The 14th annual Tribeca Film Festival, running April 15-26, boasts not only 64 film premieres and an eclectic array of movies hailing from 31 countries, but also its most impressive lineup perhaps ever. There are films ranging from the Saturday Night Live documentary Live From New York! to the Kurt Cobain doc Montage of Heck to the emotional video-game feature doc Thank You for Playing; dramas such as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Maggie, Viggo Mortensen’s Far From Men, and Ethan Hawke’s drone commentary Good Kill; and a wide array of talks by everyone from Christopher Nolan to George Lucas, hosted by the likes of John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, and Jon Stewart. Here are the things we’re looking forward to most at Tribeca ’15.
The opening-night film of the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival is a fitting one: a documentary chronicling the 40 years of NBC’s late-night sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live. Filmmaker Bao Nguyen traces the evolution of the show alongside that of its host city, New York City, showing how the influential TV program has been influenced by the changing times. The documentary features interviews with an array of current and former cast members, including Tina Fey, Chevy Chase, and Chris Rock.
The closing-night film of the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival is a special 25th-anniversary screening of Martin Scorsese's crime classic Goodfellas, which features Tribeca Film Fest co-founder Robert De Niro. And if that wasn’t enough, De Niro, Scorsese, and other cast and crew members will be on hand for a post-screening discussion hosted by none other than The Daily Show emcee Jon Stewart.
Ever since “Nannygate,” film icon Arnold Schwarzenegger has been desperately trying to revitalize his career, but has mostly fallen terribly short (Did you see Sabotage?) Maggie is seen as a departure of sorts for Ahnuld in that it’s a decidedly more dramatic, less action-oriented role. He plays Wade, a caring father to his teenage daughter, Maggie (Chloe Grace Moretz). When she becomes infected and transforms into a flesh-eating zombie, he chooses to stay by her side. It sounds a bit like Schwarzenegger’s I Am Legend.
Directed by David Oelhoffen, this stunningly lensed frontier Western is set at the beginning of the Algerian War. An ex-French Army soldier turned schoolteacher, played by Viggo Mortensen, is tasked with bringing Mohamed, a Muslim-Algerian prisoner, across a treacherous war-ravaged landscape to his trial. Along the way, the two men form a unique and unlikely bond.
Roseanne Barr is a national treasure, and in 2012, disillusioned and dismayed by the politicians being banded about, she decided to run for the highest office in the land: President of the United States. This eye-opening documentary traces Roseanne’s political journey, and in the process, provides a revealing portrait of the legendary comedienne.
It’s a lengthy conversation between admitted sci-fi nerd Stephen Colbert (of The Colbert Report) and Star Wars mastermind George Lucas. What more is there to say?!
Getty
An acclaimed writer and Adderall enthusiast (James Franco) is forced to question his existence when his father (Ed Harris) resurfaces claiming that he’s fabricated many of the dark childhood memories upon which much of his deeply personal writing is based. At the same time, Franco’s writer is drawn into a new romance with a fetching woman (Amber Heard) and the criminal trial of an acquaintance of his (Christian Slater) whose troubled past mirrors his own.
Directed by David Osit and Malika Zouhali-Worrall, this feature documentary centers on game designer Ryan Green who, in the wake of his son’s cancer diagnosis, decides to create a moving tribute to his family’s emotional journey: an immersive video game called That Dragon, Cancer. The documentary examines the emotional investment that Ryan and his team of designers make in creating the game, and the toll it takes on the Green family.
The final project by legendary documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles before his passing, this doc offers a portrait of The Empire Builder, America’s busiest long-distance train route, providing a series of intimate vignettes of Americans in various stages of life, all in the midst of embarking on their next adventure.
The closing weekend of the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival (April 24-26) includes a celebration of all things Monty Python, in honor of the 40th anniversary of the U.K. comedy troupe's landmark film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That film will be presented, along with Life of Brian and The Meaning of Live (footage of their concerts across the pond), and the whole shebang will be capped off with a conversation among Monty Python legends John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin moderated by Last Week Tonight's John Oliver.
Directed by Andrew Niccol (Gattaca), this scathing social commentary stars Ethan Hawke as a drone pilot in the desert on the outskirts of Vegas who, after killing hordes of unarmed civilians, begins to lose his humanity. The film also stars January Jones as his wife, Bruce Greenwood as his hardass adviser, and Zoe Kravitz as an up-and-coming drone pilot.
Directed by Erin Lee Carr, daughter of the late celebrated New York Times media critic David Carr, this eye-opening and disturbing documentary tells the real-life tale of NYPD officer Gilberto Valle, a man who was convicted of conspiring to kidnap, rape, kill, and eat several women. He was branded “The Cannibal Cop,” and lived in infamy. But are a man’s sickening fantasies really a crime?
Directed by Brett Morgen (The Kid Stays in the Picture) and produced by Kurt Cobain’s daughter, Frances Bean, the documentary Montage of Heck tells the story of Kurt Cobain, from his humble Olympia, Washington, beginnings to achieving rock legend status as the frontman of Nirvana. The film features rare, never-before-seen home video footage of Cobain (and wife Courtney Love) as well as unreleased writings and music.
via Facbook
The third season of Comedy Central’s hilarious TV series Inside Amy Schumer will premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, followed by a conversation with the gut-bustingly funny New York-based comedienne. Expect plenty of laughs.
Directed by Zachary Sluser, this dark romance centers on a nice-guy bartender, Pierre (Anton Yelchin), who returns to his hometown after his parents’ death, and meets Stella (Zooey Deschanel). He falls for her, but soon finds himself embroiled in a bizarre plot involving a wacky criminal (John Hawkes) and a bag full of cash. Sluser’s film also stars Aubrey Plaza, Frank Langella, and Ciaran Hinds.
