By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --The raw New York lyricism of Nas kicked off the 13th annual Tribeca Film Festival with an exuberant hip-hop beat.
Tribeca opened Wednesday night with the premiere of "Time Is Illmatic," a documentary about the creation of Nas' landmark 1994 debut album, "Illmatic." The Queens native Nas followed the screening at Manhattan's Beacon Theatre with a performance of the nine-track album, widely considered a rap classic for its angry but earnest street poetry.
Tribeca co-founder Robert De Niro introduced the film as not just about the making of an album, but "about the making of an artist here in our hometown."
Whereas many films about an album have stuck largely to the song-writing process and track recording, "Time Is Illmatic," directed by the filmmaker One9, summons the Queensbridge housing projects upbringing of Nas and the forces — his parents, 1980s Queens, early hip-hop — that shaped his music.
The movie takes to heart a lyric of the rapper's: "Now let me take a trip down memory lane/ Comin' outta Queensbridge."
"I was trying to make you experience my life," Nas says of the album in the film. Later he adds, "It's still me."
Performing afterward with an assist from Alicia Keys on piano, Nas appeared to be inspired by the recollection of his roots. He rapped emotionally with a constant flow of gratitude for his family, friends and collaborators, calling them out in the front rows of the audience.
Nas pulled his brother, Jabari, also known as "Jungle," up on stage for one song, along with his young nephews. He joked that his brother, a wry and candid voice throughout the film, was "the star of the movie."
Nas also profusely thanked Tribeca (the Tribeca Film Institute helped produce the film) and remarked that De Niro — known for New York tough guys — "plays me in all his movies."
Tribeca has often turned to music to energize its festival, with recent opening nights featuring Elton John (Cameron Crowe's "The Union") and the National ("Mistaken For Strangers").
This year's slate is full of music-themed films, including documentaries on James Brown (Alex Gibney's untitled film), Bjork ("Bjork: Biophilia Live"), Alice Cooper ("Super Duper Alice Cooper"), the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir ("The Other One") and jazz trumpeter Clark Terry ("Keep on Keepin' On").
Tribeca, which runs through April 27, also closes with "Begin Again," a film about a music executive (Mark Ruffalo) and a young singer-songwriter (Keira Knightley) from director John Carney ("Once").
But Nas and "Time Is Illmatic" opened Tribeca on a distinctly New York note, one struck two decades ago by a kid from the projects, and still reverberating.
"Whoever you are," Nas told the audience, "you can be anything."
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More