Captain Fantastic (Rhoades)

Front Row at the Movies

“Captain Fantastic”

Pits Hippiedom

vs. Straight World

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

Some folks I know are homeschooling their kids. I’m not sure whether that’s a good idea or not … but it’s their family decision. I’d worry about the lack of socialization from not sharing a classroom with others. And I’d worry that there’s something I’m not teaching them that a professional educator might.

We encounter that very debate in “Captain Fantastic,” the new Viggo Mortensen movie that’s holding class this week at the Tropic.

A terrific actor, Mortensen usually takes on tough guy roles. The drill sergeant in “G.I. Jane.” The retired assassin in “A History of Violence.” The Russian mobster in “Eastern Promises.”

But here he gives us a New Age dad known to his kids as (you guessed it) Captain Fantastic.

Ben Cash (Mortensen) leads an off-the-grid life with his six children – quaintly named Bodevan, Kielyr, Vespyr, Rellian, Zaja and Nai – all happily ensconced in a cabin in the Pacific Northwest, a utopian paradise they’ve named Plato’s Republic. Being a dropout, Ben eschews society as we know it. To prepare his kids for a counterculture existence, he teaches them how to hunt, forage, grow their own food … survive. He calls this home schooling.

When his wife (she’s been in a mental institution) dies, the family has to return to civilization for her funeral and confront her parents (Frank Langella and Ann Dowd) who oppose the lifestyle their grandchildren have been leading.

As it turns out, reintegration with society is not as simple as it sounds. The father-in-law threatens to have Ben arrested. And the kids are totally unprepared for interaction with others their own age.  A diet of Dostoevsky, quantum physics, deer hunting, and Mandarin doesn’t prepare them for a first encounter with Frosted Flakes, smart phones, video games ... and modern girls.

Mortensen shows his acting chops when Ben is forced to reevaluate his choices for his family.

Sophomore writer/director Matt Ross (“28 Hotel Rooms”) packs his film with lots of social commentary, but doesn’t quite take sides. He lets you choose your own viewpoint as the film contrasts hippiedom in the wilds of Oregon with the straight-laced strip-mall suburbia of New Mexico. No matter your personal opinion, you’ll find yourself both laughing and crying. Plus you may find yourself doing a little hard thinking.

In the end, the message of “Captain Fantastic” is: We can be what we choose. It’s our decision.

srhoades@aol.com

Florence Foster Jenkins (Brockway)

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

Florence Foster Jenkins

The iconic Meryl Streep stars in Stephen Frears affectionate biopic "Florence Foster  Jenkins." While Jenkins herself as an amateur opera singer from 1917 onwards was gratingly off key and easy to ridicule, the actual person was irrepressible, spirited and could not be squashed. Despite her ear-splitting auditory offenses, Jenkins became noteworthy for being so awful. David Bowie is said to have greatly admired her blissful ignorance and her record by reportedly saying "Be afraid, be very afraid."

With high-profile fans like Bowie, Barbra Streisand, and Cole Porter, Jenkins became a cult star who is almost a surreal figure and very contemporary. The film focuses on Jenkins' life in 1940s New York. She has her own Verdi social club, appearing in tableaux vivant, most notably as an angel or  a valkyrie. As Jenkins was suspended above the stage, it was no easy feat.

Blayfield (Hugh Grant) is her common-law husband and acting manager, who cares for her but does mind in driving off for an idyll with his mistress Kathleen (Rebecca Ferguson) at any moment. Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory) has a great comic outing as the silent and sweating Cosme McMoon,  who accompanies the ill-timed singer on the piano and develops an affectionate respect for her in the process.

Frears does the best with his cast: Grant plays the well meaning cad with a good heart, while Helberg gives his cartoonish role some real feeling, going beyond the sweaty forehead and halting voice. From start to finish, though, it is all Meryl Streep as the corrosive crooner. To her credit, she plays it straight with only a hint of camp. The joke, in the manner of a New Yorker cartoon , is how Jenkins appears in the eyes of others. To herself, Jenkins is only doing what is natural.

The juice of this film is that it highlights the passion for performing (albeit through bad singing) that Jenkins was driven by.

One of the best scenes in the film occurs when a belittled Jean Harlow showgirl  (Nina Arianda) tells the US military crowd to cheer instead of insult.  But the howls of derision are never far behind.

Florence Foster Jenkins (Library of Congress)

Refreshing it is to see the humanity of this woman behind the ridicule. Both Meryl Streep and actor Catherine Frot, from the previous "Marguerite", wonderfully highlight the mischievious joy of Florence Jenkins, along with her existential and somewhat vexing quest to achieve her art.

Even if one is not a fan, Florence Foster Jenkins will not be forgotten. The film is a hoot giving a well rounded, light and thoughtful portrait of this eccentric woman with a lopsided throat.


Write Ian at ianfree1@yahoo.com

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