Finally, an event where you don't need an official festival pass to party in honor of the Tribeca Film Festival. Our friends over at the Bloc Group are hosting the official after-party tonight for the TFF filmmaker/industry event at The Manse. No specific names (other than celebrity DJ Graham Funke) are mentioned on the invite, but "movie moguls, film industry insiders, performances and revelry into the late hours" sounds OK to me. Doors at midnight, and don't forget to RSVP.**

**We can't guarantee that RSVP'ing will get you in, and if you wouldn't be able to flex your way into Mansion on a regular night, don't expect to breeze past the doormen tonight. But as always, arriving with a harem of hot girls and a willingness to drop cash certainly won't hurt your chances of getting in.

Tribeca meets Soho at a series of filmmaking events and workshops at The Apple Store, all of which are free and open to the public, during the Tribeca Film Festival. Last week's speakers included actor Clive Owen and "SNL" / "Baby Mama" star Amy Poehler, and the fun continues this week.

Tonight at 6:30, screenwriter / director / producer Tom Kalin will discuss his latest project, "Savage Grace," starring Julianne Moore, and field questions from the audience. Stick around after that to hear from actress Isabella Rossellini (8pm), who is making her directorial debut at the film fest with a series of short films collectively known as "Green Porno," which she also wrote and appears in.  (Get your head out of the gutter--the title refers to the mating habits of various creatures).

Tomorrow night (April 30) at 6:30pm, "Superbad" director Greg Mottola stops by to chat about "Adventureland," a new comedy to be released later this year, and on Friday Beastie Boy Adam Yauch discusses his new film, "Gunnin' For that #1 Spot," currently screening at the festival (May 2, 6:30pm).

Then on Saturday (May 3) Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis ("Crash," "Million Dollar Baby") drops in to speak about his most recent opus, "In the Valley of Elah," and two forthcoming projects, "Quantum of Solace" and "Ranger's Apprentice" (6:30pm).

Finally, on Sunday (the final day of the festival), Matthew Modine--one of this year's TFF jurors--will screen his short film, "I Think I Thought," followed by a discussion and a Q&A.

(Image borrowed from Apple)

(Photo borrowed from Downtown Express)

While the film buffs are taking in the cinema, the less cultured are hatching plans to encounter as many celebrities as possible during the Tribeca Film Festival, which began on Wednesday and runs through Sunday May 4th. And though the public screening dates and locations are no secret, if you're looking for the scoop on what events will draw the celeb guests (i.e., what street corners to casually find yourself on), look no further. Here's your chance to snap a few pics of the beautiful people and live vicariously through those of us who were able to wrangle enough press clips to score a pass to the festival--and word to the wise, stick to admiring from afar, and don't even bother trying to finesse your way through the door if you're not supposed to be there.

Tribeca All Access Awards and Party
Tonight at Buddakan ... Arrivals begin at 7pm, and attendees will include Jesse L. Martin and Adam Beach (both of "Law & Order" fame), actress Joy Bryant, Damon Dash, actor Anthony Mackie, Jaime Hector ("The Wire") and more.

"Bart Got a Room" Premiere After-Party at Tenjune
As if Tenjune wasn't hard enough to get into on a Friday night, at 8pm tonight the MePa hot spot transforms into the Cadillac Lounge to host the "Bart Got a Room" after-party. There's lots of buzz about this little charmer, which stars William H. Macy and Cheryl Hines, both of whom are expected to attend the party. (If you're too excited to wait 'til 8pm, you could race over the AMC theater at 19th and Broadway to catch the red carpet arrivals for the screening at 5:20pm, but let's be honest, Macy and Hines are no Brangelina.)

"SqueezeBox!" Red Carpet Premiere and After-Party
The film debuts tonight at Tishman/ New School (66 W 12th Street between 5th and 6th), and at 8:20pm, celebs like John Waters, Debbie Harry, Jesse Malin and Patricia Field will begin to arrive. There's also an after-party later on at the Blender Theater at Gramercy.

Shorts: "Cold Feet" Red Carpet Premiere
Head to the AMC Village 7 (66 3rd Avenue at 11th Street) at 10pm to catch a glimpse of Matthew Modine and Rider Strong--yes, the same one who played Cory Mathhews' best friend on "Boy Meets World"--who was also in attendance at Wednesday night's "Big Mama" fete at the MoMa.

"Hotel Gramercy Park" and "Savage Grace" Red Carpet Premieres
Hotel aficionado Ian Schrager will be on hand at the Village East Cinemas (181 2nd Avenue at 12th Street) on Saturday, April 26 at around 6pm. (But don't bother asking him why you can't get into Rose Bar. Anyone who would ask that doesn't deserve to get in.) Later, "Savage Grace" director Tom Kalin and actress Julianne Moore will walk the red carpet at BMCC/ TPAC (199 Chambers Street), circa 8:45pm.

Mariah Carey and a Bunch of Other People at Tenjune
Technically tomorrow night's event at the Cadillac Lounge at Tenjune is an after-party for the premiere of "Tennessee," but somehow I think no one on the stalkerazzi circuit is as interested in that as in the fact that Mariah Carey, who is in the movie, will be there. Doors at 8pm.

That should be enough to keep you occupied 'til next week, when we'll be back with more  from the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival trenches.

(Photo by Peter Bixler)

The Tribeca Film Festival is off to a strong start, with the stars turning out for last night's world premiere of "Baby Mama" at the Ziegfeld. We were in attendance at the official after-party, held at the Museum of Modern Art, which could have been mistaken for a "Saturday Night Live" reunion. In addition to Lorne Michaels and "Baby Mama" stars Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, guests at the MoMa included a long list of present and former cast-members, like Jimmy Fallon (who eventually left the party with former "SNL" player Chris Kattan), Rachel Dratch, Jason Sudeikis, Fred Armisen, Molly Shannon and even Chevy Chase. But the superstar of the evening was Steve Martin, who sauntered in wearing a panama hat, spent most of his time at a table with Lorne and Chevy and later departed without obliging the fans who were waiting outside for an autograph. (That said, Martin's role in "Baby Mama" is much funnier than the rest of the movie.)

Other big name guests included Poehler's hilarious husband, Will Arnett, Seth Green (of "Family Guy" / "Austin Powers" / "Robot Chicken" fame), and Dax Shepard (whom I profiled in an interview piece last year), who doted on girlfriend Kristen Bell, star of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," most of the night.

Several sad people outside were hoping to catch a glimpse of Robert De Niro, who wasn't even there. One such fan informed me he was also there to see Frank Oz (better known as the voice of Yoda), who was my next-door neighbor on the Upper West Side for many years, and who I didn't see at the MoMa. Just as I was breaking the news that the Oz / De Niro gala must have been on the other side of town, Lorne Michaels walked outside. One eager fan yelled, "Lorne, can I get a picture?" to which Lorne responded, "I'm good, thanks," and jumped in a car.

A 30-second clip from inside the party, taken on my date's cell-phone from the future, is below.

It's that time of year again--time for the Tribeca Film Festival, which was established as a means to help rebuild and rejuvenate downtown Manhattan in the wake of 9/11. Since then, it has become an institution of New York arts and culture, set apart from things like Sundance because it offers regular people, not just celebrities, the opportunity to participate. But while the average New Yorker can purchase tickets to any of the 100-odd screenings to be held this year, don't worry about the death of elitism. Thankfully, Graydon Carter and Vanity Fair still understand the value of keeping things exclusive, and they prove it tonight at their annual opening gala, a dinner traditionally held at the NY County Courthouse at 60 Centre Street. Needless to say, we were not invited.

But according to a tipster inside the courthouse, we're not the only ones.

All employees at 60 Centre Street--including all NY State Supreme Court judges--received an email earlier today, politely reminding them to slink out the back door when they leave the building tonight. After all, Vanity Fair would be none too pleased if any of their A-list guests were forced to brush shoulders with commoners ...

April 22, 2008

To:   All Justices
        All Users, 60 Centre Street

Re:  Vanity Fair/Tribeca Film Festival, Seventh Annual Dinner - Today, Tuesday April 22, 2008

 

The City of New York and the Unified Court System have authorized the use of the County Courthouse Rotunda for the Tuesday, April 22nd Annual Dinner of the Tribeca Film Festival. The dinner and festival offer the opportunity to "showcase" Lower Manhattan and promote artistic and commercial enterprise following the traumatic events of September 11th, 2001.

The dinner, sponsored by Vanity Fair, is for festival participants only. We are cooperating with Vanity Fair, which is providing equipment, decorations, meals, etc.  During this evening, the Rotunda, front entrance and the Hamill Place side door will be devoted exclusively to the dinner program. Therefore, court personnel are requested to exit the rear of the building or Pearl Street side door.

We regret any inconvenience occasioned by this worthy cause. Thank you for your cooperation.

We'll leave it to those who did make the guest list to report on tonight's gala, but for your daily dose of the Tribeca Film Festival, check back here starting tomorrow. We'll be on-hand at the opening press conference in the morning--along with Governor Spitzer Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg and others--and tomorrow night we'll be checking out the Baby Mama world premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater and the official after party at the MoMA. 

(Image borrowed from the Unified Court System)

In the wake of last weekend's midtown crane accident, New Yorkers pause to share fond memories of Fubar, the local bar that was destroyed in the crash. NY Times

The term drunkorexia--which was recently used by the NY Times to describe the growing number of girls who take the concept of "liquid diet" a bit more literally than the rest of us--is finally catching on. Mediabistro

Down by the Hipster has intel on the soon-to-open bar Antik, located in the Bowery locale formerly occupied by Marion's Marquee. "It is the latest creation from nightlife impresarios Larry Kramer and Craig Koenig, the team behind the rustic-lounge Retreat," they report. DBTH

Anthony Minghella--who directed such films as "The English Patient" and "The Talented Mr. Ripley"--has passed away at the age of 54. Page 6

The Oscars themselves were long and boring, and there were few surprises. The whole thing can be summarized as follows: Red is the new black, strippers are the new screenwriters, and everyone is knocked up. 

So rather than waste time with Access Hollywood and Page Six's morning-after roundups, watch this video, a brilliant "SNL" sketch that parodies the Oscar-winning films "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood."

Lady Liberty is just one of the New York City landmarks that takes a beating in the highly anticipated new monster movie, "Cloverfield," which hits theaters today. From what I can surmise, the premise goes something like this: Young, fun-loving crowd of New Yorkers are at one of those cheesy parties where the hosts videotape their guests talking about how totally awesome the party is, when all hell breaks loose. Suddenly New York is under attack by a savage, futuristic-Godzilla-style monster. Chaos and massive destruction ensue as said monster proceeds to obliterate everything (and everyone) in its path, all but leveling the city. But every movie has a hero (although judging from the "Cloverfield" cast, that hero needn't be a celebrity), and ours turns out to be one of the dudes who was at that party before all the madness began. Ultimately, that guy, whoever he is, leads a mission to defeat the monster, thereby restoring order and saving the city.

With any luck, "Cloverfield" will deliver at least one good old-fashioned impaling--perhaps one that involves the Empire State Building needle, for example--but suffice it to say that there will be blood. So, at the risk of offending a broad spectrum of our audience, we're paying tribute to this epic movie with a little hit list of our own: Places We'd Like to See Squashed by the "Cloverfield" Monster.

Duane Reade (any and all locations)
Sorry, "Cloverfield," but we've already got a monster that's hell-bent on destroying this town!

Manhattan Mall
This unfortunate attempt at an urban strip mall has only one redeeming characteristic: Keeping property values down in Herald Square--and to be fair, some of the credit for that also goes to Penn Station, Madison Square Garden and Macy's.

Southern Hospitality
JT, JT, JT... Like we said a few weeks ago when your restaurant snagged the No. 1 spot on our list of the 10 Worst Restaurants of 2007: Just because you can do everything, doesn't mean you should.

Dave and Buster's
A D&B is just fine in a suburban mall--or a suburban anything--but if this is the "new" Times Square, we'll take the seedy strip joints, panhandlers, and meth-heads of yesteryear.

MacDougal Street (Between West 3rd and Bleecker)
Ever wondered what it would look like if a drunken fraternity convention plopped itself down in the West Village and refused to leave? Well, this is what that would look like.

Mars 2112
I'd sooner volunteer to be mangled by a rabid pit bull than spend five minutes at this space-themed travesty of a restaurant.

Staten Island
Relax, we don't literally want to see S.I. crushed by a monster, it's more of a figurative thing. Like, if the five boroughs were stranded on a desert island, and they had to eat one of the boroughs to ensure the survival of the other four ...

Agree? Disagree? Send us your beef via email, or leave a comment here and tell everyone what places you'd like the see squashed by the "Cloverfield" monster.

As if there weren't already enough reasons to wander over to the Apple Store (anyone who says they don't want an iPhone is a huge, broke liar), Wes Anderson would like to give you one more. The man who brought us "Bottle Rocket," introduced us to Jason Schwartzman in "Rushmore," and changed our lives with "The Royal Tenenbaums," will be screening "Hotel Chevalier"--a 12-minute short starring Schwartzman, Natalie Portman and, supposedly, a cameo by Portman's bare ass--at the Apple Store tonight at 9pm. The short, set in Paris, is the prequel to Anderson's forthcoming opus, The Darjeeling Limited, a film about three brothers (Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson) who embark on a journey through India after the death of their father and the disappearance of their mother in an effort to repair their familial bond.

Schwartzman and Anderson will both be in attendance at the free screening (though no word on Brody or Wilson, but in the wake of his highly publicized suicide attempt, we think it's safe to say the latter will be a no-show), so if you can restrain yourself from dropping all your cash on an iPhone, this may be the one time you can go to the Apple Store and get something for nothing.

(Photo courtesy of Worst Previews)