AIDA (La Scala)

The Tropic's new opera season opens with the splendor of La Scala‘s production of L’Aida, directed and set-designed by the legendary Franco Zeffirelli. In 1872 Giuseppe Verdi himself presented his masterpiece L’Aida for the first time in Europe at La Scala. Share the experience of the opera's 135th anniversary return to the La Scala stage.

LUST, CAUTION

Winner of the Golden Lion at Venice, Lust, Caution combines sex (it's rated NC-17, the notch below -- or above, depending on your viewpoint -- R), fabulous cinematography that powerfully evokes Shanghai in the 1940's, and a sinister noir plot involving secret agents and double-dealing.

DELIRIOUS

Tom DiCillo, who cut his teeth as Jim Jarmuch's cinematographer, joins everyone's favorite quirky hero Steve Buscemi to bring us DELIRIOUS, about a paparazzo's obsessive quest for that one perfect picture that will make his career. It's a sharp, comic spoof about the crazy pursuit of fame.

I WANT SOMEONE TO EAT CHEESE WITH

Ready for a hooting good time? Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm) wrote, directed and stars in this poignant and humorous look at a man in search of a soul mate.

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL

Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson) stars in a heartfelt comedy about a loveable introvert named Lars whose emotional baggage has kept him from fully embracing life. After years of solitude, he invites a girl he met on the internet to visit him, but she's a life-size doll, not a real person.

LIONS FOR LAMBS

An all-star cast including Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise and Robert Redford dominant this thoughtful exploration of apathy and commitment in modern America. "'Wake up, America!' That’s the fervent call to action in Lions for Lambs, a well-intentioned and often nervy critique of America’s current complacency during a time of war," says the Austin Chronicle.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON

In the Shadow of the Moon brings together for the first--and possibly the last--time the surviving crew members from every single Apollo mission that flew to the Moon, and allows them to tell their story in their own words. This riveting first-hand testimony is interwoven with visually stunning archival material that has been remastered from the original NASA film footage--much of it never used before.

NAKED BOYS SINGING

Talk about truth in advertising! For once, the packaging and the film go together. You won't be misled. This is a film of musical numbers, mostly unrelated, and the guys are naked (that means frontal.)

INTO THE WILD

Freshly graduated from college and with a promising future ahead, 22-year-old Christopher McCandless chose instead to walk out of his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure. What happened to him on the way transformed this young wanderer into an enduring symbol for countless people.

THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK

A searing documentary that exposes the tragedy taking place in Darfur as seen through the eyes of an American witness who has since returned to the US to take action to stop it. Using the exclusive photographs and first hand testimony of former U.S. Marine Captain Briahn Steidle, The Devil Came on Horseback takes the viewer on an emotionally charged journey into the heart of Darfur, Sudan, where an Arab run government is systematically executing a plan to rid the province of its black African citizens

MICHAEL CLAYTON

George Clooney (one of the Patron Saints of the Tropic's George theater!) returns to our screens with this thriller written and directed by Tony Gilroy (screenwriter on all three Bourne films), and the raves are in. Michael Clayton (Clooney) is an in-house "fixer" at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York, taking care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen's dirtiest work at the behest of the firm's co-founder (Sydney Pollack). But when Kenner Bach's brilliant and guilt-ridden attorney Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) flips out and sabotages the U/North case, Clayton faces the biggest challenge of his career and his life.

FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO

Is the chasm separating gays and lesbians and Christianity too wide to cross? Is the Bible an excuse to hate? Director/co-writer Daniel Karslake's provocative and entertaining documentary brilliantly reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture, and in the process reveals that Church-sanctioned anti-gay bias is based almost solely upon a significant (and often malicious) misinterpretation of the Bible.