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CINEVEGAS, PART 2

So far, my favorite film is director Ben Rodkin’s BIG HEART CITY, about an indolent gambling addict, played by Shawn Andrews, who attempts to pick up the pieces after the unexplained disappearance of his pregnant girlfriend. Andrews’ co-star is veteran character actor Seymour Cassel. BIG HEART CITY had its World Premiere at CineVegas.

Shawn Andrews is CineVegas’s breakout star. This is a terrific actor who is given a fully realized, complex role. He’s riveting. No wonder Andrews campaigned hard to get this part.

Among the films I saw was GO GO TALES and THE LAST MISTRESS. Abel Ferrera’s GO GO TALES centers on a Manhattan go-go dancing club, where a financial struggle between the owner, his accountant and his silent partner brother (who carries a Paris Hilton pet) threatens the business’s future. It stars Wilem Defoe, Asia Argento (briefly) and Bob Hoskins. The dialogue consists of this: “I want my money!”

Ferrera has never been to a New York strip club! Defoe, as the owner of said go-go club, introduces the girls and then sings a sad love song. And Defoe cannot carry a tune! One night a week is stripper amateur night. I only thought they did this on cruises when the staff performs on the last night of the trip. (Photo from our Yangtze River cruise with staff and guests doing the Macarena.) Ferrera, for reasons only his therapist knows, is intentionally punishing moviegoers. How long will we hold onto the promise of another terrific film from Ferrera? His last great film, BAD LIEUTENANT, was made in 1992!

Catherine Breillat is not a director to take lightly. Breillat is a Paris-based filmmaker and writer who became famous for her distinctively personal films on sexuality and sibling rivalry. Breillat explores in an innovative way the perceptions imposed on female sexuality.

THE LAST MISTRESS is Breillat’s most accessible film. It’s beautiful to look at, has sensual Asia Argento, and the astonishingly beautiful Fu’ad Ait Aattou as her lover. I loved Breillat’s ROMANCE and FAT SISTER. THE LAST MISTRESS should not be missed and Aattou will be the next Jean-Paul Belmondo. He is not only sensually beautiful, but he can act. On Wednesday, CineVegas nighttime party was held at The Beatles Revolution Lounge at the Mirage.

The highlight on Thursday for me was director Francisco Menendez’s PRIMO about three cousins separated as young boys during the civil war in El Salvador, who journey to Las Vegas due to their grandfather’s failing health. Menendez enjoys a respected and admired reputation in Las Vegas. He actively engages and supports his students. He joined the faculty of UNLV in 1990 and has served as the chair of the Department of Film since 2000. At UNLV, he created their production and screenwriting sequences, designed their non-linear lab facilities and began their Professional Film Crew Training Program. His areas of research are narrative theory, new technologies and the restoration of Central American films. Menendez’s stars, Matt Ferrucci and James Oliviero, attended the screening.

CineVegas organized a special screening of THEM at Fremont Street Drive-In.

Friday was the biggest day for me at CineVegas with A Conversation with Don Cheadle and then the sold-out screening of CHOKE. I would have loved to talk to Cheadle about Rwanda. (My official comment after my trip to Rwanda: “Don’t go to Rwanda.” They definitely do not like white people there. Even our Kenyan guides wouldn’t venture outside of our gated encampment – but I did.) Photo of camp life in Rwanda.

CHOKE was the ticket to have. Scheduling a Conversation with Cheadle at 4PM, a Conversation with Viggo Mortensen at 6PM, and CHOKE at 6:30PM made it impossible for me to see the great Viggo! Did the interviewer bring up his bold nude fight scene in EASTERN PROMISES? What about his great performance in A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE? Viggo is rumored to be playing Edgar Allen Poe in writer-director Sylvester Stallone’s POE.

CHOKE’S director Clark Gregg said another version of the film was shown at Sundance but this, the final version, was just finished three weeks ago.

And then there was the 9:30 PM screening of THE WACKNESS. This film has generated a great deal of buzz since Sir Ben Kingsley plays a pot smoking psychiatrist who trades therapy for weed (and the 63-year-old Kingsley shares a passionate kiss with 21-year-old scary twin Mary-Kate Olsen).

The Honoree Awards Ceremony and Reception followed at Planet Hollywood Pool.

CineVegas ended on Saturday, June 21 with more movies, more conversations, and a closing night screening of THE LATE BUCK HOWARD starring John Malkovich, Colin Hanks, and Emily Blunt.

Colin Hanks plays a L.A. law school dropout who, searching for a job, comes across a personal assistant position advertised in the local paper. He meets the Great Buck Howard (John Malkovich), a waning mentalist. Although skeptical of Buck, he goes on the road with him, playing for half-empty houses in small towns across the country. Supposedly, this film was inspired by our friend The Amazing Kreskin.

The last time I saw Kreskin was in 2002, he was bringing down UFOs in Las Vegas through the magic of mass hallucinations. He was waving a handkerchief. A fun night was had by all but Kreskin was banned for life from appearing on Art Bell’s Coast to Coast radio show for putting on such a stunt.

The triumphant 10th CineVegas Film Festival ended with the Closing Night Party at The Palazzo Pool.

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