Does anyone else find it alarming that the Tribeca Film Festival is kicking off with “Baby Mama?” To me, it seems that the whole point of a film festival is to introduce new filmmakers and product to audiences.

“Baby Mama,” distributed by Universal Pictures (which is part of the NBC Universal family like REEL TALK) is opening today on more than 2,500 screens. It hardly seems that it needs the added exposure of kicking off Tribeca.

I know that Tribeca was started in response to the attacks of 9/11. And I know it was founded in order to bring culture and commerce back to lower Manhattan. So how does a premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater fit in with that mandate? I guess I’m being too literal minded. But I do feel that film festivals in general are losing sight of their original purpose.

Sundance has now become a zoo of celebrity-watching and swag-hauling. As much as Robert Redford insists that it is still all about the films -- who can even keep track of the new talent emerging, when most of the press eagerly focuses on “U2:3D” and what Paris Hilton is wearing?

I’m sure that the sponsors of Tribeca want to be assured of big name celebrities showing up at events, and that’s why the organizers pepper the 10 days with studio films. Warner Brothers’ “Speed Racer” will close this year’s festival. If the bold-faced names raise awareness of a festival that is still struggling to find an identity, then so be it. But I hope audiences are just as excited to discover work by first time writers and directors.

Check out the review and red carpet footage of "Baby Mama" below.