This post was submitted by Ben K.

Have you heard of a place called City Island? You New Yorkers out there may have, but I would guess to many of the rest of us, the existence of City Island is a surprise. It is a small island off of the Bronx, a small haven from city life.

Raymond De Felitta’s comedic new film, City Island looks at the life of a thoroughly dysfunctional family living on the island. Andy Garcia stars as Vince Rizzo, a prison guard with dreams of being an actor, and hides his late night acting classes from his wife, Joyce (Julianna Marguilies) in embarrassment. She feels his distance and her suspicions obviously lead her to think about what he may really be doing on these late “poker nights” And she is quite the firecracker- unhappy, abrasive, and not afraid to show it. And then there is their kids, a teenage boy with a feeder fetish who wants nothing more than to feed the overweight woman next door, and their college-aged daughter who is stripping in secret to make up for the money she’s lost from losing her scholarship. This is not even to mention the illegitimate son of Andy Garcia (who is unaware that Garcia is his father), who ends up an inmate of the jail Garcia works at- yikes.

When Garcia, out of guilt, bails out his son from prison and brings him home for the month to live with the family, all that’s been lying underneath in the family for years- the pain, the secrets- boils over the top in touching and very funny ways.

The performances in the film are great, particularly those of Garcia and Marguilies. They play their relationship to comedic perfection, and underneath the pain, it is clear that the emotions that flow through them find their inspiration in a love that’s depth is simply waiting to once again be unearthed.

City Island really is a lovely tale of a family at a crossroads that effectively uses many of the dysfunctional family clichés and puts intelligence and heart behind them. Through its clever script, solid performances, and engaging tale- the uniqueness of this comedy shines through the typical conventions of the genre.

But this was a double good movie week for me. My roommate had rented Blade Runner, a movie I haven’t seen in years- and wow, I was completely blown away. The last time I saw it was probably in a film class a decade ago, so the chance to revisit it was an easy sell. And listen, there’s a damn good reason this movie is shown in film schools around the country. It is, in a word, spectacular.

The dystopian vision that it creates of 2019 is one that is washed in classic film noir, tinged with science fiction. The art direction, production design, cinematography, costuming, and makeup work together with Ridley Scott’s expert direction and Vangelis’ crazy good music to make a true classic of artistic cinema. Please, please, please see this movie if you haven’t- and make sure if you do, you get the final director’s cut, put out a few years back. In a side note, seeing it since the arrival of Lady Gaga, it appears that she has based her entire career on this film- the look, the oddness, the whole deal. If you’re a fan of her, see this movie.

Oh and to start this week, I had the pleasure of seeing Florence and the Machine at the House of Blues. I completely fell in love with Florence as soon as a friend had me listen to their debut album, Lungs. Their brand of English alterna-pop is music to my ears, and I can tell you that Florence, with her timid speaking voice, unique and powerful singing voice, and magnetic stage presence didn’t disappoint for a second. I defer to my tng music friends for a better review of her brand of music, but it sure does make me happy.

And next, free night at the Art Institute of Chicago. Like I’ve said before, I’m all about experiencing culture on a dime. Get out their friends and all that your local arts and culture scene has to offer you. And I bet if you look close enough, you’ll find the ease of doing it on the cheap too.

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