One German and one American film won the top prizes at the Tribeca
Film Festival, which ends this Sunday. WHEN WE LEAVE (DIE FREMDE), a
German film directed by Feo Aladag, took home awards for best narrative
feature and best actress (Sibel Kekilli). The American winner is MONICA
& DAVID, a documentary that centers on a couple with down syndrome
who are preparting for their wedding. The film was directed by
Alexandra Codina, who received an award for best documentary. Eighty
five other feature-length movies were presented at the festival this
week, and were judged by a panel that included celebrities like Alicia
Keys, Jessica Alba, and Whoopi Goldberg (more).

Catherine Keener stars in Nicole Holofcener's latest film, PLEASE GIVE.

Monohla
Dargis just completed her review of PLEASE GIVE, the latest comic drama
by Nicole Holofcener (the director of FRIENDS WITH MONEY and LOVELY AND
AMAZING), and includes some fascinating commentary on gender and
escapism. Dargis writes that "few American filmmakers create female
characters as realistically funny, attractively imperfect and flat-out
annoying as does Ms. Holofcener", whose films are refreshingly devoid
of the typical female romcom variety. "We don’t necessarily or only go
to the movies to see mirror versions of ourselves: we also want (or
think we do) better, kinder, nobler, prettier and thinner images,
idealized types and aspirational figures we can take pleasure in or
laugh at in all their plastic unreality," she writes. "The female
characters in Ms. Holofcener’s films don’t live in those movies: they
watch them" (more).

Every spring, Patrick Goldstein of the LA
TIMES likes to sit down with a group of California high schoolers and
ask them which trailers are getting them the most excited about summer
blockbusters. "This year's Summer Movie Posse is made up of a bunch of
kids from Orange County, which means that the studio marketing execs
can't complain that their movies were unfairly judged by a bunch of
jaded Westside L.A. private schoolers," he writes, which doesn't
entirely make sense. Nevertheless, we were interested in their list,
which includes blockbusters such as SALT, a spy thriller starring
Angelina Jolie, ROBIN HOOD (yes!), and IRON MAN 2 (duh). For the
complete list, click here.