Capital New York

At the Tribeca Film Festival: Will Forte's surprising, successful dramatic debut

It could have been played for melodrama or maudlin sentimentality at every turn, but it isn't. Instead, it is a sensitive and often quite funny look at what Conor's re-entry does to his wife Vanetia (the wonderful red-headed Maxine Peake), and his two young children. Meanwhile, there is an interloper (Forte) in their midst, following Conor around with a cam-corder. Vanetia says, "I was worried about letting a hypothesis into the house." More

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By Sheila O'Malley

At the Tribeca Film Festival: A message to you from a West Virginia town ruined by Oxycontin

The people of Oxyana speak for themselves; Dunne is listening, and the community trusts him, so he has gotten under the suffice of things. He is their message in a bottle. But there is work for the audience here, too. More

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By Sheila O'Malley

At the Tribeca Film Festival: A bold, risky film from Quebec produces a revelatory performance from Thomas Haden Church

Whitewash was shot in northern Quebec, and Church is clearly really out there, in a real wilderness, with real snow drifts that swallow him up. He struggles with branches, he builds fires, he tries to carry bags of groceries and cans of gasoline through the deep drifts. More

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By Sheila O'Malley

At the Tribeca Film Festival: From Taiwan, a very serious comedy about love's hopes and sadnesses

Chen leads us through the shoals of these troubled relationships with a light grip, an affection for every character, and an acceptance that romantic possibility can actually make the world look different, magic, funny, unexpected. More

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By Sheila O'Malley

At the Tribeca Film Festival: 'The King of Comedy'

What is it about fame? What do these people want? Rupert Pupkin (or "Pumpkin," "Pipkin," or any of the other incorrect names he is called during the course of the film) is alive and well, more vigorous now than he was in 1983. More

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By Sheila O'Malley

'Polisse': What could a child-protection officer possibly do for fun?

"You try to handle it on a case-by-case basis," one member of Paris' Child Protection Unit says, when asked about the emotional implications of his job.

He deals with victims of incest, pedophilia, drug addicted parents, abductions. The toll such work takes is extreme. More

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By Sheila O'Malley

'Rubberneck': Alex Karpovsky on the dark side of nice

Alex Karpovsky is everywhere right now. Along with being a series regular on Lena Dunham's new HBO series Girls (he also appeared in her first feature, Tiny Furniture), he continues to be a strong presence in independent cinema, acting, directing, and writing.

Known mainly for his offhandedly dry comedic sensibility, Karpovsky has come up with a surprise. Rubberneck, his fourth feature, co-written with Garth Donovan, is a psychologically twisted intense thriller, reminiscent of some of the great 70s paranoid anti-hero films. It's a portrait of an isolated man and his increasing psychosis, as his social connection disintegrates, bit by bit, leaving him alone and unprotected. Rubberneck glories in the thriller genre, and features standout performances by all of the leads. More

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By Sheila O'Malley

Shawn Christensen on the inspiration and luck that led him to Fatima Ptacek, and 'Curfew'

Curfew, which premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival, is director/writer Shawn Christensen's third short film.

He attended the Pratt Institute and got a degree in illustration and graphic design. He was also an actor, and a member of a band, Stellastarr, that signed with RCA. And he wrote the screenplay for Abduction (2011), the Taylor Lautner vehicle.

Curfew is a dark and insightful New York movie, perfect for the Tribeca Film Festival, and features a beautiful performance by Christensen as Richie, as well as his two co-stars, Kim Allen (who plays Richie's sister Maggie) and Fatima Ptacek (who plays Sophia, his niece). Only 19 minutes long, and shot in 7 days, it is a perfectly realized and beautifully imagined story of a drug addict uncle trying to connect to his 9-year-old niece. I was happy to get the chance to speak with Christensen about the making of Curfew. More

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By Sheila O'Malley

How an actor from New York and a cinematographer from Texas made a movie about small-town Mass.

The impetus for writing the script was not only the town of Fairhaven itself, which O'Brien found "cinematic," but an interview he heard with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, in which Brady said, "There's got to be something more than this," a comment that is a running theme throughout the film. More

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By Sheila O'Malley

'The Russian Winter': John Forté and the common languages of music and hardship

Standing with his bandmates on an ice-encrusted platform somewhere in Siberia, as workers chip the ice off of the train wheels, Grammy-nominated artist and producer John Forté uses the word "quixotic," casually, in reference to one of the songs he had been working on. Someone asks what the word means, and Forté provides a definition, adding, "The root is from Quixote. You know. Don Quixote." More

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By Sheila O'Malley