Latest news with #TPSProductions
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.
Boston Globe
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘The Phoenician Scheme' is a cinematic scam
It's a well-known fact that I am not a fan of Wes Anderson's movies. I find them repetitive, relentlessly twee, and joyless, with actors delivering stilted dialogue as if they were talking robots whose batteries were about to die. This opinion has gotten me into trouble: Some of the angriest—and most racist—e-mails I've received have been after reviews of Anderson's films. His fans make Marvel stans look like pussycats. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up I may not be a fan, but Anderson did get three positive reviews out of me. I thought about what endeared me to ' Advertisement Mathieu Amalric as Marseille Bob, Michael Cera as Bjorn, Benicio Del Toro as Zsa-Zsa Korda, Mia Threapleton as Liesl, and Jeffrey Wright as Marty. TPS Productions/Focus Features Advertisement But even at their worst, I used to think Anderson's films were visually interesting. It's the trait for which he's most known and celebrated. But as of late, his films have become rife with eye-scorching ugliness. In 'The Phoenician Scheme' is a 1950s period piece that looks even more obnoxious. The opening credits play atop a bird's eye view of Korda's bathroom as he takes a bath. Its layout resembles a schematic drawing that's mostly made up of a searing white palette. The entire scene is done in one overhead shot populated with white-costumed servants going about their business. The result hurt my eyes so much I had to look away several times. It only gets worse from there, as Korda goes to visit Liesl (Kate Winslet's daughter, Mia Threapleton), the only daughter in his brood of ten children. She's a novice nun dressed in an white outfit that makes her resemble a folded handkerchief with a face. Liesl will be the sole heir to her father's ill-gotten estate, items represented by several neat shoeboxes with labels on them. These boxes also contain information that will help them carry out a scheme in the fictional European country of Phoenicia. Liesl is not interested. She's devout in her faith and believes Korda murdered her mother. He insists that the murder was committed by her Uncle Nubar (Benedict Cumberbatch, looking like Rasputin with a bad hangover). Proving she's as stubborn as her father, Liesl digs in her heels about taking her vows. But, with people trying (and failing) every ten minutes or so to assassinate Korda, he figures he'd better teach Liesl everything she needs to know before he's killed. She acquiesces. Advertisement I shouldn't imply that no one gets close to successfully offing Korda. He has several near-death experiences where he ascends to Heaven. These are shot in black-and-white, in a different aspect ratio, and feature Willem Dafoe and F. Murray Abraham. God is represented by Bill Murray hiding behind a gigantic beard. Bill Murray stars as God. TPS Productions/Focus Features Back on Earth, Korda swindles a wide variety of characters in cutesy vignettes that repeat the same unfunny joke. The list of victims includes Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston as basketball loving brothers; Jeffrey Wright as an American named Marty; the club owner Marseille Bob (Mathieu Amalric); and a prince named Farouk (Riz Ahmed). Scarlett Johansson also shows up as Korda's cousin, Hilda, to whom he proposes marriage. Unlike her major role in 'Asteroid City,' she has about three lines in this movie. Every character I just mentioned is dressed in ridiculous makeup and costumes. They each also get a grenade as a present from Korda, which they all accept in the same manner. I'll never understand how Anderson keeps getting casts so large they would make disaster movie maven Irwin Allen jealous. They're just as disposable and interchangeable as Allen's fodder in films like 'The Poseidon Adventure.' But Anderson does manage one major casting success. As Bjorn, an awkward insect specialist hired as a tutor for Liesl, Michael Cera gives a career-best performance. He and Threapleton somehow manage to make Anderson's dreadful dialogue style work. Advertisement Michael Cera as Bjorn and Mia Threapleton as Liesl. TPS Productions/Focus Features There's another director Anderson deserves to be compared to: his fellow Oscar winner, Tyler Perry. If that comparison immediately raised your hackles and stirred your rage, you should seriously look in the mirror and ask yourself why. Despite hiding behind thin and seemingly different plots (the story here is a half-hearted attempt to debate religion vs. capitalist greed), both of these guys keep making the same movie over and over. Neither of them has to change their tired formats. In Perry's case, his fans continue to flock to his repetitive, faith-based movies—with and without Madea. In Anderson's case, film critics dance the Hucklebuck every time he puts out one of these out, forgiving him his trespasses and ignoring the glaring issues his movies have. It's not a coincidence that both Perry and Anderson have movies opening on the same day—at least not in my mind. And it's June 6, the birthday of Damien, Satan's son in 'The Omen,' which is appropriate. ★ THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME Written and directed by Wes Anderson. Starring Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Ceara, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, Benedict Cumberbatch, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Bill Murray, Mathieu Amalric, Riz Ahmed, Scarlett Johanssen. At Coolidge Corner, Dedham Community Theatre, Landmark Kendall Square, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, AMC Causeway, suburbs. 101 min. PG-13 (this is pretty violent for a comedy) Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
Extra.ie
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Wes Anderson on The Phoenician Scheme: 'In a way, it's the kind of America I am drawn to, something that's so optimistic'
As the director of the iconic likes of Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel, every film from Wes Anderson is a bona fide cinematic event, and that's most definitely the case with his new espionage black comedy, The Phoenician Scheme. Set in 1950, the action focuses on Anatole 'Zsa-zsa' Korda (Benicio del Toro), one of Europe's richest industrialists, who appoints his only daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton) – a nun – as the heir to his estate. As Korda embarks on a new enterprise, they become the target of scheming tycoons, foreign terrorists and lethal assassins. For good measure, along the way, Liesl also investigates the murder of her mother, Korda's first wife. Boasting Anderson's trademark visual flair, The Phoenician Scheme – which he co-wrote with Roman Coppola – also features the director's customary deft mix of humour and pathos. Adding to the appeal, meanwhile, is a truly extraordinary ensemble cast. As one of Hollywood's premier filmmakers, Anderson has worked with his fair share of major stars, but this time he has outdone himself. In addition to del Toro and newcomer Threapleton – whose mum is one Kate Winslet – the third lead is Michael Cera, who plays Zsa-zsa's Norwegian tutor, Bjorn. Thereafter, it might actually be quicker to list the A-listers who aren't in the movie, with those making appearances including – deep breath – Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright and Scarlett Johansson. Not to mention Richard Ayoade and Benedict Cumberbatch. Phew! And having had the third act of his career, as the doyen of US indie cinema, launched by Anderson in Rushmore way back in'999, Bill Murray again returns to cameo in the role he may have been born to play: God. But front and centre is del Toro as Zsa-zsa, who instantly takes his place in the pantheon of great Anderson anti-heroes. Wheeling and dealing on the post-war continent, Zsa-zsa is the archetypal European business tycoon, who perhaps enjoys even more mythical status than his American equivalents. (L to R) Actor Mathieu Amalric, director Wes Anderson, actors Mia Threapleton and Benicio Del Toro during the production of THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME. Credit: Roger Do Minh/TPS Productions/Focus Features © 2025 All Rights Reserved 'A certain type of businessman who can always pivot, ' suggests Anderson,' and has very little obligation to honour the truth' With his enigmatic demeanour, meanwhile, Zsa-zsa's cinematic antecedents include Charles Foster Kane. 'The beginning of the story was to try to invent something about one of these 1950s Euro tycoons, like an Onassis or Niarchos,' says Anderson. 'I had read about Árpád Plesch and Calouste Gulbenkian, or Gianni Agnelli as well' Korda's epic project represents the culmination of a decades-long, career-defining venture, which involves the realisation of Phoenicia's full socio-economic potential. As he looks to escape the clutches of the many enemies plotting his demise, Korda, Liesl, and their assorted partners must close The Gap (a rapidly expanding financial shortfall), which Zsa-zsa summarises as 'everything that we got – plus a little more'. With The Phoenician Scheme laid out – in an elaborate set of shoeboxes, no less – the three amigos attempt to enlist the help of their various business partners. There's a summit with Prince Farouk (Riz Ahmed), and then there's an underground – literally, they meet in a tunnel – encounter with the duo Leland and Reagan, played respectively by Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston. 'With the railroad men, even though it is a later era,' says Anderson, 'we still wanted something coming from the robber baron period, a JP Morgan-type railway man, though being Californian. That led us to Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston. Roman and I had spent time with them together, and I just knew they had a very special character, and something totally American that you don't find anywhere else. 'In a way, it's the kind of America I am drawn to, something that's so optimistic. So we dreamed up this whole thing that's very West Coast America – the older West Coast, Sacramento – that I associate with that, which maybe comes out of Joan Didion somehow. But I am also thinking of Ronald Reagan. It's not the movie business, it's more Pasadena.' (L to R) Mia Threapleton as Liesl, Benicio Del Toro as Zsa-Zsa Korda and Michael Cera as Bjorn in director Wes Anderson's THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME, a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features © 2025 All Rights Reserved. One of the comedic highlights of The Phoenician Scheme is Benedict Cumberbatch as Uncle Nubar, an homage in name and look to Nubar Gulbenkian, the magnificently bearded and famously litigious son of Armenian businessman and philanthropist Calouste Gulbenkian. 'We had the great, good fortune that Benedict could come to do the part,' says Anderson.' It's one of those kinds of characters that people in the story keep talking about all along, but who doesn't enter until much later… It is such a familiar story that these men totally neglect their children, who also expect them to achieve more than their peers.' It's remarkable that one of Cumberbatch's most notable early roles came alongside Richard Ayoade in Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker's cult 2005 sitcom Nathan Barley – and now, 20 years later, here they are starring in The Phoenician Scheme, where Ayoade plays terrorist leader Sergio. 'Richard is an old friend now,' says Anderson. 'It is like that Buñuel thing as well, having a group of terrorists like The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie. Buñuel has anarchy deep in his personality. I am sure the guerrillas come out of that; this idea that one of the most erudite people you will meet is also the leader of the jungle unit of this militia'. For all of The Phoenician Scheme's picaresque qualities and witty humour, at the heart of the tale is a recurring theme in Anderson's stories: the attempt to repair damaged family relationships, as Zsa-zsa looks to reconnect with his daughter Liesl. It's an aspect of the story del Toro handles beautifully, and as the director notes, he was always the actor he had in mind. 'The interest for me in writing a story about a character like that was the visual in my mind of Benicio playing the character,' says Anderson. 'The idea for the movie was to write a part specifically for Benicio del Toro. I first brought this up with Benicio in 2021, at Cannes for The French Dispatch. I told him then that something was coming his way if he was interested. 'Benicio and I started working on it very early. As soon as there were 15 pages of the script, he'd seen that. There was never a moment in the process when Benicio was not involved.' Indeed, as the director further notes, del Toro was the only actor he ever envisioned in the part, at least in the modern era. 'The kind of character who might have been played by Anthony Quinn, or maybe Lino Ventura, or Jean Gabin,' says Anderson. 'If Benicio didn't want to do it, I don't know who would have been a viable option. You'd have to go back into the history of cinema for that.'
Scotsman
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Film reviews: The Phoenician Scheme
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Phoenician Scheme (15) ★★★★ Lilo & Stitch (U) ★★ Wes Anderson is the most singular American filmmaker currently working, but his distinctive style sometimes gives the impression he's retreating further and further from reality into his own hermetically sealed world of irony and whimsy. Really, though, his films are rife with human drama; it just seeps in unexpectedly in odd ways. Benicio Del Toro as Zsa-Zsa Korda, Mia Threapleton as Liesl and Michael Cera as Bjorn and Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme | Courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features That's true of his new film The Phoenician Scheme, largely thanks to Benicio Del Toro, who responds to the constrictions of the film's mannered style by turns his character into a kind of bemused powder keg who could go off at any moment (there's a repeated gag involving hand grenades). He plays Zsa-Zsa Korda, a business tycoon in crisis who enlists his convent-bound daughter Leisl (played by Mia Threapleton, daughter of Kate Winslet) in a quest to pull off a complicated business deal after a series of failed assassination attempts force him to confront his own mortality. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The resulting film moves at a fair clip as Anderson crams in arch gags, surreal action sequences and his usual array of kooks and crazies, none of which is likely to convert Anderson agnostics, but if you're already on board, it's another intriguing piece of the meticulously designed puzzle that is his work. And Del Toro really is magnificent. First released in 2002, Lilo & Stitch was one of the last traditionally animated Disney films, a minor high point on an otherwise downward trajectory of mediocrity. Now the anarchic cartoon about a genetically engineered alien befriending a lonely six-year-old in Hawaii gets its inevitable live-action remake and the results, sadly, highlight the diminishing creative returns of this ongoing practice. It's an odd fit for live action too, given so much of it is built around its young protagonist, Lilo. Things that work in the animated version are harder to get across with such a young performer and the film has too many complicated digital effects to enable director Dean Fleischer Camp (who made the lovely Marcel the Shell with Shoes On) to keep things loose enough to improvise around her. There's still plenty of slapstick humour involving the digitally animated Stitch to keep young kids happy, but with a running time approaching two hours (the original was a tight 80-minutes) you feel it dragging.
Vogue Singapore
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue Singapore
Wes Anderson tapped Cartier to create a rosary for The Phoenician Scheme
If there's anything we can expect from the Wes Anderson Cinematic Universe, it's that everything will be beautiful. Famously dedicated to aesthetics, no detail is too small for the director. For his latest film, The Phoenician Scheme (which premiered yesterday at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival), Anderson tapped Cartier to fashion one of the film's most recurring props: a rosary. Courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features © 2025 All Rights Reserved. Anderson's 12th directorial venture follows a wealthy, embattled businessman, Zsa-zsa Korta (Benicio del Toro), who designates his only daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), as the heir to his estate. Liesl, a nun, is almost always pictured with the rosary wrapped around her hand. Anderson approached Cartier to create Liesl's bespoke rosary after stumbling upon one of the house's cross pendants from approximately 1880. Artisans from the high jewellery studio recreated the cross on a larger scale, at nearly 5.5 cm, to help enhance visibility onscreen. The ornate white gold cross is inlaid with rose-cut diamonds and a large central ruby cabochon, while the 78.5 cm chain features emerald beads, briolette-, square-, and rose-cut diamonds, along with five ruby cabochons. Matthieu Lavanchy Courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features © 2025 All Rights Reserved. Cartier opted to incorporate rose-cut stones into the necklace as they felt it lent to Anderson's vision and penchant for vintage-inspired aesthetics. Meant to sparkle under candlelight, rose-cut diamonds peaked in popularity during the Victorian Era. So, while perhaps it would be unusual to see a nun carrying such an opulent piece of jewellery in our world, it fits right into the universe that Wes Anderson has created. This article was originally published on Vogue .com.
