Week of Jan. 21 to Jan. 27 (Mann)

What’s on at the Tropic
by Phil Mann

Stick with a good thing. That seems to be the motto at the Tropic this week. All five films from last week are being held over: THE KINGS’S SPEECH, BLACK SWAN, THE FIGHTER and ALL GOOD THINGS and BURLESQUE. The first three are bona fide hits, winner of Golden Globe awards and almost sure bets for Academy Award nominations when they’re announced next Tuesday, and the last two are sleeper hits.
This may be your last chance to catch them before the new crop of movies begins to roll in.

Meanwhile, have you never seen THE KEY WEST PICTURE SHOW? Drift down to the Tropic on Saturday for a treat. B.J. Martin’s evergreen pseudo-travelogue will unspool once again in its full forty-minute glory. This is Key West back in the day, 1977 that is. It was a time before cruise ships crowded Mallory dock, and the Pier House was just beginning to restore town as a prime tourist venue. Truman Annex was barely decommissioned as a Navy base, and its deserted buildings were a haven for artists seeking cheap working space.

Return with us to those thrilling days of yesteryear. As Sara Russell says in her famous closing quote, “Honey, you won’t see it again.” That’s Saturday morning at 12:30pm. Five bucks for members and a couple more if you’re not.

And come back on Sunday for a trip to Moscow, because the Bolshoi Ballet is coming to Key West again via live satellite transmission. This time it’s a balletomane’s double feature: CLASS CONCERT and GISELLE. The former is “is a gloriously romanticized version of the ballet class that dancers do every day. From exercises at the barre to displays of beauty and strength center stage,” while the latter is “one of the most technically demanding and emotionally challenging roles in classical dance.” (Washington Post). The double bill is live-in-the-moment at 11:00am EST (7:00pm in Moscow) and then again is what is euphemistically called “delayed live” at 7:00pm EST. This real ballet is an interesting contrast to BLACK SWAN.

Monday night brings the last of the January Classic series on Damsels in Distress, with the notorious SORRY, WRONG NUMBER, starring Barbara Stanwyck as the nagging, bedridden wife of henpecked Burt Lancaster, as both are caught up in a crossed-phone-lines thriller. If you’re interested, best get tickets in advance, because the series has been selling out.

And stay tuned for new feature films next week, maybe I Love You, Philip Morris; or 127 Hours; the opening of the February classics with a Black History Month theme; and a special film to celebrate the Key West Food and Wine Festival.

[from Key West, the newspaper - www.kwtn.com]