Film 2 of 2 at the cinema today, the second half of the double bill after Lilo & Stich is the new Wes Anderson film, The Phoenician Scheme. Which apparently we are getting before america which is nice for a change hehe. This i know nothing about other than its a nun, & a dad & a plane crash &everyone as always is in it.

the 5pm showing is a quarter full, which is pretty good screen 4 is only showing this at the moment, nothing else. I do feel a little young here, im guessing everyone is clocking off work at 5pm, so its mainly people over the age of 50.

Trailers EDDINGTON!!!!! Ted Garcia looks so good on the big screen for a few seconds, The Salt Path, Ballerina & something else it was horror ish which was odd.

& then the film started… oooohhhh i like this.

More films need a fruit crate which is filled with grenades. I was hoping there would be more to them just being a gift than what they were, but no one really batted an eyelid at them. Its very much a nice thing but also very weird but so in place for this movie.

This felt the most Wes in a while, the whole vibe just was more him, more so than the french dispatch & Asteroid city & the Isle of Dogs (although i think whoever made that film would have done it that way because it just works) The colour, the direction, the score, the little repeats. If you werent sure who was making this film 4 mins in you knew you were watching Wes.

The plot i think was simple & so was the message it was trying to tell about your family being whatever you make of it & those who are there for you will always be there, but im not sure if at the end the scheme was fully built. I did like the whole going around & checking it out & seeing everyones little part in it, because Wes wanted them all back in his film, but im not sure it was ever completed.

The opening exposition was good, i felt that really helped shape that we were going to leap all over the place & making them all physical things was a good idea to show how many cogs went into the part of something (all be them shoe boxes) but then each place we did jump too then required exposition again as to why we got there. Which by the time we got to act 3 i was like i get this can we get to the part where they try & persuade them.

Tom Hanks in those shorts i dont think i can get over.

Ive seen action films with less assassination attempts than this film, thats saying a lot. We had about 7 maybe. I lost count but it was done in such a soft way, except taking a bullet but then the blood donation was very weird indeed afterwards. Also Richard Ayoade as terrorist whos actually one of the most logical people in the entire film was inspired.

I didnt like the after life. I know he wanted to get his favourites in this film but it was a bit to weird & did take you out of the rest of the film. I get he kept almost dying but did he need the goat or Dafoe to look like that, not really. I also wish we saw more of the “spys” having their meetings, we saw them at the start to help set it up but then they were only useful once more but lets be honest weve all worked out the twist as soon as it was a potential option.

The camera & the way the opening credits are done looking into that room. Perfect. The cinephile in me was living her best life. There was so much but also nothing going on. It was wonderful

Act 3 felt rushed. Im not going to lie. It was like Wes ran out of steam & went oh lets just do that. I mean the last moments of the film do redeem it but i would have done it differently.

This isnt the Grand Budapest Hotel or Isle of Dogs & MR Fox, oh no but its been enjoyable & so wes anderson that all you think about for the rest of the day is pausing & nodding & going hmmmmmm. Im looking forward to seeing it again to see what i get from it next time.