Zsa and Prince Farouk to build the tunnel. Beloved American actor Tom Hanks plays Leland. Hanks starred in Anderson's 2023 movie "Asteroid City," but is better known for his older roles like "Forrest Gump," "Cast Away," and "Big." Bryan Cranston plays Reagan Reagan is Leland's brother, also part of the Sacramento Consortium. Bryan Cranston, who plays Reagan, has starred in two of Anderson's movies — "Asteroid City and "Isle of Dogs." Cranston is best known for starring in the TV drama "Breaking Bad" and "Malcolm in the Middle." Mathieu Amalric plays Marseille Bob Marseille Bob is a French nightclub owner and leader of the Savarin-Montrachet Gang. He is also part of Zsa-zsa's Phoenician business scheme. Mathieu Amalric, who starred in Anderson's "Isle of Dogs" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel," plays Marseille Bob. Amalric has also played a Bond villain, Dominic Greene, in 2008's "Quantum of Solace." Richard Ayoade plays Sergio Sergio is the leader of the Intercontinental Radical Freedom Militia Corp jungle unit, which attacks Marseille Bob's nightclub in the movie. Richard Ayoade, a British comedian, plays Sergio after starring in two of Anderson's short films, "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" and "The Rat Catcher." Ayoade mainly has voice acting roles, but has appeared on-screen in the sitcom "The IT Crowd" and "Paddington 2." Jeffrey Wright plays Marty Marty is a shipping magnate and the leader of the Newark Syndicate gang. He is also in cahoots with Zsa-zsa. Jeffrey Wright plays Marty, making "The Phoenician Scheme" his third Anderson movie. He also starred in "Asteroid City" and "The French Dispatch." Wright has also starred in "American Fiction," "The Batman," "Quantum of Solace," and three "Hunger Games" movies. Scarlett Johansson plays Hilda Sussman-Korda Hilda Sussman-Korda is Zsa-zsa's second cousin and has an intimate relationship with him. She is also part of Zsa-zsa's business scheme because she is constructing a trans-basin hydroelectric embankment within her private utopian outpost in Phoenicia. Scarlett Johansson, who is best known for her roles in Marvel movies, "Her" and "Lost in Translation," plays Hilda. Johansson has worked with Anderson twice before, starring in "Asteroid City" and "Isle of Dogs." Benedict Cumberbatch plays Uncle Nubar Benedict Cumberbatch plays Zsa-zsa's brother, Uncle Nubar. Though Uncle Nubar is part of Zsa-zsa's business plan, the brothers often oppose each other. Benedict Cumberbatch, another Marvel star, plays Uncle Nubar. He starred in Anderson's 2024 short films "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" and "Poison." Cumberbatch is also known for his roles in "Star Trek: Into Darkness," "The Imitation Game," and the "Sherlock" TV series. F. Murray Abraham, Willem Dafoe, Bill Murray, Hope Davis have small cameos in the movie Though they do not appear in the film's trailers, F. Murray Abraham, Willem Dafoe, and Bill Murray all have cameos in hallucination scenes. Abraham, who cameos as a prophet, has starred in Anderson's 2014 movie "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "Amadeus" and HBO drama "The White Lotus." Dafoe has brief appearance as a knave and has appeared in 4 of Anderson's films since starring in 2004's "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou." Dafoe has also starred in four "Spider-Man" movies, "Aquaman," "Poor Things," and "Nosferatu." Murray makes a cameo as god and has made appearances in 10 of Anderson's films, skipping only "Bottle Rocket" and "Asteroid City." Murray is best known for starring in "Lost in Translation," "Groundhog Day" and the "Ghostbusters" movies. Hope Davis, who makes a small appearance in the trailers, plays Mother Superior in the movie, Liesl's superior in her convent. She also appeared in Anderson's last feature "Asteroid City," "Captain America: Civil War" and the "Succession" TV series.
Los Angeles Times
30-05-2025
- 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?''
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- 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.
