Tag Archives: tribeca film festival drive-in

Zoltar predicts the future for onlookers from inside his glass box.

Hitting It Off ‘Big’-Time With Zoltar

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Zoltar predicts the future for onlookers from inside his glass box.
Zoltar and his box 9 (which was in the shop), courtesy of mydisguises.com

Not every kid grows up to confront the incarnation of his childhood nightmares — but that’s exactly what I got to do at this Friday’s Tribeca Film Festival Drive-In screening of the 1988 Tom Hanks classic, Big. You see, I was on tap to interview Zoltar (for the uninitiated, he’s the card-dispensing, wish-granting carnival mannequin from the film). And my memories of the guy were that he was trapped in a box (possibly because he was too dangerous to unleash on the public), had scary red eyes, and his mouth opened with a frightening breathing sound as he silently demanded you make your wish for a quarter. That’s pretty scary stuff for a 7-year-old kid to witness! Continue reading Hitting It Off ‘Big’-Time With Zoltar →

Tomas Guerrero of El Espirito de la Salsa or The Spirit of Salsa

Tribeca Film Festival: Spicy Times for Salsa Lovers

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Tomas Guerrero of El Espirito de la Salsa or The Spirit of Salsa
Tomas Guerrero at The Tribeca Film Festival

People love salsa — and not because it’s a delicious condiment, and not because it’s a fun word to say (though it really is). No, at last night’s Tribeca Film Festival world premiere of the documentary El Espiritu de la Salsa (The Spirit of Salsa), it was abundantly clear that New Yorkers love themselves some salsa music and, more importantly, some salsa dancing. Big time.

The film — about a Harlem-based salsa instructor named Tomas Guerrero who prepares a rabble group of dancing novices for a public performance — opened a series of Tribeca Film Fest “Drive-In” movies being shown Thursday, April 22, through Saturday, April 24, on a behemoth outdoor screen at the World Financial Center plaza (Big screens tonight and The Birth of Big Air tomorrow night). And the pre-screening atmosphere was electric … one might even say spicy.

Continue reading Tribeca Film Festival: Spicy Times for Salsa Lovers →