Movie Reviews & News
Get the latest news about what's going on at the Tropic, plus movie reviews from our in-house critics, Shirrel Rhoades and Ian Brockway. You’ll also find reviews from film festivals and advance screening movies. Want to make sure you never miss a thing? Follow the Tropic on Facebook for daily updates!
Front Row at the Movies: News of the World
Who has the clout to resurrect the Western genre? Clint Eastwood is too old. Charles Bronson is dead. Gene Hackman is retired. Say, how about Tom Hanks?
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Tropic Sprockets: Wonder Woman 1984
Jenkins’ Wonder Woman is a symbol of the cinema and of the year that will be 2021. In her gleaming red and gold suit, Diana leaps into the sky, at times tumbling like a comet or floating like an alien star. She battles against reality television demagogues and with her golden lasso points the way to moderation and empathy.
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Tropic Sprockets: Assassins
A real life political thriller that is as bizarre as it comes. The documentary is surreal in its sequence where nothing is quite predictable. Both haunting and anxious with heaping doses of noir, this is a portrait of literal savagery.
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Tropic Sprockets: Farewell Amor
“Farewell Amor” is as thoughtful as it is tense. Directed by Ekwa Msangi, it is a slice of life film about an African family from Angola trying to maintain stability between clashes from the East and West and differing cultural perspectives. Although it is a romantic drama it is also anxious and its brisk pace puts the story on the level of a suspense film.
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Tropic Sprockets: Sound of Metal
Ultimately, “Sound of Metal” is not just about a man losing his hearing, but about one unwilling to take a chance on himself, embracing patience and discovering what is within.
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Tropic Sprockets: The Climb
The film is an engrossing character study of a friendship. With elements of Larry David along with the detail of Cassavetes, "The Climb" keeps you guessing from start to finish with some quirky apprehension and a solid helping of black humor.
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Front Row at the Movies: Mank
There has long been a debate over who deserved the most credit for “Citizen Kane,” Mankiewicz or Welles. Pauline Kael wrote a 50,000-word essay crediting Mankiewicz (“Raising Kane”), while director/critic Peter Bogdanovich took the other side in an article titled “The Kane Mutiny.” The new movie “Mank” sides with Pauline. This is an excellent black-and-white film about the early days of Hollywood – in particular about screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz and the writing of “Citizen Kane.”
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Tropic Sprockets: Ammonite
This is an impactful yet delicate story that highlights a little known hero of the scientific world. Although it makes a fine addition to feminist hero films, it also is an historic study of an eccentric person who lived modestly with science and discovery as a personal beacon.
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Tropic Sprockets: Mank
Auteur David Fincher ("The Social Network") has arguably the most visually beautiful film of this year with “Mank,” about the trials of screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz in the production of “Citizen Kane."
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Front Row at the Movies: The Trial of the Chicago 7
The storyline of “The Trial of the Chicago 7” is fixed in history, taken down by a court stenographer. But Aaron Sorkin adds his magic touch. Critic Jacob Drum described his writing style as “one part pioneer; one part self-conscious romantic … but most importantly, spinning a good yarn while he does so.”
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