Week of August 12 to August 18 (Rhoades)

Tropic Overview

Count Them on Your Fingers:

A Handful of Fascinating Films at the Tropic

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

This week Tropic Cinema confines its screens to five films. That limited number means more showings of each. So there’s no excuse for missing one you want to see.

New this week is “Florence Foster Jenkins,” an amusing true story about a diva who couldn’t carry a tune. Meryl Streep stars as Florence, the amateur operatic soprano who always performed for private audiences until she got invited to sing at Carnegie Hall. Hugh Grant is the Shakespearean actor who shares her life. And Simon Helberg tinkles the keys as her eye-rolling accompanist. Slate observes, “Streep ... makes the character's delusional faith in her own talent so infectious that we ache at the thought of Florence's impending humiliation even as we prepare ourselves to laugh at it.” And Movie Nation posits, “Streep’s latest feats? Playing her first-ever dope, and making Hugh Grant relevant again.”

Woody Allen fans will want to catch “Cafe Society,” a nostalgic trip to the 1930s when a Bronx boy (Jesse Eisenberg) goes to Hollywood hoping to work for his uncle (Steve Carell), but winds up falling in love with his secretary (Kirsten Stewart). Even so, he returns to New York to work with his gangster brother in a nightclub that caters to, well, café society. Spirituality and Practice describes it as “a romantic comedy about the heartbreak of being in love with love.” Sacramento News and Review says, “The stars blossom in Allen’s hands -- Eisenberg may be the best Woody-clone yet, and Stewart has never been anywhere near this interesting before.” And

Want some action? “Jason Bourne” delivers big time. Matt Damon returns for this sequel about a spy with little memory of his past. Impulse Gamer notes, “The fifth entry in the Bourne franchise is comprised of familiar character types, plot points and action beats, but there's an intense, visceral feel that, to my surprise, renews almost all of these elements.” And EntertainmentTell sums it up: “Damon’s an outstanding hero. There’s a superlative supporting cast. The plot is full of intrigue and challenging ideas.”

An animated comedy, “The Secret Life of Pets” follows two pooches (voiced by Louis C.K. and Eric Stonestreet) as they go off-leash while their owner is away at work. Yes, mischief ensues. ChristyLemire.com calls it “an incredibly simple yet irresistible idea for a movie.” And the Tribune News Service says it “draws on the universal experience of pet ownership to draw out the ‘awww’ in all of us.”

And for the anglophiles, there’s “Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.” Based on the British TV show, two middle-aged fashionistas (Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley) go on the lam after supposedly killing supermodel Kate Moss. Drag queens are abundant as they escape to the South of France. Rolling Stone asks, “Is it too much? You bet. But Saunders and Lumley are all about keeping the party going. So grab your Bolly, darlings, and party on.” And The Atlantic demurs: “I won't spoil the movie's ending, but its twist is surprisingly gratifying.”

With five films, it won’t be hard to catch them all.

srhoades@aol.com

Teatro Alla Scala (Rhoades)

Front Row at the Movies

You’ll Want to See

(and Hear)

“Teatro Alla Scala”

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

While we regularly report on the feature films found at local venues, we sometimes overlook special events like the Art & Architecture in the Cinema series at the Tropic. Tsk, tsk.

On Sunday you can catch the latest entry, “Teatro Alla Scala: The Temple Of Wonders.”

La Scala (as it’s called for short) is an opera house in Milan, Italy. But the magnificent structure is more than that … it has been called “a marvelous place, where the most glorious pages in the history of music, opera and ballet have been written.”

Most of world’s greatest operatic stars and conductors have appeared at La Scala during the past 200 years. Opened in 1778, La Scala was built on the site of an earlier theater destroyed by fire. Between 2002 and 2004 it underwent a major renovation at a cost of nearly $68 million.

The theatre features over 3,000 seats grouped into 678 stalls, arranged in six tiers above two galleries. The stage is one of the largest in Europe.

La Scala has hosted the prima (first production) of many famous operas.

Directors Silvia Corbetta and Luca Lucini have put together a fascinating film, one that might be viewed as a travelogue confined to one world-famous opera house. The accompanying music is worth the ticket price alone.

srhoades@aol.com

Florence Foster Jenkins (Rhoades)

Front Row at the Movies

“Florence Foster Jenkins”

Wins Over Her Critics

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

You do not wish to hear Florence Foster Jenkins sing. That is, unless she’s being portrayed by Meryl Streep in a movie called (you guessed it) “Florence Foster Jenkins.”

That film is currently playing at Tropic Cinema.

Nascina Florence Foster was a very real person, a young piano prodigy who turned to singing after she injured her arm. Dumping her first husband, Dr. Frank Thornton Jenkins, she took up with a British Shakespearean actor named St. Clair Bayfield. Florence paid for singing lessons, joined New York music circles, even used her inheritance to fund her own Verdi Club. Not having the greatest voice, the amateur operatic soprano always performed for private audiences, safe from reviews by music critics. However, at the age of 76, she yielded to public demand and made her one and only public appearance, at Carnegie Hall no less. That meant critics could attend. Uh-oh.

I’ve heard a recording of the real Florence Foster Jenkins singing the “Queen of the Night” aria from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” Or maybe it was a recording of a sick cat with hiccups.

But Meryl Streep can play anybody. Even a frumpy middle-aged woman with little sense of pitch. Streep, on the other hand, has demonstrated her own vocal talents in movies ranging from “Mama Mia” to “Ricki and the Flash.”

Hugh Grant steps in as manager/companion St. Clair Bayfield, a more nuanced performance than his usual frazzled rom-com roles.

And Simon Helberg does a nice job as Cosme McMoon, the would-be singer’s accompanist. You’ll recognize him as Howard from TV’s “The Big Bang Theory.”

While the real Florence Foster Jenkins didn’t fare well with the critics, Meryl Streep’s “Florence Foster Jenkins” biopic is doing much better. Rotten Tomatoes, the website that aggregates the opinions of film critics, gives it an enthusiastic 92%.

srhoades@aol.com

Cafe Society (Brrockway)

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

 Café Society

For the Woody Allen fans among us, here is "Café Society", a philosophic meditation on romance and pursuit set against Hollywood circa 1930. The film is episodic and colorful with a tone for nostalgia like "Radio Days," where Allen similarly functioned as the narrator.

Our protagonist Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg) is a naive young man who wants to explore Hollywood in the hopes of getting a job with the aid of his uncle Phil (Steve Carell), an egotistical talent agent. Phil doesn't really want to help, but Bobby is clueless and Phil wants to get him off his back. Vonnie (Kristen Stewart) Phil's secretary agrees to show the naif around town.

Bobby is instantly smitten. Vonnie seems to be attracted to Bobby, but she admits she is dating someone. Instead of putting on the breaks, the pushy yet somewhat passive Bobby increases his efforts.

This is traditional Allen territory to be sure but the rolling dialogue and lively characters are comic enough to satisfy all. Eisenberg does very well as Allen's inimitable persona (complete with hunched shoulders) while the director himself offers a deadpan voiceover on the joys and perils of love which give the overtly melodramatic episodes a black-laced but bittersweet edge.

There are some fine performances. Jeannie Berlin is terrific as the anxious mother Rose, as is the existential father Leonard (Steven Kunken). Actor Corey Stoll has another good role as Bobby's gangster brother Ben,  which offers a comic tribute to film noir. David Lynch fans would do well to be on the look out for Cheryl Lee (Laura Palmer, Twin Peaks) in a small role.

While there are many traces of other Allen films here from the infidelity of "You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger" to the cinephile life of "Play it Again, Sam." The buoyant zest and trademark dialogue is well represented and gives this film a beloved yet slicing tone as in a well drawn cartoon from New Yorker magazine.

The millennial Allen seems to say that you can't always get what you want and it is both ridiculous and human to try.

The last moments of "Café Society" along with Allen's  recent films have a  crisp and catty Dorothy Parker wit along with the A-Ha just desserts of a story by O. Henry. All is not lost, however. Any acidity is balanced with equal parts of haunt and history. The director keeps a personal paradise of authors, actors, domineering parents and lost loves that invariably lead to an island of poignance that is both wished for and whisked away.

Write Ian at ianfree1@yahoo.com

Week of August 5 - 11 (Rhoades)

Tropic Overview

5 Good Enough to Keep + 1 New at Tropic Cinema

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

Film Critic, Key West Citizen

Tropic Cinema has five holdovers to make sure you don’t miss any of them … and one new film we’ve all been waiting for. Here’s the good-enough-to-keep lineup:

People are singing the praises of “The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble,” the documentary about the famous cellist and the multicultural musicians he gathered to perform along the historic spice route that stretches from China to the Mediterranean. Key West musician Skipper Kravitz came out of the theater with a beneficent smile on his face. Washington Post describes it as “an inspiring look at creative people from very different walks of life who nonetheless communicate beautifully with one another. They don’t need to speak a common language: Their dazzling music says it all.” And National Post explains, “As more than one of the performers notes, music transcends culture, history and even language.”

Another movie putting smiles on faces is “The Secret Life of Pets,” the animated comedy that tells of the misadventures of two pooches who get lost in the City while their owner is away at work. Doggie lovers will recognize familiar traits that are canine cuteness to the core. Louis C.K. and Eric Stonestreet voice the top dogs. Cinemalogue.com says, “The animal antics (plus the nonstop mayhem crammed into every frame) are likely to please children, while some of the sight gags and one-liners will satisfy their accompanying adults.” And Screen Crush declares that the movie “achieves what it aims to be: cute, clever, and pleasantly enjoyable.”

Also bringing out laughs is “Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie,” the big-screen spin-off of that fave Brit telly show known affectionately as “Ab Fab.” Two wonky women, a PR flack and a magazine editor, go on the lam after offing supermodel Kate Moss at a fashion show. Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley recreate their TV roles. Nearly 90 drag queens appear in this cinematic outing. Urban Cinefile notes: “This odd couple is a hook for black comedy. They do bad things. Bad things happen to them. Life poops in their soup. Just like any of us, really, and that’s why we love to laugh at them, with them, about them and despite them.” And Globe and Mail winks, “Finding deep meaning and satisfaction from this story will be difficult, but if it’s style over substance you’re after, then you’ll revel in the comedic chic.”

Straight from New Zealand is “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” an intergenerational buddy picture about a 12-year-old juvie and a grumpy octogenarian who go on the lam, triggering a nationwide manhunt led by an overzealous social worker. Under the Radar tells us, “Sam Neill could play a cranky old bushman in his sleep, but it’s Julian Dennison as Ricky who steals the film as a rap-loving, pre-pubescent gangster wannabe.” And Newsday calls it “A lopsided gem full of off-kilter humor, hard truths and real emotion.”

Want some action? Well, you’ll find it aplenty in “Jason Bourne,” fifth film in the popular franchise. Matt Damon returns as the spy with no memory who is in search of his past. Here we (and he) learn more. Rolling Stone says, “Damon owns the role and the movie. It’s a tense, twisty mindbender anchored by something no computer can generate: soul.” And Detroit News adds, “Director Paul Greengrass stages three breathless marquee action sequences, including a smash-em-up car chase down the Las Vegas Strip that would make even the ‘Fast and Furious’ gang stop and gawk.”

Oh yes, the new film. That’s “Café Society,” the annual Woody Allen offering. It’s a familiar lost-love story that stretches from the 1930s studios of Hollywood to the nightclubs of New York. Standing in for the Woodman is angst-ridden Jessie Eisenberg, with Kristen Stewart as the girl the heart wants. Ozus’ World Movie reviews finds it to be “an uninspired but satisfactory old-school nostalgia-laden Hollywood love triangle story, set during the late stages of the Great Depression.” SSG Syndicate calls it “Wistfully vintage Woody Allen -- with a jazzy soundtrack worth savoring....” And St. Louis Post-Dispatch sees it as “a film of rare beauty.”

Five plus one – six movies you’ll want to see!

srhoades@aol.com

Café Society (Rhoades)

Front Row at the Movies

“Café Society” Another Nostalgic Woody Allen Film

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

Allan Stewart Konigsberg (that’s Woody Allen to you) has delivered his annual film, another bittersweet romantic comedy.

Titled “Café Society,” it’s set in the 1930s. Woody Allen is at his best when he’s being nostalgic. Over time, his older films have taken on a past-tense patina. But many of his newer films deliberately turn back the clock, like an older man reminiscing about his younger days.

In “Radio Days,” Allen shared memories that might have been from his childhood. With “The Purple Rose of Cairo,” he waxed on about movies during the Great Depression. “Bullets Over Broadway” explored that same halcyon time frame. And “Madness in the Moonlight” performed its magic in the late ‘20s.

Sure, “Play It Again Sam” was set in present tense, but Allen was humming “As Time Goes By.” And “Midnight in Paris” took an interesting twist: Viz-à-viz the enchanting use of time travel, Allen transported us back to the Lost Generation of Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

With “Café Society,” he returns (as the old-time radio announcer used to say) to those thrilling days of yesteryear. In fact, Woody Allen himself provides the voice-over narration.

“Café Society” is playing at Tropic Cinema.

Now in his 80s, Woody Allen is too old to act the leading man in his films, so for this one he uses Jesse Eisenberg (“The Social Network”) as his surrogate. Eisenberg embodies the socially awkward autobiographical character Woody Allen has been delivering from his stand-up comedy days to himself in “Annie Hall” to Owen Wilson in “Midnight in Paris.”

Here, we meet Bobby Dorfman (Eisenberg), a nice young Jewish boy from the Bronx (note: Allen was born in the Bronx) who goes to Hollywood to work with his uncle Phil (Steve Carell), a high-powered agent who name-drops all the big stars of the ‘30s. There Bobby meets Vonnie (Kristen Stewart), his unc’s secretary and falls hard for her. However, Vonnie is snared in a love triangle and therefore does not go back to New York with Bobby. In the Big Apple, he winds up in the nightclub business with his gangster brother Ben (Corey Stall) and gets wrapped up in … café society.

And this is how Bobby ends up, a Bogart-like figure in a white tux, hiding a broken heart, trapped in the wrong marriage.

Always the ventriloquist, Woody Allen drops plenty of funny insights through his character’s dialogue. “Live every day like it’s your last and some day you’ll be right.” Or, “Life is comedy, but it’s one written by a sadistic comedy writer.” That would be Woody, of course. Still rhapsodizing about the meaninglessness of life.

“Café Society” is quintessential Woody Allen -- a montage of elegant imagery and jazz music, intellectual witticisms and nervous anxiety, plus a certain predictable cynicism about romance. Here you will encounter all his familiar tropes -- life, chance, fate, love, guilt.

May as well say, Play it again, Woody.

srhoades@aol.com

NYFCS Presents “Five Nights In Maine” (Rhoades)

Front Row at the Movies

NYFCS Presents “Five Nights In Maine” At Tropic Cinema

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

One of the neat things about being a film critic is that I often get to see movies before you do. But don’t despair -- the New York Film Critics Series allows fans to slip in a side door (so to speak) and enjoy previews of movies prior to their national debut. Or at least before they come for a regular run at your local theater.

Tropic Cinema is one of a number of nationwide theaters that present these sneak previews in association with NYFCS.

For instance, this coming Wednesday night you can catch “Five Nights In Maine,” a new film written and directed by Maris Curran.

It’s the story of two people working through their grief following the death of a young woman in an automobile accident.

David Oyelowo stars as the distraught widower. Two-time Oscar-winner Dianne Wiest co-stars as his estranged mother-in-law. Rosie Perez plays the terminally-ill woman’s nurse.

Sherwood (Oyelowo) travels from his home in Atlanta to rural Maine to seek answers from his wife’s mother (Wiest). Although not close, both Sherman and Lucinda must confront their personal guilt over the death. Can they find a resolution?

You will remember Oyelowo from his riveting portrayal of Martin Luther King in “Selma.”

Born in England, he is a classically trained stage actor who attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). He was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2016.

As it happens, Oyelowo’s father was a member of a royal family in Nigeria. His last name (pronounced “Oh-yellow-oh”) literally means “a king deserves respect.”

Oyelowo takes his royalty with a grain of salt. “Now don’t get me wrong,” he laughs. “Royal families are a dime a dozen in Nigeria. It’s more like being the king of Sherman Oaks, really.”

Here his over-the-top performance carries a certain majesty. He is one of the producers of the film, indicating a personal commitment to the project.

Meet David Oyelowo for yourself. The screening of “Five Nights In Maine” will be accompanied by a Q&A. Peter Travers’ on-screen guests include Oyelowo, Rosie Perez, and the film’s director.

srhoades@aol.com