In a waterfront celebration a stone’s throw from where the World Trade Center towers stood, the 10th annual Tribeca Film Festival opened with music and a movie Wednesday.
Tribeca has made flashy, populist festivities a central component over the years, so Elton John was a good fit. First, Cameron Crowe’s documentary on the collaboration between John and Leon Russell, “The Union,” screened. It was followed by a short performance by John.
“I’m honored. I’m frightened,” said John, introducing the film he had yet to see himself.
The event was held outdoors and for free at the World Financial Plaza downtown, where the hole in the skyline is still deeply felt and the rebuilding construction is prominent. The locale was fitting, since it was the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that initially drove Robert De Niro, producer Jane Rosenthal and her husband, the entrepreneur Craig Hatkoff, to found the festival with the aim of revitalizing its namesake neighborhood and downtown Manhattan.
“The Tribeca Film Festival started nine years ago with a flash of inspiration and a surge of passion,” said Rosenthal. “I could have never have imagined that we would find ourselves here today nearly a decade later.”
The festival trotted out other attractions too, including a performance of “Walk Like an Egyptian” by the Bangles with the PS22 elementary school choir, remarks from comedian Denis Leary and an introduction from Martin Scorsese.
“For me, movies and music have been inseparable. They always have been and they always will be,” said Scorsese. “And I know that the same holds true for Cameron Crowe.”
“The Union” documents the studio sessions between John and his idol, Russell, a famed singer, songwriter and piano player who was a ubiquitous session player early in his career and has been a sometimes-forgotten legend from the earlier days of rock ‘n’ roll.
Crowe, whose films include “Almost Famous” and “Say Anything,” captures the two musicians working with producer T Bone Burnett and John’s longtime lyricist, Bernie Taupin, as well as numerous guest musicians. Though Russell is apprehensive at the start of the collaboration — which would result in the album “The Union” — the 69-year-old is gradually stirred (subtly since he hides behind a cloud of white hair and beard) and enlivened by the work.
Russell, who underwent serious brain surgery during the film, wasn’t in attendance Wednesday but instead sent a video to thank Tribeca. Crowe, on location for another film, also sent a video message. (Crowe is represented for commercials and branded content by Moxie Pictures.)
Opening with “The Union” sets the table for a Tribeca littered with music-related films. Among those in the lineup are documentaries on Kings of Leon (“Talihina Sky”), Ozzy Osbourne (“God Bless Ozzy Osbourne”), the Swell Season (“The Swell Season”) and Carol Channing (“Carol Channing: Larger Than Life”).
As the cool air floated off the Hudson River on Wednesday night, the conditions weren’t ideal for music playing. Between “Tiny Dancer” and “Rocket Man,” John confessed his hands were “ice.”
The coming music documentaries — and many other films — should be cozier in movie theaters throughout the festival’s run, through May 1.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More