The Circus Is Coming To Town

I got my tickets. This morning The Tribeca Film Festival allowed poor slobs like me to buy individual tickets instead of the all access Hudson pass which goes for $1,000. I tried to mix them up and get an ecclectic choice of films like I've done in the past. The box office got slammed, took me over an hour to order online. These are my picks (descriptions are from the site):

Civic Duty - A seemingly well-adjusted American accountant loses his job and becomes obsessed with terrorist plots and cable news propaganda. When an Islamic student moves in next door, the accountant's suspicions lead to shocking conclusions in this post-September 11 thriller starring Six Feet Under's Peter Krause.

Kettle of Fish - The human species is a strange one, especially when it comes to mating rituals. It seems so much simpler and more organic with goldfish or frogs. Writer/director Claudia Myers' winsome romantic comedy Kettle of Fish features a lifelong bachelor, Mel (Matthew Modine), and a British biologist, Ginger (Gina Gershon), that might just learn a few things from our aquatic friends.

American Cannibal: The Road To Reality - In this unflinching, behind-the-scenes look at a doomed reality show, a pair of novice TV writers team up with the distributor of the Paris Hilton sex tapes to create a reality show in which contestants are starved on a desert island. More than just gripping entertainment, this documentary poses important questions about how far people will go in pursuit of fame and fortune

First Snow - When destiny bullies us, do we fight back? Fergus never stoops to psychological-thriller film cliché in his chilling debut feature, in which salesman Jimmy Starks (Guy Pearce) is gripped by panic after a psychic warns him of his impending death.

Colour Me Kubrick - John Malkovich gives a hilarious tour-de-force as Alan Conway, a conman who successfully passed himself off as the famed and notoriously reclusive director for the last decade or so of the filmmaker's life.

Animated New York - Welcome to the wonderfully warped world of New York City independent animation. To the surprise of many, New York is the center of one of the largest and most acclaimed groups of independent animators in the world. While L.A. is the center of corporate animation, New York has spawned a colony of maverick animators that create films that they want to make and thrive in the exploding indie film culture despite eschewing public funding.

The Treatment - Jake Singer is a frustrated, confused, and recently dumped New York schoolteacher who enters into therapy in an attempt to find guidance in his life. The treatment appears to be working, but when he suddenly falls in love with a beautiful widow, Jake is forced to battle his therapist's alarmingly strong influence. Starring Chris Eigeman, Ian Holm, and Famke Janssen.

West Side Highway - This year our NY, NY shorts program travels from downtown to uptown, with a couple of emotional stops in between.

Brothers of the Head - London, 1975. Conjoined twins with a creepy, crypto-erotic bond take the burgeoning glam/punk scene by storm in this wrenching adaptation of Brian Aldiss' novel. Luke and Harry Treadway deliver searing performances as two very different parts of one fatally compromised whole, and the film and its music will stick with you for days.