Tribeca Recap

I'm back from my week at the Tribeca Film Festival, it was a great time!!! These are the films and faces I saw ....

Five Children and It is a charming British film about a family of children that discover the dangers and wonder of wishes. Henson productions is involved in this project so not only is the writing and acting great, but the special effects and "It" are enchanting! The screenwriter and his family were there.

The Tenants is a film adapted from a novel by Bernard Malamud. It is a drama, a love story and thriller all in one. Dylan McDermott, Snoop Dogg, Seymour Cassel and Danny Greene were all there for the Q&A. I was sitting among the production cast, so the eavesdropping was great!!

Reeker was a great horror film that was a nice blend of slasher and humor. The director and 2 of the actors were there.

Based on a True Story is a documentary about the actual robbery that Dog Day Afternoon is based on. It was a very interesting film. Famous faces there were Walter Stokman (the director of the film), Sidney Lumet (director of Dog Day Afternoon), Frank Pierson (writer of the screenplay for Dog Day Afternoon), the bank robber's ex-wife and two of the bank hostages. It was a very interesting Q&A.

Deep Blue was a wild underwater documentary with some hypnotic camera work, beautiful film. I had the pleasure of a running commentary from a little boy going on behind me that was priceless!

Melanie and Liza joined me for the film The Sisters on Wednesday night. This film was based on a Chekhov play, The 3 Sisters. A star studded dysfunctional family story, well done and the director and screenwriter were at the Q&A.

On Thursday I saw 2 short film programs. In Side Effects May Vary there were 7 films with all kinds of gross things going on. Not for the weak of stomach, but very entertaining. Got to chat with the filmmaker, Bill Plimpton before the screening. His film "Guard Dog" was nominated for an academy award this past year. Triggerstreet Shorts was a collection of 12 short films from the Triggerstreet folks who promote and support fledgling filmmakers. All the filmmakers were there and a lot of suits from the website's sponsor, Budweiser. You can see and submit films at triggerstreet.com

It was a great week, can't wait for next year!!!