“I feel very safe myself”. On the whole I think I’m much more of a fan than many others of Wes Anderson’s latest career stage where his unmistakable style has never been more prominent but he continues to experiment with storytelling techniques and vivid characterisation. It’s definitely not style over substance, whatever lazy naysayers might say. Following infamous arms manufacturer Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro) miraculously continuing to cheat death while reconnecting with his estranged nun daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton) and attempting to close the biggest deal of his career, THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME is one of Anderson’s most ambitious projects to date. Apart from anything else, this has got a real scale to it. He still plays with reality and dials up the theatrical elements, but this is a real globe-trotter, an absurdist comedy showcasing a diverse ensemble of regular collaborators and even dicing with a bit of political commentary. It’s mad, it’s exciting and breathlessly convoluted and one of Anderson’s best in years. SSP
Review in Brief: The Phoenician Scheme (2025)
Wicked: For Good (2025) Review
Insulate (2025) Short Film Review
Sam’s Noirvember 2025
Film 1 – Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956). Fritz Lang’s final American film is a clever story well told, though somewhat lacking the mastery of style from his early career.
Film 2 – Le Samouraï (1967). Jean-Pierre Melville’s endlessly influential hitman noir is morally murky, suspenseful and largely built around how great Alain Delon looked in a coat and hat.
Film 3 – Laura (1944). Otto Preminger’s mannered but intriguing murder-mystery looks and sounds great, with striking performances from Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews and a young, sexy Vincent Price.
Film 4 – The Breaking Point (1950). In the second, less famous but more faithful adaptation of Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not, Michael Curtiz trades in romance for grit to largely good effect.
Film 5 – The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). This knotty classic about murder, passion and the consequences of both is good-looking and well performed in an old-fashioned way (complimentary) that belies its twisted core.
Film 6 – While the City Sleeps (1956). Visually and thematically referring to Fritz Lang’s earlier work, here the German expat’s direction remains tightly controlled, though the script does too much telling rather than showing.
Film 7 – Naked Alibi (1954). A taut, dynamic and surprisingly brutal crime thriller with top-class work from Sterling Hayden and Gloria Grahame. As should be a given for everything I watch this month, it looks amazing too.
Film 8 – Out of the Past (1947). A soaring romance punctured by extreme darkness and cynicism that gets a lot of mileage out of Robert Mitchum’s physicality. Jacques Tourneur forever a master of atmosphere.
Film 9 – The Big Heat (1953). The best of Fritz Lang’s final career phase by some distance, this is a tough and uncompromising cops and gangsters picture with operatic flourishes.
Film 10 – Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948). This UK-set, US-shot postwar blackmail thriller doesn’t have many surprises in store, but is entertainingly played, particularly by Robert Newton at his slimy best. SSP
Bugonia (2025) Short Cut Review
The Phantom of the Opera (1925) 100th Anniversary Review
Sam’s 31 Days of Horror 2025
Frankenstein (2025) Review
Review in Brief: The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (2024/25)
Small wins for art are worth savouring, especially in an age when it is seemingly under attack from all sides. In the first cinematically released, all-animated Looney Tunes feature film that was thankfully sold to Ketchup Entertainment rather than being junked by David Zazlav’s Warner Bros, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (both voiced by Eric Bauza) fight to save their home, and then their planet, from an alien plot revolving around of all things, bubble gum. Considering the uphill struggle this one had to go through to get released, it’s almost disappointing that the final product is just a really good Looney Tunes movie. It doesn’t innovate beyond preserving the traditional cel animation style, it’s not about anything more than being silly, but it evokes the anarchic mischief of the best Looney Tunes shorts and celebrates top-notch vocal performances and talented craftspeople. SSP
SSP Thinks Film 