This is maybe the fifth or sixth movie to come out in the last month that debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival, and while I missed my chance to catch it there, I was pleasantly surprised by the power of this documentary which follows rapper Chris "Kazi" Rolle as he uses the power and energy of hip hop to get troubled kids from broken homes off the streets and into the studio to record a rap record. The movie really isn't what I expected, because while there's a lot of amazing talent on display, this isn't just a movie about hip hop for fans of rap. Instead, it's an inspirational film with parallels that can be drawn to movies like the recent Hillary Swank drama Freedom Writers or Coach Carter. "Kazi" has his own poignant story of being left behind in the Bahamas by his mother and finally coming to the point where he can forgive her at an awkward reunion that's captured on film.

As I watched it, I realized that the MPAA was probably going to slap the movie with an R-rating due to the language used by the young rappers, even though it's obvious that the audience that can gain the most from learning these stories are the young inner city kids who've gone through similar situations and can see how these kids were able to stay out of trouble by focusing on their artistic talent. Fortunately, THINKFilm contested the rating and would up with a PG-13, which will certainly help the movie find that audience. Hopefully, they'll know about the movie and try to check it out.

Opening Wednesday:

Brand Upon the Brain! (Vitagraph Films) - Winnipeg's wacky indie filmmaker Guy Maddin continues his run of inventive cinema with a silent black and white film depicting more of his fictitious autobiography as young Guy (Sullivan Brown) is living on a remote island where his overbearing mother (Gretchen Krich) and mad scientist father (Todd Jefferson Moore) run a lighthouse orphanage where they conduct secret experiments on the orphans. The silent film will be screened for two weeks with accompanying live music, narration from guest "interlocutors" -- Crisipin Glover does the honor opening night as well as later screenings narrated by Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson-- and live Foley sound effects at New York's Village East Cinema before moving to Chicago on May 18 and L.A. on June 8.
INTERVIEW (with Guy Maddin)
FEATURE (on the film's screening at the 44th New York Film Festival)

Day Night Day Night (IFC First Take) - Julia Loktev's controversial drama stars newcomer Luisa Williams as a nameless girl who is coerced into becoming a suicide bomber for an unknown group who plots to set off a bomb in the middle of New York's Times Square. The talk of Cannes and Lincoln Center's New Directors series will open on Wednesday at the IFC Center.
INTERVIEW (with Julia Loktev and Luisa Williams)

I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (Strand Releasing) - China's prolific Tsai Ming-Liang (Goodbye, Dragon Inn) continues his run of quirky dramas with this movie about a young man who is beaten up and nursed back to health by a man he winds up sleeping with, as well as encountering a waitress and her elderly boss. It also opens at New York's IFC Center.

Opening Friday:

Blind Dating (Samuel Goldwyn Films) - Chris Pine (Just My Luck) plays a confident young blind man who also happens to be a virgin, so his girl crazy brother Larry (American Pie's Eddie Kaye Thomas) tries to set him up on a disastrous serious of (you guessed it) blind dates with shallow women who might sleep with him. This comedy directed by James Keach (producer of Walk the Line) opens in select regions including Texas, Utah, Florida and Arizona. (Theatre List)

Casting About (Kino International) - Barry Hershey's lyrical documentary, which opens at the Cinema Village in New York, compiles audition interviews with hundreds of actors and actresses trying to get a role put together by Hershey to try to get into the mindset of the occupation.

Duck - Nick Bettauer's drama stars Philip Baker Hall as a homeless man in the future, who is followed by a duck that thinks he's it's mother as he sets out on a quest for water.

Home of the Brave (MGM)
Irwin (Rocky) Winkler's post-war drama starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel and 50 Cent finally gets a theatrical release after an unsuccessful Oscar campaign. It shows the effects of the Iraq War on a number of soldiers when they return home and try to resume normal life. It opens in Washington D.C. and other select cities.

Provoked (Eros) - Former Miss India Aishwarya Rai plays a woman who after years of abuse at the hands of her husband, she sets fire to him as he sleeps and is put on trial for murder. The film, which also stars Naveen Andrews, Robbie Coltrane and Miranda Richardson, opens in New York, L.A. and other markets.

The Salon (The Bigger Picture) - Vivica A. Fox and Terrence Howard star in Mark Brown's adaptation of Shelly Garrett's hit play "Beauty Shop" about a woman who takes on a large corporation that wants to buy and destroy her beauty shop which has become the center of her community. It opens in roughly 200 theatres in urban and Southern areas.

ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway (Regent Releasing) - Dori Berinstein's documentary, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year, follows four Broadway musicals including the hits "Wicked" and "Avenue Q" from their early stages of casting and production to a nail-biting evening at the Tony Awards where all of them have been nominated. It opens at New York's Landmark Sunshine Cinemas.