The 1-Minute Critic |
Silverado Steakhouse, South Coast Casino
Salt seems to be the signature dish at the new casino's new steak house, if opening night is anything to go by. Too much salt in the lobster bisque. Too much salt on the lamb chops. Too much salt on the undercooked steak and overcooked lobster tail. But at least the Caesar salad was fine, though it was the first time I've had it with a vinaigrette dressing. Reservations: 796-7111
Off the Road Again |
With the Strip being shut down to traffic for New Year's Eve, many RTC routes including CAT, will be changed, with the detours going into effect at various times because of street closures. The double-decker Deuce will stop running from 4:30 p.m. on December 31 until 3 a.m. January 1. And, as usual, the RTC is offering free bus rides beginning at 6 p.m. December 31 and continuing through to 6 p.m. January 1. We're all for not drinking and driving, but with free trips until 6 p.m., we can't think of a better time to pay a hung-over visit to Aunt Martha's in Sunrise Manor. Info: 228-RIDE (7433).
End of an Era |
At the end of the day December 30, the Stratosphere's High Roller will be taken apart piece by piece and sent to wherever old roller coasters go to die. (We think it's Cleveland, but that's beside the point.) Left behind will be three thrill rides: the Big Shot, X Scream and Insanity. But what, if anything, will replace the High Roller? Here are some suggestions:
The Manic-Depressive: A bungee jump from the roof, sending patrons bouncing from low lows to high highs.
Blazing Shoulders: A rock climb from the tower's base up 1,149 feet. Those who succeed in making it to the top are rewarded with a souvenir mug.
Toboggan of Death: Given a reinforced sled, thrill-seekers try to make it down the Stratosphere's more than 100-floor emergency stairwell without shattering a femur.
DVDs |
The Great Raid (R) (3 stars)
$39.99
The Miramax brain trust must have had a good reason for letting The Great Raid sit on a shelf for three years. John Dahl's no-frills and patiently measured production recalls the joint American-Filipino mission to rescue 511 POWs from the Cabanatuan POW camp in the final days of WWII. A second disc is loaded with historical background material, including interviews with veterans and chroniclers of the campaign.
2046 (R) (5 stars)
$29.95
Writer-director Wong Kar-wai has been careful not to call this a sequel to his subversively erotic In the Mood for Love, even though it briefly reunites both its protagonists and the actors who played them. Instead, 2046 was designed specifically to echo the residual frustrations and regrets of a tragically unrequited love affair in a crowded Hong Kong boarding house. Wong's cameras nimbly transport viewers from the cramped hallways outside Room 2046, circa 1962, past the sexual reawakening of the timid writer as a mustachioed rake, and into a visually sumptuous future. Even though the sex is less explicit than that in most PG-13 titles, the heat generated could light Las Vegas for a week.
American Pie Presents: Band Camp (R) (1 star)
$26.98
To describe this straight-to-video extension of Universal's American Pie franchise as sophomoric is to give too little credit to the intellectual prowess of the average high-schooler. Only a Hollywood screenwriter could produce something this stupid, degrading and cynical. Here, Stifler's younger brother, Matt, is exiled to a summer retreat for geek musicians, where he conspires to produce a Band Girls Gone Wild video. To this end, several more than the usual number of chesty young women are required to disrobe, shake their boobies and talk dirty. The only things worth watching are the brief appearances by Eugene Levy and porn legend Ginger Lynn Allen, but their best scenes have been relegated to the outtake reel.