For New Yorkers, April means two things: weather so erratic they’ll be wearing jogging shorts and a wool coat on alternate days, and the Tribeca film festival.
Celebrating its 14th year, the festival continues to have a sizable footprint in terms of parties and photo-ops, and has a recognisable impact on launching documentaries, foreign language projects and extremely microbudget independents. But there remains something of an unspoken understanding among critics – that, each year, we hope will be proven wrong. The accepted wisdom is that if there’s a movie on the schedule with a slew of boldfaced names that didn’t debut at Sundance or South by Southwest, it’s a dud. (And I’ve got all the personal anecdotal evidence to support that.)
Nevertheless, with 124 feature films (67 of which are making their world premiere) there are a lot of choices for just 11 days, but here are the 10 that caught my eye.
Talks and special screenings
1. George Lucas and Stephen Colbert, 17 April
Two extremely notable, quasi-unemployed men sit down to talk about … whatever they want, I imagine. Colbert’s nerdish bona fides have been well established, so a chance for him to freak out in front of the most loved (and, strangely, hated) man in fandom will be something to see. Also, it’s a chance to get a preview of what Colbert’s interview skills will be like out of character. And who knows, maybe Lucas, who has been kicked upstairs at Lucasfilm but still has his name on the door, will tell us something about the upcoming Star Wars movie.
2. (Most of) Monty Python, 24-26 April
The surviving members of Monty Python are making their presence felt at this year’s festival. Four special screenings will be held at the Beacon Theater uptown. Among them will be the British comedy troupe’s three feature films:the Holy Grail, the Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life. (Yes, if you want to get technical, they made more movies, but let’s move on to something completely different.)
Messrs Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones and Palin will all be on hand for frightfully silly Q&As after each show. They will also present a new documentary, Monty Python: The Meaning of Live, a record of last year’s farewell shows at the O2. On the off chance you are unfamiliar, Holy Grail is the funniest, but Life of Brian is the better film. Meaning of Life is certainly the bronze medal, but still brilliant.
3. Goodfellas Says Salud!, 25 April
You think those old British guys are funny? What, funny-like-a-clown funny? How are they funny? Sure, you can wrap up the festival with those no good gavones, or you could stick with real New Yorkers. Celebrating the (oh, madonn’) 25th anniversary of Martin Scorsese’s wiseguy classic, the cast and crew of Goodfellas will be on hand to present the film and, I suppose, break the code of omertà in a Q&A. I just hope that sfaccim Billy Batts doesn’t show his face, so help me God.
Narrative world premieres
4. Maggie
Remember what I said about avoiding big stars? Here’s an exception. It already has a distributor lined up (a good sign) and is too strange to pass up. Abigail Breslin stars as an infected girl in a zombie apocalypse, protected by her father. The tone is serious and dramatic and that father is played by … Arnold Schwarzenegger. Maggie looks like nothing else in the former California governor’s resumé, and it comes from an unknown director working with a black list script.
5. Anesthesia
Tim Blake Nelson is one of cinema’s great current “that guy”s. Best known as the third banana in the Coens’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? and as Dr Sterns in The Incredible Hulk, Nelson has another life as a director of outstanding small movies. (His drama The Grey Zone is one of the best films about the Holocaust.) Anesthesia stars Sam Waterston as a Columbia University professor mugged at his doorstep. The film examines the circumstances that led to the assault, offering a kaleidoscopic view of urban life. Kristen Stewart, Grechen Mol and Michael Kenneth Williams co-star.
Mexican-based Spanish director Adrián García Bogliano is one of the most exciting names in unpredictable, “smart” horror. His last film, Here Comes the Devil, was eerie and terrifying and loaded with unshakable imagery. This new one, which no doubt also blends comedy with nightmares, is about a kidnapping that goes awry. Come get on board this filmmaker’s bandwagon before he eventually comes to Hollywood so you can say you knew him when.
Documentary world premieres
7. In Transit
Albert Maysles, one of the most important names in documentaries, died on 5 March at the age of 88. This was his final project, which he made in collaboration with four other directors. Its focus is the Empire Builder, a passenger train line running from Chicago to Seattle with close to 500,000 annual riders. In Transit looks at vacation-goers and wandering loners crossing paths on this uniquely American thoroughfare.
8. Among the Believers
Bound to stir up some controversy, this documentary from Hemal Trivedi and Mohammed Ali Naqvi takes a look at Pakistan’s Red Mosque and its hardline collection of anti-Western madrassas. At its center is Maulana Aziz, a cleric who grooms children for jihad. Among the Believers contrasts Aziz with Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, an education reformer, and follows the path of two children being educated in two separate systems.
9. Orion: The Man Who Would Be King
As soon as Elvis Presley died in 1977 there were some who said it was a hoax. When a mysterious, masked performer who sounded a lot like Memphis’ favorite son arrived on the scene in 1979, Sun Records milked it for all it was worth. No, don’t feel bad – I never heard of this guy Orion either, but apparently he played to packed houses for a few years. Now his story will finally be told.
And one hardcore zero-budget independent
10. Applesauce
A lot of movies that debut at Tribeca never quite achieve international renown. Beloved no-budget filmmaker (and actor and painter and guy who appears places) Onur Tukel is back with his Applesauce, his seventh movie that, and I say this with all the love and admiration in my heart, very few people who don’t attend film festivals will ever see. Tukel’s work is funny and exudes good cheer and, at the end of the day, homespun projects like this are what festivals should be about, not another twee romcom with Zooey Deschanel and Anton Yelchin. This one is said to be a comedy/film noir. I say let’s give it a shot.
