VIFF in Review

Kathy Chan

Chelsea on the Rocks 
USA, 2008, 88 minutes
Directed by Abel Ferrara

The Chelsea Hotel in New York City is the definitive landmark for artists and the boheim for the past one hundred and twenty-five years.  This documentary by native New Yorker Abel Ferrara uses archived footage, interviews, and some acted scenes to give an inside perspective of the impact of the Chelsea Hotel on the lives of so many artists, writers, and musicians of the past few influential decades.  

Cultural icons such as Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Janis Joplin, Andy Warhol, Leonard Cohen, Sid Vicious, Ethan Hawke, Stanley Kubrick, Joni Mitchell, and Jimi Hendrix, to name a few, have all at one point lived in the now changed Chelsea Hotel.  

What appears to be an informative documentary, the intensity and passion that lies between the walls of the Chelsea will never be understood unless you were one of those bodies that managed to float in and out of the doors on 222 W 32nd Street.  The attempt to preserve the building is maybe too late.  

The Chelsea is now under new management and like many other items in the newly corporatized century that is the present day, has resulted in a new hotel that is revamped for the true riche Manhattan socialites. Scenes that are darkly light, narrowly shot, and perfectly sounded make this documentary a true experience for an outsider who really wished they could go back and visit the infamous Hotel Chelsea.   

Religulous
USA, 2008, 101 minutes
Directed by Larry Charles

I was not raised in a religious household. One of my first encounters with “God” happened at the library in elementary school when I borrowed the book by Judy Blume Are you there God, it's me, Margaret.  

I was eight and not at all fascinated with faith or religion.  I applaud Bill Maher and the rest of his production team in tackling the ideals of religion and turning the topic into a documentary that is worth watching because it was, for the most part, enjoyable, non biased (well, you make your own judgment), and honest.  The facts are not misconstrued, as Maher interviews real people and lets them reveal their stories.  

Comic relief is provided on many levels, including the scene with a Christian who happened to “ungay” himself.  Apparently God never mentioned his despise towards homosexuality in the Holy Bible.  The film takes viewers to the "Christian Theme Park" also known as the Holy Land Experience in Florida, the Holy Land of Jersusalem, and the Vatican in Rome.  The message is the understanding that fundamental faith is the root of current topics of conflict with society today -  which is true to an agreeable extent.

Having not ever been truly religious in my life, I personally find the film to speak volumes to people who may be in the same position as me.  By the time this article is published, you may have the luxury of not having waited in the lineup for any rush festival tickets, and you can go out and spend the $13 dollars for a movie ticket and see if you have the same approach on the fundamentals of religion as Bill Maher.  And if you don't, well...that's just religulous.  I mean, ridiculous.