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Movies I Watched This Week (6/9/25 - 6/15/25)

i'm just a teeeenaaaage diiiiirtbaaagg, babyyyyyyy!

Ben Kaye

Ben Kaye

— 3 min read

PRE-ROLL

  • for Father’s Day, we went to the Sock Monkey Museum out in Long Grove, IL, a thing that exists!. the museum holds the Guinness World Record for “most number of sock monkeys in one single location” or something like that. i’m not gonna lie; it’s a hell of a lot of Sock Monkeys.

    I was particularly taken by the “sockumentary” presented by *sigh* Sockrates, and a clip from a David Letterman-hosted Oscars where, in reference to his brief appearance in the film CABIN BOY1, several actors audition for his role hawking the line “wanna buy a monkey?”

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THE MOVIES

The Phoenician Scheme' Review: Benicio Del Toro in Wes Anderson Gem

  • THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME (2025, dir. Wes Anderson). watched at Music Box Theatre.

    • as with any new Wes, this needs a rewatch for me to firmly gather my thoughts. on the initial watch though, it’s remarkably entertaining, maybe his outright funniest film in years? all-time performances from the lead trio of del Toro, Threapleton, and Cera, and as always, it looks better than 95% of other movies out there. exceedingly meaningful in its exploration of a father/daughter relationship. yes, the lead character is a billionaire tycoon, but comparisons to our current day billionaire tycoons are few and far between. anyone looking to this film for a meaningful takedown of capitalism will be disappointed2, though, why are you coming to a Wes Anderson film for a treatise on anti-capitalism? in its best moments, its evocations of Powell & Pressburger and Buñuel are nothing short of revelatory and holy. as always with this guy, your mileage may vary!

    Pavement's story becomes a biopic, a musical and an art show - Los Angeles Times

  • PAVEMENTS (2025, dir. Alex Ross Perry). watched on screener.

    • wrote about this one for Cine-File3. as you may recall the first time I saw this, this movie rules and I love it. currently the title-holder for Favorite 2025 Film so far. let’s see what the rest of the year brings!

    Loser (2000) directed by Amy Heckerling • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

  • LOSER (2000, dir. Amy Heckerling). rented on Fandango at Home.

    • the movie that originated the song Teenage Dirtbag!!!! anyway, this movie is noxious, a heap of bizarre and cruel humor without any real bite or style or heart or ANYTHING. Amy Heckerling made CLUELESS and then said “guess we’re done with THAT.” Jason Biggs, take that hat off please! it took me far too long to realize this was just THE APARTMENT but Bad. ah, well.

two posts in one day, who knew! how was your week? do you remember the film LOSER? what’s your favorite Wes Anderson film? what band/musician would actually be well-suited for a jukebox musical? until next time!

  1. a masterpiece film in my book, no notes. ↩

  2. though arguably, there’s glimmers of “capitalism is bad!” in the film’s ending, spoilers withheld here. ↩

  3. i neglected to use this piece to devolve into a longer tangent about the film’s expert takedown of the jukebox musical genre, down to its casting of the brilliant Michael Esper, an actor who has trod the boards in musicals featuring the songs of Green Day, Sting, and David Bowie. a true hero in my book with the voice of an angel. ↩

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