Wes Anderson fans rejoice! Today Focus Features dropped the first trailer for Wes Anderson’s next film and let’s just say it’s about as Wes Anderson as a movie trailer can be. “The Phoenician Scheme” features a star-studded ensemble of Anderson regulars. It also features Anderson’s signature style, both visually and comically. As a longtime fan, everything about this first extended look clicks. Even better, we won’t have to wait long to see it.
Anderson directs and co-writes (with Roman Coppola) a film that is described as an espionage black comedy. Benicio del Toro gets top billing playing Zsa-zsa Korda, a millionaire business magnate and father of ten. Gleaning much about the story from the trailer is an challenge, but it seems Korda takes on a “land and sea infrastructure scheme.” He’s accompanied by his daughter who’s a nun (Mia Threapleton) and his tutor (Michael Cera). Of course they encounter a colorful collection of characters in a movie that looks to be an Anderson fan’s delight.
“The Phoenician Scheme” hits theaters May 30th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
From the writer-director duo of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, “Freaky Tales” is a pulpy smorgasbord of genres, style choices, and characters, coagulating into an overstuffed Bay Area pastiche that has a hard time finding its footing. But once it does (roughly halfway through), the movie almost generates enough grindhouse goodness to save itself…almost.
“Freaky Tales” is Boden and Fleck’s first feature film since their 2019 MCU blockbuster “Captain Marvel”. During that gap they have worked mostly in television, directing four episodes of “Mrs. America” for FX and two episodes of the underappreciated “Masters of the Air” for AppleTV+. With “Freaky Tales” they turn back towards their indie filmmaking roots with a story that borrows a ton from other projects that came before it.
Image Courtesy of Lionsgate
Set in 1987 Oakland and narrated by hometown rapper and executive producer Too $hort, “Freaky Tales” is told through four loosely interconnected stories set in and around the city. I say loosely because most of the connections are minor at best. About the only continuity between all four stories are reoccurring television commercials for some meditation seminars and a “green glow” that seems to represent nothing more than that ‘special something’ Oakland had at the time.
The first chapter centers on the East Bay punk scene where three friends leave a movie and head to a local punk rock club for a nightcap. While there, Lucid (Jack Champion) tries to muster the courage to tell Tina (Ji-young Yoo) how he feels about her. But their night is interrupted by a pack of neo-Nazi skinheads. The second chapter follows Entice (Normani) and Barbie (Dominique Thorne), an aspiring female rap duo who get their chance to show what they can do in an on-stage rap duel against Too $hort (Symba).
Neither of the first two stories leave much of an impression outside of the digitally enhanced violence in chapter one and the terrific first performance from Normani in chapter two. Both sluggishly play out over a long and unremarkable 45 minutes. Worst of all, neither add any real weight to the overall narrative. They play like snippets of different subcultures rather than meaningful parts of something bigger.
Image Courtesy of Lionsgate
But things noticeably pick up in chapter three. Pedro Pascal plays an underworld strong-arm and debt collector who’s looking to retire and settle down with his pregnant wife (Natalia Dominguez). But those aspirations are shattered after a violent run-in with an echo from his past. Then chapter four ends things on a glorious gonzo note as local NBA legend turned kung fu killer Eric “Sleepy” Floyd (Jay Ellis) unleashes vengeance on a dirty cop (Ben Mendelsohn) and his minions in a blood-splattered ode to 1970s blaxploitation.
While the final two segments give the movie the dramatic jolt it desperately needs, they can’t make “Freaky Tales” work as a cohesive whole. Their intentions are good and obvious, but Boden and Fleck struggle to provide a compelling narrative through-line. As a result their film comes across as inspired yet disjointed and unfocused. Not even Tom Hanks popping up as a crusty video store owner can save the day. “Freaky Tales” is now showing in select theaters.
Alex Scharfman writes and directs “Death of a Unicorn”, a bonkers horror comedy that is another in a long line of ‘eat the rich’ satires. The movie’s title serves as a good nuts-and-bolts overview of the story. But the film’s ultimate interest is in skewering the uber-wealthy through an outlandish scenario that may be a bit uneven in spots, but that ultimately finds a good rhythm amid the slew of gags and gore.
The movie opens up with Elliot Kintner (Paul Rudd) and his daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) on their way to a weekend retreat hosted by his boss, Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant). As they drive through the forest-covered mountains (filmed in beautiful Hungary) we learn quite a bit about them. First, they seem to have very little in common – she is a committed young leftist; he’s a corporate stooge. Making matters worse, their relationship has been strained following the recent death of his wife and her mother.
Image Courtesy of A24
For Elliot, this weekend gives him a chance to reconnect with his daughter. But it’s mostly about impressing the sickly Odell who is dying of cancer and considering promoting Elliot to the top spot in his pharmaceutical firm. That becomes a running conflict for most of the movie – Elliot’s obsessive ambition for a new position versus his responsibilities to his hurting daughter.
But everything turns upside-down after their car collides with and appears to kill (of all things) a unicorn. As Elliot scrambles to compose himself, Ridley checks on the animal, having some out of body experience in the process. The two make the bizarre decision to load the unicorn carcass in the back of their SUV and drive on to the Leopold’s lavish enclave where they pretend like nothing happened.
But let’s be honest, how does one keep a dead unicorn in the trunk a secret? Through ways I won’t reveal, the Leopolds find out about the unicorn and are just as shocked as Elliot and Ridley. But when it’s discovered the unicorn possesses unexplainable curative attributes, a cured Odell immediately sees dollar signs. So he puts his on-site science team to work replicating the unicorn’s magical properties. Ridley is against what they’re doing but has no allies, not even her father who’s still looking out for his promotion.
But little do they know, the unicorn’s parents are looking for their foal. And when the one-horned creatures find their baby dead, “Death of a Unicorn” quickly evolves into a graphically violent revenge movie that manages to get funnier with every hyper-gory kill. Admittedly it gets incredibly silly. But Scharfman knows what he’s going for, and the movie’s obvious self-awareness is a key reason it works so well.
Image Courtesy of A24
Another reason it works is the fully committed cast. Rudd and Ortega have a natural father-daughter chemistry that their relationship needs. Meanwhile it’s the Leopolds who provide the laughs. Grant is so good in these roles and it’s no different here. But even funnier is Téa Leoni as Odell’s glaringly phony wife Belinda and Will Poulter as their spoiled and pampered nitwit son Shepard. The latter two delivery one funny line after another, exposing their characters’ insensitivity and entitlement in laugh-out-loud fashion.
Despite how “Death of a Unicorn” may sound, it’s effortlessly easy to get onboard with the wackiness. Scharfman knows how to lure us in. And his keen management of tone and steady flow of humor keeps our expectations in check. Admittedly it would have been nice to see a little more serious attention given to the daughter-daughter relationship at the story’s core. And the movie’s message is far from profound. But it’s hard to complain too much when you’re steadily laughing at the many gags and playfully gasping at the gory retribution.
The latest horror movie in the ever expanding Blumhouse catalog is “The Woman in the Yard”. While it’s straightforward title may not generate the most excitement, the film’s star certainly does. Danielle Deadwyler hasn’t given a bad performance and should have at least two Oscar nominations to her name. So having her attached adds a certain draw that makes this a must-watch for me.
“The Woman in the Yard” is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra who’s perhaps best known for his frequent collaborations with Liam Neeson and Dwayne Johnson. But he also helmed one of 2024’s biggest movie surprises in “Carry-On”. Collet-Serra is no stranger to the horror genre, making his directorial debut with 2005’s “House of Wax” and directing the terrific psychological slasher “Orphan” in 2009.
Image Courtesy of Universal Pictures
This story follows a mother, Ramona (Deadwyler), her teen son Taylor (Peyton Jackson), and her younger daughter Annie (Estella Kahiha). All three are trying to pick up the pieces after her husband and their father David (Russell Hornsby) was tragically killed in a car accident. It has been especially hard on Ramona whose broken leg pales in comparison to her severe bouts with depression.
The family dynamic is an interesting one, especially during the movie’s first half. We see Ramona struggling physically but more so mentally. She’s overly strict and emotionally detached which is slowly driving a wedge between her and Taylor. He’s doing his best to pick up the slack around the house, but he’s still a boy who deeply misses his dad. Meanwhile young Annie is just trying to process everything the best way she can.
One morning the family wakes up to find the electricity out at their rural farmhouse. Ramona attempts to call the power company but her cell phone is dead. As the three of them gather for breakfast, they’re alarmed at the sight of a strange woman completely shrouded in black, sitting in a chair in their yard. Ramona tries talking to the woman but to no avail. With her identity and motives unclear, the unsettling figure goes from being a creepy mystery to a sinister terror.
Image Courtesy of Universal Pictures
“The Woman in the Yard” is a tough movie to sort out. On the one hand it’s certainly helped by Deadwyler and two sterling performances from young Jackson and Kahiha. The one-location setting proves to be fertile ground for what the movie is going for. And the first half sets the table for a potentially powerful examination of grief. As for the woman, actress Okwui Okpokwasili makes her a terrifying presence.
But the film’s second half begins to unravel once Collet-Serra starts revealing his hand. Even a semi-seasoned horror fan can probably guess who the woman is and/or what she represents. But the bigger issue is in the execution. By the final act things are so muddled that I wasn’t sure what was going on even though I knew what the movie was trying to convey. Sadly the last third drags the film down which is a real shame considering how well it sets itself up early on.
Jason Statham is an actor who knows where he shines. He’s a deceptively good actor with a surprising knack for comedy. But his bread and butter is the action genre. Statham has made a name for himself playing tough and gritty characters with his patented intensity and bone-cracking physicality. He certainly brings all of those qualities to his latest feature, “A Working Man”.
This is the latest movie from director David Ayer who’s working from a script he co-wrote with Sylvester Stallone. Their story is based on a 2014 novel by Chuck Dixon entitled “Levon’s Trade. While I can’t speak for the book, there’s nothing especially original about the film’s script, And despite a few sparks, Ayer’s has a tough time maintaining a steady energy. That leaves us relying on Statham whose sturdy charisma holds everything together.
This time around Statham plays Levon Cade, an ex-Royal Marines commando who has put his old life behind him. He now works as a construction manager for a family-owned Chicago-based development business. His employers, Joe (Michael Peña) and Carla (Noemi Gonzalez) Garcia have taken Levon in like family and he has developed a tight relationship with them, especially their spunky 19-year-old daughter, Jenny (Arianna Rivas).
But as always happens in movies like this, Levon is forced back into his old life after Jenny is kidnapped while out on the town with some friends. He makes a pledge to Joe and Carla that he’ll bring their daughter back and then he ‘goes to work’. Human traffickers, drug dealers, corrupt cops, the Russian mafia – they all find their way into the story, clogging things up rather than adding narrative layers as intended.
In several ways “A Working Man” hearkens back to the old-school 1980’s action flicks so many of us grew up on. Statham has always fit into that mold while still possessing his own special brand of action. The 57-year-old gets to show it off throughout the film but not as much as you might expect. That’s because the script packs so much else and has a hard time servicing it all. The slew of villains crammed into it is one thing. But it’s also underdeveloped in other areas including the domestic drama with Levon’s young daughter and his untreated PTSD.
Still Statham ensures “A Working Man” remains watchable throughout. The action we get (though questionably edited at times) is satisfying and Statham gets several good non-action scenes, some of the best being with David Harbour playing Levon’s old military pal. But in the end, the filmmakers pour a lot into what is a pretty thin premise. And despite its bloated middle section which tries to add weight, the overall story is still predictable or formulaic to a fault. “A Working Man” is in theaters now.
The savvy directing duo of Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell take a fairly simple idea and turn it into something horror-thriller fans should relish. “Wake Up” pits a group of hapless young people against a sociopathic killer – nothing new there. But it’s the gnarly tone, the razor-sharp execution, and the gutsy all-out ending that makes the movie stand out.
Written for the screen by Alberto Marini, “Wake Up” follows six young activists turned vandals looking to support their cause in a most ill-advised way. The group’s leader, Ethan (Benny O. Arthur), his buddy Tyler (Kyle Scudder), the seasoned Yasmin (Jacqueline Moré), the playful Grace (Alessia-Yoko Fontana), the flirty Emily (Charlotte Stoiber), and the newbie, Karim (Thomas Gould) have set their sights on a home improvement superstore known for its animal-unfriendly history.
The crew enters the store and hide inside until closing time. Once the doors are locked and the lights go out, the invaders come out of hiding, put on what looks like papier-mâché masks, and begin ransacking the place while videoing it for their social media followers. They claim to have spent months putting together their plan. But it doesn’t take for the audience to see the gaping holes all in it.
As the vandals are busy on their crusade, two security guards sit in the back room paying no attention to what’s happening in the store. One is Kevin (Turlough Convery), a burly primal hunting enthusiast whose volatility got him moved to the night shift. The other is his brother Jack (Aidan O’Hare) who has done everything he can to help Kevin keep his job. The pair finally notice the intruders on their monitor. But with Jack half-drunk, they skip calling the home office and attempt to scare away the trespassers.
Unfortunately everything that could go wrong does go wrong. The guards and the activists collide, Jack is accidentally killed, and Kevin’s maniacal side takes over, turning him into a bloodthirsty hunter and making the ill-fated activists his prey. From there the filmmakers have a blast seasoning an old-school slasher with classic survival horror elements, building some solid suspense while throwing in some satisfying (and fittingly bloody) kills along the way.
And then there is the ending I alluded to. While it’s nothing especially groundbreaking, it does give the movie a nasty kick that somewhat goes against what we expect from the genre. That said, “Wake Up” does fall into a few of the usual traps that often accompany these movies. Character choices don’t always make sense, there are a few logic lapses, and there is an overall silliness that’s hard to get away from. But the entertainment value is there, in large part thanks to Whissell and Whissell knowing what kind of movie they’re making and nailing the execution.
Keith & the Movies 