Week of March 1 to March 7 (Rhoades)

Still Talking About the Oscars?

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

The aftermath of the Oscars left everybody comparing notes: Did your favorite picture win? What were the big surprises among the winners? How funny was Seth MacFarlane? Wasn’t the Tropic’s gala Academy Awards party great? Which movies do you now have to see? Which ones do you simply want to see again?

Well, Tropic Cinema comes through with that film that you’ve all been asking about, “Amour.” This story of love to the end of life won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, as well as being nominated in four other categories: Best Picture, Best Actress (Emmanuelle Riva), Best Director (Michael Haneke), and Best Original Screenplay.

An iconic actress, Riva is best known for 1959’s “Hiroshima mon amour.” At 85, she is the oldest nominee for Best Actress.

This French language film tells the story of an elderly couple facing life when the wife suffers a series of strokes. How does love survive this challenge to a lifelong relationship?

For those movie fans caught off-guard by Christoph Waltz’s Oscar win as Best Supporting Actor (I was rooting for Tommy Lee Jones, but predicting Robert De Niro), here’s your chance to reappraise the German actor’s fine performance as a dentist-turned-bounty-hunter in “Django Unchained” as it returns to the Tropic.

In fact, you may want to look at “Django Unchained” with new eyes following its win as Best Screenplay for writer-director-bad-boy Quentin Tarantino. This history-bender southern-western stars Jamie Foxx as a former slave out to rescue his wife from an evil plantation owner (Leonardo Di Caprio) with the help of his friend (Waltz). Lots of shoot-‘em-up action, controversial use of the n-word, and fine performances.

In case you missed “Silver Linings Playbook (or like me, can’t wait to see it again), the Tropic is holding it over. After all, Jennifer Lawrence won the Best Actress Award for her crazy-like-a-fox portrayal of a crazed widow who offers the salvation of love to a bipolar guy played by Best Actor nominee Bradley Cooper. In fact, “Silver Linings Playbook” garnered eight Academy Awards nominations -- achieving that rare feat of being nominated in all four acting categories as well as Best Picture.

Rounding out the Tropic’s lineup is a picture we’ve all been waiting to see, “Hyde Park on Hudson” -- Bill Murray’s portrayal of president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This British dramedy tells the story of FDR’s relationship with Margaret Suckley (played here by Laura Linney) during a visit to his country estate by the King and Queen of England.

So come on down to the Tropic, where you can catch a film on your must-see list and talk with friends about the outcomes of Oscar Night. What a year for movies!

srhoades@aol.com