06.13.09 · 12:41 PM
To stay or not to stay?
It’s no news flash that post-screening Q&A panels can be hit-and-miss. For every taciturn “artiste” (we’re glaring at you, Redland’s Asiel Norton), there’s a colorful, 13-member posse in varying degrees of formality ranging from director, producer and stars down to the woman who spoke but a single line when she brought her turtle into the vet’s office (Etienne!). Following Friday’s 11 p.m. showing of winning documentary Winnebago Man, director Ben Steinbauer was lobbed a few softballs before being asked what ... Read more...
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Reddit06.13.09 · 4:27 PM
The art of self-promotion
At last night’s premiere of Easier With Practice, everyone received one of these promotional socks, a playful little lark tying in to one of the movie’s central activities (draw your own conclusions). It was a cute gesture, but didn’t exactly make me fall in love with the movie, an amusing trifle that loses a bit of momentum during long uncinematic scenes of the main character talking on the phone. Tangible items like socks (printed up with the movie title and ... Read more...
06.13.09 · 4:07 PM
Darker than “Darkness”
It’s virtually impossible not to think of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness while watching Sea of Darkness, a CineVegas documentary that chronicles the lives and demise of members of the 1970s’ elite surfer community. There are good times, of course -– a paradisiacal surf camp in G-Land, a remote region of Java, hash-smoking days on California beaches -– but the story is dark in the extreme, unraveling into an almost unbelievable tangle of drug smuggling, kidnapping, betrayal and addiction as ... Read more...
06.13.09 · 12:48 PM
Coming up shorts
Short films are often the neglected stepchildren of film festivals, but they can be an untapped gold mine of interesting, challenging filmmaking, and I always make an effort to catch the shorts programs at CineVegas to see what so many others are missing. This year, I was a little disappointed with the offerings, which included some decent efforts but nothing that really grabbed my attention. The festival has two regular shorts programs this year, along with a Nevada showcase, plus ... Read more...
06.13.09 · 10:51 AM
Off the Strip and into the strip club
“I’m sick of customers asking me for drugs!” whined a tan, blonde stripper in a grating, high-pitched voice to a fellow dancer. “I’m from California; in California, everybody is happy like me!” “Honey, when you’re in a profession like this and you’re happy all the time, people are going to ask you for drugs,” her coworker replied in a soothing and sane tone. “Topless on all three stages, gentlemen!” boomed the emcee. With fog swirling around their breasts and thighs, ... Read more...
06.12.09 · 2:21 PM
I don’t know Jack (Nicholson)
“There’s Jack Nicholson!” noted my sidekick photographer, Allison Duck, as CineVegas’ Jackpot Premieres party was in full swing at Lavo Nightclub last night. With his trademark shades and mischievous grin, a blonde by his side, he still resembled psychopathic killer Jack Torrance, although his hair was concrete gray and a Santa Claus stomach pushed against his shirt. “We just arrived,” he told me as I imagined him jetting in from Hollywood, maybe on a private plane, and shacking up in ... Read more...
06.11.09 · 11:11 AM
“Hey, I remember you…” Festival flashbacks on CineVegas opening night
The first night of CineVegas is like a high school reunion: There are familiar faces and not so familiar ones, a lot of introductions and re-introductions and many rounds of catch up small talk as people jostle for position at the bar, getting friendlier with each glass of Stella Artois. Oh yea, there’s a movie, too. The 11th annual CineVegas Film Festival kicked off Wednesday night at Planet Hollywood with the world premier of Hue Rhodes’ debut film Saint John ... Read more...
06.22.08 · 2:05 PM
The key to a good interview? Knowing your subject.
As tabloids are so fond of proving, there’s an all-too-human side to everyone living in the spotlight. Yet most actors overwhelmingly prefer to talk about their “craft” in serious interview situations, forgetting that audiences may care far more about connecting with some semblance of humanity captured on the screen than about how working with so-and-so was, like, really cool and fun to do. Saturday’s conversation with Marquee Award winner and Choke star Anjelica Houston was an inspired balance of both, ... Read more...
06.22.08 · 7:23 PM
We’re tired, but it’s a good tired
There is a feeling shared among high-level tennis players that the fifth set of a best-of-five match has nothing to do with tennis. It has everything to do with endurance. The same can be said of the last day of covering the sprawling CineVegas Film Festival. CineVegas is the quintessential symbiotic relationship among organizers, participants and media – we call work feverishly to keep each other busy with daylong screenings, red carpet events and onstage Q&A sessions; and nightlong parties. ... Read more...
06.21.08 · 12:24 AM
Anatomy of an indie: Momma’s Man
It’s hard to make an independent film. With limited resources, indie filmmakers often have to resort to using only a handful of locations (or just one), which can make a film seem static. Actors are frequently unpaid, or paid less-than-union wages, and in terms of quality performances, you often get exactly what you paid for. And your deeply “personal” story isn’t going to get any studio “interference” (i.e., outside input and guidance), so if you’re not careful, you may only ... Read more...
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Saturday
2013-05-25
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2013-05-25
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Tuesday
2013-05-28
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2013-05-29
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2013-05-29
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2013-05-31
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Featured Cocktail
May 15, 2013
by
Sabrina Chapman
The Golden Pillar: An architectural cocktail built for XS
This Sunday, XS nightclub celebrates the grand reopening of its after-dark pool party, Night Swim. Along with the bash comes a new offering of signature cocktails served by the pitcher, ...
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