The Phoenician Scheme is a reasonably good investment
Another good investment is my Paid Subscription Scheme, which will include additional posts and videos each week.
Click here for Now Showing in Madison, June 9–16, 2025
Excerpt from Paid Subscription Video on Mondays
No turning back now. There were a few new paid subscriptions last week. I’ve made promises that I’ll need to keep.
Last week’s first Paid Subscription post was sent out to everyone as a preview of what Paid Subscribers can expect. Moving forward, Free Subscribers will see excerpts from the Paid Subscription videos on Mondays.
Today’s video excerpt addresses the AMC Fitchburg 18 monthly series for seniors (that anyone can attend) and weekly IMAX educational films. All subscribers had access to this information last Thursday, but I’m posting the excerpt as an example of what Free Subscribers can expect in relation to the full videos.
The new schedule for Moving Image Madison will be:
Mondays: Posts for Free and Paid Subscribers.
Reviews of films in Madison theaters, mostly Hollywood features.
Coverage of Madison film community.
Now Playing in Madison listings (best information available Mondays).
Excerpts from Paid Subscription videos.
Thursdays: Posts for Paid Subscribers.
Reviews / previews of non-Hollywood screenings.
Updates on my film programming activities (Mills Folly, MMoCA, Duck Soup).
Analysis of films and essays on current film topics.
Paid Subscription videos (news, interviews, film analysis, video essays, etc.)
Free Subscribers will continue to receive the information that they need to keep engaged with Madison’s film culture, while Paid Subscription posts will allow me to stretch out a bit and cover the topics like experimental filmmaking and Indian popular cinema in a bit more detail.
I’m sure that there will be tweaks and adjustments to this game plan as we move forward. I welcome any feedback or thoughts on how the plan is working (or not working) for subscribers. Meanwhile, I look forward to this grand experiment!
The Phoenician Scheme: Is Wes thinking a little too much about his legacy and box sets? Or are we?
The Phoenician Scheme | Wes Anderson | USA | 2025 | 105 minutes
Viewed at Marcus Palace Cinemas, Sunday, June 8, 2025
Okay, I admit it, that headline is more snarky than it should be. I actually liked The Phoenician Scheme more than the headline would suggest. But I framed the headline as a question because perhaps it is time to think about Wes Anderson’s status as the most unique visual stylist working in mainstream American filmmaking today, and whether we need to respond to everything he makes the same way.
The narrative structure of The Phoenician Scheme is far less complex than The French Dispatch (the office as a framing story for each of the writer’s essays) and Asteroid City (a play about a Junior Stargazer convention, with a television special about the making of the play). For me, this was much to the film’s benefit, because the streamlined narrative provide a narrative momentum that was in sync with the cartoony, comic tone of most of the film. While some critics are asking some pretty heavy questions about The Phoenician Scheme (see below), I think it is best seen as a successful light entertainment.
Arms-dealer Zsa-Zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro) appoints his estranged daughter and novice Sister Liesl (Mia Threapleton) as his heir-apparent in order to introduce her to the multi-phase, multi-investor project that has been his life’s work. An unexpected shortfall endangers the project, and Korda, Sister Liesl, and Korda’s entomology tutor / executive secretary Bjørn (Michael Cera) must meet all of the investors to squeeze a larger investment out of them in order to make up “The Gap.”
Rather than hopping between the stories of several characters (as in French Dispatch and Asteroid City), we meet a wide range of characters (played by Anderson’s stable of actors) through the journey of Korda, Sister Liesl, and Bjørn. This provides time for more interplay between the central characters, particularly Korda and Liesl, which has an emotional payoff despite the relatively light tone of the film overall.
The main attraction for The Phoenician Scheme becomes the interplay between del Toro, Threapleton, and Cera, even more so than the stylized mise-en-scene and color scheme. They’re probably at their funniest when they are the most deadpan, but del Toro and Cera in particular are allowed to have some wonderfully eccentric moments. Finally, someone has been able to tap into the energy that Cera provided in his brief Twin Peaks: The Return appearance, rather than cast him as another George Michael Bluth or Scott Pilgrim (he’s 37-years-old, for goodness sake!).
At The New Yorker, Richard Brody frames his review with the question, “Is The Phoenician Scheme Wes Anderson’s Most Emotional Film?” Well, of course it isn’t. There’s nothing here that approaches scenes like Chas Tenenbaum (Ben Stiller) finally breaking through with his father Royal (Gene Hackman) and admitting that he’s had a rough time mourning his wife in The Royal Tenenbaums, just to cite one example from that film. But The Phoenician Scheme does have an interesting emotional impact, despite the deceptively deadpan performances and surface level light tone, because we spend enough time with the central characters and they spend enough time with each other to observe their subtle character arcs.
My main criticism is that while these main character arcs are satisfying, the “boss level” structure of the scheme plot itself falls apart in the last third of the film, especially with the appearance of the woefully underused Benedict Cumberbatch as Korda’s half-brother, Nubar. The narrative and comic momentum leaks out of the film with a surprisingly quick hiss. Even the precision of Anderson’s framing gives way to some sloppy fight choreography and staging, which may or may not have been for an attempted comic effect.
That said, The Phoenician Scheme is funny. Anderson’s films can be laugh-out-loud funny. But for the most recent two films in particular, I felt myself amused with a smile on my face rather than laughing out loud. While I had that amused smile for most of The Phoenician Scheme, admiring the mise-en-scene and production design, I also laughed out loud several times. One or two times it was a rich laugh that came out half-a-beat later than it should have as I the joke dawned on me.
What does The Phoenician Scheme contribute to the Anderson ouvre as fans prepare to drop $300+ on the 10-film Wes Anderson Archive box set from Criterion Collection? Well, it might end up being what To Catch a Thief is for Hitchcock, Intolerable Cruelty is for the Coen Brothers: probably not in a future box-set, except ones targeted for completist fans.
But does Anderson think that The Phoenician Scheme is light entertainment? Or does the fact that the credits include citations for the masterpiece paintings he used on the set suggest that he thinks he was making a masterpiece. Or is their presence just another kind of joke? Ultimately, I don’t think it matters too much unless we ourselves decide to take everything very seriously.
Now Playing In Madison: June 9 to June 16, 2025
The Monday listings are now updates of the listings assembled on Thursdays for the Paid Subscription posts. The Monday listings still provide the best information available at the time of publication, but will not include many Thursday/Friday openings.
Wisconsin Union Directorate Film
THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES, 6/9
BOOKSMART 6/16
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
SOUNDTRACK OF A COUP D’ETAT, 6/11, 7:00p
Free screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary, presented as part of the Madison Jazz Festival.
Chazen Museum
SHEETLA | Anamika Singh | 2025 | 24 minutes
In conjunction with "Corpus, an exhibition by Anamika Singh", come view Singh’s related film Sheetla (24 minutes, 2025) in the Chazen Auditorium on June 14 and 25. The film follows the Hindi language daily journal Jan Morcha and its role in reporting the highly contested desecration of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Faizabad in 1992. Singh titled the film in honor of her grand uncle, Sheetla Singh, a prominent editor, journalist and union leader in north India.
AMC Theatres, Flix Brewhouse, Marcus Theatres
Please check the theater’s website when making plans for any particular screening. I have not seen the films unless stated otherwise, and my brief notes under film titles are not reviews of the films themselves.
AMC SCREEN UNSEEN: JUNE 16 at AMC.
AMERICAN MIRACLE - OUR NATION IS NO ACCIDENT, THE at Point and Palace.
BALLERINA at AMC, Flix, Point, and Palace.
BRING HER BACK at Flix, Point, and Palace.
CHUCK, THE LIFE OF (2025) at AMC, Point, and Palace.
Opens Thursday, June 12. There’s certainly a lot of buzz about this adaptation of a Stephen King short story, directed by Mike Flanagan (Gerald’s Game; Doctor Sleep), starring Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Jacob Tremblay, and Mark Hamill. Read Rob Thomas’s review.
DAN DA DAN: EVIL EYE at Point and Palace.
See theater listings for Dubbed and Subtitled screenings.
DANGEROUS ANIMALS at Point and Palace.
DESPICABLE ME (2010) at Flix.
Flix Picks series
DESPICABLE ME 4 at Point and Palace.
Kids Dream Summer Series matinees
DOGMA: RESURRECTED! A 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION at Flix and Palace.
FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES at Flix, Point and Palace.
FINDING FAITH (HEALED BY JESUS) at Point and Palace.
Faith-based drama. From publicity material: “Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.”
FRIENDSHIP at Flix and Point.
HARA VEERA MALLU: PART 1, HARI at Point.
Indian Telugu-language swashbuckler action film.
HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON at Point and Palace.
Inspired by the children’s book that we all read, opens June 15. Fun cast includes Alfred Molina, Jemaine Clement, Zooey Deschanel. Unfortunately top billed is Zachary Levi.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (2025) at AMC, Point, Palace, and Flix.
I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU at Point and Palace.
IMAX EDUCATION SERIES, AMC
June 11 - Deep Sky
June 18 - To The Arctic 3D
INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (2025) at Point and Palace.
Marcus Event Cinema
IRON GIANT, THE at Flix.
Flix Picks series
JANE AUSTEN WRECKED MY LIFE at Point.
KARATE KID: LEGENDS at AMC, Flix, Point and Palace.
LAST RODEO, THE at Palace.
LILO & STITCH (2025) at AMC, Flix, Point, and Palace.
LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, THE (2002) at Flix.
Flix Picks series.
MATERIALISTS (2025) at AMC, Point, and Palace.
Opens Thursday, June 12. Canadian writer-director Celine Song’s follow up to the Oscar-nominated Past Lives (2023). Stars Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal, and released by A24 (which means a lot to some people).
MINECRAFT MOVIE, A at Palace.
MILEY CYRUS: SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL at Palace.
Only Thursday, June 12, as far as I can tell, and only Palace, not Point. Quoting publicity material: “Something Beautiful is a one-of-a-kind pop opera fueled by fantasy, featuring thirteen original new songs from the visual album Something Beautiful by Miley Cyrus.” Also from the publicity material, “Produced by Miley Cyrus, Panos Cosmatos (Mandy, Beyond The Black Rainbow).” Hmmm…..
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - THE FINAL RECKONING (2025) at AMC, Flix, Point and Palace.
AMC only through Wednesday, June 11
MYSTERY MOVIE, MARCUS (6/2) at Point and Palace.
NATIONAL THEATRE: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE at Point.
PEPPA MEETS THE BABY CINEMA EXPERIENCE at Point and Palace.
PHOENICIAN SCHEME, THE (2025) at AMC, Flix, Point and Palace.
See review above.
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) at Flix.
Flix Picks series.
SING 2 (2021) at Flix.
SINNERS (2025) at Point and Palace.
THUNDERBOLTS* at Flix, Point and Palace.
THUG LIFE (2025) at AMC, Point.
Indian Tamil-language action drama, directed by Mani Ratnam and starring Kamal Haasan. Here’s a Substack review at Old New.
TURNSTILE: NEVER ENOUGH at Point.
WICKED MOVIE + WICKED: FOR GOOD TRAILER DEBUT at Palace.
Remember when Star Wars fans would go to specific films in order to see the new Star Wars trailer. It looks like Wicked wants to bring that back, but making/encouraging you to see Wicked again to see the trailer.
Looking Ahead:
Arts + Literature Laboratory
THE NETTLE DRESS, 6/22, 7:00pm
Textile artist Allan Brown spends seven years making a dress by hand from foraged stinging nettles, all picked on the South Downs near Brighton. Free screening of the documentary by Dylan Howitt, presented by Midwest Linen Revival as part of their Field to Frock events.
A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY, filmmaker Rachel Seed in person, 6/23, 7:00PM
A Photographic Memory is an intimate, genre-bending portrait of filmmaker Rachel Seed’s trailblazing mother, Sheila Turner Seed – a vibrant and pioneering journalist, photographer, and filmmaker, who died suddenly and tragically when Rachel was just 18 months old. Free screening presented by FlakPhoto. Rachel Seed will attend the screening and participate in a Q&A session.
UW-Cinematheque
Cinematheque programming will resume on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays June 25 through August 1. A more detailed preview is forthcoming.
THE ELEPHANT MAN 6/25, 7:00pm
One of several David Lynch films at the Ctek this summer.
A MAN AND A WOMAN 6/26, 7:00pm
THE CAT 6/27, 7:00pm
Silver Screen series at AMC Fitchburg
The "Silver Screen" series will feature once-a-month afternoon showings of classic films.
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS - June 19
ROMANCE ON THE HIGH SEAS - July 17
THE WOMEN - Aug. 21