FIRST LOOK: A Massive Tribeca Film Festival Picture Preview!
By
Brad Brevet
Yeah, there are some bigger films at the Tribeca Film Festival this year including Akeelah and the Bee, Goal! The Dream Begins, Over the Hedge, RV and of course United 93 and Mission: Impossible III. But I am here to tell you about some of the films that aren’t so popular, then again a couple that you may have heard of. Quite honestly I was surprised by how many big names I saw as I went through the list of films and I have pictures from all but one of the films I took particular interest in whether it be for the cast, director or the plot summary of the picture.
Just so you know, of the films listed below we are talking about names like John Travolta, Salma Hayek, James Gandolfini, Laurence Fishburne, Colm Meaney, Ryan Phillippe, Edward Burns, Brittany Murphy, John Leguizamo, Jay Mohr, Laura Dern, Jared Leto, Colin Hanks, Anthony LaPaglia, Isabella Rossellini, Ray Liotta, Brendan Fraser, Mos Def, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Jeremy Piven, Garry Marshall, Daryl Hannah, Ron Perlman, Samantha Mathis, Alec Baldwin, Nikki Reed, Luke Wilson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Wilkinson, Nick Stahl, Selma Blair, Vincent Cassel, Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, David Duchovny, Ioan Gruffudd, Judy Greer, Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Emily Watson, Jason Patric, Sam Shepard, Drea de Mateo, and Bruce Dern! Yeah! And we have the pics and info to prove it.
This of course is just a taste of what will be happening at the fest, for a complete listing check out the official Tribeca Film Fest website.
Listed below is a preview pic along with cast information and a short summary. There is a link under each picture to check out more from each film so be sure to do so and if you are in the NYC area be sure to check out some of these bad boys at the Tribeca Film Festival as it runs from April 25th – May 7th.
In this skin-crawling, fact-based thriller partially shot on surveillance equipment, Doug (Colin Hanks) sets his sights on a young woman, slyly inserts himself into her life, and plants hidden cameras in her apartment. But when another man comes on the scene, Doug must take desperate measures.
Ben (Rupert Grint) is a shy teenager living in London and trying to escape from the clutches of his religious mother (Laura Linney). He finally gets his chance when he meets a retired actress who whisks him off to Edinburgh, where he learns to drive, dance, and pick up girls. Brock’s loosely autobiographical coming-of-age tale is a heartwarming treat.
Martha Beck (Salma Hayek) and Raymond Fernandez (Jared Leto), also known as the Lonely Hearts Killers, were America’s most notorious murderous couple in the late ’40s. Based on real events, Lonely Hearts follows two homicide detectives (John Travolta and James Gandolfini) as they try to bring Beck and Fernandez to justice.
An idealistic, Dutch pianist, Martijn travels to Morocco to start a food program for malnourished children. But a group of unorthodox terrorists abduct him at the airport and subject him to a series of horrifying mental tests. Forced to question everything, and everyone, that brought him to Morocco, Martijn has only one choice: Solve the riddle of his captivity…or die trying.
In this raunchy, gay spoof of teen movies, a group of high school grads swear they will lose their virginity before going to college. And so they spend their summer-and this movie-trying to get laid. Lypsinka, Scott Thompson, and Graham Norton, among others, make hilarious cameos. Jokes, costumes, vomit, sex, and gerbils included. Mature audiences only.
Based on Scottish playwright David Greig’s The Architect, Tauber’s debut feature pits an architect (Anthony LaPaglia) against a female community resident who lives in a dangerous housing project that he designed. By contrasting two Chicago families in divergent economic circumstances, The Architect ably explores political, sexual, and class issues.
In this funny and unlikely buddy picture, a chance encounter brings together cheating husband Walter (Ray Liotta) and injured high-school football star Skylar (Shaun Sipos). An unlikely friendship develops, as Skylar helps Walter get his family back and Walter helps Skylar regain the confidence he needs to overcome his injury.
São Paulo, Brazil, is considered one of the most dangerous cities in the world. But it is there, in the city’s underworld of sex, drugs, money, and corruption that a father and son plan to finally shrug off the drudgery of their everyday lives. Brendan Fraser, Scott Glenn, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Mos Def star in Manito director Eason’s gritty sophomore feature. In English and Portuguese.
Weeks away from his bar mitzvah, Ben (Daryl Sabara) is panic-stricken about his pending adulthood and the stadium-sized party that his father (Jeremy Piven) has planned. Ben’s only hope is to invite his estranged, eccentric grandfather to sabotage the day. This family comedy also stars Doris Roberts, Jami Gertz, Daryl Hannah, and the director’s father, Garry Marshall.
Ray Liotta, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and Trevor Morgan star in Gallo’s wise and warm coming-of-age tale, in which a young artist seeks inspiration from an experienced painter and liberation from his father’s worn-out ideas. The film, which is infused with a love of impressionist art, is loosely based on Gallo’s own life.
In Los Angeles, a bitchy, jaded, rich family set off an orgy of transgression and taboo-breaking. Certain family members decide to have sex, poison each other, and try against all odds to outfox the authorities in order to live sinfully ever after. Starring Alec Baldwin, Nikki Reed, Luke Wilson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jeff Goldblum and Svetlana Metkina.
Between a heart attack and an ugly third divorce everything is slipping away from Dallas powerbroker Max Hagen (Tom Wilkinson). And when the soon-to-be-ex (Janine Turner) throws him out of his mansion it pushes him over the edge, but a wild night with his daughter’s punk rock boyfriend (Nick Stahl) just might bring him back.
Three buddies meet two gorgeous girls in a Parisian nightclub and count themselves lucky when the girls invite them to an isolated country house. Upon arrival, they meet a bizarre caretaker (Vincent Cassell) with a sinister smile, and it only gets freakier from there. Sheitan is sure to shock with its envelope-pushing absurdity, high-energy suspense, and first-rate bloody horror.
Ex-convict Alex Hughes finds himself attached to two strange women after arriving in a sleepy Ontario town. Linda, a high-functioning autistic, takes Alex into her home after he gets into a car accident with her daughter. Meanwhile, Alex falls for town sexpot Maggie. Starring Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Carrie-Anne Moss, Emily Hampshire, James Allodi and Gallum Keith Rennie.
Mike Klein has just sold his pilot to a network. Little does he know that, once it passes through the hands of one TV executive after another, it may no longer bear any resemblance to his original concept in Kasdan’s comic look at the world of network television development. Starring David Duchovny, Sigourney Weaver, Ioan Gruffudd, Judy Greer, Fran Franz and Lindsay Sloane.
Based on first-time director Grant’s childhood in British-controlled Swaziland, Wah-Wah paints a picture of colonialism on the wane and frames it with the story of a boy’s awakening to the wider world.
Set in coal mining country during the ’50s, Walker Payne (Jason Patric), jobless and broke, is given an ultimatum by his ex-wife (Drea de Matteo): come up with $5,000 or lose his daughters forever. Cornered and desperate, Walker considers an unappealing moneymaking proposition from an unsavory opportunist Syrus (Sam Shepard) who seduces Walker into a world of violence, forcing him to make heart-breaking decisions.
The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff as a response to the attacks on the World Trade Center. Conceived to foster the economic and cultural revitalization of Lower Manhattan through an annual celebration of film, music, and culture the Festival’s mission is to promote New York City as a major filmmaking center and help filmmakers reach the broadest possible audience.
