Screening Room | The Windmill Movie

The Windmill Movie, a beautiful and haunting autobiography of the late documentary filmmaker Richard P. Rogers was not put together by Rogers himself, but was assembled by his former film student (and tiemaker) Alexander Olch from 25 years of footage Rogers had never released.

Though shown in select theaters starting in 2008, the film was only released on DVD yesterday.

The film explores Rogers' life through self-reflexive footage of his plum upbringing on the East End of Long Island, his difficulties with his family and intimate relationships, and his ongoing struggle with his self-worth and desire to document his life. Toward the end of his battle with brain cancer, when footage becomes more sparse, Rogers' close friend, actor Wallace Shawn steps in as Olch narrates.

The Windmill Movie, $20.99, available here

Screening Room | Hotel Gramercy Park

If you missed it at the Tribeca Film Festival, be sure to catch Hotel Gramercy Park when it makes its television debut on the Sundance Channel Monday night. The film profiles the Gramercy Park Hotel at the time of its renovation from rundown boho chic to Hollywood glitz by hotelier Ian Schrager, and gives plenty of screen time to the previous owners, the Weissberg family, who chronicle the legendary New York hotel's storied past.
Hotel Gramercy Park, airs Monday, Dec. 7 at 9pm on the Sundance Channel

Entering Grey Gardens

And speaking of the crazy rich (or perhaps the merely crazy), much buzz is being generated about the upcoming debut of Grey Gardens, a movie based on the lives of Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Little Edie, the recluse aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy. The Beales of Grey Gardens have been in the news in the past few years, notably for Christine Ebersole's star turn in the 2006 Broadway musical version, Grey Gardens, an adaptation of the Maysles' brothers 1975 cult classic of the same name. The film follows the transformation of Little Edie (Drew Barrymore) from Maidstone debutante to fallen heiress under the auspices of her controlling mother (played by Jessica Lange). In the crumbling Grey Gardens of the 70s, cat food is called paté and the resident raccoons are seen as welcome playmates for the hordes of stray felines. Check out the preview below - seems like the ladies live up to all the hype. (And if you think Barrymore's overdoing it - check out a video of the real Edie to compare.)



Grey Gardens premieres Saturday, April 18 at 8pm on HBO