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The Tribeca Film Festival kicks off tonight with a few changes from years past. The schedule is a little leaner and tighter, and Sundance veteran Geoffrey Gilmore has just arrived at the fest's parent company, Tribeca Enterprises. Having just launched in 2002, the festival is still finding its identity. Good thing we're here to help it look! Cinematical's Erik Davis and yours truly will be covering the festival over the next week. In the meantime, here are seven films we're looking forward to.

Whatever Works
Woody Allen's latest comedy is exciting for two reasons. For one thing, it marks his return to New York after setting his last four films in Europe. For another thing, it stars Larry David, whose famed neurotic pessimism makes him a perfect match for Allen's style. This is Tribeca's opening-night film, accompanied by much ballyhoo and fanfare -- but for some reason, we lowly members of the press aren't able to attend. Our badges get us into most public screenings, but not this one. So, um, we're looking forward to it, and that's all we'll be able to do: look forward to it. It's the kind of situation Larry David would complain about before finding some way to make it worse for himself.

That was fast! The ink is barely dry on yesterday's post and the Tribeca Film Festival has already announced the rest of their feature film lineup for this year's edition, which runs from April 22-May 3. A few quick picks:

Blank City. Celine Danhier's doc examines "the DIY independent film movement that emerged in tandem with punk rock in late '70s downtown New York." Living in Los Angeles at the time, I got to see only a few of those films, just enough to get me really interested, so this could be educational and enlightening for modern indie film lovers.

Serious Moonlight. Cheating in the countryside -- and it's a comedy! Cheryl Hines directs from a script by the late Adrienne Shelly, with Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, and Kristen Bell. That's a lot of talent in a small package.

Tell Tale. The director of L.I.E. and Twelve and Holding makes a psychological thriller inspired by Edgar Allan Poe? I'm there! Josh Lucas (meh) but acting aces Lena Headey and Brian Cox provide support.

Other promising titles, and why: Don McKay (black comedy, Thomas Haden Church, Elisabeth Shue, Melissa Leo); City Island (dysfunctional family comedy, Andy Garcia, Alan Arkin); and Love the Beast (doc, cars, Eric Bana's directorial debut).

Tribeca will also be showcasing NYC premieres of films like blaxpoitation flick Black Dynamite, Academy Award winner Departures, and Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience, as well as midnight thrills with Ti West's The House of the Devil and Newsmakers, a Russian remake of Johnny To's Hong Kong police drama Breaking News.

Cinematical will be on the ground to bring you complete coverage of the festival. After the jump: the official announcement. Dig in!

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Josh Lucas will star in Tell-Tale, a psychological thriller directed by Michael Cuesta. Cuesta directed two very good indies -- L.I.E. and Twelve and Holding, and has helmed episodes of two of my favorite shows -- Six Feet Under and Dexter. The film's producers include big-time directors/brothers Tony Scott (Top Gun) and Ridley Scott -- who is currently tearing up the box office with the terrific American Gangster. The script was written by Dave Callaham, who also penned the video game adaptation Doom. (Had to look that up because THR managed to mention every aspect of the film but the screenwriter -- see why writers feel under-appreciated?)

Tell-Tale is a contemporary adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's classic story "The Tell-Tale Heart," (which was also reimagined as a hilarious Simpsons episode -- "Lisa's Rival"). Lucas will play a "single father whose recently transplanted heart leads him on a frantic search to find the donor's killer before a similar fate befalls him." I love the Poe story, so I'm up for this new take. Lucas was rumored to be playing Captain Pike in the upcoming Star Trek film, but we learned this morning that's not the case. What I really think Lucas should be doing is a movie where he, Matthew McConaughey, and Bradley Cooper try to tell each other apart for two hours.