Machete Kills plays like a late Roger-Moore era Bond film — and not just because there’s a lot of visual cues and ideas taken from Moonraker — the action and the humor are constantly fighting for dominance, and the humor, regardless of whether it’s appropriate or not, makes sense within the context of the scene or not, hell, is funny or not, usually wins out. Though, to be fair, the plot of Machete Kills is a lot easier to follow than the plot of Octopussy.

Machete (Danny Trejo), in case you didn’t see the first film…or the trailer on which it was based, is an ex-Federale-turned-spy-or-something-like-that-but-all-around-badass, seemingly indestructible and legendary throughout Mexico. His latest “case” has him busting up a gun-running ring, apparently sponsored by the U.S. Army, and distributed to the Mexican cartel. Gun fights, explosions, dramatic standoff music, and hell ensues. Machete is somehow the only survivor when the cops show up, and by the next scene we’re in the local sheriff’s office and Machete is swinging from the ceiling with a noose around his neck. And then the President calls.

And the President is…Charlie Sheen. Naturally. He needs Machete to hunt down and kill Mendez (Damian Bichir), a nutty terrorist with a vendetta against the cartel who’s moved on to threatening the U.S. with a nuclear device. The catch is that once Machete finds him, Mendez reveals that the trigger for the bomb is tied to his heartbeat, so once he dies, boom. And he’s also put a hit out on himself that everyone in Mexico is trying to cash in on.

You may not realize it but there’s a lot of film festivals and other film-related events and organizations around the county. One such organization is the Tribeca Film Institute.

This organization was formed to “help foster and nurture relationships between film industry executives and filmmakers from traditionally underrepresented communities.” Today, the institute announced the winners of its Creative Promise Awards, which took place last night in New York.

Recipients of awards included the narrative Rhymes for Young Ghouls and the documentary The New Black, which were selected from 11 projects “based on the strength of their vision and filmmaking promise.”

Each project received $10,000, as well as an original piece of art from a contemporary artist. Rhymes for Young Ghouls took home Stephen Hannock’s Study: A Recent History of Art in Southern California, 2012 and The New Black received Hugo Tillman’s The Echeverria, 2008.

The Institute also announced this year’s TAA alumni grants and fellowships during the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. The grants, all presented last night, total $92,000 in funds.

For more, check out the full press release after the break.

Presented without much in the way of comment is the first trailer for Red Tails, which tells the story of the first African American aerial combat unit in WWII. These men, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen, were the first men of color to fly in a combat squadron and fought bravely and overcame adversity to defend our country during the war.

The film features an impressive cast including Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr, Bryan Cranston and David Oyelowo. It’s directed by Anthony Hemingway with Charles Floyd Johnson and Lucas regular Rick McCallum producing. George Lucas is executive producing. Let’s not confuse this with the film The Tuskegee Airmen with Lawrence Fishburne. This one looks like it has better effects.

The film will be released on January 20, 2012 from Fox. Check out the trailer after the break.