TITLE: Chelsea on the Rocks

DIRECTED BY: Abel Ferrara
STARS: Ethan Hawke, Bijou Phillips

WHAT IT'S ABOUT

Combining fictional characters with archival footage, Chelsea on the Rocks is a look at the famous (or is that infamous?) Chelsea Hotel, where the bohemian clientèle has been immortalized in song and story. The Chelsea's history is both sparkling and squalid; it's where Bob Dylan wrote "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," it's where Arthur C. Clarke wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey, and it's also where Sid Vicious' girlfriend Nancy Spungen was found stabbed in 1978. The Chelsea's been a temporary home for everyone from Mark Twain to Joni Mitchell, and considering how many things that have happened there have subsequently become legend, Ferrara's mix of fact and fiction seems like an excellent approach.

WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT

Because, love him or hate him, Abel Ferrara (King of New York, The Funeral) has never been boring; and for those cynics who suggest that Ferrara's glory days are behind him, well, you could say the same thing about the Chelsea -- and what could be more intriguing than one faded New York icon's look at another faded New York icon? Add in plenty of potential told tales and bohemian Manhattan gossip, and you've got the strong possibility of a chatty, catty flick about some of the most interesting (and troubled) writers, artists and hangers-on of American pop culture.

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