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Starting tomorrow, and continuing throughout the proceeding 11 days, cinemania will take over Manhattan. Yes, it’s that time of year again, when the annual Tribeca Film Festival dominates the lower half of New York City with its star-studded and diversely programmed slate of independent features, documentaries, and shorts.
Co-founded by Robert De Niro in 2002 (alongside Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff), as a way to help the city’s Tribeca section cope with life after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, the celebration of lo-fi moviemaking prides itself on debuting flicks that other festivals, such as Utah’s Sundance and Austin’s SXSW, haven’t previously offered. But this year, the Tribeca team have wisely included a few past fest favorites, making the overall lineup that much stronger.
Altogether, the 2012 Tribeca slate is the festival’s best one in many years. Tomorrow night, the festivities open with the NYC premiere of the hilarious new Jason Segal/Emily Blunt romantic comedy The Five-Year Engagement, and on April 28th the motion picture overload will wrap up with the Big Apple’s unveiling of a little costume drama known as The Avengers. Along the way, a variety of interesting small-scale flicks—including names like Kristen Wiig, Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Chris Rock, and Jason Bateman—will keep the good times rolling.
To simplify all of your itinerary needs, we’ve combed through the entire lineup to narrow the must-see field down to The 25 Most Anticipated Movies Of The 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.
Written by Matt Barone (@MBarone)
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25. Let Fury Have the Hour
Director: Antonino D’Ambrosio
In the immortal words of the Mad Rapper, “Tell ‘em why you mad, son!” It’s easy to picture D. Dot’s fictional disgruntled MC shouting those exact words into the ears of first-time documentarian Antonino D’Ambrosio as he began work on Let Fury Have the Hour.
Using the input of infamously antagonistic and outspoken folks like Chuck D, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, and Lewis Black, as well as cultural mainstays like Shepard Fairey and John Sayles, D’Ambrosio reflects upon the impacts that the spoken word, whether heard through music or various other forms of media, can have on changing our society and influencing political leaders. Considering that anger toward government is contagious nowadays, Let Fury Have the Hour certainly has timeliness on its side.
To find out more: Let Fury Have the Hour
24. Hysteria
Director: Tanya Wexler
Stars: Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jonathan Pryce, Felicity Jones, Rupert Everett
One of these days, the men of the world will get a movie that exposes the origins of blow-up dolls—until then, though, we’ll just have to settle with watching our girlfriends get enlightened by Hysteria, the costume drama/comedy that shows how vibrators came to fruition.
Don’t let the looks of the above photo, which we know makes director Tanya Wexler’s flick look like a Merchant Ivory nightmare, fool you. Hysteria, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Martha Marcy May Marlene’s Hugh Dancy, uses its 19th century London setting to elegantly mask a story that’s shamelessly kinky. Just think, if Hysteria proves to be a success, we’re that much closer to learning the true origins of anal beads. See you at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, perverts!
To find out more: Hysteria
23. Deadfall
Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky
Stars: Eric Bana, Charlie Hunnam, Olivia Wilde, Kris Kristofferson, Sissy Spacek, Kate Mara, Treat Williams
Sometimes, all it takes to catch our interest is a simple, pulpy bit of crime fiction. Such is the deal with Deadfall, a cold weather thriller about a heist-pulling brother and sister (Eric Bana and hottie deluxe Olivia Wilde) traveling around with a bag stuffed with greenbacks, and a newly paroled boxer (Sons of Anarchy’s Charlie Hunnam) who unintentionally injects himself into their illegal exploits.
A quick glance at the official synopsis’ promise of “a shocking climax” leads us to believe that Deadfall, directed by Austrian filmmaker Stefan Ruzowitzky, won’t end with Hunnam joining them for happy-go-lucky robberies as Wilde’s new boy toy. Expect blood, corpses, and other tragic plot points—in other words, the shit that makes us smile. Yes, we have issues.
To find out more: Deadfall
22. Sexy Baby
Director: Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus
Watching porn online will never be the same again after you’ve seen Sexy Baby, the timely and subtly powerful new documentary from filmmakers Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus. With open-book realism and nicely placed references to sexually provocative Billboard hits (see: Lil Wayne and Lady Gaga, specifically), Sexy Baby explores the negative effects that our current digital age is having on impressionable young women, as well as the immature fellas who think that all bedroom activities should mirror those of Jenna Jameson.
Bauer and Gradus, without any interferences, show the everyday lives of three equally engrossing subjects: Winnie, a sassy, quite grown-up 12-year-old who counters her feminist-in-training ideals with the desire to be as sexy as Lady Gaga; Nichole, a.k.a. Nakita Nash, 32, a porn star turned pole dance instructor who knows the chauvinistic and hurtful views cast upon adult film stars all too well; and 22-year-old Laura, a gorgeous amateur model stricken by insecurities that she feels can only be remedied through labiaplasty surgery.
Sexy Baby accomplishes two important feats: The film brings the Internet’s darkest impacts to light in discomforting ways, and, most profound of all, it should give any and all fathers of young girls a harsh reality check about the times in which we’re currently living.
To find out more: Sexy Baby
21. Mansome
Director: Morgan Spurlock
It's crazy to think that, at one point in pop culture's history, dudes like Tom Selleck and Burt Reynolds were looked at by housewives and teenyboppers alike as sex symbols, and they had their pimptastic beards and bushy chest hair to thank for their appeal. Consider that to be all in the past, of course, and, these days, many ladies prefer their gentlemen callers to be clean shaven from faces downward; not to mention, metrosexuals and various pretty boys have made it impossible for moustaches to get back in vogue.
That’s the point that documentarian Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) hopes to challenge in his latest funny doc Mansome, produced by on-camera personalities Will Arnett and Jason Bateman. With that degree of star power intact, Spurlock also gets the likes of Paul Rudd and Zach Galifianakis to weigh in on what defines men nowadays, in regards to the roles that barbershops and salons play in masculinity’s perceptions. Hopefully Mansome’s final thesis doesn’t leave our egos with acute cases of figurative razor burn.
To find out more: Mansome
20. Free Samples
Director: Jay Gammill
Stars: Jess Weixler, Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Ritter, Halley Feiffer, Tippi Hedren
Kudos to Jesse Eisenberg for not selling out after receiving his Oscar nomination, for 2010’s The Social Network. Keeping his independent spirit alive and well, the young actor brings his signature brand of endearing awkwardness to Free Samples, a quirky sounding comedy that, no offense to Eisenberg, appears to be a prime vehicle for an actress we unfortunately haven’t seen enough since 2007’s killer vagina horror-comedy Teeth: Jess Weixler.
The talented beauty, who’s been the definition of independent permanence, plays a sassy, ball-busting chick who takes over a friend’s ice cream truck for the day, doling out free dessert samples to an assortment of weirdos, one of whom comes in the form of Eisenberg. If nothing else, Free Samples should provide a satisfying dose of our girl Weixler, which, as we said before, doesn’t happen often enough. Hell, if Greta Gerwig can transition into mainstream fare (meaning, she’s able to show the Megan Fox’s of the game how acting is done), why not Ms. Teeth, too?
To find out more: Free Samples
19. Knife Fight
Director: Bill Guttentag
Stars: Rob Lowe, Jaime Chung, Julie Bowen, Saffron Burrows, David Harbour, Eric McCormack
A few years back, Rob Lowe was nothing more to us than a has-been ’80s star, but thanks to his hilariously airhead role on NBC’s brilliant sitcom Parks and Recreation, the comeback kid has earned our respect tenfold. But what else does the new and improved Lowe have to offer outside of trading funny lines with the likes of Amy Poehler and Nick “Ron Swanson” Offerman?
Patrons of the Tribeca Film Festival are about to find out, courtesy of the political satire Knife Fight. In writer-director Bill Guttentag’s timely flick, co-developed by real-life Democratic consultant Chris Lehane, Lowe plays a strategist who has to steer two of his biggest clients, who are currently being blackmailed, away from media scrutiny. Can he strike lightning twice within the world of fictional governments?
To find out more: Knife Fight
18. Consuming Spirits
Director: Chris Sullivan
Stars: Robert Levy, Nancy Andrews, Chris Sullivan, Chris Harris, Judith Rafael, Mary Lou Zelazny
Filling the Tribeca Film Festival’s animation quotient is a film that sounds and looks like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Overseen by filmmaker Chris Sullivan, over nearly 15 years of work, Consuming Spirits presents a suspenseful thriller—about similarly odd newspaper employees living in the Midwest—through a variety of animated techniques.
Included in the film’s smorgasbord of sketchy (pun intended) visual approaches are collages, pencil drawings, and stop-motion animation, all of which, if our instincts don’t fail us, should combine into the type of drawn together storytelling that even Pixar isn’t progressive enough to attempt.
To find out more: Consuming Spirits
17. Broke
Director: Billy Corben
SCREENING AS A WORK IN PROGRESS
Billy Corben really is our kind of documentary filmmaker. Just look at the topics he’s addressed with his camera: the dramas surrounding Miami’s drug underworld (Cocaine Cowboys), the ups and downs of marijuana distribution (Square Grouper), and the captivating world of nightclub kingpin Peter Gatien (Limelight). And Corben’s latest film, Broke, continues his trend of tapping into what fascinates people like us the most.
Here, Corben centers his attention on the wide world of sports, specifically on the post-career lives of superstar athletes who can’t hold onto their riches. Financially taxed, one-time players like Sean Salisbury and Andre Rison provide the filters-off, firsthand accounts of how greatness on the playing field doesn’t necessarily translate to monetary intelligence off of the gridirons, courts, and diamonds.
To find out more: Broke
16. 2 Days in New York
Director: Julie Delpy
Stars: Chris Rock, Julie Delpy, Brady Smith, Vincent Gallo, Kate Burton, Dylan Baker, Malinda Williams, Alexandre Nahon, Alex Manette
You’ve got to love Julie Delpy for taking such a creative risk. When looking for an actor to play her husband in 2 Days in New York, the sequel to her critically lauded 2007 romantic comedy 2 Days in Paris, the French actress/writer/director saw beyond the obvious leading man choices and selected Chris Rock, of all people.
If the lighthearted flick’s early reviews are accurate, the iconic stand-up comedian more than holds his own in a tuned down, mostly straight-laced performance. Rock and Delpy star as a joyously married couple living in Manhattan and unfortunately shaken up a bit by the arrival of her dysfunctional family.
Doesn’t sound like your bag? To each his own, but just be glad 2 Days in New York means we have a Rock job to actually celebrate before he and his band of uninspired, millionaire friends (i.e., Adam Sandler, Kevin James, David Spade, and Rob Schneider) molest the word “funny” in next year’s sure to grate Grown Ups 2.
To find out more: 2 Days in New York
15. Side by Side
Director: Chris Kenneally
Where the hell has Keanu Reeves been since 2008’s forgettable sci-fi remake The Day the Earth Stood Still? Blowing up the Wachowski brothers’ cell phones in hopes of getting them to make another Matrix sequel? Thankfully for the once-bankable star, that hasn’t been the case.
Rather, Reeves has been hard at work on the fascinating film-geek-ready documentary Side by Side, which he served as producer, narrator, and actor—as the Michael Moore-esque, on-camera interviewer. The question presented by the film is simple: Will the film community’s newfound love for digital prints and advanced camerawork spell the end of old-school film stock?
To find out more: Side by Side
14. As Luck Would Have It
Director: Álex de la Iglesia
Stars: Salma Hayak, José Mota, Santiago Segura, Carolina Bang, Nacho Vigalondo, Blanca Portillo
No one can accuse Spanish filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia of sticking to one formula. Last year, the acclaimed writer-director checked in with the completely bizarre freak-show The Last Circus, in which circus clowns tote machine guns and burn their faces off with acid. In 2012, de la Iglesia softens a bit with As Luck Would Have It, though normalcy certainly hasn’t earned his interests yet.
Salma Hayek, seemingly back in leading woman form, plays a happily married wife who’s forced to carry her family’s responsibilities when her husband (José Mota) gets sidelined by an accident that leaves him both near death and a sudden media icon. Touching on themes of morbidity as much as it does matters of love, As Luck Would Have It sounds exactly like the kind of melodramatic film that could appeal to far more than merely tear-jerking saps. Worst case, use it an excuse to reacquaint yourself with Salma Hayek’s epic mammaries. What, self-respecting cinephiles have hormones, too.
To find out more: As Luck Would Have It
13. Resolution
Director: Justin Benson and Aaron Scott Moorhead
Stars: Peter Cilella, Vinny Curran, Kurt David Anderson, Emily Montague, Skyler Meacham, Zahn McClarnon
Frankly, we’re not quite sure what to make of Resolution, the enigmatic feature from directors Aaron Scott Moorhead and Justin Benson (who also wrote the screenplay). All that’s known about the film is that it’s unclassifiable in terms of genre, though the filmmakers have confirmed that horror fans won’t be disappointed. Intrigue, check.
As far as the concept goes, Resolution has a rather lean premise: A guy named Michael (Peter Cilella) convinces his self-destructive best friend (Vinny Curran) to spend time in an unconventional, stay-at-home rehab, which leads to encounters with “personal demons, the consequences of past actions, and forces beyond their control.”
Are we talking about ghosts? A homicidal back-story that creeps into the present? Beer bottles that come to life and kill at will? Who the hell knows, but, to Resolution’s credit, this year’s Tribeca Film Festival sports very few movies as mysterious as the one devised by Sirs Benson and Moorhead.
To find out more: Resolution
12. The Giant Mechanical Man
Director: Lee Kirk
Stars: Jenna Fischer, Chris Messina, Topher Grace, Malin Akerman, Rich Sommer, Lucy Punch, Bob Odenkirk
If more small-screen comedic actresses of Jenna Fischer’s caliber follow her lead and fund independent romantic comedies on par with The Giant Mechanical Man, cinematic date nights might actually be events to look forward to, rather than dread.
In this strange yet touching little love story, The Office star (who also serves as producer) plays a girl without any direction in life—she just lost her job, there’s no man to call her “lover,” and her well-off younger sister (Malin Akerman) keeps trying to set her up with a cornball self-help author and motivational speaker (Topher Grace). Enter a similarly aimless guy (Chris Messina) who's alone in the belief that his days spent motionlessly posing in public places as a robot are all for the betterment of “art.”
Once Fischer and Messina first cross paths, The Giant Mechanical Man follows the usual rom-com paths, only here their unlikely leading man/woman charms generate plenty of likeability.
To find out more: The Giant Mechanical Man
11. Francophrenia
Director: Ian Olds and James Franco
If you, like us, have been mystified by James Franco’s recent excursions into exhaustive, celebrity-testing performance art maneuvers (writing fiction, sporting dreads, overseeing art installations, etc.), the one-of-a-kind, pseudo-documentary Francophrenia should provide some answers about the guy’s motivations.
Award-winning documentarian Ian Olds sifted through 40 hours’ worth of footage, all shot while Franco outrageously played the murderous “Franco” on the soap opera General Hospital, and, with the actor’s enthusiastic permission, assembled a hilarious mockumentary about Franco’s descent into madness. With unsettling musical cues, hilariously deranged narration, and visual distortions, Francophrenia imagines what it’d be like if Franco realized that the soap is ridiculous and, subsequently, lost his mind.
The final product, which could very well be the festival’s funniest picture, should warm you up to Franco’s peculiar career trajectory as of late; when all’s said and done, he’s more concerned with tweaking the world’s ideas about celebrity, and, as Francophrenia helps to get across in a strange fashion, that’s quite respectable.
To find out more: Francophrenia
10. Polisse
Director: Maïwenn
Stars: Karin Viard, Joey Starr, Marina Foïs, Nicholas Duvauchelle, Maïwenn, Karole Rocher, Emmanuelle Bercot, Frederic Pierrot
Here’s one effective way to strong-arm the film world’s collective attention: take home the Jury Prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Having pulled off that exact accomplishment at last year’s festivities, French actress/director Maïwenn’s (High Tension) Polisse brings a hefty amount of cachet to 2012’s Tribeca run. And, fortunately, the film’s subject matter sounds right up our alley and not like some hoity-toity The King’s Speech-like awards bait.
Adding an admirable twist into the tried and true “cop movie” genre, Polisse steps away from the nearest precinct and focuses on a Child Protection Unit (CPU) that helps abused kids, attempts to calm down far too horny teenagers, and redirects shattered youngsters away from physically disruptive parents. Maïwenn (who co-wrote the script with Emmanuelle Bercot) gives the audience an in as a photographer assigned to capture the CPU’s efforts through pictures.
Don’t be surprised if the triple threat performer herself is photographed hoisting a Tribeca-issued award by the festival’s end.
To find out more: Polisse
9. Journey to Planet X
Director: Myles Kane and Josh Koury
Rarely is Z-grade cinema so deeply sympathetic and moving, not to mention hilarious. In the incessantly enjoyable documentary Journey to Planet X, filmmakers Myles Kane and Josh Koury mine entertainment gold out of Eric Swain and Troy Bernier, a pair of middle-aged scientists who make no-budget sci-fi adventures once they’ve punched the workplace clocks. Specializing in Internet-distributed shorts, Swain and Brenier share a dream of submitting one of their works into a film festival, and with their most ambitious project to date, Planet X, the longtime friends might just have their meal ticket, so to speak.
Journey to Planet X traces the pals’ entire filmmaking process from day one all the way to its ultimate fate, showing the laughably stilted auditions, bootleg guerrilla shooting tactics, and genuine frustrations of a do-it-yourself picture that’s mere steps above Birdemic. Despite their constant setbacks, Swain and Brenier never lose faith in their passion project, and, as a result, Journey to Planet X registers as a surprisingly moving tribute to unwavering underdogs everywhere.
To find out more: Journey to Planet X
8. Revenge for Jolly!
Director: Chadd Harbold
Stars: Brian Petsos, Oscar Isaac, Elijah Wood, Kristen Wiig, Adam Brody, Ryan Phillippe
Revenge for Jolly! might very well have our favorite premise of the entire Tribeca Film Festival: A sad sack (writer Brian Petsos) comes home from an alcoholic stupor to see that his beloved dog, Jolly, has been viciously killed, so, along with his nutty cousin (Drive’s Oscar Isaac), he packs a small arsenal of guns and drops as many fools as it takes to find out who killed the pooch.
As if that concept, which is ripe for dark comedy and all-out bloodshed, wasn’t hooky enough, Revenge for Jolly! features an awesome lineup of co-stars and one-scene-stealers, including Kristen Wiig, Elijah Wood, and Ryan Phillippe. We’re guessing that those big names also saw the loony potential in first-time director Chadd Harbold’s project—that, or they’re all unabashed dog lovers. Either one works for us.
To find out more: Revenge for Jolly!
7. Sleepless Night
Director: Frederic Jardin
Stars: Tomer Sisley, Serge Riaboukine, Julien Boisselier, Joey Starr, Laurent Stocker, Birol Unel
A crowd favorite at last September’s Midnight Madness, part of the world renown Toronto Film Festival, the French action-thriller Sleepless Night moves at a mile-a-minute pace—you’ll never have a chance to sit back and chill. Directed tightly by Frederic Jardin, the live wire affair stars an impressive Tomer Sisley as a corrupt cop determined to rescue his teenage son from the clutches of drug-dealing kidnappers, who are salty toward the officer for jacking some of their precious cocaine in a bungled narcotics scheme.
After a brief set-up, Sleepless Night settles into the single location of a crowded, labyrinth-like nightclub, where Sisley’s son is being held and where he’s forced to punch, kick, stab, and shoot his way through feisty cops and psychotic criminals. Under Jardin’s skilled watch, Sleepless Night charges through several clever twists and a few knockout action sequences, all on its way to a brave ending that’s sure to be divisive.
To find out more: Sleepless Night
6. Eddie: The Sleepwalking Cannibal
Director: Boris Rodriguez
Stars: Thure Lindhardt, Dylan Smith, Georgina Reilly, Alian Goulem, Paul Braunstein, Stephen McHattie
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: A creatively blocked artist befriends a 40-something social outcast, invites him to move into his home, and quickly learns that his new, weird roommate turns into a flesh-eating ghoul in his sleep, bloody mouth at the breakfast table and all. There's no way you just tried to stop us.
Give writer-director Boris Rodriguez a surplus of credit for somehow devising a horror-comedy that’s never been done before. And, most importantly, buy a ticket immediately to his Eddie: The Sleepwalking Cannibal if you’re looking for something that’s entertaining, gruesome, nicely performed, and genuinely funny. Fully aware of the plot’s inherent ridiculousness, Rodriguez amps up the film’s tongue-in-cheek humor, yet he never lets Eddie: The Sleepwalking Cannibal degenerate into a silly throwaway. Of all the festival’s horror flicks (and there’s not many, sadly), this one’s by far the strongest.
To find out more: Eddie: The Sleepwalking Cannibal
5. The Fourth Dimension
Director: Jan Kwiecinski, Alexey Fedorchenko, and Harmony Korine
Stars: Val Kilmer, Igor Sergeev, Darya Ekamasova, Tomasz Tyndyk
Every good film festival needs at least one genuine mind-fuck; amongst this year’s packed Tribeca lineup, the absurdist anthology The Fourth Dimension unquestionably fits the bill. That shouldn’t come as a surprise once you see eccentric filmmaker Harmony Korine’s name attached. Tapping into some more of the weirdness that birthed 2009’s Trash Humpers (a movie about, yes, people who hump trash), Korine contributes “The Lotus Community Workshop,” a segment in which Val Kilmer plays a horrendously dressed motivational speaker named Val Kilmer. Let that sink in for a second.
Not to be outdone, Russian director Alexey Fedorchenko presents “Chronoeye,” about an ineffective time traveler, and Polish shotcaller Jan Kwiecinski’s “Fawns,” which has something to do with the apocalypse.
What does it all mean? We won’t know until we see The Fourth Dimension next week, but you can definitely bet on one thing: the Gravediggaz’ “Defective Trip (Trippin’),” which seems like the perfect viewer-played soundtrack, will finally have a proper home for revival.
To find out more: The Fourth Dimension
4. Your Sister's Sister
Director: Lynn Shelton
Stars: Mark Duplass, Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt
Some guys have all the luck. In acclaimed independent writer-director Lynn Shelton’s (Humpday) minimalist love triangle Your Sister’s Sister, The League’s Mark Duplass plays a romantically cold dude who heads off to his best friend’s (Emily Blunt) family cabin for a weekend of solitude, only to be unexpectedly greeted by her equally disenchanted sister (Rosemarie DeWitt). Once there, he and the sister smack backs, which complicates matters once Duplass learns that his BFF is madly in love with him.
That’s right, he gets to hook up with the gorgeous DeWitt while also getting the even sexier Blunt all hot and bothered. Go ahead, fight through the jealousy. Fortunately, the richly acted Your Sister’s Sister washes away any male-channeled animosity through its honesty and moments of quirky, R-rated endearment.
To find out more: Your Sister’s Sister
3. Take This Waltz
Director: Sarah Polley
Stars: Seth Rogen, Michelle Williams, Luke Kirby, Sarah Silverman
Yes, it’s a soft, if not also familiar, premise: A married woman (here, Michelle Williams) begins to question her domestic ties to her hubby (Seth Rogen) after meeting an exciting charmer (Luke Kirby) by chance. Replace Williams with Jennifer Aniston and you’d have a painful rom-com that’s basically a slice of cinematic repellent for you and your hard-earned money, right?
If you’re nodding your head in agreement, you couldn’t be any more wrong. Written and directed by actress turned director Sarah Polley, Take This Waltz tells its story of possible infidelity without playing by any expected limitations—the plot transpires unpredictably, the humor is often countered by somber melancholy, and several scenes (including a Tilt-A-Whirl ride set against The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star”) are simultaneously enchanting and haunting.
Holding the whole poignant shebang together is Williams, the Academy Award nominee who’s second to none when it comes to embodying an emotionally fragile woman whose transgressions do little to diminish one’s sympathy toward her. Take This Waltz is Tribeca’s best date movie, in that it’s highly entertaining while also educational in regards of what not to do with your significant other.
To find out more: Take This Waltz
2. The Girl
Director: David Riker
Stars: Abbie Cornish, Will Patton, Maritza Santiago Hernandez
Anyone who has seen Sucker Punch (it’s OK, don’t be afraid to admit it) should be quite familiar with Abbie Cornish, the blonde stunner whose physical gifts set her apart amidst a nubile cast of beauties. But there’s one thing that Zack Snyder’s horny-teenage-boy-serving action flick didn’t showcase, other than a coherent story: the fact that Cornish is one fine actress when she's given the right material.
And something tells us that she’s found just that in The Girl, a film that should de-glamorize her, but also provide Cornish ample room to show and prove. She plays a down-and-out woman who receives a pink slip after losing her son in a custody battle. In order to earn some paper, she reluctantly takes a gig smuggling illegal immigrants across the Texas border.
What seems like a one-woman show could, hopefully, give Cornish the platform needed to erase Sucker Punch from the minds of critics and industry tastemakers alike.
To find out more: The Girl
1. Jack and Diane
Director: Bradley Rust Gray
Stars: Juno Temple, Riley Keough, Cara Seymour, Kylie Minogue, Dane DeHaan, Michael Chernus
Jack and Diane is anything but just another love story. The result of over nine years’ worth of recasting (at one point, Ellen Page and Olivia Thirlby were attached) and false starts, writer-director Bradley Rust Gray’s unconventional drama is finally making its worldwide premiere, and the New York-centric Tribeca Film Festival is the perfect place for it.
Set in Manhattan, Jack and Diane follows its two female title characters as they randomly meet one extremely hot summer day, quickly fall for one another, and combat both the threat of a long distance separation and love’s animalistic abilities to overpower one’s emotions. Oh, and those “animalistic abilities” manifest themselves as beastly, snarling, bloodthirsty, and dream-state monsters.
It’s bugged out, yes, but with two fearless and dynamic performances from Juno Temple and model-turned-actress Riley Keough at its heart, Jack and Diane captures the joy, heartache, hypnotism, and scariness of newfound love with unflinching realism and gory fantasy. Catch it at Tribeca or wait another seven months until its limited theatrical release in November.
To find out more: Jack and Diane