FRESH FLICKS
It’s been a whirlwind first week at the seventh-annual Tribeca Film Festival, and CITY's resident cinephiles already have a slew of recommendations. Some of these will continue on the film festival circuit, while others have already picked up national distribution deals—either way, if any of them come to a theater near you, definitely check them out.

The Wackness
Sir Ben Kingsley strays from his typically epic and serious roles to play a darkly comical pot-smoking psychiatrist, desperately longing for his youth in 1994 New York in The Wackness. Kingsley’s character and his drug dealer, an 18-year-old loner (Josh Peck) with a crush on Kingley’s stepdaughter, become the strangest of friends (photo above), combating the same feelings of loneliness and rebellion despite being at different points in their lives. With a killer soundtrack that touches on early hip hop and other ’90s favorites, the film is one of inner turmoil, and reminds us that insecurities don’t always recede with age. The film hits theaters August 28, 2008. —RENEE LUCAS

Man on Wire
In 1974, Philippe Petit achieved his great dream: to walk between the Twin Towers. The "tightrope dancer" (as one NYPD officer calls him) crossed that length on a wire, eight times, a quarter-mile above the city streets, without a safety net or harness. Man on Wire tells Petit’s riveting and inspiring tale, presenting a man at once eccentric, blindly optimistic, headstrong, and positively captivating. (For a full review, go to www.city-magazine.com.) —ERIN BREMER

Chevolution
Do you know who this man is? Surely, you’ve seen this photo on posters, T-shirts, and even cigarette boxes, but many who don Che Guevara’s likeness are unaware of the revolutionary’s complete history (e.g. he fought violently alongside Fidel Castro for socialism in Cuba). In some countries his image is worshiped, some it is shunned, but this documentary, which tells the story of Guevara and the photographers who followed him throughout his revolution, explains how this portrait has become a misinterpreted pop symbol displayed by everyone from free-loving hippies to terrorists. Currently on the film festival circuit. —RL

Lou Reed’s Berlin
With art direction by Julian Schnabel, Lou Reed performed Berlin for the first time ever in 2006 at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, resurrecting the critically acclaimed 1973 album from the ashes of commercial failure. When he begins to play, he is stone-faced, almost apprehensive, but by the second song, when he turns around and gives his bandmate a simple smirk, you realize he’s really having just as much fun as everyone else. Interspersed with film footage directed by Schnabel’s daughter Lola, this misunderstood pseudo-rock opera finally gets the showcase it deserves. —EB

Faubourg Tremé
Faubourg Tremé is an historic, albeit lesser known, neighborhood just outside of New Orleans’ French Quarter. Recently riddled with crime and dilapidated homes, Tremé, in the 19th century, was a booming area, unique because many of its home and business owners were free black men and women, highly uncommon in pre–Civil War years. Decades after race wars and civil planning weakened the spirit of Tremé, its residents received another devastating blow when Hurricane Katrina destroyed the area, leaving many families homeless. This heartwarming yet heartbreaking documentary depicts one neighborhood’s centuries-long fight to survive. (Check out the full review online at www.city-magazine.com.) —EB

Save the Date
Not to be outdone by its East Coast counterpart (or Sundance, Toronto, and Cannes for that matter) the Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by The Los Angeles Times, will screen more than 250 features, documentaries, shorts, and music videos from June 19 to June 29 in the heart of Westwood Village. Stay tuned to www.lafilmfest.com for upcoming schedules and ticket information.