Week of Feb. 8 to Feb. 14 (Rhoades)

Tropic Cinema Offers a Short List

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

This week the Tropic is opening 15 -- you heard me right, 15 -- new films. Of course, being the Oscar-nominated Shorts, they are each only a few minutes long.

These short film are divided into three different categories for judging by the jurors of the 85^th Academy Awards: Live Action Shorts, Animated Shorts, and Documentary Shorts. Five nominees in each category.

These selected short subjects are varied -- from coming-of-age stories to “Simpsons” cartoons, from true-life stories to fanciful imaginings. From a pair of young boys sharing dreams in the war rabble of Kabul to seniors living out their days in a Florida retirement community; from Long Island sister who open their beauty salon to chemo patients to an at-odds couple who live on the floor and ceiling; from a dog in the Garden of Eden to a down-in-the-dumps kid babysitting his 9-year-old niece -- these are the varied stories you’ll encounter here.

And sticking with winners, the Tropic is holding over “Life of Pi,” the fantastic allegory of an Indian boy shipwrecked with a snarling tiger. Visually stunning, this Ang Lee epic based on the popular novel of the same name is enthralling audience. And it’s up for 11 Academy Awards!

Also staying on Tropic screens is the delightful “Silver Linings Playbook,” the story of a bipolar guy who meets the crazy-like-him girl of his dreams. He just doesn’t know it right away. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence star as this wonky couple. They’ll both win your heart and your smiles. This film is up for 8 Academy Awards.

Finally, we have “Les Misérables,” the musical that’s wowing audiences with its scope, its pathos, its songs by Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Amanda Seyfried, and Samantha Barks. Hathaway’s plaintive “I Dreamed a Dream” is a show stopper. No wonder it has been nominated for 8 Academy Awards. And you will want to hear the soaring music on the Tropic Cinema’s state-of-the-art sound system.

Yes, it’s a countdown to the Oscars at Key West’s Tropic Cinema.

srhoades@aol.com