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— by Larry Carroll
NEW YORK — "I love this festival," veteran actor Jeff Goldblum proclaimed, standing in the midst of controlled chaos at the fifth incarnation of the Tribeca Film Festival, the annual event started by Robert DeNiro and others in the aftermath of 9/11. "I love how it came to be, I love why it came to be, I love who brought it to be."
Goldblum, here in support of his bizarre "Curb Your Enthusiasm"-like mockumentary, "Pittsburgh," insisted that the only thing he's been worried about over the past week was how he could catch so many disparate flicks. "These are smart, interesting, sophisticated people with such interesting movies," the "Independence Day" star said. "And [with 250 films] it's bigger than ever."
In a few days, the world will know the festival's official "winners." But in a city known for crowded sidewalks and its melting-pot ethos, the most important thing here is the word on the street, while an appropriately diverse slate of films has received big love from the Big Apple.
"This could be happening to anyone, anywhere," 26-year-old Mexican stunner Ana Claudia Talancon said of "Alone with Her," the "Fatal Attraction" meets "Swimfan" thriller about a woman being stalked in and from the privacy of her own apartment. "These cameras [that the stalker uses] are available to anyone with 50 bucks."
Busting out of his "Orange County" persona, Colin Hanks is the creepy loner who sneaks into Talancon's house, puts tiny cameras everywhere and cuddles with her (or rather the image of her) sleeping on his TV monitor. When, in one of the most controversial scenes of the festival, he sees her masturbating he takes it as an invitation to share in the moment.
"I didn't want to do it, but I did it just so that we wouldn't have to have that really weird actor-y conversation of the director arguing, 'I think the guy should be masturbating here,' " Hanks shrugged. "I just wanted to get it out of the way."
People are buzzing about the scene, the distinctive you're-the-voyeur look of the film and the DeNiro-like weight gain of the modest Hanks.
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"Mini's First Time" clip: Detective Garson questions Martin and Mini
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Nikki Reed, DJ Qualls, more at the TFF premiere of "Mini's First Time"
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"Hatchet" photos
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"Fifty Pills" clip: Darren does deals on D-Day
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Kristen Bell, Lou Taylor Pucci, more at the TFF premiere of "Fifty Pills"
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Ash Christian, Matt Davis, more at the TFF premiere of "Fat Girls"
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"Fat Girls" photos
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"Farewell Bender" clip: Lunch before the memorial
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Eddie Kaye Thomas, Josh Cooke, more at the TFF premiere of "Farewell Bender"
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"Farewell Bender" photos
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"Alone With Her" clip: Stalker Doug is into the same obscure band his dream girl is into
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Colin Hanks, Ana Claudia Talancón, and more at the TFF Premiere of "Alone With Her"
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"Alone With Her" photos
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"I'd be lying if I said I made the decision of 'Y'know, I think I'm gonna gain some weight.' I had already gained it because I came from New Zealand and I'd eaten so much bread and lamb while shooting 'King Kong,' " he laughed. "The guy sits every night in front of the computer, watching his quote-unquote girlfriend, so it's not like he's going to be jogging on the treadmill for 15 minutes every day. It made sense."
On the lighter side of things is "Fifty Pills," starring "Thumbsucker" breakout Lou Pucci. "Lou plays a guy named Darren who needs to sell 50 tabs of ecstasy in a week in order to stay in school," Eddie Kaye Thomas ("American Pie") said of the film. "I play Ralphie, a stock broker who buys 10 hits, and takes nine of them at once."
Thomas contrasts "Pills" with the "Big Chill"-like drama he stars in that's also screening here. " 'Pills' portrays that whole thing of 'Oh my God, everybody's partying and everybody's going crazy,' " Thomas observed. "It's actually a good comparison to my other film, 'Farewell Bender,' which looks at the other side of college."
In the aftermath of the drowning death of their friend Bender, a group of high school buddies reunite over a few days to discuss, dissect and dispute their places in life. Said Thomas: "It's 'Big Chill,' 'Diner,' 'American Graffiti.' It's about these guys who are just finishing college, and discovering that moment in life where it's like, all right, the drinking and partying days are over. Now what the hell happens?"
And, like those other films, it's also a loving snapshot of a distinct time.
"It takes place in 1996. I'm 25, so this is the first time in my life where I'm able to say, 'Remember that? Things were like that then, and they aren't like that now,' " Thomas observed. "We reminisce about grunge, flannel shirts and all the great music."
Few Tribeca conversations would be complete, however, without mention of "Mini's First Time," a dark comedy featuring Luke Wilson, Alec Baldwin and a scarily sexy turn from "Thirteen" star Nikki Reed.
"There were a few things that needed to be changed," Reed remembered of the script. "I was 16 when we shot the film, [so we were careful with] a lot of the intimate scenes between me and Alec Baldwin."
Already drawing comparisons to "Heathers," the flick takes its title from Reed's character, a neglected teen willing to try anything to get people's attention — including sleeping with her stepfather.
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New York has always been a favorite movie setting and, in some ways, a lead character for filmmakers of all kinds. Some recent examples:
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"He doesn't even pay attention to Mini — he doesn't know she exists. She's baggage," she said of their dysfunctional relationship. After that relationship takes a turn into the physical realm, the flick goes to some very dark places. "I've had all kinds of reactions," Reed said of the audience response to the film. "But still, you hear people laughing throughout."
Of the film's unique mix of perversity and punch lines, Reed observed, "Why is cough syrup for children sweet? Because you need a distraction."
If anyone else might be suspected of chugging cough syrup, it's 31-year-old filmmaker Adam Green, whose demented "Hatchet" is drunk with an unapologetic love for '70s and '80s slasher flicks.
"They were like evil superheroes," Green remembered of Jason, Freddy, Michael Myers and others. "We don't have that anymore. We have movies now that are remakes, torture films or all that CG stuff." Taking a stab at reversing that trend, Green introduces the hulking new monster who has inhabited his own nightmares for decades.
"I came up with the idea when I was 8 years old and at summer camp," Green recalled. "The counselors told us to stay away from this one cabin, or else Hatchet Face would get us. I was really into horror movies at the time, so I was like, 'Cool, what's he going to do?' I made up this elaborate story of a deformed boy named Victor Crowley and the dad that killed him by mistake, and the other kids started crying. The counselors nearly sent me home."
Now, Green has Tribeca audiences shedding tears of terror — and laughter. "When there's a stereotype, we reverse it," Green grinned, citing the flick's mockery of a decades-old horror rule. "The black guy, you keep thinking he's going to die. We just keep setting him up to go, and he just doesn't die."
"My character is the token dumb blonde," added "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star Mercedes McNab, the film's "hot chick." "She's mean, but she's likeable — if you're a 13-year-old boy."
With a tagline boasting, "It's not a remake. It's not a sequel. And it's not based on a Japanese one," "Hatchet" has already earned Victor fan sites and an official home (hatchetmovie.com) that gets 10,000 hits a day. The yet-to-be-released film likely owes much of its initial buzz to stars Kane "Jason" Hodder, Robert "Freddy" Englund and Tony "Candyman" Todd, the horror community equivalent of The Three Tenors.
"He can throw up on command," Green boasted of the hulking Hodder, who plays both the swamp-stalking psycho and the psycho's dad. "And he didn't want to get to know any of the actors until after he'd killed them."
When Green found himself having a hard time adding the iconic Englund to the mix, he bought a vintage Marilyn Manson T-shirt on eBay and mailed it to him. "Suddenly, I'm standing there with Robert Englund and Kane Hodder, and Robert's looking at makeup effects and saying 'Kane, this is the new Jason,' " recalled Green, who's already writing a sequel. "I'm standing between them, and I can't believe it's happening."
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