Cultural Stimuli in NYC: Cinematic flavor

FLAVORPILL.NET: Bringing hundreds of feature films and shorts downtown, the Tribeca Film Festival, which kicks off this week, is a true heavy on the current cultural agenda. But it's not the only game in town. Cinephiles can also dig into the African Film Festival's four days of selections, Jilted's assortment of overlooked comedic shorts, and a retrospective of films by Robert Altman — who landed an Oscar for lifetime achievement this year (an event that inspired a weekend-long blog-a-thon). The other 500-pound gorilla in the room is the PEN World Voices Festival, which imports a slew of international writers for discussions on topics ranging from AIDS to political freedom to the legacy of Allen Ginsberg — check our roundup of the highlights. For a less imposing outing, join in the festivities and pink-blossom appreciation at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Cherry Blossom Festival on Saturday and Sunday. And May 1st isn't just for pagans and lefties, it's also the 75th anniversary of our beloved Empire State Building, so give a salute to the grand old icon, and spread it...