LOOKING FOR A NEW MOVIE? AN OLD MOVIE? AN ART MOVIE? OR MAYBE JUST A MOVIE MOVIE? TRY TRIBECA

In the mood to see "Dirty Pretty Things," Stephen Frears' classy new romantic thriller starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Audrey Tautou? Then the second annual Tribeca Film Festival, running from May 3 thru 11, is the place for you to be.

What else is playing at this local yet all-over-the-map festival? Movies ranging from Charles Laughton’s "Night of the Hunter" to Eddie Murphy’s "Boomerang"—good, bad and ugly films, including, of course, Segio Leone’s "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly."

Want to know a little more about "Dirty Pretty Things" and some of the other new movies to be shown at the festival? Okay, here goes...

DIRTY PRETTY THINGS: Chjwetel Ejiofor, Audrey Tautou, Sergi Lopez, Sophie Okonedo, Benedict Wong, Sotigui Kouyate, Abi Gouhad, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey, Jeffery Kissoon, Darrell D'Silva (Directed by Stephen Frears;Miramax) Here's an intriguing trio, each of whom is employed, more or less gainfully, in a luxury London hotel: a night porter on illegal leave from his native Nigeria, a Turkish chambermaid, and a Chinese prostitute. Three strikingly attractive sleuths in sudden pursuit of the cad responsible for the macabre murder of what may or may not have been a famous surgeon. It sounds as if director Frears is once again weaving that dark mischief he weaved so well in "The Grifters."

SWEET SIXTEEN: Martin Compston, Annmarie Fulton, William Ruane, Michelle Abercrmby, Michelle Coulter, Gary McCormack, Tommy McKee, Calum McAlees, Robert Rennie, Martin McCardie, Robert Harrison (Directed by Ken Loach; Lions Gate) An impoverished but enterprising Glasgow lad works his imagination overtime preparing for his mother’s release from prison. He’s determined to keep old mum on the straight and narrow, but it’s not going to be easy. Young Compston was named Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards.

L’AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE: Romain Duris, Cecile De France, Audrey Tatou, Judith Godreche, Kelly Reilly, Iddo Goldberg, Olivier Raynal, Xavie De Guillebon, Kevin Bishop (Directed by Cedric Klapisch; Fox Searchlight) A group of eager, attractive and sexy exchange students from various points around the globe study by day and play by night in the Barcelona flat they share. Cecile De France won a Cesar Award (the French Oscar) as the most promising actress of 2002.

DOWN WTH LOVE: Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, David Hyde Pierce, Sarah Paulson, Tony Randall, Peter Spruyt (Directed by Peyton Reed; Fox) Set in sixties Manhattan, this homage to the Doris Day-Rock Hudson romantic comedies stars Zellweger as a deadly sincere, virginal pre-feminist writer and McGregor as the shameless, big-scoring journalist who sets out to seduce her. Cool and fastidious David Hyde Pierce will undoubtedly remind us of Tony Randall, who co-starred with Day and Hudson in "Pillow Talk," "Lover Come Back" and "Send Me No Flowers." Randall himself pops up in "Down With Love," but we don’t know who he’ll remind us of.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS: Paul Rudd, Rachel Reisz, Gretchen Mol, Frederick Weller (Directed by Neil LaBute; Focus Features) A sexually insecure undergrad who works part-time as a guard in a museum encounters a striking young feminist who is about to spray-paint a male nude. From there on in, it’a all love & wargames in this latest drama from the writer-director of the lacerating "In the Company of Men" and "Your Friends & Neighbors."

TOGETHER: Tang Yun, Liu Peiqi, Wang Zhiwen, Chen Kaige, Chen Hong (Directed by Chen Kaige; MGM/UA) A timid but enormously talented violin prodigy from the provinces finds that competing for big-time recognition in the cutthroat world of Beijing is no cinch. Director Chen Kaige plays an imperious instructor and his real-life wife, Chen Hong, plays a beauty who vamps the befuddled student.

THE LIZZIE McGUIRE MOVIE: Hilary Duff, Adam Lamberg, Clayton Snyder, Ashlie Brillault, Jake Thomas, Brenda Kelly, Carly Schroeder (Directed by Jim Fall; Disney) Lizzie is biggie with the teenies on TV, so Disney has decided to give the kid a shot at the big screen. In case you’re curious about the story-line, it deals with the all-American junior-high student’s summer vacation in Rome.

DADDY DAY CARE: Eddie Murphy, Anjelica Huston, Jeff Garlin, Steve Zahn, Regina King, Leila Arcieri, Lacey Chabert, Susan Martino, Elle Fanning (Directed by Steve Carr; Fox) With each new high-concept comedy, Eddie Murphy seems to be aiming lower and lower. This time around, he’s a casualty of the dotcom downslide who is forced to be a stay-at-home parent. So naturally he and his hilariously unemployed pals, Jeff Carlin and Steve Zahn, establish a zany day-care center in Eddie’s house. Is it a smash hit? Of course it is! We’re talking about the center, not the movie.

THE IN-LAWS: Albert Brooks, Michael Douglas, Ryan Reynolds, Lindsay Sloane, Robin Tunney, Candice Bergen, David Suchet, Chang Tseng, A. Russell Andrews, Miranda Black (Directed by Andrew Fleming; Warner Bros.) Brooks is a stumbling foot doctor, Douglas is a smooth CIA agent; on the other hand, neither may be exactly what he claims to be. The thing that brings them together is the impending marriage of Brooks’ daughter to Douglas’ son. If this clone turns out to be half as funny as the 1979 original with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin, we're in for a good time.

THE ITALIAN JOB: Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton,Seth Green, Jason Statham, Donald Sutherland, Christina Cabot, Mos Def, Franky G. (Directed by F. Gary Gray; Paramount) Wahlberg, who failed to become the new Cary Grant in "The Truth About Charlie," a remake of "Charade," will now try to become the new Michael Caine in this remake of the 1969 caper about a gang of robbers who create the biggest traffic jam in Italy’s history. Only this time the cars pile up in L.A. I have an idea: maybe Wahlberg can be the new Mickey Rourke.

For full details on the festival, visit www.tribecafilmfestival.org