Twelve year old Alex Boukis has never seen Scarface, or The Godfather. But the film he wrote and directed, Tick Tock Paisan, is about loan sharks and ruthless gangsters.

Bodega. Queso fresco. Nuyorican. Life in New York is peppered with pieces of Latin culture, whether you can roll your r’s or not.  When it comes to the city’s multiplexes though, Latin American films have had a harder time reaching New York audiences.

From rooftop films to free concerts in nearly every park, New York offers a bounty of reasons to leave the buzz of your apartment’s air conditioning this summer. One small, 55-person movie theater adds to the mix by bringing a wide range of documentaries and classic cinema to Harlem.

It's happened before – the shot of the steaming stir fry, a close-up of a succulent meatball, bird's eye view of a juicy slice of pie.  You're at the movies and, bam, you’re starving.

The World Cup isn’t just a soccer tournament – it’s an worldwide cultural happening. Find out about the best World Cup music, videos, art exhibitions, and books, right here.

Film festivals in New York are like multiple roommates. In a studio apartment. Living on top of each other.

John Waters loves Johnny Mathis. "He's so famous, they don't even introduce him," Waters says.

Bahamian filmmaker Kareem Mortimer is the first to admit that he is taking a big risk with his debut feature film, Children of God. The  story of two young men falling in love puts the spotlight on homophobia in Caribbean society.

Scene: Brooklyn is a film festival exclusively devoted to Brooklyn filmmakers.

Animal Collective partnered with video artist Danny Perez to release a "visual album," Oddsac. 

The Tribeca Film Festival lists the film Ticked Off Trannies With Knives as a "revenge fantasy flick that brews up a concoction of camp, slasher horror, and power-chick flick to create a radical new genre: Transploitation!"

The film's director Israel Luna stated he intended the film to be empowering, members of New York's transgender community, along with GLAAD, certainly don't think so. They asked the film festival to pull the film from its lineup.  Listen to WNYC's Janaya Williams report on the debate.

In one corner: you and your ragged, exhausted self. 

In the other corner: The Tribeca Film Festival. 

We say: skip the fight, have a drink, and use our handy review rundown to make everyone think you actually went.

Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole was meant to be a seamy saga of journalism at its worst.  But of course, journalism is more complicated than that. It wouldn’t exist without its audience.

Mahen Bonetti is the effervescent founder and executive director of the New York African Film Festival. Listen to her conversation with WNYC's Richard Hake.

In what proved to be the most viral moment of the Academy Awards, "Music By Prudence" producer Elinor Burkett stole the mic from the film's director, Roger Ross Williams, and proceeded to give her own (half-sensical) acceptance speech after winning the “Best Documentary Short” category.

Since 1969, Appalshop has chronicled life in the Appalachian mountains in all its beauty and ugliness.

Schmeer, 39, was best known for her work with Errol Morris on the film "The Fog of War."

Friday, Dec. 25
11:30am-4pm // Upper East Side
The Jewish Museum hosts A Family Celebration, a day-long event featuring a Klezmer concert, tours and kid-friendly activities.

Take a break from arguing whether Colin Firth or Matthew McFayden was the hotter Mr. Darcy. You can get a huge dose of Jane Austen love at the Morgan Library.

Filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles discussed his new film, "Confessions of a Ex-Doofus-Itchy Footed Mutha." (August 28, 2009)