Tribeca FIlm Festival: Part 1

So far, I've seen 5 movies at The Tribeca Film Festival.  Don Mckay, Serious Moonlight, Handsome Harry, Midgets vs. Mascots, and Black Dynamite.  Here are my mini-reviews.

Don Mckay - So far, this is my favorite film from the festival.  It is an absurd, very dark comedy with a plot, very hard to explain past the first 15 minutes.  It involves Don Mckay, a high school janitor returning to his home town to see his childhood girlfriend off to her grave.  By the end, dead bodies are everywhere and everyone in the audience has a great laugh as someone is hit over the head with a frozen roast.

Serious Moonlight - Meg Ryan plays a wife who ties up her husband to mend their marriage.  A much less dark comedy than Don Mckay.  The laughs are big when they happen, but most of the humor is derived from the ridiculousness of the situations the characters get themselves into.

Handsome Harry - A on-the-whole well crafted thriller.  At many points it got very slow and boring, but the performances were all excellent.

Midgets vs. Mascots - A completely non-PC comedy about a competition between Little People and Mascots.  It had many over-the-top hilarious slapstick moments, and a surprise cameo by Jason Mews at the end.

Black Dynamite - An absolutely hilarious throwback to 70's blaxploitation films.  With too many "rolling on the floor lauging" moments to count.

Black Dynamite will be released this September.

Don Mckay - 4 out of 4

Serious Moonlight - 3.5 out of 4

Handsome Harry - 3 out of 4

Midgets vs. Mascots - 3.5 out of 4

Black Dynamite - 4 out of 4

-Zach

State of Play

I saw the film, State of Play starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck.  Both of them gave rather good performances but nothing to write home about.  The best thing about this movie it the plot.  It involves a huge conspiracy involving a company doing some shady business-work.  One major strength of the plot is that I knew what was going on in the movie the entire time, and that is very rare in a movie with a plot as complicated as this.  Also, many of the twists the plot took where unexpected and very compelling.  Plus, Jason Bateman from Arrested Development (my favorite TV show) gives a stellar performance in a pivotal scene.

State of Play - 3.5 out of 4

-Zach

Sorry

Hey guys sorry I haven't been posting these past few weeks, I was skiing in Utah.  Now, I'm back, and I did see a few movies.

Adventureland - 3.5 out of 4

Duplicity - 3 out of 4

Sunshine Cleaning - 3 out of 4

Observe and Report - 4 out of 4

-Zach

P.S. - Above is a photo I took in Utah.

Bart Got a Room

I saw Bart Got a Room about a year ago at the Tribeca Film Festival.  William H. Macy was at the screening along with the director and star.  Surprisingly I remember most of the movie which is a very good sign.  I remember many of the hilarious moments also.  William H. Macy is one of my favorite actors, and he delivers with every moment in this movie, his hair dew is also amazing.  Alia Shawkat is from my favorite TV show, Arrested Development, she did rather well.  Brandon Hardesty, who is amazing on YouTube (ArtieTSMITW), is completly under-used.  He is only in five short scenes, but in those scenes he does very well.  Cheryl Hines is also in the supporting cast.  The film probably won't go down in history, but it still is a very good independent comedy.

Bart Got a Room is opening in limited release, Friday, April 3rd.

Bart Got a Room - 4 out of 4

-Zach

(The pictures are from the screening I went to in New York)

Top 5 Movies to Watch on April Fools Day

I said I'd make a list this week and it's April 1st so... here's a list of movies to watch on April Fools Day.

1. Airplane
2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
3. Blazing Saddles
4. Animal House
5. (If you're looking for something a little more modern) Forgetting Sarah Marshall
   

Okay, so theres the list.  As for this weekend, we might put one or two reviews up.

-Zach