Chuck Close

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis sued him, Marlon Brando broke his jaw and Steve McQueen gave him a look that would have killed, if looks could kill. To the celebrities he pursued, photographer Ron Galella was the beast who threatened beauty. As it turned out, he gave them a strange and lasting beauty they might never have known without him. Inherent in the story of this notorious paparazzo are the complex issues of the right to privacy, freedom of the press and the ever-growing vortex of celebrity worship. He sneaked around and invaded and bribed and held up his camera and shot till he dropped (or someone dropped him). His was the artistry of the sniper. Yet Galella found something essential in his real-life subjects, and he gave it permanence.

In 2005, award-winning director Scott Hicks began shooting a documentary about the legendary composer Philip Glass. Over the next 18 months, Scott followed Philip across three continents - from his annual ride on the Coney Island "Cyclone" roller coaster to the world premier of his new opera in Germany. Allowed unprecedented access to Glass's working process, family and long time collaborators (including Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese and Errol Morris), Hicks provides a unique glimpse behind the curtain into the life of a surprising and complex man, creating a remarkable portrait of one of the greatest artists of all time.

Director Andrew Neel looks at the life and work of his grandmother, Alice Neel, one of the 20th century's best portrait artists, in this intimate documentary that uses interviews, photos and art to detail her struggles as a painter and single mother. The enigmatic Alice, who died in 1984, sparked a revival of the genre by producing portraits that unmasked her subjects, who included Andy Warhol, poet Allen Ginsberg and other notables.

We all have two lives: the one we are born with, and the one we try and create for ourselves. Will Smith makes his compelling dramatic debut as Paul, a man who shows up at the doorstep of two affluent art dealers, claiming to need help after a Central Park mugging. Presenting himself as a Harvard Man, a friend of their children and the son of Sidney Poitier, he charms the couple with stories of his father and ends up staying the night. In the morning, however, we find out that “Paul” is a conman, and his ruse will have repercussions that will change one family in ways they never imagined. “Hilarious! Touching! Magic!” Rolling Stone