The Return of Tribeca - And Me

I've been a terrible blogger the past two months, I know. I promised I'd write a Watchmen review - and didn't. I wanted to sing the praises of Sugar and Duplicity - never got around to it. I wanted to rave about how Amy Adams finally played something beyond charming (in Sunshine Cleaning) - so much for that idea.

Now we're at my favorite time of the cinema year, the Tribeca Film Festival. Once again, I'm volunteering in the Industry department. Alas, this year we don't have formal press and industry screenings, so I have no fun buzz to pass along. All the flicks I see will be as an audience member. I sprung for a fancy ticket package that allowed me early access to my purchases, and it was worth every bit of that $225. The only thing I couldn't get between that and my American Express card was the fancy, talking-heads screening of The Girlfriend Experience. I'll have to "settle" for the world premiere instead.

Here's what I'll be seeing in the coming weeks. I'll be filing dispatches as I did in 2008.

1) Lost Son of Havana, a Luis Tiant documentary.
http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/The_Lost_Son_of_Havana.html

2) Black Dynamite, a blaxsploitation sendup. If it's even half as good as Undercover Brother, I'll be gleeful. P.S. This sold out faster than anything else at the festival. Thank goodness for the Harrison Package.
http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Black_Dynamite.html?c=y&3301=170131&curView=browseDetail&sortBy=title

3) Soundtrack for a Revolution, a documentary combining history and soul music. All it would need to be a perfect blend for me: sports. I guess I'm getting that fix three days earlier. I'm also excited my friend Carrie K. came down from Boston for the weekend for, among other things, the festival.
http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Soundtrack_for_a_Revolution.html?c=y&page=2&&sortBy=title&curView=browseDetail&searchStartDate=04-18-2009&3301=170216&pageSize=15

4) Burning down the House: The Story of CBGB. More music documentary, more friends from out of town - this time Amy from Kansas.
http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Burning_Down_the_House_The_Story_of_CBGB.html?c=y&3301=170131&curView=browseDetail&sortBy=title

5) Playground. Michelle's and my trifecta of tough women's documentaries begins. Amy, who's in the NYC area for the entire festival, joins us. http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Playground.html?c=y&3301=170201&curView=browseDetail&sortBy=title

6) The Girlfriend Experience. The aforementioned world premiere.
http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/The_Girlfriend_Experience.html?c=y&3301=170156&curView=browseDetail&sortBy=title

7) Easy Virtue. I know the film has a distributor and a release date, but I am such a sucker for British costume productions based on literary works. How can I resist?
http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Easy_Virtue.html

8) Rachel. Part 2 of my documentary tour with Michelle.
http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Rachel.html?c=y&3301=170211&curView=browseDetail&sortBy=title

9) Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Nagshbandi. The last of the tough-issues collection with Michelle. The flick has received great buzz in several publications, including New York magazine. Of course, as a good journalist, I find this intriguing.
http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Fixer_The_Taking_of_Ajmal_Naqshbandi.html?c=y&3301=170151&curView=browseDetail&sortBy=title