By Dennis Tavernetti
“A Cat In Paris” from The World Series presented by Emerging Pictures in HD at USCB Center For the Arts Monday, July 16 at 2 p.m. and Wednesday, July 25 at 6:30 p.m.
Synopsis: Dino is a pet cat that leads a double life. By day he lives with Zoe, a little mute girl whose mother, Jeanne, and is a detective in the Parisian police force. But at night he sneaks out the window to work with Nico — a slinky cat burglar with a big heart, whose fluid movements are poetry in motion — as he evades captors and slips and swishes from rooftop to rooftop across the Paris skyline.
Ratings & Reviews: Internet rating sites, IMDb: 6.9; Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 82/Audience: 72. Good marks. Critics: The New York Times: “… movie-watching pleasure … satisfying as well as charming.”
Previewer Comments: This animated film in French with English subtitles is a fun film for all ages. In this day of computerized animation, this hand drawn film reeks of charm and delightful fancy. The story line provides the basis for the action, but it is the artful drawing/animation of the character’s actions that makes it a worthwhile delight.
Rated: PG for mild violence and action in comedic settings, suitable for whole families and adults.
“Peace, Love and Misunderstanding” from The Indie Series presented by Emerging Pictures in HD at USCB Center For the Arts on Wednesday, July 18 at 2 p.m. and Monday, July 30 at 6:30 p.m.
Synopsis: A limited release comedy about an uptight New York City lawyer who takes her two spirited teenagers to her hippie mother’s farmhouse in the countryside for a family vacation. What was meant to be a getaway quickly turns into a summer adventure of romance, music, family secrets and self discovery.
Ratings & Reviews: Internet rating site, IMDb: 5.1; Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 29/Audience: 49; less than average marks. Critics: New York Post: “A crowd-pleasing comedy.”
Previewer Comments: This limited release film with some very fine actors using an old story line is an adult comedy, which is certainly good for an evening’s diversion.
Rated: R.
“Hysteria” from the Indie Film Series presented by Emerging Pictures in HD at USCB Center For the Arts On Wednesday, July 18 at 6:30 p.m. and Monday, July 23 at 6:30 p.m.
Synopsis: “Hysteria” is a romantic comedy with an accomplished cast that tells an untold tale of discovery — the surprising story of the birth of the electro-mechanical vibrator at the very peak of Victorian prudishness.
Ratings & Reviews: Internet site IMDb 6.7, Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 57/Audiences: 61. OK marks. Critics: Detroit News “… far more wholesome than salacious.”
Previewer Comments: This Indie film set in London is a harmless comedy about serious Victorian era doctors who set out to cure a common female malady for the benefit of medical science and created instead the forerunner to the world’s most popular selling sex toy. Behind the comedy, on a more serious note, it does remind all that a females’ “needs” are not as readily satisfied as the males’, even if the doctors of that age did not originally fully understand that reality and what they were “accomplishing.”
Rated: R for sexual topic content, but largely harmless in its comedic visual presentation.
Tickets for adults are $7, seniors $6, students $5. Call USCB Center for the Arts box office at 843-521-4145 or purchase day of performance. Box office opens one hour prior to show time.
