Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Week of April 26 to May 2 (Rhoades)


Tropic Cinema Delivers 4 New Films Plus 1 Holdover

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

How does the Tropic do it? The little 4-screen theater on this southernmost island has booked some terrific films this week.
First off is the new Robert Redford movie “The Company You Keep.” This is an exciting political thriller about a former Weather Underground radical now living a quiet life as a lawyer near Albany, name changed to keep the FBI from calling him to task for a bank robbery where someone was killed. But his world starts to unravel when a young reporter (Shia LaBeouf) sniffs him out. The stellar cast includes Susan Sarandon, Julie Christie, Nick Nolte, Sam Elliott, Terrence Howard, Brendan Gleeson, Richard Jenkins, and Chris Cooper, among others.
“The Company You Keep” was directed and produced by Redford -- and is sure to stir up controversy for glorifying criminal activities. But you pick your side.
“Trance” is a new film from Danny Boyle, the director who gave us “Slumdog Millionaire.” Here, you have a crime caper, an art heist where the stolen painting disappears after a blow to the head gives one of the crooks (James McAvoy) a case of amnesia. Enter a hypnotherapist (Rosario Dawson), hired to unlock his memory. Fellow criminal (Vincent Cassell) is counting on her success, but perhaps the hypnotist has her own agenda.
Also new is “War Witch” (French language title: “Rebelle”), a film about an African girl kidnapped to become a “child soldier.” Moments of comedy (catching a white rooster) are interspersed with scenes of horror as the War Witch known as Komona struggles to overcome her unhappy situation.
And we have “Tabu,” a Portuguese film that is divided into two parts: the story of an old woman in Lisbon and a memory of a love affair. The story begins with a sad crocodile.
Still playing is “The Place Beyond the Pines,” a showdown between a motorcyclist-turned-bank-robber (Ryan Gosling) and an ambitious cop (Bradley Cooper). This confrontation carries over to the next generation in this film by Derek Cianfrance, the director who gave us Gosling in “Blue Valentine.”
What a lineup. You may as well plan on staying in your seat all week at the Tropic!
srhoades@aol.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have to say I'm very excited about the line up for this Friday (26 Apr) to next Thursday! I've been looking at the "future" category for movies that are not booked yet. How do we ask about a certain movie? Such as "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" that is being released 26 April but when I can expect it to be shown locally? Also of interest - Leviathan; To The Wonder; Mud...the list goes on and on. However, again, excited about the line up this coming week! Yes, how does Tropic pull all this off?! Thanks Tropic for being so awesome!! ~