Tribeca Film Festival Reviews. Part 1

This is Sam Gooley Reporting From Tribeca Film Festival. I was out of town last week when the festival started, so i had to fit the whole festival in one week. So in 7 days, I've seen 9 films. The fest was great! Most the films I saw were ranged from good to great ( I really only disliked one film!) Some of the highlights for me was being able to watch one of my favorite filmmakers Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Director Of Amelie and The City Of Lost Children). Anyway, here is a list of what i saw and the first of three parts of reviews of the films.

The Disappearance of Alice Creed - B-

Please Give - B

Gerrymandering - C+

Ondine - B-

Micmacs - B+

My Trip to Al-Qaeda - B+

Get Low - B

Monogamy - C-

The Two Escobars - B+

The Disappearance Of Alice Creed, a british thriller that had me on the edge of my seat until the middle where a unexpected twist turns the movie from a highly entertaining realistic thriller to a entertaining ludicrous thriller. The twist took me out of the film because it changed the point of view of all the characters for the worst. However, even though the movie got ridiculous, it was still entertaining until the end. The film has only three actors in it and each one was fantastic. If it wasn't for the performances, this film would not have worked. So I give it an B-.

The next was

Please Give from Nicole Holofcener (i think that's how you spell it). She's the filmmaker that uses in all of her films as her alter-ego. She's made Friends with Money, Lovely and Amazing and Some other film. I really liked this character comedy of upscale New Yorkers all dealing with different types of guilt. It was a pleasant surprise. It's low key but very funny. Reminded of late 80's Allen. Husband and Wives and Crimes and Misdemeanors. Plus, the whole cast and director came out and did a q & a and talked alot about the dialogue and how she's very good at not just the dialogue that's written for the characters but what she doesn't write and is in the way the characters react that makes her writing sharp and observant which i thought was very interesting and a good lesson in writing.

Gerrymandering is a documentary about the process of Gerrymanders in city districts and it's was like watching a film in history class. Not a boring one but one that actually is kinda interesting to watch but the point was made about half way through and got very redundant. Informative but not a very tight documentary.

PART 2 COMING SOON!