Gore kicks off Tribeca film fest

THIS year’s Tribeca Film Festival has something in common with this year’s Academy Awards: Al Gore, “the world’s hottest leading man,” as Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg described him at the festival’s kickoff Wednesday.

Gore was not here to show his Oscar-winning “An Inconvenient Truth” documentary, however, but to host the opening gala of nine short “Live Earth Films” on environmental issues: one asking children, “How long do you think the Earth will last?” and another marking a reunion of Rob Reiner’s spoof heavy-metal band Spinal Tap. Reiner played a snippet of the film that reprises the cast from his 1984 mockumentary, “This Is Spinal Tap.”

“When I heard that you were going to reunite ... that just did it for me,” former Vice President Gore quipped to the media. This time, the dim-witted band members reminisce about doing concerts for causes, particularly a “Save the Ferrets” campaign.

The Tribeca opening night was a promotion for a cause: the July 7 worldwide “Live Earth” concert that will raise funds for the Alliance for Climate Protection, of which Gore is chairman.

While Tribeca has, since its post-Sept. 11 inception, always featured films with current event themes it has embraced lighter fare, as well. This year’s 12-day lineup of 157 features and 88 shorts includes the premiere of “Spider-Man 3,” a marathon of sports films and an outdoor screening of a documentary about break dancers, “Planet B-Boy,” and a dance tribute to James Brown.

Gore praised Bloomberg’s recent “gutsy” environmental proposals, which include imposing a fee -- $8 for cars and $21 for trucks -- on vehicles entering congested Lower Manhattan. Also citing the initiatives of California’s Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gore said it showed that climate change “is not a partisan issue.”

Gore did not say whether he’d give Bloomberg the autograph he requested. “It’s for my mother,” the mayor said. “But if you could make it out to ‘Mike.’ ”

paul.lieberman@latimes.com