Contentar
Best movie of this year hands down!
RipDelight
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
Glatpoti
It is so daring, it is so ambitious, it is so thrilling and weird and pointed and powerful. I never knew where it was going.
Billie Morin
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
acearms
This story didn't have a story. Bouncing around the lives of several couples living in a run down seedy hotel had no real plot. All the characters seemed to sit around, dance down the halls, strum guitars or otherwise providing inane performances. Frank Whaley, as an example, played the part of a want-a-be stand up comic, a second attempt for him for which he again failed miserably. Ethan Hawke should keep his day job as an actor, something he does extremely well and quit trying to be a director. The rest of the actors were equally inane in their performances. The camera angles were faulty, the multiple colors from one scene to another added nothing all the while the various characters moped around whining about their sad lot in life. A movie you will be glad you missed. I gave it a 1/10 only because they don't allow zeros. Waste of time.
Pepper Anne
Chelsea Walls is supposed to document the daily occurrences of several "artists" housed in the notorious Chelsea Walls hotel in New York, which is an entertainment landmark that has grossly mutated into a housing community to New York yuppies (though the movie doesn't show that).
I waited a long time to see this, eager to see many of Frank Whaley's hard to find titles, even though he mostly shows up in a movie these days for about two minutes. Chelsea Walls is one of THE most boring movies I have ever seen, I'm surprised I managed to get through the remainder of it. There is absolutely nothing particularly interesting or wonderful about these characters that I could see the need for anyone to want to make a movie about it. Kris Kristopherson plays a mumbling, drunk writer. Uma Thurman floats around there, she's supposed to be a sculptor. There's some awkward scenes with Rosario Dawson, playing a poet, and her boyfriend who I don't know whether he's supposed to be a ska musician or a gangster. All I can say that Chelsea Walls is one of the most boring "artsy fartsy" pretentious movies that I have ever seen. This, in addition to some other films, have made me weary of Ethan Hawke-directed films.If you're looking for entertainment, it surely doesn't lie in Chelsea Walls.
moviegoer
I'm generally patient with movies and will watch almost anything. My trick to get through dull stuff like this is watch 10-15 minutes at a time, take a break and come back to see if either my mood or the movie has "improved". Now I have sat down twice over a period of several months and tried to watch this thing, but gave up after about 45 minutes and fast-forwarded through it. Awesome cast, total disappointment.
JulyQueen9
.. after reading all these horrid reviews. I was seriously expecting to see crap. I caught this on HBO late last night, and I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the film a great deal. I think the actors were all marvelous, and I thought the direction was superb. It really was like poetry captured on film. I found it quite moving. Yes, it might not be for everyone... I know a lot of people don't like movies if they don't star Vin Diesel or Will Smith. I could see how it may be difficult to watch for many people. In my opinion, however, I really liked it, and I'm recommending it to my film teacher.