Documentary

AARON HERNANDEZ: AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY

To be honest, we’ve never been particularly interested in football players – that is – until we saw this photo of NFL star Aaron Hernandez in court a year or so ago. He was found guilty of murdering a guy who dated his girlfriend’s sister and sentenced to life without parole. He was drop-dead handsome with the kind of life one DREAMS about – how could this have happened? And NOW a few days after being acquitted of two more murders, he committed suicide in his isolated cell! It’s devastating, and a TV docuseries is already in the works by the Discovery ID producers. How this super-hunk went from football hero to thug is a fascinating psychological study. We can’t stop looking at his photo…

DANNY SAYS: THIS IS NEW YORK AT ITS COOLEST

We told you about this film before and this is a reminder that DANNY SAYS opens in Los Angeles this Friday, September 30th at the Sundance Sunset Cinemas in West Hollywood and will also be available on Amazon Video, and VOD.
This movie, Danny Says, is so much fun we didn’t want it to end. If you are fascinated by the revolution of pop culture in New York in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, (or if you were THERE) you’re gonna LOVE this film! Danny Fields was a Harvard educated wannabe hipster who landed in the Village in the 60′s and started writing for Datebook – a teen music oriented magazine. He hung out at Max’s Kansas City and CBGB’s and was thrust into the world of The Beatles, Warhol and The Stooges. He developed a crush on Jim Morrison and declared himself press agent to the up-and-coming Doors, thus opening up new career opportunities. Danny is loaded with hilarious anecdotes – many involving drugs – and comments about the celebs he encountered. He landed a job with Electra Records sniffing for new talent and the crazier they were, the more Danny loved them. Interviews with Danny’s acquaintances and musicians (like Iggy Pop and Lou Reed) add to the humor. Eventually Fields discovered and promoted The Ramones, who wrote the song “Danny Says” – hence the title. This film presents an insiders comical view of a great time in history – we can’t say enough good things about it.

IGGY POP AND JIM JARMUSCH HAVE A HISTORY TOGETHER

Here’s a pair of characters you might not expect to see at the Cannes Film Festival. Iggy Pop and filmmaker Jim Jarmusch could easily be chatting about the drugs they used to do back in the 80’s, as they prepare for a discussion about their new documentary Gimme Danger. Directed by Jarmusch, the film documents the rise of Iggy’s punk band The Stooges, starting in the 60’s. We were surprised to see that Iggy has one built up shoe – he says one leg is a couple inches shorter than the other and his reckless stage antics didn’t help it. Iggy says his drug days are over, but threatened to appear at the red carpet gala later with no shirt.

Photo Credit: Pacific Coast News

KATY PERRY IS DESIGNER JEREMY SCOTT’S MUSE

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It’s odd that whimsical designer Jeremy Scott created such simple and classic ‘his and hers’ formal wear for himself and his muse Katy Perry for the premier of his documentary: “Jeremy Scott: The Peoples Designer.” Currently the Creative Director for Moschino, Jeremy has always been SO imaginative that average people have trouble working up the courage to wear his creative clothes. He livened up his own outfit by omitting the shirt. Of course, that meant he had to suck in his stomach all evening. The doc looks like an American success story- a small town boy from Missouri with lots of ambition grew up to be a celebrity designer. Good things DO happen.

Photo Credit: Pacific Coast News

HBO WON’T BE BULLIED BY SCIENTOLOGISTS

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Top Scientologists have no doubt been scheming and laying plans in preparation for an assault against the upcoming HBO Scientology documentary that promises new and juicy revelations about the so-called religion and its followers – including Tom Cruise and John Travolta. No stranger to controversy, HBO commissioned the documentary two years ago – right after the book “Going Clear” was released. The book includes filmmaker Paul Haggis’ experiences as a Scientologist. Producers are already bracing themselves for a legal attack from Scientology lawyers with plenty of legal counsel of their own. According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO hopes to show the documentary at Sundance and have a 2015 airdate. We can hardly wait!

BEVERLY HILLS COPS DON’T WANT TO SHARE THE RONNI CHASEN CRIME FILES

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Photo: Chasen office
Many of us in Hollywood have never accepted the Beverly Hills Police Department’s explanation for the death of publicist Ronni Chasen. We all knew Ronni – she chatted up everyone – even tabloid reporters. She was supposedly shot while driving home – by a transient on a bicycle for no apparent reason. The transient later committed suicide at his flophouse. Case closed. Many alternative theories exist, and the police investigation was not satisfying. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a documentary is being made about the crime and the BHPD won’t release the case files, so the filmmaker, Ryan Katzenbach, is suing for access. While researching the project, Katzenbach noted that cops did NOT bother to interview any of Chasen’s close friends. This doc could turn out to be very revealing.

MODEL ANDREJ PEJIC IS NO LONGER A MAN

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It’s been fun writing about androgynous model Andrej Pejic as his career blossomed in both the male and female fashion world. But androgyny isn’t enough for the Serbian born Australian raised model. Andrej has had sexual reassignment and changed his name to Andreja. A documentary was filmed of the process – the bottom photo is a still of Andreja in her hospital bed recovering. The transgender male to female surgical procedures were performed by Dr Toby Meltzer in Scottsdale, Arizona. Cost: $23,000 to $28,000. Andreja says she will only model as a female from now on. We can’t help but wonder if she will be as much in demand as a model now that she’s just another “female.”

ROBERT DENIRO’S TRIBUTE TO HIS GAY FATHER

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Robert De Niro has really come a long way – earlier in his career he was impossibly “private” and avoided calling attention to himself. He was known for barely speaking in interviews. In the last few years he’s become much more accessible and social. Now he’s produced a very personal documentary about his father, who was a respected artist. De Niro’s father left his mother when Bob was 3 – many years later he learned that his father left because he was gay. Father and son remained close until his father died in 1993. De Niro narrates the film which presents his father’s work as well as his struggle with the realization he was gay in an unforgiving era. The movie, “Remembering The Artist Robert De Niro Sr,” is scheduled to air on HBO this summer.
Photo via: Daily Mail

WE STILL CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF JIMI HENDRIX

It’s our duty to remind readers that a very interesting documentary on Jimi Hendrix premieres tonight on American Masters on PBS. Jimi Hendrix’s career was short but incredibly memorable – he died at age 27. We were massively influenced by his style during his life – he represented British dandyism merged with San Francisco hippie-cool. In those days you didn’t see many macho guys in sheer ruffled shirts and scarves tied around their thighs. We were lucky to know a member of the British band The Soft Machine, who opened for Hendrix on a US tour and he invited us to a show. It blew us away! Jimi was mesmerizing and his is STILL the greatest concert we’ve seen in our lifetime. That sexy voice!

GOOD OL’ FREDA: BEATLE FANS AREN’T THE ONLY ONES WHO WILL LOVE THIS MOVIE

For a good time this weekend – try to see the hugely appealing documentary “Good Ol’ Freda.” Little Freda Kelly was one of The Beatles earliest fans – and in 1961 she landed a job as secretary for them. Her job lasted until 1972 and she witnessed all the exciting and amusing events of the era plus the evolution of the most famous band of all time. Her inside stories are priceless and she herself is endearing. This little movie is easy to miss – but SO worth seeing and unforgettable…