Hacia la Oscuridad - Premiering Tonight at the Tribeca Film Festival

It's the world premiere, in fact. I thought I recognized the city - that's Old Panama City. The director, Jose Antonio Nagret, has personal experience with relatives being kidnapped in Colombia. I suspect this story will not end well, but it looks very well produced, photographed, and edited. The story begins with the son of a banker being kidnapped when he visits his hometown of Bogota from New York. Through flashbacks, we learn about him and his family, and how he came to be in a life & death situation. Meanwhile, his parents in the US arrange for a daring covert operation to rescue him, and we get to know them as well as the officials putting their lives on the line to rescue their son. All collide in the end in what promises to be a thrilling climax. I'm hoping it is the thinking persons action movie it promises to be.

At Tribeca Film Festival: Taxi to the Dark Side

I poured through the Tribeca Film Festival listings two weekends ago, and I don't recall seeing this documentary. Tom Tomorrow makes a strong case for seeing it. Taxi to the Dark Side appears to be a comprehensive look at how we officially became a torture state. And thanks to director Alex Gibney (The Smartest Guys in the Room), it is polished and well constructed.

Showtimes and locations:
Saturday April 28th, 20:30, Clearview Chelsea
Sunday April 29th, 21:45, AMC 34th Street
Tuesday May 1st, 18:30, AMC 34th Street
Thursday May 3rd, 15:00, AMC Kips Bay

Locations and tickets can be viewed here.

Thanks to the Tribeca Film Festival for making all trailers available through Brightcove (which I now realize is slicker than YouTube), and encouraging bloggers to embed the trailers on their sites. This is how a film festival should promote itself.