One of the most popular films at this year’s Tribeca Film festival was Jonathan Levine’s ‘The Wackness.’ Reporter Kathleen Horan and I went to check out the crowd at the Monday April 28th screening. Kathleen spoke with a few people in line to learn more about successful strategies for getting into the theaters. Watch the video:
We went in to view the film as well and sat next to Faye Dunnaway - Hollywood in New York.
WNYC’s Sara Fishko had this to say after a Tribeca Festival screening of James Marsh’s documentary Man on Wire, about the high-wire artist and daredevil Phillipe Petit:
“I loved seeing Man on Wire. Phillipe Petit is a totally improbable, endearing character whose dream of walking a wire between the two tallest towers in New York began even before the towers were built! That he kept and plotted and finally realized the dream, years later, is a great story in itself. The touching interviews, and stock footage and re-creations that get us there are beautifully used, in the manner of a ‘heist’ film; but in this one the object is not a precious diamond, but a few dangerous minutes of sheer bliss for a man possessed.
The more interesting thing is that the film actually adds something to the culture, adds something to our memory bank. Those buildings, which we’ll forever associate with unspeakable tragedy, now rise again into a kind of mythical, magical realm.”
Here’s an interview with Marsh and Petit, when the film screened at Sundance:
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WNYC’s Brigid Bergin spent some time at the TFF yesterday. Here’s what she had to say about one of this year’s feature documentaries:
“LIONESS is a documentary about a group of women soldiers who end up on the frontlines in Iraq, in spite of official U.S. policy baring them from combat. Directed by Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers, the film draws on archival footage, journal excerpts, and interviews with the soldiers and their military superiors.
The directors say they’re not trying to make a political statement. But the film inevitably raises questions: what role should women play in a 21st century military? Should the law on the books be amended to reflect what’s happening on the ground? And are women getting sufficient training to complete their new missions successfully?
The film’s pacing can drag, particularly when telling the soldiers’ back-stories. But overall, LIONESS raises issues worth contemplating and presents portraits of real women in service as opposed to the past media caricatures, a la the hapless Jessica Lynch or the ghoulish like Lynndie England.”
Nora Ali, the first Bangladeshi Miss Junior USA pageant, plays the Bangladeshi and U.S. national anthems.
We’ve been watching the Tribeca Film Festival since it got underway last week. But New York’s movie buffs turned out in droves last night for another film event: the Dhallywood Music & Film Awards. Dhallywood’s where the booming Bangladeshi film industry makes its Bollywood-style movie musicals. Almost 2,000 folks showed up at the Manhattan Center in midtown for the ceremony. Lara Pellegrinelli was on hand at the event — you can hear her here.
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Here’s a video by one of Dhallywood’s biggest stars, Sabina Yasmin:
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WNYC’s Sara Fishko picks this film, about the historic black neighborhood in New Orleans. She says it’s a great story and an important one. The film is narrated by New Orleans’ Times Picayune columnist Lolis Eric Elie. From the press release: “Who knew that in the early 1800’s, while most African-Americans were toiling on plantations, free black people in Treme were publishing poetry and conducting symphonies.” Faubourg Treme was one of the most prosperous and politically active black communities in America…and it’s in danger of being lost forever.
The film’s executive producers are trumpeter and band leader Wynton Marsalis and filmmaker Stanley Nelson. Here’s the trailer.
Erroll Morris has been all over the place, talking about his new film about the photographs taken at Abu Ghraib prison. Here’s a bit of his conversation with Studio 360’s Kurt Anderson.
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Here’s the film’s official trailer:
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Here’s a scene that was deleted:
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We’ve been talking about this film around here for a while: Sita Sings the Blues, by the New York filmmaker Nina Paley. Excerpts of it have been floating around for over a year — our friends have seen parts of it at a festival called ArtWallah in LA, and then at a rooftop screening at her place in Brooklyn. It’s an animated story that partly tells the Hindu tale of the Ramayana and also tells the story of a white woman going to India and dealing with this big mess in her personal life. Sounds like it could make for a rough mash-up, but this film works beautifully. It won a special jury mention at the Berlin Film Festival. Our colleague, Arun Venugopal in the WNYC newsroom, shared this from a friend, who did some voiceover work:
“She [Paley] uses different animation styles, jazz music from the 1920s and juxtaposes her personal life with that of Sita. Then last year she invited me and two other people — including filmmaker Manish Acharya (Loins of Punjab Presents) in a recording studio and talked to us about Ramayana. The three of us are narrators in the film (as Indonesian puppets) - giving our own modern day interpretation to the Ramayana. It is a very progressive/feminist perspective of the story. And the film is VERY funny.”
Nina Paley blogs here
You can also watch the trailer here:
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Tickets for the Tribeca Film Festival went on sale to the general public this past Saturday. But thanks to the pre-package deals and the hype surrounding this year’s event, many of the films are already sold out - and only “rush tickets” are available. The rush lines officially open up one hour before show times, the unofficial queues start.. well, when the first die hard fan shows up. Do you have a strategy for getting into the films you want to see? Is it easier to bypass the lines and look for scalpers (link).
Here are the trailers for three sold out films:
I Am Because We Are
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The Wackness
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Run for Your Life
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Last Friday the American novelist Philip Roth turned 75. To mark the occasion some of his friends and colleagues paid tribute at Columbia University’s Miller theater. Both the theater and the run off room were filled to capacity. WNYC now offers you the chance to listen to the event online, or download it for your MP3 player.
Panel 1
Judith Thurman, Moderator
Charles D’Ambrosio
Nathan Englander
Jonathan Lethem
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Panel 2
Joel Conarroe, Moderator
Ross Miller
Hermione Lee
Claudia Roth Pierpont
Benjamin Taylor
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Hermione Lee introduces Philip Roth who then delivers his remarks
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When my mother was growing up, her mother would prepare nian gao for the Lunar New Year. These sweet rice cakes rarely made an appearance because they were so tedious to make: A-ma had to soak an entire sack of glutinous rice in water, then grind the rice with a millstone, and squeeze the water out through a linen to make a wet dough. The dough was sweetened with brown sugar, formed into little cakes and then steamed.
There are, apparently, many different kinds of nian gao; sometimes the rice cakes are used in a savory stirfry, sometimes it might come with red bean (like the version pictured here) or sesame paste, like tang yuan (and many other Chinese desserts). (Photo by u m a m i)
These days, it’s much easier to make nian gao, since there’s glutinous rice flour readily available and even pre-made rice cakes you just have to steam and serve. Or forgo the sticky mess and get them at a pastry shop. Unfortunately, you might have to wait a while for these; I’ve been combing the bakeries in Chinatown (Manhattan) this week and have come up empty-handed. (Though they always tell me “No more,” which could either mean they’re no longer being offered for the New Year, they’re out by the time I get there, or they just never make them.)
Anyone out there with a nian gao tip, I’m all ears.
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