Week of February 28 to March 5 (Mann)

What's On At The Tropic
by Phil Mann

All the award ceremonies are now behind us, but the Tropic will be rolling out a backlog of award-nominated films during the month of March.

For this week, it's I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG, BAFTA prize winner for Best Foreign Film and nominee for Best Actress and Screenplay. This French film was also nominated for six César Awards and two Golden Globes. Kristin Scott Thomas stars as a woman just released from fifteen years in prison for a terrible crime, who comes to live with her younger sister, and the sister's husband and young children. The younger sister is played by Elsa Zylberstein, from one of my favorite movies, Mina Tannenbaum. There is a superficial similarity to the plot of RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, which is also playing this week, but it is a very different story, more French in tone, and lacking the histrionics of that American movie. These two movies are sharing the screen in The George theater, with I've Loved You at 2:30 and 7:30 and Rachel at 5:00 and 10:00, so you could catch a double-feature if you're game. It's is going to be a one-week run, so this will be your only chance. (Check schedules, since a couple of shows are displaced by special events, and don't cheat: two admissions required.)

THE READER and REVOLUTIONARY ROAD continue their runs for another week. Soon to come are The Wrestler, Doubt and Frost/Nixon, among others.

On the Special Events calendar, the Visiting Filmmaker Series presents movie director Kevin Rhoades (son of Solares Hill film critic Shirrel Rhoades), who brings us his horror film THE YEAR OF THE DONKEY, fresh from its opening at the Tribeca Film Festival. With four girls, three guys, and an axe-carrying caretaker with a fetish Donkey Mask, all at a cabin in the woods; it’s not for the faint-hearted. But it’s heartening to see what a talented young filmmaker can do with an ultra-low budget ($25,000 according to IMBD.com), and Kevin will be on hand to tell us how he did it. That's Wednesday at 8:00pm.

On Tuesday, at 5:30pm, there's the next episode in the Tuesdays With Art series, featuring the work of Timothy Prentice. Following the screening of short films about Prentice and other kinetic sculptors influenced by him, there will be a discussion of his work. As always, this program is free of charge, sponsored by the Tropic and a private donor.

And on Saturday (11am to closing) and Sunday (2pm to closing), the Tropic is hosting a community-wide DVD/VHS used movie sale. They're still accepting donations, which will qualify for tax deduction. How about this, for your own little stimulus program? Turn in your old stuff for a deduction, and gather up some new (old) stuff with all the money you'll be saving in taxes. Ha, ha.

And, finally, to save the best for last, the Tropic has just announced that it's finally starting work on its expansion project. In case you haven't noticed, they've taken over the empty store next to the existing theater and will be adding expanded lobby space and a fourth movie screen. More on that later. The opening is expected by summer.

Full schedules and details at TropicCinema.com. Comments to pmann99@gmail.com.