Tropic Cinema

An official selection of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival from award-winning writer/director Justin Chon, Blue Bayou is the moving and timely story of a uniquely American family fighting for their future. Antonio LeBlanc (Chon), a Korean adoptee raised in a small town in the Louisiana bayou, is married to the love of his life Kathy (Alicia Vikander) and step-dad to their beloved daughter Jessie. Struggling to make a better life for his family, he must confront the ghosts of his past when he discovers that he could be deported from the only country he has ever called home.

Based on the book, "Cry Macho" stars Clint Eastwood as a one-time rodeo star and washed up horse breeder who, in 1978, takes a job from an ex-boss to bring the man's young son home and away from his alcoholic mom. Crossing rural Mexico on their back way to Texas, the unlikely pair faces an unexpectedly challenging journey, during which the world-weary horseman may find his own sense of redemption through teaching the boy what it means to be a good man.

Film adaptation of the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical about Evan Hansen, a high school senior with Social Anxiety disorder and his journey of self-discovery and acceptance following the suicide of a fellow classmate.

Tropic Cinema’s Club Series, MUSIC ON FILM, a weekly gathering of people interested in exploring the ways music and its stories are represented on film is now open to the public. The Club delves into all genres and periods of music, its creation, performance, representation and history. If you love films and documentaries about music, and are interested in learning about a wide variety of artists and genres, then this may be the club for you. Past meeting topics included Depeche Mode, Madonna, Metallica and Talking Heads; future sessions will discuss The Who, Beastie Boys, composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, Daniel Johnston, David Bowie, Soul Music of the 1960s, Thelonious Monk and other jazz greats, music engineer Tom Dowd and the music films of Martin Scorsese, among others. A monthly Club Pass costs $45 per which covers the use of the theater and all meetings in a month (4 or 5, depending on the month). Single session Passes are not available. This Club is interactive and collaborative, and so members are encouraged to participate in the selection and presentation of topics at future meetings. The MUSIC ON FILM is separate from Tropic Cinema and Tropic Cinema membership. To join the Club, a Club Pass must be purchased.

And So I Stayed is an award-winning documentary about survivors of abuse fighting for their lives and spending years behind bars. These women paid a steep price with long prison sentences, lost time with loved ones, and painful memories. Activist and formerly incarcerated survivor Kim Dadou Brown, who met her wife while incarcerated, is a driving force in the passage of New York’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA), a new law meant to prevent survivors from receiving harsh prison sentences for their acts of survival. Nikki Addimando, a mother of two young children, suffered the consequences when a judge didn’t follow the law’s guidelines. Tanisha Davis, a single mother who was ripped away from her son in 2013, is hopeful the new law is her way out of a harsh prison sentence. This film is made for and by survivors. For them/us to feel heard, seen, and believed. Read more about the film in The New York Times.

Home to one of the region’s largest law enforcement education programs, students at Horizon High School in El Paso train to become police officers and Border Patrol agents as they discover the realities of their dream jobs may be at odds with the truths and people they hold most dear. A pre-recorded conversation discussing the film's subject matter and the filmmaking process with the filmmaker, Maisie Crow, will show after the film.

After a 75-year-old immigrant mother gets fired without cause from her lifelong job as a hotel housekeeper, her son takes her on a bucket-list adventure to reclaim her life. As she struggles to find work, he documents a journey that uncovers the economic insecurity shaping not only her future but that of an entire generation.

When 32-year-old activist and father Ady Barkan is diagnosed with ALS and given four years to live, he finds himself in a deep depression, struggling to connect with his newborn son, whose presence reminds him of the future he will miss. But after a chance confrontation with Senator Jeff Flake goes viral, Ady decides to embark on a cross-country tour of America, using his final breaths to fight for healthcare justice. Ultimately, Ady discovers that collective action and speaking truth to power offers a source of hope for the future that transforms his relationship with his son and his belief in what is possible for his family.

Redemption is the long game in Paul Schrader’s THE CARD COUNTER. Told with Schrader’s trademark cinematic intensity, the revenge thriller tells the story of an ex-military interrogator turned gambler haunted by the ghosts of his past decisions, and features riveting performances from stars Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan and Willem Dafoe.

An intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker. In the 1970s and 80s, Tammy Faye and her husband, Jim Bakker, rose from humble beginnings to create the world's largest religious broadcasting network and theme park, and were revered for their message of love, acceptance and prosperity. Tammy Faye was legendary for her indelible eyelashes, her idiosyncratic singing, and her eagerness to embrace people from all walks of life. However, it wasn't long before financial improprieties, scheming rivals, and scandal toppled their carefully constructed empire.

Come sing, dance and do the Time Warp at the Tropic — it’s “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” hosted by Landon Bradbary! This low-budget freak show/cult classic/cultural institution concerns the misadventures of Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) inside a strange mansion on a rainy night. When their car breaks down and they seek refuge, the ghoulish butler Riff Raff introduces them to a bacchanalian collection of partygoers. Their host is a transvestite clad in lingerie, Dr. Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry), a mad scientist who claims to be from another planet. Things get stranger from there. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a “Rocky Horror” virgin, come join us for a scary good time. Costumes encouraged!

Celebrate Tom Petty's Birthday with us! Drawn from a newly discovered archive of 16mm film showing Tom Petty at work on his 1994 record “Wildflowers,” considered by many including Rolling Stone to be his greatest album ever, “Somewhere You Feel Free” is an intimate view of a musical icon.