''Chelsea on the Rocks'' is a documentary film directed by
Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara (born July 19, 1951) is an American filmmaker, known for the provocative and often controversial content in his movies and his use of neo-noir imagery and gritty urban settings. A long-time independent filmmaker, some of his best kn ...
about the
Hotel Chelsea
The Hotel Chelsea (also the Chelsea Hotel or the Chelsea) is a hotel in Manhattan, New York City, built between 1883 and 1885. The 250-unit hotel is located at 222 West 23rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, in the neighborhood of Ch ...
. It premiered out of competition at the
2008 Cannes Film Festival. The film features Ferrara interviewing people who have and had lived at the hotel,
intercut with dramatized footage of some famous events that took place there. During the film's interviews and docudrama
Gaby Hoffmann
Gabrielle Mary Antonia HoffmannStated on '' Finding Your Roots'', November 21, 2017 (born January 8, 1982) is an American actress. She initially found success as a child actress, appearing in ''Field of Dreams,'' ''Uncle Buck,'' and ''Sleeple ...
,
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in ''Giant'' (1956). In the next ten years ...
,
Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...
,
Adam Goldberg
Adam Charles Goldberg (born October 25, 1970) is an American character actor, filmmaker, musician, and photographer. Known for his supporting roles in film and television, Goldberg has appeared in films such as '' Dazed and Confused'', ''Saving ...
and
Bijou Phillips
Bijou Lilly Phillips Masterson (born April 1, 1980) is an American actress, model and singer. The daughter of musician John Phillips and Geneviève Waïte, she began her career as a model. Phillips made her singing debut with '' I'd Rather Ea ...
make appearances.
The film premiered at the
2008 Cannes Film Festival out of competition, and opened in theatres on October 2, 2009.
Reception
On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 71% based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 6.92/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Abel Ferrara's loving portrait of New York's Chelsea Hotel is less interested in telling the story of its famous residents than in exploring the magic of the place that housed so many moments in rock history."
References
External links
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2008 documentary films
Films directed by Abel Ferrara
Films set in hotels
American documentary films
Culture of Manhattan
Documentary films about New York City
2008 films
Films set in Manhattan
Chelsea, Manhattan
2000s English-language films
2000s American films
English-language documentary films
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