Suited

Suited is an extraordinarily uplifting documentary about a couple of NY Tailors who have found their calling making suits for gender non-confirming clients.  Their story started a few years ago when Rae Tutera (who had been born Rachel) came across a rather unassuming tailor called Daniel Friedman (who is straight & Jewish) who made him his first ever suit. Rae was so happy that he persuaded Daniel to take him on as an apprentice,  and that's when Bindle and Keep was born.

The movie is made by first time director Jason Benjamin who cut his teeth as a boom operator for the 'Girls' TV Show and landed him a producer in his boss Lena Dunham.  Benjamin chose to follow a handful of the clients who turn up in the Brooklyn Showroom. and it is all their stories that make this doc such a delight to watch. The life journeys that they have all taken to get this far have made them all both emotional and determined, and when the time comes for them to return and try on their suit it is impossible not to share in their sheer joy.

Suited had its Premiere at Sundance and is an HBO doc and will be aired in the US in the Spring, check back here for further details and our full review.

Nothing Left Unsaid ; Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper

One of the most wonderful premieres here at Sundance was the documentary on socialite and artist the heiress Gloria Vanderbilt and her son CNN's anchor the openly gay Anderson Cooper entitled "Nothing Left Unsaid". The 92 year-old Vanderbilt has the most colorful past and in some very frank and open interviews with her son we learned far more about her than just her famous 'Poor Little Rich Girl' custody battle stories.  So too did Cooper who was visibly shocked to learn about some of his mother's past boyfriends that he never knew about, such as 32 year old Errol Flynn she had dated where she was just a mere 17 years old.

It is a fascinating profile on an extra-ordinary privileged life, and kudos to Cooper for not shrinking away from talking to his mother about extremely sensitive subjects such as his brother jumping off the terrace of her 17th Floor New York Apartment to take his own life.

The pair, both extremely articulate and open with each other, have an undeniable close bond and are quite the devoted couple.  You do however get occasional glimpses of Cooper's sheer disbelief that through his mother he is a part of one of what was once of the leading families in the country,

This HBO documentary directed by Oscar nominee Liz Garbus will be aired in the US  and will be proceeded by a book from the film.

James Franco Is Finally Doing Porn!

It's official, James Franco is finally doing porn! Almost.  He has just signed on with HBO to do new TV series that follows the legalization and rise of the porn industry in New York's Times Square in the 1970's and 1980's.  Called "The Deuce", which is a nickname for 42nd Street at that time, it is inspired by real-life mobsters twins Frankie and Vincent Martino, and Franco, taking a leaf out of Tom Hardy's book, will be playing both parts. 

No word yet if Franco will actually get to join in (!) but we hear that his  role will comprise of scenes involving casual sex (on and off camera) and systematic cocaine abuse!  Sounds like fun.

The series will also co-star Maggie Gyllenhaal who will play entrepreneurial prostitute Eileen ‘Candy’ Merrell and act as a producer of the series too. Created and written by "The Wire's" David Simon and directed by "Breaking Bad's" Michelle MacLaren, this is definitely one to look out for this season ..... even if Franco is still teasing us all about if he will get down and get dirty at last.