Spring has come to New York City, but even with the nicer weather that comes with it, any serious moviegoer will be spending much of their free time inside to watch the line-up of movies playing at the 13th Annual Tribeca Film Festival, which runs this year from Wednesday, April 16 through Sunday, April 27.
For the second year in a row, Tribeca is kicking off the festivities with a music-based doc, this time showcasing rapper Nas, whose debut album “Illmatic” dropped twenty years ago. Nas and other artists reflect on the impact of that debut album in multimedia artist One9’s Time is Illmatic, which will premiere at New York’s legendary Beacon Theater followed by Nas performing the album in its entirety.
The last day of the festival is on Sunday the 27th, but the night before there will be a special Closing Night Gala of John (Once) Carney’s Begin Again (The Weinstein Company), starring Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine. The movie got a lot of love at the Toronto International Film Festival under its original title Can a Song Save Your Life? and the New York-based movie set in the world of songwriting should fare well in the city where it was filmed.
It’s an interesting year for Tribeca, because it feels like both Sundance and South by Southwest were semi-duds with no big breakout films like last year’s Fruitvale Station or Short Term 12, which means Tribeca has a good chance at introducing a number of films and filmmakers that could get more attention than usual. The movies playing in competition are certainly a good place to start although few of them have familiar names or faces in their credits.
A couple of the movies in the Spotlight section have played at other festivals and Tribeca is giving us a chance to catch them before their theatrical releases later this year, including Ira Sachs’ Love is Strange (Sony Pictures – Aug. 22), David Mackenzie’s Starred Up (Tribeca Film ? Aug. 29) starring Jack O’Connell–an actor we think is going to get a lot of attention this year–Charlie McDowell’s The One I Love (RADiUS – TWC) starring Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss and Lucky Them (IFC Films – May 30) with Toni Collette and Thomas Haden Church.
Tribeca often brings back a number of returning filmmakers and this year’s roster includes Alex Gibney, who will bring a work-in-progress of his untitled James Brown documentary?he did the same thing a few years back with his Elliot Spitzer movie Client 9?as well as Marshall Curry, whose earlier doc Racing Dreams won Best Documentary Feature at Tribeca in 2009. Curry’s new doc Point and Shoot is about an unlikely documenter of the Libyan revolution.
For the most part, the 30 movies we’re highlighting in our photo gallery below are either World Premieres or movies that have gained our interest from other festivals that we just haven’t had a chance to see yet.
The 13th Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 16 to 27 at a number of New York City venues from Tribeca to Chelsea. You can go to the Official Site for the schedule and ticket availability.
2014 Tribeca Film Festival Preview
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<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53208b38c07f5df7d20008a9-zero-motivation">Zero Motivation</a>
Israel has produced a lot of brilliant movies in the past few years and this dark comedy from Talya Lavie takes a comic look at a group of young, female Israeli soldiers stationed at a remote desert base who have grown bored with their mundane duties. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53286a3cb57ce982ad0000fa-x-y">X/Y</a>
Ryan Piers Williams stars in his second feature along with America Ferrara, Melanie Diaz and Jon Paul Phillips as four New York friends dealing with their issues and trying to create a balance in their lives. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53286e4bb57ce982ad0001dd-when-the-garden-was-eden">When the Garden Was Eden</a>
The Opening Gala premiere for the Tribeca ESPN Sports Film Festival brings back Michael Rappaport, director of the excellent Tribe Called Quest doc Beats, Rhymes & Life, this time looking at the heyday of the New York Knicks during the late '60s many of whom would become hall-of-famers. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/5320899ec07f5df7d200013b-summer-of-blood">Summer of Blood</a>
Brooklyn-based writer and artist Onur Turkel stars in his own dark comedy about a man who gets frustrated by his life and only finds solace when he discovers a new thirst for blood. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/532089d2c07f5df7d200022d-super-duper-alice-cooper">Super Duper Alice Cooper</a>
Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn, directors of the fantastic doc Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage turn their attention to the controversial '70s rocker infamous for his on-stage theatrics and his rock 'n' roll lifestyle. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53208b00c07f5df7d20007ae-preservation">Preservation</a>
Actor Christopher Denham (Home Movie) returns behind the camera for this horror movie about a group of men who go on a hunting trip as a distraction only to end up in a closed preserve where they find themselves struggling to survive. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53208ad4c07f5df7d2000701-other-one-the-long-strang">The Other One: The Long Strange Trip of Bob Weir</a>
A fairly self-explanatory title for this doc from Mike Fleiss, who previously came to Tribeca with God Bless Ozzy Osbourne, continuing Tribeca's long tradition of highlighting great rock docs. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/532089e5c07f5df7d2000294-match">Match</a>
Playwright Stephen Belber adapts his own Tony-nominated play into a film starring Carla Gugino and Matthew Lilard as a couple who come to New York to interview a reclusive dance instructor, played by Patrick Stewart, which starts off well but then starts to get personal. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53208ae5c07f5df7d2000738-life-partners">Life Partners </a>
In Susanna Fogel's comedy, Leighton Meester and Gillian Jacobs play life-long best friends Sasha and Paige, whose bond is put to the test when Paige starts to get serious for a nerdy guy named Tim, played by Adam Brody. -
<a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=117072">Just Before I Go</a>
"Friends" and "Cougar Town" star Courteney Cox makes her directorial debut with a comedy starring Seann Wiliam Scott as a man who decides to commit suicide but not before returning to his hometown and tying up loose ends. -
<a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=106919">Intramural</a>
Andrew Disney's sports comedy somehow found its way both into the "Midnight" section and as part of the Tribeca ESPN Sports Film Festival with its look at a group of 5th year college seniors who form a football team before being shown the door. The cast includes Nikki Reed and "SNL's" Kate McKinnon, Jay Pharoah and Beck Bennett. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53208ab0c07f5df7d2000672-indigenous">Indigenous</a>
Another "Midnight" selection, this one from South African filmmaker Alastair Orr, who puts five Americans into an exotic Panamanian paradise, only to have them be hunted by the legendary Chupacabra that's loose in their region. -
<a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=83734">In Your Eyes</a>
Written by Joss Whedon and directed by Brin Hill, this "metaphysical romance" stars Zoe Kazan and Michael Stahl-David as two people from different walks of life who discover they are strangely connected. -
<a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=114596">In Order of Disappearance</a>
Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard, best known for his role in the "Thor" movies and The Avengers, stars in Peter Molland's dark comedy as a snow blower driver who finds himself caught up in a drug war between the Norwegian mafia and Serbian criminals. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53208abcc07f5df7d200069d-honest-liar">An Honest Liar</a>
Justin Weinstein and Tyler Meinstein's documentary looks at the life and career of "The Amazing Randi," a magician who dedicated much of his life to debunking fortune tellers and psychics trying to con audiences with their "powers." -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/532089b3c07f5df7d200019e-gueros">Gueros</a>
Also in competition is this Mexican film from Alonso Ruizpalacios about slacker roommates Sombra and Santos who go on a road trip looking for a rock star with Sombra's younger brother. It sounds very much like something that could appeal to fans of Alfonso Cuaron's classic Y Tu Mama Tambien. -
<a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=117073">Goodbye to All That</a>
Junebug screenwriter Angus MacLaclan goes behind the camera for another movie set in the woods of North Carolina, this one starring Paul Schneider as Otto Wall, an unlucky man whose wife divorces him, leaving him trying to find answers through dating and reconnecting with his daughter. The cast includes Melanie Lynskey, Amy Sedaris, Heather Graham and Celia Weston. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53286df2b57ce982ad0001b0-extraterrestrial">Extraterrestrial</a>
Another "Midnight" selection, this one from the Vicious Brothers who brought their previous movie Grave Encounters to Tribeca. This one takes the tried and true "cabin in the woods" horror movie of college kids on vacation, these ones who end up fighting off invading aliens. -
<a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=93162">Every Secret Thing</a>
Amy Berg is a fantastic Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker and she's giving dramatic features a go with this adaptation of Laura Lippman's 2004 book by no less than Nicole Holofcener. It stars Dakota Fanning and Danielle Macdonald as two teenagers accused of murdering a baby when they were younger and whose release from prison leads to more missing children. -
<a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=52676">Electric Slide</a>
Jim Sturgess stars as Eddie Dodson, known as "The Gentleman Bandit," in Tristan Patterson's biodrama about the charismatic bank robber from Hollywood who robbed 72 banks over 4 months to impress his girlfriend, played here by Isabel Lucas. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53208b61c07f5df7d2000946-samurai">Der Samurai</a>
Till Kleinert's violent film involves a killer who lurks outside an East German village with a samurai katana sword killing those he encounters and the policeman who is obsessed with stopping him. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53208b09c07f5df7d20007d3-canal">The Canal</a>
The first of selections from Tribeca's Midnight series is the new film from Irish filmmaker Ivan Kavanagh, involving a film archivist who discovers that his home was the site of a grisly murder. -
<a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=98715">Boulevard</a>
New York filmmaker Dito Montiel (How to Recognize Your Saints) returns to Tribeca with his new drama starring Robin Williams as bank employee Nolan Mack, who discovers a troubled young man named Leo (Roberto Aguire) when he takes a wrong turn on his way home. Also starring Kathy Baker as his wife Joy, this seems like a welcome departure for Montiel. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53208b5bc07f5df7d200092f-black-coal-thin-ice">Black Coal, Thin Ice</a>
As a big fan of Asian crime films, this winner of the Gold and Silver Bears at this year's Berlin Film Festival is definitely of interest as it follows a fallen detective (Fan Liao) working as a security guard at a coal factory who has another chance to solve the series of murders he previously botched. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53208b8ac07f5df7d2000a25-beyond-the-brick-a-lego-b">Beyond the Brick: A LEGO Brickumentary</a>
LEGOs are hot right now due to a blockbuster movie released earlier this year, so this doc from Daniel Junge and Kief Davidson that looks at the Master Builders of the Adult Fans of LEGO, couldn't be hitting Tribeca at a more perfect time. -
<a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=117070">Beneath the Harvest Sky</a>
As with a few other films at the festival, Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly's coming-of-age tale also already has distribution in place through Tribeca Film as it follows two Maine teenagers trying to escape their small town through different means, one harvesting potatoes, the other smuggling drugs across the Canadian border. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/tribecafilm/filmguide/the-bachelor-weekend">The Bachelor Weekend</a>
This R-rated Irish comedy from John Butler involves a group of men on a bachelor weekend who find themselves goaded into competing when the groom's future brother-in-law crashes the party. This is being released by Tribeca Film on VOD concurrently with the festival. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53208aa9c07f5df7d200065d-art-and-craft">Art and Craft</a>
Already picked up for distribution by Oscilloscope Labs, this doc looks at art forger Mark Landis, who has fooled the art industry for decades with his fake paintings until Matthew Leininger from Cincinnati tracks him down looking for answers. It sounds like it could be an exciting movie in the vein of "Catch Me If You Can." -
<a href="https://comingsoon.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/films.php?id=117068">Alex of Venice</a>
Actor Chris Messina makes his directorial debut as he plays husband to Mary Elizabeth Winstead as a lawyer whose life is thrown into flux when he leaves her and she's stuck balancing work and family obligations. It also stars Don Johnson as Alex's father and Derek Luke. -
<a href="http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53208a5bc07f5df7d2000517-about-alex">About Alex</a>
I'm somewhat dubious of Jesse Zwick's filmmaking debut involving a group of friends reuniting after many years--a premise we've seen in many festival movies--but he has a good cast that includes Maggie Grace, Aubrey Plaza, Nate Parker, Max Minghella and Jane Levy.
