Tribeca Film Festival

Robert De Niro

The 5th annual Tribeca Film Festival was inaugurated on Monday at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center at 375 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10013. The festival was created by co-founders Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff.

This year’s Festival surpasses previous years’ numbers for world, international and North American premieres with more than 274 selected films, including 174 feature films, 100 short films, and 96 world premiere features from over 40 countries. The Festival also features numerous premieres, events, programs, and crowd-pleasing highlights.

These are the films that will be premiered at Tribeca:
The TV Set – World premiere by Jake Kasdan, starring Sigourney Weaver and returning David Duchovny.
Civic Duty – World premiere directed by Jeff Renfroe starring Peter Krause whose character spins out of control due to paranoia from 9/11.
The Yacoubian Building (Omaret Yacoubian) – North American Premiere, directed by 28-year-old Marwan Hamed with a record budget (for Egypt), an all-star Egyptian cast, a script based on a best-seller and set in a downtown Cairo building that is a symbol of modern Egypt.
Journey to the End of the Night – World premiere by returning Tribeca filmmaker Eric Eason, featuring a talented cast including Brendan Fraser, Scott Glenn, Catalina Sandino Moreno and Mos Def.
Sketches of Frank Gehry - Returning to Tribeca for the second year in a row, director Sydney Pollack brings us his first documentary about renowned architect Frank Gehry.
Over the Hedge – Paramount lets the audience to have a first look at this anticipated summer release featuring the voices of Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, William Shatner, Wanda Sykes, and Nick Nolte.

For additional information on the festival please visit the official website www.tribecafilmfestival.org. If you are a true movie-lover and live in New York, you'll not be able to resist sneaking in one of the many activities going on there.

Next Star Trek Film

News: The 11th 'Star Trek' film is on its way
Name of the Film: As-yet-untitled
Release date: Sometime in 2008.
Studio: Paramount that has produced all the 'Star Trek' films and TV series.
Director: JJ Abrams, creator of TV show 'Lost', "Alias'' and 'Felicity' and director-writer of 'Mission Impossible III' which debuts in May.
Story-line: Will focus on the early days of Captain James T Kirk and Mr Spock. It will tell of their first meeting at Starfleet Academy and first outer space mission.
Cast: Only clue available -- William Shatner will not be playing Kirk.
Last One: The most recent Trek film, Star Trek: Nemesis, was released in 2003 and underperformed at box office, making less money than any of its nine predecessors.

Here is the list of Star Trek films:
The Motion Picture (1979)
The Wrath of Khan (1982)
The Search for Spock (1984)
The Voyage Home (1986)
The Final Frontier (1989)
The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Generations (1994)
First Contact (1996)
Insurrection (1998)
Nemesis (2002)

A Kiss is Still a Kiss

Casablanca always finds a place in top 10 in the list of top 100 American films put up by any film critic. No one ever disputes this. Who can forget the haunting song which Ingrid Bergman asked to be ``played again'', and which brought back such painful memories for Bogart's Rick: ``You must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss ''?

However, few realize that what was sung in the movie is only part of a song written by Herman Hupfield 12 years earlier and it actaually had a connection with Einstein and his Theory of Relativity. The introduction to the song goes as follows:

"This day and age we're living in
Give cause for apprehension
With speed and new invention
And things like fourth dimension
Yet we get a trifle weary
With Mr. Einstein's theory
So we must get down to earth at times
Relax, relieve the tension
And no matter what the progress
Or what may yet be proved
The simple facts of life are such
They cannot be removed

You must remember this
A kiss is still a kiss
A sigh is still a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by..... "

© 1931 by Warner Bros. Music Corporation,
ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers )

Ice Age: The Meltdown

Ice Age: The Meltdown became the first movie of 2006 to break the $100 million mark, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. The animated sequel sold $34.5 million worth of tickets during the three-day weekend, bringing its cumulative 10-day haul to $116.4 million, distributor 20th Century Fox said. That compares to the $87.3 million its 2002 predecessor made after the same time. The original went on to earn $176 million. The new film is from the director Carlos Saldanha and the Academy Award winning creators of “Ice Age” and “Robots”.

In this sequel, the Ice Age is coming to an end, and the animals are delighting in the melting paradise that is their new world. Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary return to voice our three heroes: Manny, Sid, and Diego, who are still together and enjoying the perks of their now melting world. Manny may be ready to start a family, but nobody has seen another mammoth for a long time. That is when he miraculously finds Ellie (voiced by Queen Latifah), the only female mammoth left in the world.

Manny, Sid, and Diego quickly learn that the warming climate has one major drawback: A huge glacial dam holding off oceans of water is about to break, threatening the entire valley. The only chance of survival lies at the other end of the valley. So our three heroes embark on a mission across an ever-changing, increasingly dangerous landscape towards their salvation and on the way provides us lot of adventure, humor and good entertainment for the whole family.

Here is the official site of the film: iceagemovie.com. The film is rated PG for some mild language and innuendo.