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Event CineVegas Film Festival Wrap…2009!

June 29, 2009 - 9:19 am

We came.
We saw.
We drank.
We saw some movies.
We got drunk.
We went to some parties and red carpet events.
We got even more drunk.

And some of us got so drunk we thought it might be funny after seeing The Hangover if we made out with someone named Bob. That was me. It’s not a surprise to say that movies have had an influence on my life… for good and for bad. But I never expected to get so hammered that going to Graceland Chapel for a ceremony would seem like a good idea. I was there for a film festival and only saw The Hangover a week earlier which is a movie set in Vegas, yet not screening at CineVegas, but somehow I ended up at that chapel.

There’s a lot more to the tale, but CineVegas was a whirlwind of amazing A-list stars, epic parties and memorable movies. In fact, I was happy to learn that my festival favorites went on to win awards. Easier with Practice took the Grand Jury Prize with Godspeed getting a Special Jury Award and All In: The Poker Movie was awarded the Documentary Jury Prize. What makes CineVegas special is not just the hospitality, parties and movies – it’s the city itself. Anything can happen. But not everything stays there as anyone who has had photos of their drunken escapades posted on the internet can attest. Um, like me.

I am happy to note that after the dust cleared and I woke up with my “wife” Bob next to me, one detail was overlooked. Our marriage license was never notarized or certified or even made legal. In short, we had a great time , but somehow in my drunken stupor, I avoided the one detail that would have led to real trouble. So while my alcohol-induced glaze drove me to do something stupid… it also saved me from making that stupid thing real. Which means the next round is on me, I’m a single man again!

I’ll always remember… um…. most of CineVegas 2009. 2009! And what I don’t remember, there’s photos to prove I that I did indeed have a time to remember.

Words by Chris Gore

Film & Teller, & Teller 2

by Chris Gore

June 29, 2009 - 9:16 am

The silent half of the post-alt-magic act of Penn and Teller narrates his very personal tale of survival in a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. When we first meet Teller in & Teller, he is clearly distraught attempting to survive in a world taken over by… zombies! As boredom sets in, Teller tells the tale of how he got himself into this mundane post-apocalyptic life… how the first zombie he remembered seeing didn’t look much different than most Vegas tourists. He even tells us how his partner Penn Jillette eventually succumbed to his own zombie fate from the bite of a zombie fan. The sequel & Teller 2 finds a lonely Teller just wishing for some companionship of some kind. His wish is fulfilled in the form of a zombie Vegas showgirl. Teller passes the time being chased by the slow-moving zombie dancer. After awhile, he even develops something of an act with his undead beauty. Is this love? Both films are short, sweet, pee-your-pants funny and leave one begging for more. And even stranger than observing a celebrity deal with a world overrun by zombies is… hearing Teller’s voice for the very first time. Scary!

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Film Thor at the Bus Stop

by Chris Gore

June 29, 2009 - 9:15 am

While Marvel’s Thor film based on their popular superhero comic book series is years away, the Norse God provides comic relief as part of an odd ensemble cast in Thor at the Bus Stop. The God of Thunder is oddly annoyed that his power to wield his might hammer is scoffed at by a persnickety little child who can perform feats such as spell the word “square.” I mean, Thor doesn’t just toss a basketball at a basket – his mighty hammer comes crashing into the backboard. This is just one of the stories in a film that attempts to explain the details behind those random people we see passing by us every day. You know, the ones you meet and wonder to yourself, “Hey, what’s that guy’s story?” We’ve all seen these people, a guy dressed like Thor, the dude with the Mohawk, the man named Lester who was struck by lightning and now has a road sign penetrating his torso yet he still is walking and talking as if the fatal injury does not affect him. Okay, Lester’s story is a bit ridiculous, but each character has a story to tell and somewhere along the way, they’ll get what’s coming to them. The most memorable exchange occurs between Lester and a woman who was so upset with her boyfriend that after he told him to stand up for himself and be more of an asshole, he left her. Shortly after that exchange, she figured it all out. (Be careful what you wish for… you know the rest.)

Like a series of shorts woven together into a random order with some, but not all of them connecting, the results are mixed. Thor is worth some giggles and Lester learns his lesson – but for a mixed bag of good and bad, more than a few smiles are cracked.

Words by Chris Gore

Film Palermo Shooting

by Chris Gore

June 25, 2009 - 1:22 pm

Director Wim Wenders is one of those directors that delivers a film that is either sheer brilliance or difficult to sit through. For me, Palermo Shooting is a film that will stay with me, and while it does not reach the kind of brilliant heights we’ve seen before, it is an admirable failure.

The story is fairly simple, Finn (played by German actor and musician Campino) is an arrogant photographer whose work is exhibited in art museums worldwide. Finn is sought after for his eye when it comes to photography, but his own eyes cannot see the dilemmas he faces in his own life. During a near fatal car accident, Finn’s camera photographs Death. Yes, Death. Yes, the Death, the guy who shows up when you die. And he is played hauntingly by Dennis Hopper. Finn is then victim to some very close calls with menacing arrows meant to end it all. His journey to avoid Death’s arrows takes him to the city of Palermo, oddly, Wim Wenders hometown. It’s there that Finn gets a dose of life lesson 101 when confronted with statements such as, “Take everything seriously, just not yourself.” And the ever popular, “Live each moment as if it were the last time.” Of course, no one escapes Mr. Death and the final confrontation is uplifting or “down”-lifting depending on how you look at it.

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Film Everything gets Easier with Practice

by Dustin Downing and Chris Gore

June 18, 2009 - 1:08 pm

It’s easy to take it easy when your film just wins the CineVegas Film Festival Grand Jury Prize. Well, maybe not that easy when the film is called Easier with Practice and the plot involves a phone sex relationship gone awry. (See Easier with Practice review by Chris Gore and movie trailer.)

Relaxing in the swanky surroundings of the Palms Hotel filmmaker courtesy lounge, I found director Kyle Patrick Alvarez and his cast. Lead actors Brian Geraghty, who plays a likable and aspiring novelist in the film and Kel O’Neill who plays his a-hole brother, are getting along fabulously. All the tensions that existed between the two characters in the film are gone as the cast and director clearly became buds. Or perhaps it’s a testament to their acting and the performance in front of me in the lounge is all an act and they do really hate each other. Either way, the award-winning trio’s journey to household names begins with this revealing interview. Yes, phone sex and other types of sex will be discussed.

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Film Beautiful Darling

by Chris Gore and Dustin Downing

June 17, 2009 - 4:25 pm

“…Candy was born James Slattery, but you wouldn’t know it from her pictures.”

Andy Warhol’s circus of characters from the 1960s have provided an endless supply of stories filling magazines, books and films. One of the most notable figures from the period, Candy Darling, is now the subject of Beautiful Darling, a work-in-progress documentary screened at the CineVegas Film Festival.

Candy’s story is one of triumph and tragedy, which makes it the perfect subject for a doc by first-time feature director James Rasin. Candy was born James Slattery, but you wouldn’t know it from her pictures. Candy was a stunning blonde bombshell on the level of a Marilyn Monroe or a Kim Novak — a movie star. She or, uh, he inspired not only Warhol, who cast her in several of his art movies, but also playwright Tennessee Williams who penned a stageplay especially for her. Candy lived her dreams of becoming a star, but as soon as she reached this height, she fell just as fast. Her sad tale to be loved for who she was is told through present day interviews, archival footage and Candy’s own words from her journals.

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Film Vegas: Based on a True Story

by Barbie Brady

June 16, 2009 - 10:19 am

Stability should never be under-rated. Having the basics in life like a place to call home, regular meals, a job, a family, love, commitment, a lawn. These are all things the average person might take for granted. Perhaps if you lose one or two of these things, life gets a little harder, but what would happen if they all disappeared one by one? Vegas: Based on a True Story, a film by director Amir Naderi, tells a compelling story about a vegas family of 3 struggling to stay out of the casinos and maintain the precarious balance of their lives.

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Film All In: The Poker Movie

by Chris Gore and Dustin Downing

June 16, 2009 - 10:15 am

“…while there may be little royal blood in the players, they are treated like royalty.”

Card games have been played for centuries. In fact, as far back as the 14th century, but way back then the players were royalty — real kings and queens. Now the game of poker can be played by everyone and anyone and while there may be little royal blood in the players, today they are treated like royalty.

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Film Easier with Practice

by Chris Gore

June 15, 2009 - 6:32 pm

Davy Mitchell is on a dull road trip with his brother to promote stories from his unpublished book. Davy the writer is the intellectual who wears his heart on his sleeve. His younger brother Sean is just along for the easy girls that Davy doesn’t have the guts to bang, much less approach. When Davy receives a random phone call from a sexy-sounding woman named Nicole, the conversation quickly devolves into nasty phone sex. Both Davy and the voice on the other end finish their virgin phone call… and it’s really hot. This scene is intense (seen in one long shot does not cut) as Davy and Nicole discuss what goes where and how and what they’re touching and how that after awhile you’ll feel dirty just for listening in. Nicole continues to call Davy, at sometimes awkward times, but no matter how intimate their conversations get, she keeps her identity a secret.

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Film Moon

by Chris Gore and Dustin Downing

June 14, 2009 - 7:42 pm

“…What would it be like to meet… yourself?”

In a not-too-distant future, we meet lonely moon miner Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell). Sam is nearing the end of his three-year mission on the moon mining valuable Helium 3 that provides most of the earth’s power. And he is going a little nuts all by himself on this space station biding his time by fixing broken down machinery, talking to his plants and building a replica model of his hometown.

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