Bill Cunningham New York (Brockway)

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

Bill Cunningham: New York

     Who is that rushing by the Flatiron Building in a single turn? Who is that  blazing by The Natural History Museum in royal blue? No, it's not The Blue Man Group, Spiderman or even Superman himself. It Is Bill Cunningham, fashion photographer and mastermind of The New York Times 
Style page. 
     We get a good look at him in the documentary "Bill Cunningham: New York".
     Like a superhero in Gotham City, Cunningham maintains his privacy. He lives in a small closet apartment in Carnegie Hall. At the time of the film, Cunningham  is one of the last remaining residents. He has no phone booth or Batcave. He works constantly  at his office and falls asleep surrounded by filing cabinets filled with his negatives. And he travels by night via  Schwinn bicycle, a cypher seldom seen.
     Instead of a snappy suit he wears the blue smock of a Paris street sweeper. The kind that can be purchased at any drugstore in the city.
Cunningham's power is his abillity to melt through society's high walls and melt onto any street corner, as deftly as an X-Man. Cunningham  is self deprecating and will do anything to get his photo--he shoots from the hip and "eats with his eyes", engaging his subject in a kind of affectionate combat. A single man with no past history of romantic attachment, Cunningham is by his own admission, in love with Fashion--he will never take an unkind shot.
     Throughout the film, on various days, we see him take his bike and go snapping. He races in between cars with the fluidity of Plasticman. Even under the cloak of night, during rain and hail, Cunningham or simply "Bill" as he is called by friends, races by undaunted. There is a party to go to, there are exciting people to get. 
     But it's all about the clothes. The more striking, the more out of place amongst the current urban sea of khaki and beige, the better.
     When Cunningham  returns to his Carnegie Lair, he invariably checks in with his one remaining neighbor, photographer Editta Sherman, an eccentric known as "The Duchess of Carnegie Hall". Editta was also a muse of Warhol's  in the 70s. Editta in her heavy makeup and topsy turvy black wig is a sight. She is more Minnie Castevet than Roman Polanski could ever dream. She remains a living history book to the triumph of 1960s Pop Art. 
     A sideline to the the film is the location, the legend of Carnegie Hall and the important home it has been to many artists and writers.
During the film, Cunningham and Editta are under immense pressure to move out. The Carnegie studio apartments are about to be turned into offices. Editta for her part,  remains as fixed as plaster, singing in a La-Z-Boy chair.   Cunningham to his credit, nonchalantly accepts the change of the times and prefers not to dwell on it. 
     But indeed, when he is taken to a stark white studio apartment that overlooks Central Park, he blanches and frowns like a blue fish out of water. The new place has no character. Then in a spontaneous wiggle, he unlocks the window to snap a photo.
     Everyone from the Wilde Liza-esque android with the debonair coat and tails, Patrick McDonald, to the sleepy specter of Tom Wolfe, all speculate on the enigma of this man, his avoidance of fame and notoriety and the mystery of his relationships. They all shake their heads. No one, it seems, knows him intimately. It is a touching shock to see this monk-hero of a genius walk away during a high profile party refusing food and  drink, only to be venerated in the next scene as the whole staff dresses like him and wears cardboard cutouts of his impish face during  his birthday party. No one seems to know    Cunningham all that well. But the camera does. As he pedals along the New York streets on his way to a function, you might try to hire him, but he won't accept pay. He is Bill Cunningham, the one and only, as rare to the city as his own smock of  blue.

Write Ian at redtv_2005@yahoo.com

Hanna (Brockway)

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

Hanna

      When "Hanna" begins,  we are  plunged in a Winter Wonderland, halfway between Stieg Larsson and Lars Von Trier. There is a meditative still shot of a deer. Delicate in tranquility. But this is not Disney's Bambi. This is no "Snow White".  A swooping crunch of air. Buckets of blood. We see a innocent looking blonde youngster right out of a Pre-Raphaelite painting, collecting the deer's warm insides. Her hands bloody, her fair curls blowing in the snow.
      This feral kid is Hanna, played by Saoirse Ronan who also appeared as an enigmatic wanderer in the recent Tropic shown film "The Way Back". Ms. Ronan's Hanna is raised in the Arctic Circle. She is home-schooled in a little wooden cabin right out of "Little Red Riding Hood". Somehow even though she is educated with all kinds of facts about countries and fluent in presumably any language, ( And all this while still a teen!) she is blissfully ignorant about the invention of electricity. What?!?  Hanna is part killing machine, part Alice in Wonderland, with a smidge of something Frankensteinian in her.  The hum of electricity alone makes her go nuts. Or if some boy wants to kiss her. Oh the ridiculousness of puberty.
      She is told by her father (Eric Bana) that she can leave at any time. All she has to do is press a little red button. Really? Is this a fairy tale? Wait don't tell me...! A wicked stepmother, Marissa (Cate Blanchett) comes on the scene complete with a mop of flaming red hair. She has a penchant for stern heels, several pairs. And when angry, Blanchett's face blanches white and she brushes her teeth with a steel wool ferocity until her gums need stitches.
      Somehow The Mysterious Dad vanishes in the snow and Hanna is taken in a raid. Her dad is a rogue agent and Hanna is to be put under lock and key in a high security cell that would give Hannibal Lecter the giggles. 
      The primary fun is watching Hanna escape and escape she does, from tube to tube, ladder to ladder, eviscerating bad guy after bad guy. Scored my the music of The Chemical Brothers, Hanna  blood dances in a homicidal rave. 
      Suffice to say, she ends up in Morocco, somehow getting her hands on the traditional dress. She falls in with a well meaning bohemian family who stays clueless except for a chattering daughter who is rather annoying (Jessica Barden).
      But all is not well in gory Grimmland. 
      Marissa goes to a strip club of all places and gives a peck to a bleach blonde henchman  (Tom Hollander)  with a penchant for hermaphrodites, leisure suits and childhood melodies. The illegitimate offspring of Goldfinger and Truman Capote? Not half as colorful. He is a quasi-facsimile of the Stieg Larsson  villain, Neidermann. He takes the task of presumably taking the young terror alive or scaring her to death. 
      Meanwhile, to her horror, Hanna learns that she was part of a genetic hybrid experiment. Does she have tiger blood? Only Charlie Sheen would know. But we are left in the dark. There is only a string of genetic code and the heading: Abnormal.
      There is more hand to hand combat. Slashings and slittings. No man can get close to her. She finally reaches an odd fairytale dwelling which looks strangely run down and tawdry like Tim Burton faced with budget cuts: broken dinosaurs in the yard, decapitated animals in the foyer, a cluttered kitchen.
      Aha! A disheveled gnome of a man appears--a kind magician  with a soiled flower on his bare chest. This also doesn't make much sense. But no matter. You have to just let go. In an eerie scene that recalls the murder in the "Da Vinci Code", Hanna is on the run again.
      Finally! The expected showdown between the Evil Marissa and Hanna the Horrible! The chemistry between them works, mainly because Blanchett is just as brutal as Ms. Ronan. This is a "Nick at Night" Bourne Identity, Jr. fight to the death. Better late than never.
      I read that the director was influenced by David Lynch in the making of this film. But I found this movie more "Salt" than surreal. Despite this however, Ms. Ronan's visual magnetism manages a poignancy with punch. Her face is as painterly as  young Ophelia, forlorn beneath the snow. 

Write Ian at redtv_2005@yahoo.com

Soul Surfer (Brockway)

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

Soul Surfer

     "Soul Surfer" is the story of professional surfer Bethany Hamilton and her powerful story of survival, being bitten by a shark at just thirteen years old. AnnaSophia Robb stars as Bethany who is cheerful and goodnatured. She is a wholesome and smiling idealistic girl, who spends three quarters of her time in the paradisical waters of Kauai and the other quarter in a florid missionary  church, situated amongst such verdant greens that its as if The Fall never happened. Indeed it seems as if Bethany is in Eden.
     Ominously, after some "700 Club" mischief on Halloween Night  (a bit of suggestive talk on a surfboard, no skinny-dipping, unfortunately.) Bethany goes out on her board. When talking with her best friend about the natural beauty of the ocean, along comes an abrupt and carnal CHOMP!
     Omg!, A Lucifer of the sea. Evil Incarnate. Perhaps. But a creature of nature nonetheless. Ribbons of blood pour  in the ocean. Bethany is brought to shore by the sheer will of a family friend, Holt Blanchard (Kevin Sorbo) 
     Bethany goes into shock and she loses 60% of her blood volume.  Her bravery is honestly incredible. Her arm was severed. As it was lost or eaten by the shark, it could not be saved. 
Bethany deals with her lost arm in a very matter of fact way which is by no means an easy feat. Her only concern is surfing. The most interesting part of the film, in my opinion, is in showing Bethany's adaptation to her new condition. Opening bottles, preparing food, dressing in the morning or just the simple act of balance is not to be underestimated. It is what most ambulatory people take for granted.
    The only time Bethany loses her cool is when she sees her scar. And, in the most provocative scene in the movie, she takes the arm off of her Barbie. Rather than experiencing a Frankensteinian self disgust, it is a mirrored moment of acceptance. Bethany is a new Christian crusader of water and Will. 
     She takes leave of the ocean and decides to join her missionary group helping Thailand during the aftermath of the  2004 tsunami. She sees with new eyes.  
     After an existential crises that is part Kierkegaard, part Disney cartoon, she decides to surf again. Amen!
    Dennis Quaid as Bethany's father, gives an odd performance. He seems drunk and waterlogged by life even though he never is seen drinking. He looks disheveled, always on the edge of tears. Did he just get out of bed?. Sometimes he is like Gilligan, or he becomes menacing towards the reporters like Mel Gibson. Yikes.
    Helen Hunt is bland and pleasant as the Mom. 
    The cinematography is bright and crisp.
    The surfing action is derivative of the Karate Kid. The snide and scheming arch-rival surfer, Malena, even wears a black swimsuit, but dude, sometimes you gotta just let go. The Apple of Family Values doesn't fall far: the director, Sean McNamara, is known for steering Disney Channel vehicles.
    It is AnnaSophia Robb alone, who gives an earnest portrayal of Bethany,  as a teenaged mariner cresting the blue seas.  This is the Gospel of Girlpower. Whoa! Righteous, babe!

Write Ian at redtv_2005@yahoo.com

Hanna (Rhoades)

“Hanna” – Fairy Tale

or Thriller?

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

Whoa! Kids today. In “Hanna,” the 16-year-old girl named in the movie’s title, is the perfect assassin. Her dad has trained her to kill people.

Some fans are comparing Hanna to Hit-Girl in “Kick-Ass.” But this one is played straight while the other was a satiric comedy.

This new action thriller is currently kicking ass at the Tropic Cinema.

You see, Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) has been trained by her dad (Eric Bana), an ex-CIA agent, to be a perfect killing machine. In the snowy isolation of Finland he rehearses her in stealth and weaponry and ruthless resolve until she’s ready to be sent on her mission. The idea is for Hanna to get to a high-level spook (Cate Blanchett) by getting caught. Then unleashing her well-choreographed fury. But this deadly assignment is blindsided by secrets on all sides.

You’ve recently seen Saoirse Ronan in “The Way Home.” Before that “Atonement.” And she was the young victim in “The Lovely Bones.”

However, she’s no victim in “Hanna.” Watching this child perform like a junior James Bond with a license to kill is startling. Something almost primitive in her flinty-eyed acts of violence.

Yet, director Joe Wright (“Atonement,” “The Soloist”) says, “I don't think I would describe it as an action movie. It's a fairy tale, action movie, drama ... It’s a really difficult movie to describe.”

He tries. “There’s an atmosphere to it that is somehow surreal and it almost comes from the subconscious. Like fairy tales do, they deal with archetypes and the film characters are very much archetypal characters. Eric Bana being the strong father like the woodcutter and Blanchett's character is very much the wicked witch, wearing the red and green. There’s kind of a darkness to those fairy tales that I always appreciated. It’s quite a dark film in a couple of ways.”

Screenwriter Seth Lochhead agrees. The Canadian-born newbie wrote the script for “Hanna” while attending Vancouver Film School. Then he headed off to Tinseltown.

But there he had to find a day job. Having paid his rent by serving latte to famous Hollywood execs, Lochhead is now known as “the coffee shop phenom that launched into Hollywood’s upper stratus from oblivion.” After sending out emails to more than 400 agents, producers, managers, executives, and assistants, he got back only two requests to see his script.

“I wrapped my script in a manila envelope, sent it down to Culver City, and spent the next day and a half throwing up,” he recalls. “All you need is one yes. I got my yes and I’ve had the year of my life… I also have insomnia and a slight addiction to caffeine but it’s been fun.”

He adds, “So at this point I have an agent, a manager, and, lest I forget, a great lawyer. I’m paying out 25% of my income and I haven’t made a dime. But I’m living the dream (minus the coke and the whores and the money in general). I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Director Joe Wright did. Latching onto the fairy-tale elements of the story, he cast Saoirse Ronan, the young Irish actress he’d worked with in “Atonement.” He saw this as a fable of a young girl maturing and losing her innocence. In short, a coming-of-age thriller.

srhoades@aol.com

[from Solares Hill]

Bill Cunningham New York (Rhoades)

“Bill Cunningham New York” Presents Interesting Snapshot

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

Photographer Bill Cunningham may not be a familiar name to those of you who don’t peruse such fashion sources as The New York Times Style Section and Details. But he’s been a fixture on the New York scene for years, snapping images of haute couture on everyday people in the city’s streets.

This new documentary called “Bill Cunningham New Work” – currently showing at the Tropic Cinema – give you a warm portrait of Cunningham, a grinning bucktoothed visage who reminds you of an eccentric uncle. At 80, he still bicycles around New York, chronicling what people wear.

And this film by Richard Press reminds you of a family video, taken at birthday parties and other intimate events, where friends are interviewed, a collection of willing participants who hardly know what to say when put on the spot.

But these interviewees – ranging from Anna Wintour to Annette De La Renta, from Tom Wolfe to Mrs. Vincent Astor – say enough, when coupled with Bill Cunningham’s own utterance, to form a mosaic of this odd little man.

His studio is a clutter of filing cabinets. His film processing is of the One-Hour Photo variety. His philosophy is “If I don’t charge for the photos, you can’t tell me what to do.”

He likes to have say-so over page layouts that feature his photographs. He avoids saying anything bad about his subjects, not wanting to hurt anyone’s feelings.

And when he leases a new apartment, he asks the landlord to remove the wooden cabinets and appliances in the kitchen to make room for his filing cabinets, stuffed with negative and proof sheets.

It’s a snapshot of a movie about a famous snapshooter.

srhoades@aol.com

[from Solares Hill]

Bill Cunningham New York (Wanous)

Photographer's obsession: NYC couture art
By CRAIG WANOUS

 The subject of this winning documentary is a photographer for the New York Times who, for the past 40+ years, has biked the hazardous streets of New York City to chronicle the fashions of both the street and the runway.

Now on his 29th bicycle (the previous 28 were stolen), he is driven by a passion for the pursuit of beauty that some might say borders on obsession. Trying to find what fuels that passion is at the heart of this film.

Like a friendly paparazzi on a bicycle, Cunningham stalks the streets of the Big Apple, constantly snapping photos of clothes that intrigue him. During the day, it's the people of the street that interest him. At night, he goes from one gala to another, shooting the rich and famous and those who want to be. Cunningham moves freely among every level of New York society and, in his own way, has become a style-maker himself. As Anna Wintour, the famous "Vogue" magazine editor, says "We all dress for Bill."

 And they all seem to recognize him. But even his friends admit they know little about his life or background. Most don't realize that he lives in a tiny apartment with no kitchen, closet, radio or TV, and his bathroom is a public restroom down the hall. There's seems to be little room in his life for anything but his work. He even confesses that he has never had a romantic relationship. Ever.

Cunningham carries the film with his charming personality and, although the film does have a home-movie feel as the filmmakers try to keep up with their subject, I liked seeing the fashions of the last half-century chronicled through his photographs.

Even more enjoyable was the parade of colorfully dressed characters that populate the movie, including the former U.N. diplomat wearing a suit made from his old sofa, and the dandy who won't be caught dead in public without his hat and his painted-on eyebrows.

Because of Cunningham's ever-present grin, I couldn't help but smile through much of the movie and really enjoyed it. But I was left with a lingering question: Is Bill Cunningham the happiest person in New York or the loneliest? I recommend you go see the film and decide for yourself.

[from the Keynoter - www.keysnet.com]

New Film Reviewer

[The Tropic Blog is adding a new local reviewer, Craig Wanous]

Film reviewer has farmer, editor, captain resume
By SEAN KINNEY
skinney@keynoter.com
Posted - Friday, May 06, 2011 11:01 AM EDT

 Craig Wanous, whose resume includes catfish farmer, restaurateur, charter boat captain and magazine editor, can now add film critic to that lengthy list.

Wanous, who grew up traveling the country with his parents' event production company, landed in Key West in 2007 and by day is the manager of the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center.

But by night, Mondays in particular, Wanous hosts classic film screenings at the Tropic Cinema. A recent series paid tribute to Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor with showings of National Velvet, Suddenly Last Summer, A Place in the Sun and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

 In some ways Wanous has come full circle, assuming the role of actor Bill Kennedy who hosted the long-running, titular program "Bill Kennedy at the Movies."

"He would introduce a movie and at every commercial break he would give some interesting trivia and tidbits, talks about the scene coming up, point out stars, that sort of thing," Wanous told the Keynoter.

"I've kind of fulfilled that Bill Kennedy role of looking up and researching a movie and the people in it and the trivia about it."

Spurred by Kennedy and the availability of movie theaters wherever his parents' work took him, Wanous developed a love of film in his early teens that has endured to this day.

"Movies were always kind of an escape for me," he said. "I've always really enjoyed the entire movie experience. Even bad movies can be fun."

And, that attitude is what will come through in his upcoming reviews for L'Attitudes, the arts and entertainment section of The Florida Keys Keynoter and the Upper Keys Reporter.

Wanous said his focus is not on the technical cinematic process, but rather "geared toward the everyday person and whether I think it's worth their time and money to go see the movie.

"When I read a movie review, I want to know whether the reviewer thinks it's worth me spending my $10-a-head to go see. A lot of reviews you read and they go into so much detail about the film, but they never really give you the answer about whether you should see it or not."

Asked to give his "on the spot top five favorite movies," Wanous didn't hesitate in coming up with a diverse mix: the Vietnam-era satire "MASH"; gripping thriller "Alien," which provided a break-out role for Sigourney Weaver; "Amelie," a visually-stunning French film; "Catch-22" based on the novel by Joseph Heller; and "Moon," from 2009, a complex sci-fi movie starring Sam Rockwell.

[From The Keynoter - www.keysnet.com]