Jack (Mark Duplass) is shell-shocked and angry from the recent death of his brother. His compassionate best friend Iris (Emily Blunt), whom he secretly pines for, sends him to her father’s secluded log cabin, to regain composure. When he arrives, he’s surprised to find Iris’s sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt) already occupying the cabin. She’s in recovery mode, too, a lesbian still hurting ... more >
FESTIVALS | TRIBECA
TRIBECA FESTIVAL- “Take this waltz” (as broken marriages go)
There goes the neighborhood
The moment of truth in Sarah Polley’s "Take This Waltz" occurs when two of its principals are buck naked. Showering in the locker room after a dopey swimming class, Margot (Michelle Williams), a married woman secretly tempted to stray, and her sister-in-law Geraldine (Sarah Silverman), more happily married but a recovering alcoholic, pontificate on the inevitability of domestic boredom. “New ... more >
TRIBECA FESTIVAL | Sisterhood and damages in “Caroline and Jackie”-REVIEW
First-time director Adam Christian Clark's film bubbles with nervous, dizzying energy
Jackie (Bitsie Tulloch) is porcelain doll-fragile, her gaunt frame as rigid as her pulled-back hair. Her eyes, strewn with mascara, dance with hurt when something gets under her skin which is close to always. When her sister, Caroline (Marguerite Moreau), comes to visit her and her meek boyfriend Ryan (David Giuntoli), Caroline insists on taking them out to dinner, which turns out to be a surprise ... more >
TRIBECA FESTIVAL | Punching through “The Fourth Dimension”-REVIEW
Three filmmakers, a million viewpoints
Sometime last year Eddy Moretti, co-founder of Vice Magazine’s film division, assigned three movie directors from different countries a fairly abstract project. They were to each shoot a short film about the concept of a fourth dimension, and follow such rules as “the hero needs to be bold,” “the hero also needs to be flawed,” and “a stuffed animal needs to make an appearance.” ... more >
TRIBECA FESTIVAL | Documenting a struggling Maine fish cannery in “Downeast”-REVIEW
A narrative of resilience--to behold
Downeast is about what at first sounds like the most boring possible cinematic subject: rebuilding a destitute fish cannery. And yet it's anything but. Filmmaker David Redmon and Ashley Sabin manage to pack politics, economics, and a large dollop of human interest into their seventy-six minute film. Though it's not without its significant problems, Downeast brings light to the desperate economic ... more >
TRIBECA FESTIVAL | Narrative Filmmaker/press meet-and-greet
Catching up with first-time filmmaker Jenny Deller
On Sunday the Tribeca Festival held its Narrative Filmmaker Press Reception at their Cadillac Lounge in downtown New York. In attendance were roughly fifty filmmakers and their guests, with everyone eager to network. I got to meet several filmmakers, including writer-director-producer Jenny Deller (pictured, with me) whose feature film Future Weather will be having its world premiere here at ... more >
TRIBECA FESTIVAL | Next stop Francophrenia
Experimenting with the id, superid, and the ego
James Franco has a lot going for himself. At thirty-four he’s already had a prolific career having risen from the parapets of television to Hollywood challenger status all while attending grad school and appearing in a daytime soap. But doesn’t this sound like the last-ditch attempt of a fading star seeking to reclaim the limelight? In interviews I’ve seen of him Franco appears as nothing ... more >
