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!

Tropic Sprockets: Saturday Night

With electricity and surprise, the film’s final words “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” carry startling charge and emotion akin to the original “Rocky.”

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Front Row at the Movies: Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party

While Cameron Crowe's feature film debut was 1989's “Say Anything,” this documentary about the making of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' album “Long After Dark" was actually his first foray as a director. It aired once on MTV in 1983. Then it got “lost.” Now resurrected, the original 16mm reels have been re-mastered and re-released.

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Tropic Sprockets: The Outrun

The torments of addiction and alcoholism are minutely handled in “The Outrun." The film is more spiritually truthful than “Leaving Las Vegas” precisely because not an ounce of added drama is added to this searing yet beautiful narrative.

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Tropic Sprockets: Carrie

Few films capture the female adolescent experience so well—it illustrates such economy in style and such empathy for victims of bullying that the film is simply a masterpiece forty-six years later.

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Tropic Sprockets: A Different Man

“A Different Man" has the tone of a Twilight Zone episode, blended with a Woody Allen sensibility, anchored by fine performances which keep it firmly in bounds without straying into incredulity.

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Tropic Sprockets: Joker: Folie a Deux

Fleck is shy but compelled. Lee’s eyes are big and piercing. She set her father’s house on fire. Fleck shot a talk show host on live television. Two kindred spirits.

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Front Row at the Movies: Joker: Folie a Deux

Although “Joker” was supposed to be a standalone film, both Phoenix and Phillips expressed interest in making a follow-up. The result is a movie that combines “music, dance, drama, courtroom drama, comedy, happiness and sadness and a traditional love story.”

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Tropic Sprockets: Happy Clothes

This kaleidoscopic documentary follows costume designer Patricia Field from here to there as she talks about her eclectic and electric life. The film’s momentum is intimate and buzzing with a who’s who of personalities, which makes it a solid primer for the 70s and 80s in New York City.

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Tropic Sprockets: The Substance

While the over-the-top cautionary tale will alienate some with its blood-soaked visuals, the Twilight Zone story is held together by the strength of its performers: Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley.

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Front Row at the Movies: The Substance

“The Substance” is described as a body horror film, although its not that scary. It’s more about “youth, beauty, the need to be noticed.” I would call it a medical science fiction thriller.

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