The Phoenician Scheme (2025). Wes Anderson’s films are famously quirky, and this one is even more so than most. Nominally an adventure/espionage type film with some dark comedic undertones, it’s not easy to describe. Benicio del Toro plays Zsa-zsa Korda, a wealthy tycoon who travels the world seeking investment capital for his various mega-projects from a strange assortment of powerful interests, and is constantly beset by enemies and spies. Mia Threapleton plays his daughter Liesl, a pipe-smoking nun who he’s designated to inherit his entire fortune. The film also includes some big-name actors who for some reason consented to play minor roles – Tom Hanks, Willem Dafoe, Scarlett Johansson, and F. Murray Abraham are all in it with small parts.
The set design and cinematography are very stylish and suggest the 1930s era. The film isn’t a full-fledged comedy but it has funny moments. The planes that Korda travels in, which seem to resemble DC-3s, are always crashing due to sabotage (usually just after he utters the line “myself, I feel very safe”). Korda always survives. Recurring lines throughout the movie:
“Help yourself to a grenade.”
“You’re very kind.”
I recommend the film because I enjoy Wes Anderson’s creatively quirky style. You’ll probably enjoy it if you’re prepared to give yourself up to its strange wackiness and aren’t expecting any sort of conventional story line.
This movie thinks cannibalism and breaking the fourth wall are pretty bold, hilarious, and creative. Nope. It’s mostly just a dull movie with no laughs.
I found the “international edition” (with the strippers) on YouTube and took you up on your dare. I’m not complaining, but I wonder how those men “with a type” who flocked to a Mamie Van Doren flick in 1960 felt about the bait (Mamie) and switch (four small breasted strippers). Almost missed Vampira (as a blonde). I think you could make a better movie with just the robot, the chimp, and the strippers.
The Shrouds (2024). All I knew before watching this is that it was a David Cronenberg horror production, and that it was good enough to have been screened at Cannes and to get a write-up in the New Yorker in an article summarizing the films shown at the last festival there. Also the fact that it centered around this weird guy who, mourning the death of his wife, wraps her in a high-tech electronic shroud so he can watch her progressive decomposition.
The premise seemed intriguing but the movie quickly took off in unexpected directions, fancying itself some combination of psychological drama and mystery thriller, and sad to say, succeeding at neither. Not absolutely terrible, but not recommended unless you like being bored. Watch The Phoenician Scheme instead! Gonna watch it again tonight just for the stylish cinematography!
His earlier work was certainly less Wes Andersony. I liked some of those movies. Asteroid City was unwatchable and made me realize I would never like another one of his movies.
I must admit I didn’t much like Asteroid City, but I enjoyed all of Anderson’s previous films and The Phoenician Scheme, while departing more than ever from traditional movie-making formulas, was just lots of fun.
Rush (2013). Set against the backdrop of the Formula 1 racing scene, this is a fantastic film that documents the intense rivalry between veteran driver James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and newly arrived upstart Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl). Directed by Ron Howard, this movie delivers drama and racing excitement in one outstanding package, and won deserved nominations for editing, cinematography, and sound. The filming of some of the race scenes was just breathtaking. Highly recommended.
I’m a hybrid, like some cross between Home sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis. Like some of his films, dislike others and it’s usually pretty binary. Though admittedly I haven’t seen either Asteroid City or The Phoenician Scheme yet.
Gotta give the guy credit though - he’s definitely got a very specific creative vision. For better or worse he’s pretty much the walking definition of auteur.
If it’s the older Anderson films you like, but not the newer ones, you might just be a film traditionalist. The older ones tended to follow more conventional story lines, while the newer ones seem to reflect Anderson just being freer with his creative artistry.
I don’t think I can clearly articulate why I didn’t really enjoy Asteroid City. It just didn’t connect with me as anything coherent. The Phoenician Scheme I enjoyed for its exquisitely staged cinematography, its quirky humour, and the morality themes one could read into it. Like it or hate it, it’s unquestionably the result of dedicated effort backed by genuine talent.
Nope, I’m all over the map. I’m fond of early ones like Bottle Rocket (1996) or Rushmore (1998) but also somewhat newer ones like Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Moonrise Kingdom (2012) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Do not like older/mid-period ones like The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) and Darjeeling Limited (2007) or newer ones like Isle of Dogs (2018).
To be fair I haven’t seen any of his 2020’s output yet. I’ll have to give them a try one of these days.
Moonrise Kingdom might be my slightly unconventional choice for my favorite of his films, only because the description of it as a middle-aged person’s vague half-remembered memory about a dream they once had as a kid about an imaginary romance kind of resonates with me .
It’s my favorite of Wes Anderson films too. It’s fairly commonly considered a very good film. In the BBC list of best 21st century movies (up to 2017), it’s the third highest of his films.
I also love Moonrise Kingdom, in part because it is New England-y and therefore kind of nostalgic for me. And also because a (not close) friend of mine is in it.
I’d choose QT over WA any day to be honest. Both very distinctive but I find WA way too twee and it just seems pretentious. I appreciate many people would say QT is pretentious though. I can get over that because I just enjoy the darn films too much.
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