Speed Racer Premiere!
Wednesday, May 7

As promised, our Speed Racer premiere is up! Check it out in the Video Interviews section of our homepage or on YouTube.

Yonkers Joe Video and Direct Links
Sunday, May 4

The Tribeca Film Festival finally comes to a close today, and as promised, I’ve included direct links to our previous Tribeca videos:

Emilie de Ravin interview at the Ball Don’t Lie premiere

Julianne Moore interview at the Savage Grace premiere

In addition, I just edited and posted our Yonkers Joe group interview with Chazz Palminteri, Christine Lahti, and Tom Guiry – check it out in the Video Interview section of our homepage or here on YouTube.

Before we sign off for good, I should mention that last night we were able to attend the Speed Racer premiere and talk to the cast! Once I finish the editing, I’ll post the link.

Award Winners Announced!
Friday, May 2

The 2008 award winners were announced today! Here’s the complete list of everything except the Cadillac Audience Award (to be revealed tomorrow), along with the juries’ comments for each one:

The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature:LET THE RIGHT ONE INDirected by Tomas Alfredson

Jury Comments: “For its mesmerizing exploration of loneliness and alienation through masterful reexamination of the vampire myth.”

Best New Narrative Filmmaker:MY MARLON AND BRANDODirected by Hüseyin Karabey

Jury Comments: “For its skillful blending of documentary style with a classic love story and ultimate creation of a truly modern and unlikely international heroine.”

Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film:SOMERS TOWNThomas Turgoose and Piotr Jagiello

Jury Comments: “For an extraordinary and exhilarating rendering of a friendship found, the Narrative Feature Jury is awarding the Best Actor prize to this magical team.”

Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film:EDENEileen Walsh

Jury Comments: “For her exquisite rendering of a lonely wife aching to be seen and heard.”

Best Documentary Feature:PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELLDirected by Gini Reticker

Jury Comments: “In a relentless pursuit of peace, the women of Liberia show us how community, motherly love and perseverance can change the fate of a society. Pray the Devil Back to Hell is a reminder that we have the power to say "Enough!" to the atrocities of our world.”

Best New Documentary Filmmaker:OLD MAN BEBODirected by Carlos Carcas

Jury Comments: “We the jury feel that Carlos Carcas showed us that if you truly have art in your body and soul it will find its way out into the world. We applaud the filmmaker for bringing Old Man Bebo into our consciousness.”

"New York LOVES Film" Award:ZONED INDirected by Daniela Zanzotto
Special Mention: HOTEL GRAMERCY PARK, directed by Douglas Keeve

Jury Comments: “This was a challenging and spirited discussion with two clear favorites: both films are very different and the jury felt that both should get equal mention even though only one gets the prize. We thought Hotel Gramercy Park was a

highly entertaining and moving story about a New York family and a New York institution coming to terms with a changing city, but in the end we felt Zoned In deserved the prize for having the bravery to tell a seemingly typical story that ends up revealing bold and difficult truths.”

"Made In NY" Narrative Award:THE CALLERDrected by Richard Ledes

Jury Comments: “The Caller superbly uses its New York locations "” from the sleek mid-town high-rises to the desolate Brooklyn Bridge piers "” to create a chilling and finally stirring suspense movie; an unusual thriller whose mysterious plot finally exposes the mysteries of the heart.”

Best Narrative Short:NEW BOYDirected by Steph Green

Jury Comments: “New Boy took us on a complete emotional journey. It was moving, funny and powerful.”

Best Documentary ShortMANDATORY SERVICEDirected by Jessica Habie

Jury Comments: “Mandatory Service, a perspective of war and conflict from participants themselves. The Israeli's empathy for the Palestinians is not a perspective we glimpse too often in Western Media.”

Student Visionary Award:ELEPHANT GARDENDirected by Sasie Sealy.

Jury Comments: “Elephant Garden captured the “inner-life” of a beautiful young girl; her confusion as she becomes a young adult. Wonderful visual story telling and the performance of Kelley Mack is stellar.”

Studying while Watching Out for Roadside Bombs
Wednesday, April 30th

We’re nearing the end of the “press” side of Tribeca. The public screenings are going strong, but press screenings end tomorrow and most of the big premiere events are over. The huge one that remains is Speed Racer, which closes out the festival on Saturday. Let’s hope it goes better than War, Inc.

Today I caught a screening for the documentary Baghdad High, which is basically exactly what it sounds like: a year in the life of four boys who attend high school in Baghdad. It sounded absurdly interesting to me, and for the most part, it was. The four boys are all exceedingly likable and frighteningly normal. This isn’t a movie about politics or the war at all, really "” both ominous things that are always transpiring just out of view of both us and the boys "” but just a story about how people can try to lead their lives in the worst setting imaginable.

Most of the film takes places in the boys’ homes "” they were given cameras and filmed the entire thing themselves during the 2006-07 school year – although it’s disappointing that we didn’t see more of the school itself. The principal is a strong force in this movie but is only rarely seen; he laments at one point that within the first three months of the year, he’s lost a quarter of the student body thanks both to a lack of motivation and families constantly fleeing the city.

Ultimately the film serves as a good experiment and a fascinating slice of life for people we would otherwise never

see, but it ultimately doesn’t give us anything to walk away with besides the obvious “we’re all the same” message. I would’ve liked to see more of the principal, or any girls going through similar situations (the school in the film is all boys), or even a little bit more context. As is, it would probably work most effective cut down to an hour and shown on HBO.

Don’t for a second get me wrong, though: despite my complaints, I would recommend this film to absolutely anyone. We need to see stories like this.

Snubbed!
Monday, April 28th

After our success at Ball Don’t Lie and Savage Grace, I suppose it was to be expected that we would strike out at a premiere sooner or later.

That premiere turned out to be War, Inc., which is a bit unfortunate since I liked the movie so much (scroll down a bit further for my mini-review). John Cusack wasn’t scheduled to be there, but Marisa Tomei and Hilary Duff were, along with some special guests like, somewhat predictably, Haylie Duff and Tim Robbins.

Robbins was nowhere to be found. Haylie Duff rushed past us. We did get John McEnroe – yeah, he was there too for some reason "” to look at us, but no interview. Some guy who supposedly was in the movie was doing interviews with everybody, but I didn’t even recognize him. We caught the director, Joshua Seftel, for a quick moment and he confirmed that in the film, Dan Aykroyd was doing a take-off of Dick Cheney.

Then time ran out as the film was supposedly about to start. Hilary Duff rushed past us and into the theater. All that was left was Tomei "” who then just as anxiously rushed inside, too.

We struck out. It happens. The film is still quite good and quite worth seeing.

Two Successful Premieres
Saturday, April 26th

Today held a big moment for me. At the premiere of the new sports movie Ball Don’t Lie, I got to meet Emilie de Ravin.

Claire from Lost.

My favorite show of all time.

Keira Knightley was nothing compared to this. I was shaking and, as I so ineloquently put it in the video, felt like I was going to pee my pants, but I made it through the interview and only accidentally cut her off, like, once. She even said some interesting things about both the movie and Lost (although those of you hoping for major island revelations obviously don’t realize how good these people have become at keeping secrets).

You can check out the video in the “Video Interviews” section of our homepage (just scroll down to the bottom) or here on YouTube.

Right after Ball Don’t Lie, we rushed down to the premiere of Savage Grace, a disturbing drama starring Julianne Moore.

Just coming off my Emilie de Ravin high, fellow TheCinemaSourceian Andrea Tuccillo and I switched duties "” I held the camera (mostly) steady while she interviewed Julianne Moore and the director of the film, Tom Kalin.

It’s based on the true story of Barbara Baekeland, a socialite who married into money and eventually fell from grace "” although there’s a lot more to it. Like, oh, incest, insanity, and murder. Quite chilling.

Like the previous video, you can check out our interview with Moore and Kalin in our Video Interviews section or here on YouTube.

A Little Grosse Pointe Blank, A Little Brazil
Friday, April 25th

Caught a screening of the satire War, Inc. this morning, and I really enjoyed it.

I’m no fool "” absolutely no one will go see this movie. In fact, current events-related movies have been doing so poorly at the box office that they’re only giving War, Inc. a brief limited release next month before immediately releasing it on DVD on July 1st. But if you’re a fan of John Cusack, his Grosse Pointe Blank persona in particular, you really shouldn’t miss this.

It’s a lot more dystopian than I thought it would be "” at times, it reminded me of something as nutty as Brazil. In a near, unspecified future, the U.S. has invaded a country called “Turaqistan,” "” or more accurately, a massive corporation called Tamerlane, owned by the disgraced ex-Vice President (an uncredited Dan Aykroyd), has invaded it. He sends his hitman Brand Hauser (Cusack) into the country’s safe zone to kill a foreign diplomat, and as a cover, Hauser is put in charge of organizing the concert and wedding of a young Middle Eastern pop star named Yonika Babyyeah (Hilary Duff, who does a good job playing a pop star, although her character actually is quite a bit more complex than it would seem). And he also falls head over heels for a leftist reporter, although when she’s played by Marisa Tomei, how could he not?

As you can tell, there’s a lot going on, and the film is riddled with running jokes and Easter Eggs, too. (Tamerlane has of course brought Western capitalism to Turaqistan, which is now riddled with advertisements and fast food places; I spotted a cigarette ad at one point for “Democracy Light”.) And there are some smart devices: having no one else to share his feelings with, Hauser uses the voice on the other end of his OnStar button (Montel Williams of all people) as his therapist.

So: war profiteering, Dick Cheney, nation building, sexualized pop stars "” it’s an everything and the kitchen sink kind of deal, and I haven’t even mentioned Ben Kingsley or Joan Cusack – both terrific, by the way. War, Inc., though, is skillful enough to make you want more

instead of feeling overstuffed. I want to see it again just to be able to drink more of it in. We’re headed to the premiere this Monday, so hopefully we’ll be able to chat with whomever shows up.

These Interviews are Killer
Thursday, April 24th

Today was an interview day, as my boss Dan and I went to the Tribeca press junkets for two very different flicks: Yonkers Joe, which stars Chazz Palminteri, and Killer Movie, which features a host of young up-and-comers as well as some veterans like Jason London (Dazed and Confused) and Nestor Carbonell (Lost).

First up was a chat with Yonkers Joe‘s Palminteri along with his co-stars Christine Lahti (Jack & Bobby) and Tom Guiry (The Black Donnellys). The movie’s a story of a con man trying to pull off a big casino scam who gets sidetracked when his handicapped son resurfaces into his life.

All three stars had good rapport with each other and seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the movie, although they admitted they weren’t actually very successful at gambling after the cameras stopped rolling. You can check out our video interview just as soon as we have it ready.

Next we interviewed Paul Wesley and Torrey DeVitto from Killer Movie, who each don’t have much more than a few recurring TV roles to their credit. They were a lot of fun in part because they were so green; the highlight was Wesley admitting that the movie’s publicists told them to describe the film to reporters as “genre-bending.” As with Yonkers Joe, you can check out the interview with the two of them as well as Jason London as soon as it’s edited.

Killer Movie, by the way, is a flick that doesn’t altogether escape horror movie conventions but is still an entertaining example of the genre. The twist is that the slasher is killing people on the set of a reality show, so we get to watch people filming confessionals while their friends are chopped to bits nearby. If that brought a smile to your face, I guess you know the movie’s for you.

The 2008 Tribeca Film Festival Begins!
Wednesday, April 23rd

Today marked the first day of New York City's Tribeca Film Festival, and TheCinemaSource.com's second year of bringing you full coverage of as many events and screenings as possible. The festival runs today through May 4th and was created back in 2001 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff after 9/11 to “spur the economic and cultural revitalization of lower Manhattan through an annual celebration of film, music and culture.”

Each year has seen a bigger and bigger festival, and 2008 boasts 121 feature-length films and 79 shorts from over forty countries. Today, not much happened besides the annual opening day press conference, which basically announces what I just said, but

the upcoming few days promise to get busier. We’re going to try to bring you as many video interviews as possible this year, and there’s a big slate of high-profile films we hope to cover – War, Inc., with John Cusack, Marisa Tomei, and Hilary Duff; Yonkers Joe, with Chazz Palminteri, Christine Lahti, and Tom Guiry; Finding Amanda with Matthew Broderick and Brittany Snow; Savage Grace with Julianne Moore; and plenty more.

Awesomely, closing out the festival on May 3rd is a little film called Speed Racer, and you can catch us at the premiere along with stars Emile Hirsch, Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, and Christina Ricci.

Check back to these pages for a day-by-day guide to what we’re doing and all our exclusive video and interview coverage.