theater. I liked them both a lot.
The Phoenician Scheme is unmistakably a Wes Anderson film with his unique and quirky sense of humor and a great ensemble cast led by Benicio del Toro. Very fun. I highly recommend it unless you tend not to like Wes Anderson. He’s one of those truly original filmmakers. If you did not know, going in, who directed this movie, you would guess right very quickly that it is Wes Anderson.
Materialists is Celine Song’s second feature film. Her debut film was Past Lives, which was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Materialists is set in upscale NYC and stars Dakota Johnson as a failed actress turned successful matchmaker who, in her own love life, is torn between her ex, an actor played by Chris Evans and her perfect match on paper, a millionaire played by Pedro Pascal. It’s a romantic triangle but, at the same time, it’s a riff on traditional rom-coms. More of a dramedy than an actual rom-com. I highly recommend it if you like character and relationship driven movies.
