Chelsea on the Rocks

There's a great movie to be made about the Chelsea Hotel;....For them, this film will be a nostalgic revisiting of old friends and neighbors, of familiar hallways with wrought-iron railings and oft-told tales..... ... Full Review

it has the crackbrained air of menace and the ferocious humor that mark his fictional works.....It's OK that the film rambles....The film takes an unexpectedly serious turn when a Vietnam veteran and Chelsea longtimer recounts a harrowing wartime story.....Ferrara gives us a nice long scene where Bard exchanges remembrances with filmmaker and Chelsea patron Forman.....But worse is that Ferrara didn't bother to ID the talking heads, conveying a sense.... ... Full Review

In need of a re-edit like few other films, Chelsea on the Rocks isn't so much bad as it is disappointing.....Unfortunately, Ferrara can't hold all of his pieces together, creating a jumbled mess with no real structure and frequently unclear purposes..... ... Full Review

Abel Ferrara's ramshackle documentary "Chelsea on the Rocks" is not -....One of the wild men of American cinema, Mr. Ferrara adores them all, demonstrating special affection for the most eccentric, cantankerous and self-destructive..... ... Full Review

And therein lies the movie's core weakness..... ... Full Review

Abel Ferrara comes to us highly recommended after a Cannes Golden Palm nomination in 1993 for "Body Snatchers' and multiple wins and nominations at the Venice Film Festival. ... Full Article

A bunch of talking heads wax nostalgic on the heyday of New York's fabled Chelsea Hotel in Abel Ferrara's documentary "Chelsea on the Rocks." The Chelsea has been home to some of the 20th century's most interesting and dysfunctional artists. ... Full Article

WHO BETTER than the director of such edgy fare as "Bad Lieutenant" and "King of New York" to chronicle the life and times of Manhattan's legendary Chelsea Hotel? ... Full Article

Since teaming with Harvey Keitel on the gritty crime drama "Bad Lieutenant" in 1992, director Abel Ferrara has stuck for the most part to scripted dramas. ... Full Article

The film nails the hotel's unique flavor through a blend of rare archival footage and fresh interviews with many of its past and current residents (including Dennis Hopper, Ethan Hawke, and filmmaker Milos Forman, who shares a particularly macabre anecdote). ... Full Article

Tuesday, April 7th 2009 at 2:51pm The Chelsea Hotel is celebrated this week at Anthology, in part because that moldering red-brick one-building Montmartre housed a number of New American Cinema luminaries-notably Shirley Clarke (who occupied the penthouse), Harry Smith ,... ... Full Article