What's On At the Tropic
By Phil Mann
This week's offerings are making me nostalgic. Next spring marks the tenth anniversary of the Key West Film Society. Back in the Society's first year, one of its first films was The Celebration, a very creative, but excruciating, movie about a family reunion that becomes a disaster when some family members bring up inconvenient truths. RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, now running at the Tropic, reminds me of that earlier film.
The Celebration was an experimental movie (Dogma 95, if you remember that), shot handheld with no supplemental lighting, and the Film Society showed it with rickety 16mm projectors and a sound system so bad the audience was happy that it was subtitled. RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, on the other hand, profits from the Tropic's A-level 35mm projection system and Dolby digital sound. It features a bona fide movie star, Anne Hathaway, and was directed by one of America's premier directors, Jonathan Demme. But it is also full of handheld shots, minimal lighting and an absence of background musical distraction.
And the story has a similar harrowing quality. We, the audience that is, join a family welcoming their errant daughter home on furlough from rehab to attend the wedding of her sister. We're at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding itself, squirming all the while as this troubled woman shows how vulnerable a family's dynamics are to the behavior of its least accommodating member. It is an event and a process with which we can all identify. Hathaway's performance is so real it's difficult not to jump to the screen and throttle her. She has come a long way from her origins in the Disney Princess Diaries, and is highly touted for an Oscar nomination.
More nostalgia. This spring will also be the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Tropic. Which brings to mind the early fund-raising parties when the founders set out a group of proposed theater seats and solicited patron preferences. Among the choices, tongue-in-cheek, was a wooden replica of an electric chair with straps and other essentials. It was really a prop from a local movie being shot in the empty warehouse that would become the theater. Well, that movie has finally made it to the screen, and it will premiere at the Tropic next Tuesday. LUCID is the project of local filmmakers Chris Shultz and Mike Marrero, and it was worth the wait. If you want to know the plot, check out www.LucidTheFilm.com. You'll love the cast, with locals including Richard Grusin, Peter Downie, Robin Deck, Gordon Ross, George Murphy and Rock Solomon. And, trust me, you'll love the movie, too.
Also, premiering next week is the first in a series TUESDAYS WITH ART, movies about art and artists curated by Deborah Goldman and Joel Blair. The series is the offshoot of a day-long art-movie fest sponsored by Goldman at the Tropic last year. With the encouragement of the Film Society and some generous sponsorship, this series will run on the first Tuesday of every month throughout the winter season. This year's theme is kinetic sculpture, and it opens with two films about Alexander Calder. The series is free and open to the public, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. A social gathering and discussion will follow the screening.
More info and schedules at TropicCinema.com. Comments to pmann99@gmail.com
[from Key West, the newspaper - www.kwtn.com]
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Tuesdays with Art - Kinetic Sculpture (Rhoades)
Not Art Films, But Films About Art
Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades
I have two colorful lithographs by Alexander Calder hanging in my family room amid an array of Haitian paintings. It’s amazing how well these pieces of modern art blend with the primary colors of those primitive paintings.
Of course, Calder is better known for his kinetic sculptures, particularly mobiles and other things that dingle-dangle in the name of art.
But don’t take my word for it. Go see “Kinetic Sculpture,” a pair of films about Alexander Calder that are playing this coming Tuesday at the Tropic Cinema. This is the first session of “Tuesdays With Art,” a six-month series of movies about notable artists.
Sponsored by the Key West Film Society, these films will be shown on the first Tuesday of the month through May 5, 2009. These movies start at 5:30 p.m., followed by a lively discussion about the movie and the artist, concluding with an informal social hour in the lobby of The Tropic.
Admission is free and open to the public.
The December 2 session features two films that cover Cirque Calder (“Calder’s Circus”) in the late ’20s, his invention of the mobile in the early ’30s, and his later creation of stabiles.
In addition to kinetic sculptures, Calder created toys, tapestries, jewelry, paintings, even carpets.
Known to his friends as “Sandy,” he represented the third generation of sculptors in his family, each of them named Alexander Calder.
Receiving a degree in 1919 from Stevens Institute of Technology, he worked in a number of engineering jobs before deciding to apply his drafting and hydraulics skills to art.
His public works became famous. His monumental stabile “La Grande Vitesse,” located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was the first public work of art in the United States to be funded with federal monies.
His WTC Stabile (also known as “The Cockeyed Propeller”) that stood in front of 7 World Trade Center was destroyed during the 9/11 attack.
In 2003, nearly 30 years after his death, one of his sculptures was sold for $5.2 million at a Christie's auction in New York.
See, there will be lots to talk about after the movie.
srhoades@aol.com
[from Solares Hill]
Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades
I have two colorful lithographs by Alexander Calder hanging in my family room amid an array of Haitian paintings. It’s amazing how well these pieces of modern art blend with the primary colors of those primitive paintings.
Of course, Calder is better known for his kinetic sculptures, particularly mobiles and other things that dingle-dangle in the name of art.
But don’t take my word for it. Go see “Kinetic Sculpture,” a pair of films about Alexander Calder that are playing this coming Tuesday at the Tropic Cinema. This is the first session of “Tuesdays With Art,” a six-month series of movies about notable artists.
Sponsored by the Key West Film Society, these films will be shown on the first Tuesday of the month through May 5, 2009. These movies start at 5:30 p.m., followed by a lively discussion about the movie and the artist, concluding with an informal social hour in the lobby of The Tropic.
Admission is free and open to the public.
The December 2 session features two films that cover Cirque Calder (“Calder’s Circus”) in the late ’20s, his invention of the mobile in the early ’30s, and his later creation of stabiles.
In addition to kinetic sculptures, Calder created toys, tapestries, jewelry, paintings, even carpets.
Known to his friends as “Sandy,” he represented the third generation of sculptors in his family, each of them named Alexander Calder.
Receiving a degree in 1919 from Stevens Institute of Technology, he worked in a number of engineering jobs before deciding to apply his drafting and hydraulics skills to art.
His public works became famous. His monumental stabile “La Grande Vitesse,” located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was the first public work of art in the United States to be funded with federal monies.
His WTC Stabile (also known as “The Cockeyed Propeller”) that stood in front of 7 World Trade Center was destroyed during the 9/11 attack.
In 2003, nearly 30 years after his death, one of his sculptures was sold for $5.2 million at a Christie's auction in New York.
See, there will be lots to talk about after the movie.
srhoades@aol.com
[from Solares Hill]
Rachel Getting Married (Rhoades)
‘Rachel Getting Married’ Is Like a Wedding Video
Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades
Years ago I used to have lunch in a little diner just off Mulberry Street near New York’s Little Italy, its walls festooned with posters paying homage to films by director Jonathan Demme, his nephew Ted, and Jim Jarmusch. These up-from-the-streets filmmakers often ate there when in the neighborhood. I’d sometimes see one or the other at the counter, chatting with the owners and waitresses about his latest movie.
Sitting there amid posters and memorabilia for “Silence of the Lambs,” “Philadelphia,” “Something Wild,” “Beautiful Girls,” and “Mystery Train,” I’d order a fat meatball sandwich and eavesdrop on their conversations. Mostly small talk about actors and studios and fans.
Jonathan Demme’s latest film – a slice-of-life drama called “Rachel Getting Married” – is currently playing at the Tropic Cinema.
‘Rachel Getting Married’ is not really about Rachel. It’s more about her sister Kym who comes home during the weekend of Rachel’s wedding. Kym is the Prodigal Daughter (to adjust the phrase) who’s been estranged from the family for years while wrestling with her own personal demons. Fresh out of rehab, she flits into the Connecticut household with the subtly of a tornado. Her return throws off the precarious balance of family dynamics with both heartbreaking and hilarious results.
At one point she sarcastically refers to herself as “Shiva the Destroyer.” It’s an apt metaphor.
No, Ann Hathaway isn’t a Disney princess in this movie, as she adroitly tries on the skin of self-destructive sister Kym. It’s been called “a breakthrough performance.”
Rosemarie DeWitt makes a great Rachel, exhibiting an understandable sense of resentment as her outrageous sister steals the spotlight from the impending nuptials.
Debra Winger is the film’s surprise casting, playing against type to give us a remote mother who is emotionally disconnected from her family.
With “Rachel Getting Married” Demme uses a home-video style that at first seems appropriate for this family drama – but after a while you long for the polished professionalism of a Hollywood cinematographer with a steadicam.
The script by Jenny Lumet displays insight into the relationships between sisters. Jenny is the daughter of acclaimed director Sidney Lumet. And as sister of sound editor Amy Lumet, she’s got some experience with this subject matter.
The film’s interracial marriage is hardly an eyebrow-raiser these days, audiences long past the “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” era. And it’s not a surprising plot element, considering that Lumet’s grandmother is legendary Lena Horne.
Demme has said he’d rather do documentaries than work with actors. An odd attitude for a guy who has directed seven Oscar-nominated performances – with four wins (Jodie Foster, Mary Steenburgen, Anthony Hopkins, and Tom Hanks).
In “Rachel Getting Married,” Hathaway, DeWitt, and Winger each give memorable performances. Although brief, Winger’s role is particularly mesmerizing.
This movie is like watching a home movie about a dysfunctional family. Being a wedding video, you know it’s a big occasion for everyone involved. However, sitting through “Rachel Getting Married” is vaguely uncomfortable, like watching family members fight in front of you.
srhoades@aol.com
[from Solares Hill]
Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades
Years ago I used to have lunch in a little diner just off Mulberry Street near New York’s Little Italy, its walls festooned with posters paying homage to films by director Jonathan Demme, his nephew Ted, and Jim Jarmusch. These up-from-the-streets filmmakers often ate there when in the neighborhood. I’d sometimes see one or the other at the counter, chatting with the owners and waitresses about his latest movie.
Sitting there amid posters and memorabilia for “Silence of the Lambs,” “Philadelphia,” “Something Wild,” “Beautiful Girls,” and “Mystery Train,” I’d order a fat meatball sandwich and eavesdrop on their conversations. Mostly small talk about actors and studios and fans.
Jonathan Demme’s latest film – a slice-of-life drama called “Rachel Getting Married” – is currently playing at the Tropic Cinema.
‘Rachel Getting Married’ is not really about Rachel. It’s more about her sister Kym who comes home during the weekend of Rachel’s wedding. Kym is the Prodigal Daughter (to adjust the phrase) who’s been estranged from the family for years while wrestling with her own personal demons. Fresh out of rehab, she flits into the Connecticut household with the subtly of a tornado. Her return throws off the precarious balance of family dynamics with both heartbreaking and hilarious results.
At one point she sarcastically refers to herself as “Shiva the Destroyer.” It’s an apt metaphor.
No, Ann Hathaway isn’t a Disney princess in this movie, as she adroitly tries on the skin of self-destructive sister Kym. It’s been called “a breakthrough performance.”
Rosemarie DeWitt makes a great Rachel, exhibiting an understandable sense of resentment as her outrageous sister steals the spotlight from the impending nuptials.
Debra Winger is the film’s surprise casting, playing against type to give us a remote mother who is emotionally disconnected from her family.
With “Rachel Getting Married” Demme uses a home-video style that at first seems appropriate for this family drama – but after a while you long for the polished professionalism of a Hollywood cinematographer with a steadicam.
The script by Jenny Lumet displays insight into the relationships between sisters. Jenny is the daughter of acclaimed director Sidney Lumet. And as sister of sound editor Amy Lumet, she’s got some experience with this subject matter.
The film’s interracial marriage is hardly an eyebrow-raiser these days, audiences long past the “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” era. And it’s not a surprising plot element, considering that Lumet’s grandmother is legendary Lena Horne.
Demme has said he’d rather do documentaries than work with actors. An odd attitude for a guy who has directed seven Oscar-nominated performances – with four wins (Jodie Foster, Mary Steenburgen, Anthony Hopkins, and Tom Hanks).
In “Rachel Getting Married,” Hathaway, DeWitt, and Winger each give memorable performances. Although brief, Winger’s role is particularly mesmerizing.
This movie is like watching a home movie about a dysfunctional family. Being a wedding video, you know it’s a big occasion for everyone involved. However, sitting through “Rachel Getting Married” is vaguely uncomfortable, like watching family members fight in front of you.
srhoades@aol.com
[from Solares Hill]
Lucid (Rhoades)
‘Lucid’ Offers Devil of a Premiere at Tropic Cinema
Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades
A devilish problem for moviemakers: There’s a Bible Belt out there that hates Halloween, eschews “Harry Potter” because it’s about witches, and boycotts movies that have satanic themes.
Years ago when I was launching Cricket, a literary magazine for kids, I could count on getting tons of reader complaints whenever I ran a classic story like Stephen Vincent Benét’s “The Devil and Daniel Webster.”
Sure, there have been some successful devil movies – from “Rosemary’s Baby” to “Damn Yankees” – but actor-director Alec Baldwin found out the hard way when he tried to produce a movie version of “The Devil and Daniel Webster,” with Anthony Hopkins as ol’ Daniel and Jennifer Love Hewitt as a beautiful Devil. No, you’ve never seen it, because the production ran out of money and nobody would pony up the funds for a devil movie.
Undaunted by such red-states mentality, Key West writer/director Michael Marrero, producer Christopher Shultz, and writer/actor John Crawford spent seven long years bringing their devil-themed movie to the big screen.
You can catch a world premiere showing of “Lucid” next Tuesday night at the Tropic Cinema. The screening starts at 8 p.m. but you’ll want to get there an hour or so earlier to meet members of the cast and crew. No, Lucifer himself won’t be there, but the actor stand-in will be!
Filmed entirely in Key West, the cast includes such familiar faces as Richard Grusin, George Murphy, Michael “Gigzy” Fisher, Robin Deck, Michael “Champ” Jolly, and Rob Edaragin, among many others.
Despite all those years in the making, the arrival of “Lucid” is well timed – immediately following the US presidential elections – for the film is about an election between God and the Devil, each vying for the title of Ultimate Supreme Being.
In this alternate universe where God and the Devil are competing for your vote, a man called Pope (ably played by local bartender Justin Bowden) is busily collecting souls in order to ransom back his comatose wife’s life.
Like any proper election, “Lucid” opens with a debate between the two candidates. Political issues range from euthanasia to capital punishment.
“Thou Shall Not Kill,” says God
“An Eye for an Eye,” counters the Devil
“Lucid” features several films within the film, campaign promos where the candidates deliver “paid” messages, either pro-abortion or anti-killing depending on which deity is approving the message.
Co-scripted by Mike Marrero and John Crawford, with an assist by Chris Shultz, “Lucid” went through more than a dozen rewrites. The film was completely reshot more than once, with only 10 seconds of the original production remaining in this final version.
All the effort – the rewrites, the reshoots, the shouting matches, and near-fistfights – paid off. “Lucid” is a highly original film.
The acting is quite good, the parts well cast. John Crawford plays God with the zeal of a tent-show revivalist, while Jennifer Cohen portrays the Devil as a smiling dark-eyed temptress. Justin Bowden, with his short-cropped hair, engaging British accent, and commanding physicality, makes a perfect protagonist, a man beleaguered by his soul-collecting mission. Jed Sloe is convincing as a Bible-thumping minister. Gordon Ross is smooth-as-silk as the moderator of the election debates. Thirteen-year-old Hannah Holbrook proves herself a natural as a precocious blonde orphan. And Chris Shultz delivers an enthusiastic cameo as Dr. Giggles, a bloodied popeyed agent of the Devil.
“The film doesn’t fall into any one genre,” Mike Marrero told me as we chatted at the White Tarpon where Chris Shultz bartends as a day job.
True enough. You’ll at times be reminded of “Angel Heart” or “Jacob’s Ladder” or “Barton Fink.” Yet its sense of humor and streaks of irony give it a deliberate “Evil Dead” tone.
In addition to writing and directing duties, Marrero also served as the film’s cinematographer, proving to have a good eye for composition, a talent for lighting, and a sure-fire sense of the grotesque.
David Berman, a film school pal of Chris Shultz, edited “Lucid” with a professional hand, a final cut that often startles the audience with the juxtapositioning of sinister and comical sequences.
The original score was composed by Harry Pierce and Rock Solomon, fortified with such old standards as “Hernando’s Hideaway” and “Between the Devil and Deep Blue Sea.”
“Lucid” is Marrero’s third outing as a filmmaker, his first two films being shorts called “Southernmost Point” and “Square Grouper.” This is Shultz’s first feature film.
The two thirtysomethings are products of their generation – Steven Spielberg fans. Despite diverse backgrounds – Mike a born-in-Key-West Conch of Cuban heritage, Chris a Nordic type from Minnesota – both grew up watching “Indiana Jones” and “Star Wars” films.
Having studied photography at FSU, Marrero describes himself as a filmmaker, painter, and writer. Sitting there at the White Tarpon, wearing a porkpie hat and checkered shirt, he has a jovial air about him, relaxed amid these familiar surroundings. On the other side of the bar is Shultz, slender and blond, a graduate of Emerson College where he received a degree in film. And there in spirit was the long-absent Crawford, the New Orleans-based engineer who co-scripted the film with Marrero and plays the role of God.
The boys admit that during the film’s production tension among them was palpable. According to production notes, “it is learned that while Shultz has a temper, it is no match for the thick head of Marrero.”
The blow-by-blow description of making the film can be found at: www.lucidthefilm.com/pdf/press.pdf – an interesting read in itself.
While some movies carry a disclaimer stating no animals were injured in the making of the film, Mike and Chris point out that eight friends, one chicken, and two dogs died during their seven years of producing “Lucid.” You’ll see them remembered in the film’s credits.
The end credits also acknowledge that the film’s creators “may have damaged brain cells during making of this movie.” Like I said earlier, you’d have to be crazy to make a devil movie.
Was it worth it? “You bet,” says Mike Marrero.
Was the final film anything like he expected? “Not a chance in hell,” he shakes his head wryly. “The film directed itself.”
Hey, I expected him to say the devil made him do it.
srhoades@aol.com
[from Solares Hill]
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Week of November 21 to November 27 (Mann)
What’s On At The Tropic
By Phil Mann
Things are really revving up at the Tropic for the coming holiday season. Thanksgiving turns the cinema world topsy-turvy with new films opening next week on Wednesday rather than the usual Friday. So you’ve got to pay careful attention to the schedule if you don’t want to miss some great entertainment.
Okay, let’s go. Today (Friday, Nov. 21) is opening day for two new comedies. HAPPY-GO-LUCKY is director Mike Leigh’s latest. This British filmmaker is best known for more serious fare. Secrets and Lies starred Brenda Blythen as a working-class white woman whose past is exposed when a baby she gave up for adoption years early traces her down. The grown child is a successful black woman. Vera Drake starred Imelda Staunton as a beneficent abortionist (in the pre-legal days) whose life and family is torn apart when the police close in. I mention this background because it reminds us of how Leigh has a history of getting spellbinding performances from actors playing “ordinary” women. Vanity Fair has called him the "the bearded bard of social realism" In HAPPY-GO-LUCKY he continues his string with a comic turn. Sally Hawkins (who had a small role in Vera Drake) plays a cock-eyed optimist who cheers everyone around her, even such persons as a driving instructor who channels his road rage against her when she is his student. She’s just what we all need today. As the Baltimore Sun reviewer says, “it’s the first great comedy for our new depression.” It’ll be running through December 4.
The other new comedy is I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND. Don’t be misled. This Czech film has nothing to do with the King of England, or indeed England at all. Jan is a restaurant server whose peripatetic career takes him to a luxury bordello-hotel that turns into a breeding ground for Aryans during WW II, and on from there. It’s got subtitles, but don’t let that discourage you. With much of the humor visual, you’ll recall Chaplin or Jacques Tati as you watch this Oscar-nominated confection. ALERT: You’ve only got five days to see it, because its running until next Tuesday.
On Wednesday, this Czech comedy makes way for an American one, WHAT JUST HAPPENED, starring Robert DeNiro as Ben, a harassed Hollywood producer whose wife is leaving him and whose new leading actor, Bruce Willis (playing himself), is freaking out. With Catherine Keener as a vicious studio head, John Turturro as Willis’ agent, and Sean Penn as the star of Ben’s last, and failed, film; the cast has the indie film cred to skewer the industry, and it does. Barry Levinson is the director here, expanding his comedy oeuvre after Wag the Dog. The reviewers have been mixed on it, but I have to agree with the San Francisco Chronicle: What Just Happened “makes Hollywood look like a very expensive, lethal version of high school, but lots of fun from a safe distance.”
Also opening on Wednesday is RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, with Anne Hathaway (The Princess Diaries, Becoming Jane, The Devil Wears Prada) as a young woman on a weekend furlough from alcohol rehab to attend… and mess up… her sister’s wedding. This is an acting breakthrough role for Hathaway, generating much buzz about a Best Actor nomination. It’ll be playing for a while, so I’ll save it for next week’s column. But you’ve been tipped off; Oscar is looking on.
Full schedule and details at TropicCinema.com. Comments to pmann99@gmail.com.
By Phil Mann
Things are really revving up at the Tropic for the coming holiday season. Thanksgiving turns the cinema world topsy-turvy with new films opening next week on Wednesday rather than the usual Friday. So you’ve got to pay careful attention to the schedule if you don’t want to miss some great entertainment.
Okay, let’s go. Today (Friday, Nov. 21) is opening day for two new comedies. HAPPY-GO-LUCKY is director Mike Leigh’s latest. This British filmmaker is best known for more serious fare. Secrets and Lies starred Brenda Blythen as a working-class white woman whose past is exposed when a baby she gave up for adoption years early traces her down. The grown child is a successful black woman. Vera Drake starred Imelda Staunton as a beneficent abortionist (in the pre-legal days) whose life and family is torn apart when the police close in. I mention this background because it reminds us of how Leigh has a history of getting spellbinding performances from actors playing “ordinary” women. Vanity Fair has called him the "the bearded bard of social realism" In HAPPY-GO-LUCKY he continues his string with a comic turn. Sally Hawkins (who had a small role in Vera Drake) plays a cock-eyed optimist who cheers everyone around her, even such persons as a driving instructor who channels his road rage against her when she is his student. She’s just what we all need today. As the Baltimore Sun reviewer says, “it’s the first great comedy for our new depression.” It’ll be running through December 4.
The other new comedy is I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND. Don’t be misled. This Czech film has nothing to do with the King of England, or indeed England at all. Jan is a restaurant server whose peripatetic career takes him to a luxury bordello-hotel that turns into a breeding ground for Aryans during WW II, and on from there. It’s got subtitles, but don’t let that discourage you. With much of the humor visual, you’ll recall Chaplin or Jacques Tati as you watch this Oscar-nominated confection. ALERT: You’ve only got five days to see it, because its running until next Tuesday.
On Wednesday, this Czech comedy makes way for an American one, WHAT JUST HAPPENED, starring Robert DeNiro as Ben, a harassed Hollywood producer whose wife is leaving him and whose new leading actor, Bruce Willis (playing himself), is freaking out. With Catherine Keener as a vicious studio head, John Turturro as Willis’ agent, and Sean Penn as the star of Ben’s last, and failed, film; the cast has the indie film cred to skewer the industry, and it does. Barry Levinson is the director here, expanding his comedy oeuvre after Wag the Dog. The reviewers have been mixed on it, but I have to agree with the San Francisco Chronicle: What Just Happened “makes Hollywood look like a very expensive, lethal version of high school, but lots of fun from a safe distance.”
Also opening on Wednesday is RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, with Anne Hathaway (The Princess Diaries, Becoming Jane, The Devil Wears Prada) as a young woman on a weekend furlough from alcohol rehab to attend… and mess up… her sister’s wedding. This is an acting breakthrough role for Hathaway, generating much buzz about a Best Actor nomination. It’ll be playing for a while, so I’ll save it for next week’s column. But you’ve been tipped off; Oscar is looking on.
Full schedule and details at TropicCinema.com. Comments to pmann99@gmail.com.
[from Key West, the newspaper - www.kwtn.com]
Happy-Go-Lucky (Rhoades)
‘Happy-Go-Lucky’ Is More Happy Than Lucky
Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades
Remember that orgiastic scene in “When Harry Met Sally” where the woman at the next table said, “I’ll have whatever she’s having”? Well, that’s the way I felt about Poppy, the irrepressibly optimistic Londoner in “Happy-Go-Lucky” – the delightful comedy that’s opening today at the Tropic Cinema.
If they could bottle her enthusiasm, I’d take a case or two.
Poppy may as well have been named Pollyanna, for she’s the most optimistic gal to hit the screens since Halley Mills.
Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades
Remember that orgiastic scene in “When Harry Met Sally” where the woman at the next table said, “I’ll have whatever she’s having”? Well, that’s the way I felt about Poppy, the irrepressibly optimistic Londoner in “Happy-Go-Lucky” – the delightful comedy that’s opening today at the Tropic Cinema.
If they could bottle her enthusiasm, I’d take a case or two.
Poppy may as well have been named Pollyanna, for she’s the most optimistic gal to hit the screens since Halley Mills.
This new Mike Leigh film follows a goofy 30-year-old primary school teacher over a two-week period during which time she learns to drive, takes dancing lessons, encounters a homeless man, and has an affair with a social worker.
This is not so much a story as a personality sketch, a portrait of, well, a happy-go-lucky young woman.
You may find Poppy a bit much in the beginning. She’s loud, boisterous, makes awful jokes, and is so bubbly that you want to strangle her. She’s got a laugh that will drive you crazy … until you find yourself laughing with her.
Sally Hawkins delivers a star-turn performance as Poppy. She won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival. And there’s Oscar buzz.
You’ve probably seen her in previous Mike Leigh films, “Vera Drake” and “All or Nothing.” His other biggies was “Secrets & Lies.” None of those offer the lighthearted comedy that he gives us with “Happy-Go-Lucky.”
The film won Mike Leigh a Bringer of Joy Award at the Norwegian International Film Festival, an honor bestowed by theater owners. All the more satisfying because you don’t generally think of him as making happy films.
And truth be told, under the surface, “Happy-Go-Lucky” is a somewhat depressing film. Leigh likes to get his social digs in, particularly in portraying the middle class as “grasping, shallow, materialistic snobs.” And Poppy’s bubbly spirit is really a fun-house mirror that reminds us of
our own innate cynicism.
Some moviegoers have compared “Happy-Go-Lucky” to “Amelie,” another film about an upbeat, eccentric young lady who manages to charm the audience. But everybody doesn’t agree. There a blog about “Happy-Go-Lucky” that is titled “Most Annoying Film Character Ever ….”
Love her or hate her, Poppy displays an exuberant personality. The secret here is that you come to discover that she’s more than a mindless buffoon. She’s caring, kind, and has a sadness all her own. Just like you and me.
Love her or hate her, Poppy displays an exuberant personality. The secret here is that you come to discover that she’s more than a mindless buffoon. She’s caring, kind, and has a sadness all her own. Just like you and me.
srhoades@aol.com
[from Solares Hill]
[from Solares Hill]
Friday, November 14, 2008
Week of November 14 to November 20 (Mann)
What’s On At The Tropic
by Phil Mann
When is a movie theater not a movie theater? When it’s an opera hall. When it’s a ballet stage. When it’s a rock venue. That’s the Tropic.
Last Wednesday saw the opening of the new Tropic opera season with the Teatro La Fenice production of Rossini’s BARBIERE DI SEVIGLIA, with the sexy Rinat Shaham as Rosina. That opera will return for an encore matinee next Wednesday at 2:00pm. It’s only the first of a series from the great opera venues of Europe – including La Scala, the Glyndebourne Festival and the Salzburg Festival, all specially filmed in high definition with surround sound, and all with English subtitles.
You’ll shortly be hearing of the winter ballet season, with dance from the Kirov and Bolshoi companies, among others. So dust off your tux for some high culture on Eaton Street.
But if your taste runs to the other end of the music spectrum, how about THE WHO, live in concert from Gaumont State Theater in Kilburn, North London in December, 1977. Filmed in connection with the making of the documentary The Kids Are All Right, it was one of the last performances of the original group. Drummer Keith Moon died the next year. The footage was never edited for release until now, when a new DVD has been prepared for sale later this month. Thanks to the Tropic’s partnership with Emerging Pictures, they’re able to present this preview showing on the big screen in the Carper. It’s Roger Daltry, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon, in high def and surround sound, larger than life. One show only at 10:00pm on Saturday.
Did I mention that both these shows will be projected with the Carper Theater’s new $25,000 Panasonic 3-chip DLP projector, which blasts a brighter image with blacker blacks and richer color on the 25-foot screen? It’s a fact.
Meanwhile, on the 35mm movie front, the new-classic western APPALOOSA brings Ed Harris and Vigo Mortensen to the screen as iconic Western figures, a team of itinerant lawmen hired to take on a corrupt and rapacious rancher, played by Jeremy Irons. Do you need to know more? Okay, there’s also Renee Zellweger as the femme who turns Harris’ eye, to the bemusement of his buddy. Based on a novel by Robert B. Parker, which supplies much of the snappy dialogue as well as the plot, this is a movie for anyone who loves the genre. As Variety might put it, it’s an “old-school oater,” with the clash between obvious good and evil, shootouts, tough guys of both ilks, and a pretty girl. And it’s all beautifully photographed, and directed with cool economy by Harris. As the Baltimore Sun puts it, “the tang of good old-fashioned Westerns only improves with time. Appaloosa, a story of two lawmen who clean up the title town at some personal cost, goes down like a single-malt aged for 25 years.”
For Mary Sparacio’s Monday night classic, she’s picked WILD STRAWBERRIES, one the trio of films from the fifties (along with Smiles of a Summer Night and The Seventh Seal) that established Ingmar Bergman as a master. From the time it was released, just over fifty years ago, critics have always seen parallels in the film to Bergman’s own life. With his death last summer, it’s an appropriate time for another viewing.
Full details and info at TropicCinema.com. Comments to pmann99@gmail.com.
[from Key West, the newspaper - www.kwtn.com]
by Phil Mann
When is a movie theater not a movie theater? When it’s an opera hall. When it’s a ballet stage. When it’s a rock venue. That’s the Tropic.
Last Wednesday saw the opening of the new Tropic opera season with the Teatro La Fenice production of Rossini’s BARBIERE DI SEVIGLIA, with the sexy Rinat Shaham as Rosina. That opera will return for an encore matinee next Wednesday at 2:00pm. It’s only the first of a series from the great opera venues of Europe – including La Scala, the Glyndebourne Festival and the Salzburg Festival, all specially filmed in high definition with surround sound, and all with English subtitles.
You’ll shortly be hearing of the winter ballet season, with dance from the Kirov and Bolshoi companies, among others. So dust off your tux for some high culture on Eaton Street.
But if your taste runs to the other end of the music spectrum, how about THE WHO, live in concert from Gaumont State Theater in Kilburn, North London in December, 1977. Filmed in connection with the making of the documentary The Kids Are All Right, it was one of the last performances of the original group. Drummer Keith Moon died the next year. The footage was never edited for release until now, when a new DVD has been prepared for sale later this month. Thanks to the Tropic’s partnership with Emerging Pictures, they’re able to present this preview showing on the big screen in the Carper. It’s Roger Daltry, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon, in high def and surround sound, larger than life. One show only at 10:00pm on Saturday.
Did I mention that both these shows will be projected with the Carper Theater’s new $25,000 Panasonic 3-chip DLP projector, which blasts a brighter image with blacker blacks and richer color on the 25-foot screen? It’s a fact.
Meanwhile, on the 35mm movie front, the new-classic western APPALOOSA brings Ed Harris and Vigo Mortensen to the screen as iconic Western figures, a team of itinerant lawmen hired to take on a corrupt and rapacious rancher, played by Jeremy Irons. Do you need to know more? Okay, there’s also Renee Zellweger as the femme who turns Harris’ eye, to the bemusement of his buddy. Based on a novel by Robert B. Parker, which supplies much of the snappy dialogue as well as the plot, this is a movie for anyone who loves the genre. As Variety might put it, it’s an “old-school oater,” with the clash between obvious good and evil, shootouts, tough guys of both ilks, and a pretty girl. And it’s all beautifully photographed, and directed with cool economy by Harris. As the Baltimore Sun puts it, “the tang of good old-fashioned Westerns only improves with time. Appaloosa, a story of two lawmen who clean up the title town at some personal cost, goes down like a single-malt aged for 25 years.”
For Mary Sparacio’s Monday night classic, she’s picked WILD STRAWBERRIES, one the trio of films from the fifties (along with Smiles of a Summer Night and The Seventh Seal) that established Ingmar Bergman as a master. From the time it was released, just over fifty years ago, critics have always seen parallels in the film to Bergman’s own life. With his death last summer, it’s an appropriate time for another viewing.
Full details and info at TropicCinema.com. Comments to pmann99@gmail.com.
[from Key West, the newspaper - www.kwtn.com]
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