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In the days of yore there were subway tokens. Little coins dropped into a slot that magically let you push the turnstile and enter the subway. Now we have Metro cards, those handy little cards with a black strip that are swiped at the turnstile. May the Gods damn them to the utter ness of hell.

I have discovered that I’m hopeless with a Metro card. On my way to the movie theater I pull out my Metro card and swipe it:

“Please swipe again”

Swipe.

“Please swipe again”

The messages mock me as people all around me whip their cards out, swipe like champions and proceed without missing a beat to their trains.

Swipe, swipe, swipe.

“Please swipe again.”

A passerby asks if the card is bent. No, I answer, not continuing that clearly the card is possessed like Linda Blair in The Exorcist. I’m expecting green pea soup to come flying out of its thin little paper body at any moment. A woman swipes her and gets the same message. I don’t feel so bad. There’s another person being victimized by the Metro card. Then I swipe again and I’m through. It’s survival of the fittest and I leave the poor victim of her card behind.

It’s pouring out but the festival is still buzzing with press, the theaters are busy. The festival has taken over two multiplexes in the downtown area. I see my films, spend some time with a friend and then go back to do battle once again with the Metro card. It tries to defeat me, but in the end I triumph.

As I’ve mentioned before the festival has an enormous amount of films and I’m only seeing the teeniest tip of the cinematic iceberg. But it’s an incredible experience to see so many people congregating for films that are amazing in their diversity. I’ve seen films that I’m certain I’d never get to see if not for the Tribeca Film Festival. And that’s what it’s about to me. It’s about these smaller movies that struggle to find an audience. The film makers have dedicated themselves to bringing their vision to the screen.

Sure, there are movie stars and the celebs come to Tribeca. I mean hey, I’m there! But in the end it’s all about movies. Lots and lots of movies! Whether it’s drama, satire, comedy, animation, documentaries about everything from baseball to the Butcher of the Balkans, from vampires to dysfunctional families they are getting seen by audiences hungry for more than the typical film at the multiplex.

It’s all great, but if I could get that Metro card to work on the first swipe it would be amazing.