Philippe Petit, aka Man on Wire, will recreate one of his famous wirewalks (not that one) from 1987, when he walked 80 feet above Grand Central Terminal’s main concourse. According to the NY Post, the reprise of the walk will be in honor of the station’s 100-year anniversary and will take place next February 1st at the stroke of midnight.
Philippe Petit Will Recreate His Wire Walk Above Grand Central
Twin Towers' Architect, Engineer, Artist Salute The Structures
As we prepare for the new incarnation of the World Trade Center site, the Times has a video commemorating the twin towers as they were: artistic, architectural, and structural feats of human ingenuity.
Video: Man on Wire Tells Colbert He's From Another Planet
Phillipe Petit (aka "Man on Wire") stopped into The Colbert Report last night and seemed to get off as easy as any Frenchman could expect facing down the man who has a "Freedom Sundae" named after him. Since Petit does not like to answer interviewer's queries as to why he participated in his death-defying feats, Colbert bucked the question by asking him why he didn't not do it.
Weekend Movie Forecast: X-Files or Step Brothers?
Compared to the hype that surrounded the first film adaptation, this second X-Files movie is opening almost discreetly this weekend. Is the studio’s subdued promotional effort a sign that I Want to Believe is a mess, or is Space Chimps just sucking all the air out of the room? The Times’s Manohla Dargis says, “I wanted to believe. But with his big-screen blowup of his great and weird television series The X-Files, Chris Carter has turned me into a reluctant skeptic. Baggy, draggy, oddly timed and strangely off the mark.” Amy Biancolli at the Houston Chronicle is even more succinct: “The truth is, they're boring now.”
Philippe Petit, Man on Wire
In August 1974, Philippe Petit, a Frenchman with a passion for walking on wires, captivated New York City as he stealthy made his way to the top of the World Trade Center. Once there, he walked across a cable strung between the Twin Towers, a historic feat that's vividly depicted in a new documentary, Man On Wire (which will be screening tonight). The famous walk turned a void 1/4 mile above the streets into a stage, and made Petit into an instant "folk hero." He now lives upstate in Woodstock, and yesterday we talked with him about those 45 minutes between the towers, that first daring step onto the wire, and the ones that followed.
Man on Wire, Petit in NYC
In August of 1974, a 24-year-old Frenchman named Philippe Petit snuck into the World Trade Center, reached the top, and walked across a wire cable that was strung between the Twin Towers. New York watched captivated below. Some fun facts: it took 6 years to plan the stunt, the gap between the towers was 140 feet, and even though it was illegal, charges were dropped and Petit was merely sentenced to entertaining kids in Central Park (where he walked over Belvedere Lake).
BAM Gears Up for Sundance Institute 2008 Screenings
Next week some of the best films from this year's Sundance Festival will unspool at BAM during their third annual Sundance Institute takeover. The ten day mini-fest features 10 dramatic features, 12 documentaries and 36 shorts. Most of these selections screen just once or twice, and not all of them have distribution, so you've got to stay on your toes if there's something you want to see.
Tribeca Film Festival 2008 Mini-Preview: Documentaries
The 2008 Tribeca Film Festival begins April 23rd and runs through May 4th, with over 200 feature length narrative films, documentaries and shorts from around the world. This year also features discussions with filmmakers, music events, a family film series, an ESPN Sports Film Festival and other special presentations. Check out last week's preview of some of the narrative feature films in the festival, or brave the entire program of films.)

