Las Vegas Weekly

Story archive for June 2008

Lust in a time of recession

Richard Abowitz | Mon, Jun 30, 2008 (11:51 a.m.)

Given a choice between sex and drugs, which vice do you think people will be quicker to drop in a recession? Apparently, people cut the discretionary sex first. I met Ms. J. at the Elephant Bar in the District. I’ve learned in the past that when interviewing a hooker, ask for a table away from any children. So, we found an isolated corner for the three of us to talk: Ms. J., her unemployed boyfriend and I. I was lucky to get an interview with Ms. J. at all. When work is busy, she simply doesn’t have time to talk. And, usually it is or, at least, it was before the recession hit. “Let’s just say I did not get a lot of birthday presents this year,” Ms. J. who recently turned 31 joked. “Last year clients sent all sorts of things. I registered a modest list on Amazon, and ...

A long-distance-past dedication: Wayner with “Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast”

John Katsilometes | Sun, Jun 29, 2008 (10:01 p.m.)

A week ago it was Monti Rock III with his Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes dance hit “I Wanna Dance Wit’choo,” which hit No. 23 on June 14, 1975. And just now, as I again had the classic American Top 40 show dialed in on KKLZ 96.3-FM, another Vegas-esque voice soared across the airways: that of Wayne Newton. This week’s show was first taped on June 24, 1972, and Newton’s “Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast,” was No. 15 that week. At No. 16 was Todd Rundgren’s “I Saw the Light” and at No. 14 was – wait, another kind-of Vegas artist! – Elton John with “Rocket Man.” Rock on, as it were.

Fleshing out the photogenic Presley-Riviera connection

John Katsilometes | Sun, Jun 29, 2008 (3:42 p.m.)

The photos and accompanying video tell the story of the “who” – Liberace and Elvis Presley, cavorting and mugging in each other’s attire (or at least jackets), even switching out their chosen instruments. The shots are part of the lore for each entertainer, who might have been more alike than different, given their gift of showmanship. But the “where” in those photos is often lost – the Riviera, which is where the King, who never sang a single note onstage at the hotel, will be honored Sept. 26 by the Las Vegas Walk of Stars. The Riviera, along with the Tropicana, is one of the few vintage Vegas-styled hotel-casinos still standing on the Strip and is also home to Sammy Davis Jr.’s star – another entertainer who never performed there. A more businesslike Elvis-Riv connection is Robert F.X. Sillerman, chairman and chief executive officer of FX Real Estate and Entertainment ...

Bunny hunting with the #1 rabbit

Allison Duck | Sat, Jun 28, 2008 (1:45 p.m.)

When it comes to hunting bunnies, who better to lead hounds than The Girls Next Door reality star and Playboy playmate, Holly Madison. Hef’s #1 girl visited Ditch Fridays at the Palms pool this Friday to help select the next bunny to work the Playboy Club at the Palms Fantasy tower. General manager of the Playboy Club Rico Romano explained the selection process, which involves multiple interviews spread out over the weekend. With Madison’s help, the bikini-clad hopefuls were whittled down to seven worthy girls who have several rounds of interviews in their future before receiving their Roberto Cavalli-designed bunny suit. Madison took a break from the party to talk to the Weekly and discuss her role in the big bunny hunt. Las Vegas Weekly: In The Girls Next Door, you seem to be the voice of reason at times. Do you sometimes feel like the other girls look up ...

With a twist, Dubai project turning heads

Sarah Feldberg | Fri, Jun 27, 2008 (1:49 p.m.)

It’s been called the “Las Vegas of the Middle East,” but this week Dubai has stolen the spotlight after Italian architect David Fisher made an announcement in New York on Tuesday about his new project in the Persian Gulf. Fisher is going to build the world’s first moving skyscraper. It won’t walk or talk, but the 80-story building, which is planned to house office space, a luxury hotel and apartments, will twist and rotate, with different floors moving independently of one another to create countless shapes and silhouettes. Sound a little like science fiction? The rotating tower, as it’s been dubbed, is slated for completion in 2010, and Fisher isn’t too concerned about the skeptics. “You can build anything,” he told the crowd gathered in New York. UNLV associate professor of architecture and director of the Downtown Design Center Robert Dorgan isn’t so sure. “The history of architecture is full ...

Knopfler deals Straits, but solo stuff more impressive

Spencer Patterson | Fri, Jun 27, 2008 (1:31 p.m.)

So this is what Mark Knopfler has been up to the past 13 years … I’ll admit, I haven’t kept up with Mark Knopfler’s musical output post-Dire Straits. (Who has, really?) So it was with some trepidation that I arrived at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel on Thursday night, knowing that his set list would likely be heavy on solo material and light on stuff I’d actually heard before. I emerged some two hours later feeling as if I’d discovered a great new artist. Though Knopfler played five Dire Straits tunes -- “Romeo and Juliet,” “Sultans of Swing,” “Telegraph Road,” “Brothers in Arms” and “So Far Away” -- it was the rest of the show that left the most lasting impression. Songs like “Sailing to Philadelphia,” “Marbletown,” “Speedway at Nazareth” and especially “Hill Farmer’s Blues” were revelations, welcome new vehicles (at least to me) for the 58-year-old’s instantly ...

United we stand?

Dave Berns | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

The young couple stands in their Summerlin driveway, an impromptu yard sale illustrating their plight. They need cash. Their house, once the symbol of a personal dream, is now a burden.

Don’t blurb me, bro

John Katsilometes | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

This is an excerpt from the radio show Our Metropolis, a half-hour issues and affairs program that airs Tuesdays at 6 p.m. on KUNV 91.5-FM and is hosted by the Greenspun Media Group’s John Katsilometes. Tune in next week to hear the rest of this interview with Las Vegas Weekly contributing editor and film critic Josh Bell:

Femmes fatales

Aaron Thompson | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

Vocalists Deneva Viera and Malley Rosen are a study in contrasts … sort of. Viera is a short Latina who looks like a gust of wind could knock her down, while Rosen is a tall white girl who could probably tear off your head if she so pleased.

The Children of Huang Shi

Ken Miller | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

I can just hear the pitch to the producer: “It’s Schindler’s List meets The Sound of Music.” And, more or less, that’s exactly how Spottiswoode’s The Children of Huang Shi plays out.

Wine man walking

Matthew Scott Hunter | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

When wine connoisseurs think of great places for their beverage of choice in the western United States, several locales come to mind. There’s the Santa Ynez Valley in central California. There’s Napa Valley in northern California. There’s Green Valley in … Henderson, Nevada?

Peggy Plots Your Planets

Peggy Allison | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

What do the planets hold in store for you this week?

George Michael

Ken Miller | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

No one in the nearly sold-out crowd seemed to mind that George Michael was 40 minutes late taking the stage Saturday night at MGM’s Grand Garden Arena, and that seemed appropriate. It’s taken him 17 years to return to our country; really, what’s another hour, give or take?

An e-mail chat with Donovan

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

Not many people have traveled with The Beatles, written songs with them or searched for the meaning of life, death and all the rest with the famous band. But Donovan has. In anticipation of his upcoming show at the Las Vegas Fest for Beatles Fans, the Scottish musician exchanged e-mails with the Weekly and shared a bit about the '60s, India and teaching John finger-style guitar.

Dream Zone

Lauri Quinn Lowenberg | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

Lauri translates what your dreams are trying to tell you.

No Escape

Aaron Thompson | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

It’s been kind of crazy for Escape the Fate co-founder and former vocalist Max Green lately. The 24-year-old bassist has only been back in town for a couple of days and he’s already been swept up by the storm that is Ronnie Radke, his onetime best friend. But the storm isn’t something new to Green; he’s been dealing with it since he and Radke were involved in a May 2006 fight that left one dead. Since then, legal issues, drug abuse and fights with the other members of the group forced Green to kick his best friend out of the group in January.

Do not want

Josh Bell | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

Based very loosely on the comic-book series by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones, Wanted transforms a dark, cynical and even nihilistic story into a morally equivocating piece of action trash, directed as is his custom with maximum distracting flashiness and minimum narrative coherence by Russian wunderkind Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch, Day Watch). Sure, some of it looks cool—there is one heck of a nutso car chase toward the beginning—but it’s so empty and condescending and superficial that it almost makes the repellent, smug source material seem decent by comparison.

A purr-fect night for music at the KGPA

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

“Watch out for the black cat. It scratched me,” Julie Rose warns as I arrive at the host site for a four-act local bill on Sunday.

Nature’s thin screen

Susanne Forestieri | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

Artists often have obsessions, and the ability to make their obsessions ours, if only for the moment, is a measure of their success.

Stripped of their gear

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

Since forming in late 2006 with the expressed goal of injecting a heavy dose of classic rock, ’80s hair metal and Sunset Strip glam-punk into the local music scene, The Stript has toured the country, recorded in the Palms Studio and released a self-titled EP.

The Help Desk

Las Vegas Weekly Staff | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

Terry Lanni resigns from Gaming Association to devote more time to what’s important:: Returning to the top spot on the “wealthiest Las Vegas executives” list.
Some Nevada brothels report 45 percent decline in revenues.: Sex lives of married couples improving statewide.
Mayor Goodman to recognize Friday as National HIV Testing Day.: Though thanks to Dipak Desai, most Las Vegans have already gotten tested.

On deck at the pool at Palms Place

Team Hangover | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

“Picture a backyard pool party with all your friends.” That’s how Jon Gray—assistant to Palms president George Maloof—sees his new Tuesday-evening pool party panning out.

Double up on stand-up

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

The Beauty Bar is certainly known for its live music and DJ sets, but thus far it has yet to fully embrace the potential of live humor.

Hercules and Love Affair

Kristyn Pomranz | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

Contrary to the mounting buzz, Hercules and Love Affair is not reinventing anything. Sure, the advancement of technology affords bleeps and blips that Jamie Principle couldn’t have imagined, but this self-titled debut is straight-up authentic disco. Hercules and Love Affair is imbuing such classicism with the affectations of the aughts.

Kan can cook

Max Jacobson | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

You don’t come to Kan’s Kitchen for a romantic date. This is one of those “turn up the lights and eat” establishments where Cantonese can be heard across the room, but almost every single dish I tried here was delicious.

Basketball vs. Barack

Damon Hodge | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

The latest misnomered iteration of the U.S. basketball Dream Team begins practice this weekend in Las Vegas, in preparation for (hopefully) winning gold at the upcoming Beijing Olympics and restoring American hoops supremacy. In case you’re keeping score, NBA-ers haven’t won a gold medal since 2000 and haven’t inspired global dunk-on-your-head, shoot-a-three-in-your-eye fear since 1992’s Bird-Magic-Jordan squad.

The Offspring

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

What a difference a couple of years makes. But since we’re talking about the SoCal stalwarts who inspired a million modern punkers with 1994’s Smash, this particular difference isn’t measured in terms of lyrical maturity or technical proficiency.

The head trip that is “Mystere”

Ken Miller | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

As the large baby begins to totter on the brink of falling, as a snail the size of a Mack truck unfolds on the stage, as two muscle-bound dudes swirl around one another, it begins to dawn on you: So this is what taking drugs is like.

Remembering George Carlin

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

There’s a pall hanging over a few segments of the population this week—the comedy geeks, those that came of age in the late ’60s and early ’70s and the all-around truth-seekers.

Boston … post-Delp?!?

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

Brad Delp, the voice behind classic-rock staples “More Than a Feeling,” “Peace of Mind” and “Long Time,” committed suicide last year. Which leads to the obvious question … who the heck will be fronting Boston when the band rolls into town for its Saturday-night concert?

Coldplay

Annie Zaleski | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

It’s almost too easy to compare Coldplay’s fourth album, Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, to U2’s fourth album, The Unforgettable Fire. Chris Martin et al’s self-professed U2 worship aside, both discs feature the unmistakable atmospheric touch of ambient genius Brian Eno.

6th Street Sazerac

Xania Woodman | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

As true to 19th-century Creole apothecary Antoine Amédée Peychaud’s original as he can come, Sproule employs the new Cask No. 16 (aged in French Oak that previously housed Cognac) and his favorite absinthe.

Bonnie “Prince” Billy

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

Will Oldham’s catalog is so vast, it takes 15 seconds to scroll through his online discography. It’s amazing, then, that every one of his albums—from his days leading Palace to his current period as Bonnie “Prince” Billy—maintains a unique musical identity so as to remain individually memorable.

Effortless wit and verve

Mike D'Angelo | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

The first thing you notice is the haze. Animated films—and especially the now-ubiquitous computer-animated variety—tend to be uniformly bright and shiny. Colors pop; surfaces gleam. But with WALL-E, the wizards at Pixar have set themselves a truly remarkable challenge: They want to prove that they can even dazzle us with crud.

Mongol

Mike D'Angelo | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

Before sitting down to watch Mongol, a Russian effort—reportedly the first of three parts—chronicling the life of Genghis Khan, I skimmed through the dude’s Wikipedia entry in order to refamiliarize myself with his world-conquering bio. The movie itself, as it turns out, plays like that summary writ extremely large (and super-bloody).

How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer

Josh Bell | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

Showcased at Sundance back in 2005, How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer finally makes its way to theaters thank no doubt to the increased profile of star America Ferrera, better known these days for her role on Ugly Betty. Whatever the reason, it’s a welcome arrival and a nice alternative to what we typically consider summer entertainment at the movies. Writer-director Reidel’s film may be slight and it may be flawed, but it’s also a lovingly crafted portrait of a kind of life not often seen on the big screen.

Audigier est arrive

Deanna Rilling | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

As any sophisticated nightlife aficionado knows, appearances are everything, and mispronouncing the name of Vegas’ new club may garner snide glances from selective door hosts and socialites. Take heed.

Motley Crue

Josh Bell | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

Motley Crue’s first album in eight years (and first with their original lineup since 1997’s Generation Swine) is a conscious (self-conscious, even) effort to return to their ’80s glory days, both in sound and in lyrical references.

Retreat Redux

Xania Woodman | Thu, Jun 26, 2008 (midnight)

Red Rock Retreat (now on its second summer season at Red Rock Resort) pulls me out of the grueling nightlife routine of seemingly endless pool parties, drinking and debauchery and instead gives me a new itinerary of … pool parties, drinking and debauchery.

A strange night in the sand with Gnarls Barkley

Spencer Patterson | Wed, Jun 25, 2008 (3:49 p.m.)

Reflections from Gnarls Barkley’s June 21 show at Mandalay Bay Beach ... 1. Six thousand miles. That’s roughly the distance — as the crow files — from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Las Vegas. Long way to come to play one song, don’t cha think? Yet that’s apparently what Brazilian Seu Jorge did Saturday night, when he took the stage during Thievery Corporation’s set, sang a tune and disappeared. And it’s not like he was some unannounced guest, either; he’s a billed performer on the Gnarls/Thievery “Outernational Tour.” The fact that Jorge’s lone cut was, by far, the best number we heard all night made his vanishing act all the more disheartening. 2. While we’re at it, why did Manhattan-based bossa nova vocalist Bebel Gilberto bother to make the trip? We arrived inside the venue a few minutes before 8 p.m. (the line to get in was still snaked outside), ...

Toga party at Blush

Sarah Feldberg | Tue, Jun 24, 2008 (7:48 p.m.)

Toga! Toga! Just cause you no longer live on campus doesn’t mean you can’t break out your 500 thread count sheets and fashion yourself one delightfully comfortable toga. Tonight Blush at the Wynn is hosting its first annual toga party. And while the high rollers that like to camp out at the casino might not agree, we think this is a really good idea, especially now that gladiator sandals are in style. Who’s bringing the beer bong? The Blush toga party starts at 10 p.m. and goes late.

Vanishing

This is a test

Complaints and consequences

Richard Abowitz | Tue, Jun 24, 2008 (5:01 p.m.)

Last night I introduced my best friend to the woman I am dating. It seemed the right time as I had met Aurora’s father the day before. While I was nervous meeting her dad, I was hysterical having her meet Caroline. I knew I would be on my best behavior with her father, but when it comes to Caroline and Aurora, one of the things I like about both of them is that I can never entirely predict how either will react. Aurora and Caroline weren’t complete strangers: They had been on a DVD cover together, but never met in person. It seemed to me the best way for all of us to meet would be a very Vegas night out. Get a hotel room on the Strip, order dinner from room service and then as a trio wander about bonding. In short: a staycation. One of the great things ...

Like the art itself, b-boys are growing up

Sarah Feldberg | Tue, Jun 24, 2008 (4:15 p.m.)

With his skull encased in a bright blue helmet, Steve Corral places the top of his head firmly onto the wooden floor. His arms braced against the floor, he kicks into rapid head spin, twisting around and around like an upside-down figure skater. “Everybody’s tried to spin on their head one time in their life,” laughs b-boy Ricky Barazza. Only Barazza, Corral and the rest of Las Vegas b-boy crew Knucklehead Zoo didn’t stop after their first bruised foreheads. Most of crew’s dancers have been b-boying for about 10 years, and now, in their mid- to late-20s, they’re trying to make breakdancing their full-time job. An urban street dance developed in 1970s New York, b-boying caught on in the ’80s, becoming overwhelmingly popular and, in the process, depressingly watered-down. But if you think breakdancing is about doing the Robot on the nightclub dance floor, you haven’t met modern b-boys. They ...

Gosh, we’d be major league — if we only had a team

John Katsilometes | Mon, Jun 23, 2008 (4:38 p.m.)

On Sunday, Las Vegas Sun reporters Ron Kantowski and Joe Schoenmann navigated a freewheeling round-table discussion centering on (or revolving around, in this case) the prospects of a major-league sports franchise moving to Las Vegas. Not surprisingly, the consensus was that Vegas needs a new building first, and a team will follow. The assembled experts were Thomas & Mack Center Director Daren Libonati, former Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo, Las Vegas Events President Pat Christensen, and Las Vegas 51s President and General Manager Don Logan. The outsider, Colangelo, had this to say: “The fact remains, if you don’t have a major league team, you’re not a major league city.” He also said, “(Las Vegas) is a unique market, and you could build a facility and fill it up with all kinds of wonderful events, it you won’t be a major league city. The bottom line is you’ll ...

Monti Rock III treated to rare airtime on KKLZ

John Katsilometes | Sun, Jun 22, 2008 (9:44 p.m.)

While driving home tonight I heard something on the radio that nearly caused me to veer off the side of the road and no it wasn’t a commentary by Michael Savage. It was a disco classic by Monti Rock III. You might know of Monti, or not, but he is one of the city’s foremost bon vivants and quasi-celebrities. But before that, he was one of the country’s foremost hair stylists/talk-show guests and quasi-celebrities. More than 30 years ago he recorded a couple of hit singles, including “I Wanna Dance Wit’choo,” with a since-disassembled act called Disco Tex and Sex-O-Lettes. In a numbingly bizarre and random coincidence, about 30 minutes ago I caught the intro to this song by Casey Kasem on a replay of American Top 40 on KKLZ 96.3-FM. The station replays old AT 40s each Sunday night, and Rock’s hit appeared at No. 23 on June 14, ...

Goliath

Matthew Scott Hunter | Sun, Jun 22, 2008 (8:17 p.m.)

The nameless hero of Goliath is having a bad week. He’s getting divorced, a convicted sex offender just moved into his neighborhood, his job has reassigned him to a department where his co-workers call him “bitch tits,” and his cat (the film’s namesake) has run away. This is a man on the verge of a breakdown, but he’s not quite there yet.

The Wackness

Josh Bell | Sun, Jun 22, 2008 (8:10 p.m.)

Set for no apparent reason in 1994, Jonathan Levine’s The Wackness at first comes off like a calculated exercise in nostalgia, full of forced period details (Nintendo Game Boys, Reebok Pumps, references to 90210) that add nothing to the story and serve only to remind viewers who were teens in 1994 that, hey, you used to think this stuff was cool.

We’re tired, but it’s a good tired

John Katsilometes | Sun, Jun 22, 2008 (7:23 p.m.)

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. Sunday is the day of sleep, and if anyone who took part in the bulk of CineVegas events and screenings over the past 10 days awoke today before 11 a.m., congratulations. You’re hired. The high marks for me were meeting a few of the filmmakers and CineVegas officials– particularly Lost in the Fog producer and director John Corey, who turned out to be one of my favorite running mates during ...

The key to a good interview? Knowing your subject.

Julie Seabaugh | Sun, Jun 22, 2008 (2:05 p.m.)

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, largely thanks to the questions of 82-year-old Lillian Ross, staff writer for The New Yorker and author of Picture, which chronicled the making of John Huston's The Red Badge of Courage. With red sunglasses and a cane, Ross had to be helped on and off of the stage, but having known Anjelica "since before she was born," she made the hour not only deeply personal but also epic in its ...

All shook up over Elvis

Julie Seabaugh | Sat, Jun 21, 2008 (11:24 p.m.)

After glimpses of (in descending order) Morgan Spurlock, Viggo Mortensen, Anjelica Houston and Rosario Dawson, the next celeb on my personal CineVegas Sighting Excite-o-meter was Elvis Mitchell. And he's not even a real celeb, but the former film critic for the New York Times and idea-and-interview man behind The Black List: Volume One (which I didn't manage to catch). The dude's always exuded knowledgeable cool, especially for a writer of his distinction, with his cascading dreads, effortlessly laid-back suits and rebellious sneakers. The tipping point, however, was this afternoon's conversation with Half-Life Award winner Sam Rockwell, during which Mitchell held court without so much as a single note card. In fact, he upstaged even the disappointingly unchatty Rockwell, who at one point assured the audience that "The studio movies these days don't even pay that much" (not even enough to purchase socks, apparently). I never happened to see Don Cheadle, ...

Getting just weird enough

Julie Seabaugh | Sat, Jun 21, 2008 (10:57 p.m.)

I wasn't around for Hunter S. Thompson's 2003 CineVegas appearance supporting the world premiere of Breakfast With Hunter, but Saturday's sole 2008 showing of Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson offered a certain party atmosphere in its own right. The theater was packed with an audience that leaned forward in anticipation and frequently broke into generous, applauding laughter, but it was the seemingly tipsy woman toward the back who shouted out in delight when the documentary triggered particularly fond memories and the dude sporting a white fishing hat and cigarette holder who solidified the gone-but-not-forgotten vibe.

From sweaty Caan to golden footwear: A red-carpet wrap

John Katsilometes | Sat, Jun 21, 2008 (4:14 p.m.)

Random thoughts (my own) collected from last night’s CineVegas awards ceremony and reception at the Planet Hollywood pool: James Caan said he wasn’t sure just what award he would be accepting, but when reminded it was the festival’s Vegas Icon Award, said, “I like the sound of that. It sounds noble. Icon Caan.” He was sweated through his white suit jacket and complained about the heat, but seemed enlivened about the event. “This is the first time my bag will be heavier when I leave Las Vegas than when I got here,” he joked. More than once, actually … The difference between men and women covering the red carpet: Women were quick to point out Rosario Dawson’s gleaming gold, 3-inch high-heel shoes. I would not have noticed had they not been pointed out. The gaze was higher … To experience the relatively tame Sam Rockwell (at least, the red carpet ...

Rosario Dawson puts on the charm

Josh Bell | Sat, Jun 21, 2008 (3:28 p.m.)

At the Comic-Con in San Diego a few years ago, I went to what was billed as a conversation with filmmaker Kevin Smith, who's known for his epic, free-form chats in which he tells Hollywood stories, takes questions from the audience and riffs on whatever pops into his head. Smith, however, was stuck in traffic and running late, so the task of placating the auditorium full of rabid fanboys fell to Rosario Dawson, who at the time was promoting her involvement in Smith's film Clerks II. Forced into a role she had not anticipated or prepared for, Dawson handled the situation gracefully and smoothly, even when many of the supposed questions from audience members amounted to little more than, "You're hot." Dawson exhibited that same grace and charisma today in her CineVegas conversation with USA Today's Lauren Ashburn, who, while not nearly as awkward as a room full of comic-book ...

Cheadle talks of his (brief) stand-up career and playing Sammy

John Katsilometes | Sat, Jun 21, 2008 (11:23 a.m.)

Don Cheadle sank into the large white couch and turned awkwardly to his left to answer questions from renowned film critic Elvis Mitchell. He looked uncomfortable, probably because he was. “This is really disconcerting,” he said. Mitchell agreed, saying, “Let’s get down here and talk to people.” So they moved to the edge of the stage under the screen at theater No. 5 at Brenden Theaters at the Palms and held their hourlong session looking like two guys handing out on a park bench. Cheadle was invited to this year’s CineVegas Film Festival to receive one of the event’s four Half Life Awards (Rosario Dawson, Viggo Mortensen and Sam Rockwell were also honored) and to promote the August 27 release The Traitor, in which he plays a onetime U.S. Special Operation officer suspected by an FBI agent played by Guy Pearce of heading an international conspiracy plot against the U.S., ...

And they don’t utilize their MySpace page to the fullest, either …

Julie Seabaugh | Sat, Jun 21, 2008 (1:14 a.m.)

Nine days in, and it was only this evening that I first heard (or read, actually) of the 10 "trailers" making up the CineVegas Viral Videos. I had caught a few of the experimental snippets before certain features, but until now had been unaware of exactly what they were or where they came from. Reads the official literature, "For our tenth anniversary we asked alum filmmakers to make online trailers for CineVegas X. From dark, atmospheric motel rooms to boxing, ghosts, neon and old folks, they show our underground moral fiber." Quibble 1: You can't just proclaim a video to be viral. It must earn that distinction by going forth and being forwarded on its own merit. Quibble 2: "In the spirit of the Internet"? For a supposed cutting-edge, forward-thinking operation, that sounds a bit vague and woefully dated. Quibble 3: Out of the 34 posted on the channel, the ...

Anatomy of an indie: Momma’s Man

Matthew Scott Hunter | Sat, Jun 21, 2008 (12:24 a.m.)

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 be “personally” enjoying your movie, while the rest of the audience catches up on some sleep. This is why most low-budget indie films ultimately wind up being little more than big-budget home movies for the filmmaker. Fortunately, despite all the hurdles of indie filmmaking, there are some writer-directors who’ve gotten the art form down to a science. Take Azazel Jacobs, for example. His latest film, Momma’s Man, has all the ...

Momma’s Man

Matthew Scott Hunter | Fri, Jun 20, 2008 (11:52 a.m.)

Mark Twain once said that it’s a pity that the best part of life comes at the beginning and the worst part at the end. In youth, we’re too inexperienced to appreciate the unconditional care offered by a parent and the freedom from responsibility that allows us to simply sit around and waste time.

Faux drive-in better in theory than in practice

Josh Bell | Fri, Jun 20, 2008 (1:02 a.m.)

I admit that when the CineVegas lineup was first announced, as much as I was looking forward to seeing all the exciting and interesting independent films that the programmers had discovered, the thing that most caught my interest was the event Downtown re-creating the old drive-in experience and showing Them!, a 1954 sci-fi movie about giant ants. This to me seemed like the sort of fun, unique thing that CineVegas ought to do more of, something that celebrates cinema in a way that goes beyond just showing new films in regular theaters (which of course is the most important part of the festival already). When I was in 10th grade I actually wrote a history term paper on 1950s sci-fi and its reflection of Cold War paranoia (budding film critic, clearly), and had intended to use Them! as an example but couldn't find it on video (I settled for Attack ...

Further thoughts on shorts

Josh Bell | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (8:22 p.m.)

CineVegas’ second and final shorts program wasn’t as strong as the first, and some of the more arty, experimental entries were particularly bad (I’m still puzzling over and annoyed by Andrew Mausert-Mooney’s Flok). As in the first shorts program, the best efforts were generally the small character studies, most notably Myna Joseph’s Man, a beautiful and touching story about a pair of teenage sisters dealing with emerging sexuality in very different ways. It had a lovely naturalistic look and wonderful performances from Sarah Steele and Addison Timlin as the sisters. Matt Jesperson’s I’m Pretty, Too was a funny and oddly warm take on suicide and friendship, mining laughs from potentially unpleasant material. Andrew Okpeaha MacLean’s Sikumi, a Sundance Institute project, offered a nice twist on a rather familiar hard-boiled crime trope, as an innocent bystander witnesses a murder and gets caught up in its aftermath. The difference being that the ...

The Hulk, now incredible

Josh Bell | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (5:14 p.m.)

CineVegas and The Incredible Hulk battle for Las Vegas' attention. Which will win? We're guessing the guy with the green eyes, though this straight forward action flick leaves a lot to be desired. Listen to Josh Bell every Friday night at 6 p.m. on 107.5 FM's Xtreme Disorder.

CineVegas to-do list #31: See a movie star

Sarah Feldberg | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (4:32 p.m.)

CineVegas to-do list #31: See a movie star With CineVegas 2008 wrapping up this Saturday night, you only have one more chance to complete CineVegas to-do list item #31: See a movie star. For the past week and a half A, B and G-list celebs have invaded our city, working red carpets, sipping free Grey Goose and even catching a film or two. If you missed the Britney sighting at Palms Place, Rainn Wilson giving interviews in ‘80s rocker gear and Dwayne Johnson signing autographs at Planet Hollywood, don’t despair. Tomorrow night is your last and best opportunity to get a peek at this year’s Hollywood invitees. From the Weekly CineVegas 2008 Video: Rockin' the red carpet with Rainn Wilson Video: Dwayne Johnson at the premiere of Get Smart Spears under close observation at Palms Place The man behind Mouse I, Caan The Honorees’ Reception, held Friday, June 20th at ...

A wrap on UNLV (not so) shorts

Allison Duck | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (1:27 p.m.)

48 Hour Film ProjectUNLV Film DepartmentUNLV Spring Flicks For the first time in the history of the UNLV Short Film Showcase, the university’s president, provost and dean were all in attendance. You would think the students would be on their best behavior but this was not the case. The raucous row behind me began their night by throwing popcorn at their friends and proceeded to answer a cell phone during the screening and capped if off by kicking me not once, but twice, in the head as their feet slipped off the headrest of the seat next to me. Luckily these students were the exception to the rule and most of the capacity crowd politely clapped and cheered on their friends presenting their short films at CineVegas. Several of these films had been award winners in the 48 Hour Film Project and the UNLV Spring Flicks. One of the standouts ...

Sapphire after-party tops for CineVegas crowd

Jennifer Grafiada | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (1:04 p.m.)

Fellow Las Vegans should rest content that we treated all out-of-town filmmakers and critics to a good time Tuesday night. Sapphire Gentleman’s Club hosted the after-party for all CineVegas-goers not content with calling it a night after Tao shut its big wooden doors. Groups bedecked in CineVegas press passes headed to Industrial Road in designated-driven carpools, on a quest for carnal delights. After all, when in Vegas, you’ve got to do it like the Vegans, and Vegans do it in the strip club. Everyone appeared to be thoroughly satisfied with the experience, and one man indubitably so: Josh Fox, the director of the well-received Memorial Day. Standing reticently at the bar, drink in hand, he emotionally remarked: “I can’t believe it. I’ve spent the last two years slaving away in a warehouse, not knowing what would come of it, and now I’m here!” He surveyed the blue-lit room, the poles, ...

Stand doc a force on the big screen

John Katsilometes | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (12:43 p.m.)

I finally caught the Hank Greenspun documentary Where I Stand on the big screen Wednesday afternoon at Brenden Theaters. The only time I’d seen the film previously was when I watched it on DVD, on my laptop, for the preview story I wrote for last week’s LV Weekly print edition. The film is far more effective on the big screen (as are most films, except for The Strangers, which is awful in any format), leading with three pounding keystrokes from an old Underwood typewriter that director Scott Goldstein says he bought for $35 on eBay. “I wanted the audience to feel the power of those keystrokes,” he said during a post-screening Q&A with members of the packed theater. It is powerful. If that film is ever shown at the theaters at Neonopolis, the thumping sound of those keys slamming the paper might send some theatergoers scrambling under their seats, mistaking ...

Dream Zone

Lauri Quinn Lowenberg | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

Lauri translates what your dreams have been trying to tell you.

Wolf Parade

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

As good as Wolf Parade’s first full-length album, 2005’s Apologies to the Queen Mary might be—and it’s great, really, one of the must-hear releases of the 2000s—it feels like a bit of a cheat.

Judas Priest

Josh Bell | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

Just how cheesy is Judas Priest’s two-disc concept album about the life of 16th-century French prophet Nostradamus?

Chatting with Gnarls Barkley

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

What most people probably presumed was a one-off collaboration has produced a second album and appears to be going strong.

The Jacko Pack-O?

Las Vegas Weekly Staff | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

The King of Pop playing the Strip? It’s been a rumor longer than most of us here at Weekly can remember, but there’s been more talk of it actually happening, what with the bailout of Jackon’s treasured Neverland Ranch by Colony Capital, which owns, among other properties, the Las Vegas Hilton. What better way to repay the $23 million debt than with a Las Vegas run?

Art and Symbolism

Xania Woodman | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

In the temporary home of the Symbolic Gallery on Dean Martin Drive, I and my plastic cup of chardonnay rest on a glass case wherein nestles the original disco ball from Saturday Night Fever as well as a weathered Godfather script and Carmen Electra’s panties.

Emmylou Harris

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

If classic country is a dusty ranch populated with remorseful former outlaws, broken-down truckers and the occasional ex-rodeo queen, Emmylou Harris’ seasoned lilt has long been a welcome spring shower, staving off a drought of irrelevance just in time.

Lil Wayne

Ben Westhoff | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

Midway through his long-awaited sixth album, Tha Carter III, on the track “Phone Home,” Lil Wayne tries once again to convince us that he is headed to outer space—that he is a Martian and has his own planet.

Sex in the City Flight

Xania Woodman | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

It’s official. The Sex and the City movie has cleared $119 million in just three heart-fluttering, shoe-dropping, dressed-to-kill weeks. If ever there was cause for celebration…this is it!

Before and after: Le Reve

“There are several points in the show where I don’t wear a mask. I’ve had a lot of people come up to me at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on Maryland Parkway and ask me, ‘Aren’t you in Le Rêve?’”

Angrier, inchier than ever

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

Leave it to a Wicked Little Town like ours to relaunch a production of the John Cameron Mitchell stage show turned 2001 film turned reinvigorated stage show with the most fervent cult following since The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Eight things to know about One Pin Short

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

One Pin Short celebrate their CD release party Thursday night plus more fun facts about the band that you should probably memorize.

The Love Guru

Jeffrey M. Anderson | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

Mike Myers’ The Love Guru has everything a big summer comedy is expected to have, including star cameos, sex jokes, gay jokes, penis jokes, testicle jokes, pee jokes, poop jokes and booger jokes. The characters’ names sometimes sound like something off-color, like “Satchabigknoba.” Verne Troyer is on hand for a series of “little person” jokes. The movie has elephant sex, a killer rooster and musical numbers based on forgotten, ridiculous pop songs. It has a highly improbable, tacked-on romance between Jessica Alba, 27, and Myers, 45. What it doesn’t have is anything actually funny or relevant.

Ay caramba!

Max Jacobson | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

The free-standing structure that houses Caminos de Morelia, one of our newer Mexican restaurants, is simmering with history. For years, it belonged to Lou and Angie Ruvo, a couple who operated a seminal Vegas Italian restaurant called The Venetian, the only place in town I knew of to eat pork neck, a dish I sorely miss.

Pep talk

Greg Beato | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

If you think life was tough in the old days, when housewives prepared dinner using manual can openers instead of microwave ovens, when teens rode bikes to school instead of SUVs, when changing TV channels required a hike across the living room, consider this: Not only did the hearty folk of yesteryear have to endure such hardships, they did so without the benefit of energy drinks!

I, Caan

Tony Macklin | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

“What is an icon?” James Caan doesn’t know, and he’s about to become one. Caan is receiving the Vegas Icon Award from CineVegas, and he’s perplexed.

Martha Wainwright

Annie Zaleski | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

The solo records released by Rufus Wainwright have grown increasingly opulent (and, at times, unlistenable) in recent years. His little sister Martha, meanwhile, seemed to be on a more accessible path after a lovely 2005 full-length full of gentle, straightforward folk-pop.

Peggy Plots Your Planets

Peggy Allison | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

Peggy Allison is the author of The Fundamentals of Astrology: A Comprehensive Guide for the Beginner. She is a professional astrologer who lives on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and prepares personal astrological charts. Contact her at 340-774-2932, 340-513-3755 or at [email protected].

Who ya’ gonna call?

Damon Hodge | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

Whether you want to help the homeless, save the environment or to sidewalk and shove, you can depend on these proven activists to deliver

Of masks and Packers

John Katsilometes | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

This is an excerpt from the radio show Our Metropolis, a half-hour issues and affairs program that airs Tuesdays at 6 p.m. on KUNV 91.5-FM and is hosted by Greenspun Media Group’s John Katsilometes. Tune in next week to hear the rest of this interview with Anthony Crivello, who this month has taken over as the titular role in Phantom—Las Vegas Spectacular at The Venetian:

The Unsung List

Damon Hodge | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

There are more Las Vegans making a difference in our community than you might think. Meet some of the city's unsung heroes.

Erykah Badu

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

“I appreciate you letting me share my art.” From most any other singer, the comment would have been the height of pretentiousness, but from the mouth of Erykah Badu it didn’t seem the least bit out of line.

Who are broken spindles?

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

Actually, a more accurate question would be, “Who is Broken Spindles?,” since the band comprises exactly one person: Joel Petersen, better known as the bassist for Omaha, Nebraska, synth-pop outfit The Faint.

Above & Beyond

Deanna Rilling | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

Sad songs, they say so much. . . Above & Beyond will be bringing their award-winning music, along with a few of their critically acclaimed remixes to Las Vegas on July 2 for Godskitchen Wednesdays at Body English

The Promotion

Mike D'Angelo | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

America’s self-image as the land of opportunity has such a stranglehold on the national psyche that our movies—even the ones made independently and on the cheap—evince an almost pathological aversion to the plight of ordinary people trapped in dead-end lives. Presented with a film called The Promotion, most of us would expect to see a story about a lawyer who’s desperate to make partner, or perhaps the valiant struggle of a longtime cubicle jockey given an unexpected shot at the firm’s corner office. Instead, what we have here calls to mind a sarcastic Dennis Miller one-liner: “If you’ve made it to age 35 and your job still requires you to wear a name tag, you’ve probably made a serious vocational error somewhere along the line.”

Waste Not, Want Not

Ken Miller | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

Sunrise Landfill has officially become a thorn in the side of Republic Services, which was ordered by the EPA last week to “permanently” seal up the 440-acre site. (It, er, leaked into the Las Vegas Wash in 1998. We know. It’s disgusting. Moving on …) Here’s the problem: Republic has promised to pay $7 million, but any money past that they are suggesting that you, the ratepayer, pony up.

The Help Desk

Las Vegas Weekly Staff | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

Nevada among top five states in the nation for Internet speed.: Our new motto: Faster poker and porn.
Gov. Jim Gibbons uses government cell phone to send 850 text messages to Reno woman.: What’s even more egregious is that he helped David Cook win American Idol.
Gibbons convenes Legislature into special June 23 session to tackle budget shortfalls.: It would have been held sooner, but some legislators didn’t repond to his first text message.

Get Smart

Josh Bell | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

The 1960s spy-parody TV show Get Smart was, contrary to its title, often very silly, and certainly not the most sophisticated bit of satire ever to hit the airwaves. But it was at least more concerned with cracking jokes at the expense of deadly serious TV and movie secret agents than with attempting to emulate them. The new big-screen adaptation recycles some of the show’s gimmicks and catch phrases, and has a handful of funny moments, but it suffers from unfortunate delusions of being an action movie that quickly overtake its potential as a comedy.

Crusading for your community

Damon Hodge | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

By now, it’s a story we’re used to: Vegas sits atop every bad list and brings up the rear on every good list. Everything from our schools to our rickety social service infrastructure to the way we treat our homeless needs dramatic improvement. Meanwhile, our rapid growth, relative affordability (thanks foreclosure crisis), job stability (despite the economic downturn) and hotness factor (kudos to George Maloof, among others) are the envy of the country.

“O”

Ken Miller | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

If they ever perfect that remote control that Adam Sandler used in Click, the first place I’m taking it to is Cirque du Soleil’s “O,” easily the busiest production on the Strip.

The Real World

Team Hangover | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

It’s about time someone tells it like is. Ironic, though, that that someone should be a prominent Las Vegas nightlife company. Whatever the reason for the sudden bout of honesty, Light Group is coming clean about our perception of beauty—“It’s what’s outside that counts.”

EPs, tacos and “First Blood”

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

Caravels hasn’t left town, and its summer tour has already run afoul of the law. “We got pulled over on the way here for not having plates on our van,” bassist Cory Van Cleef explains, as the Vegas five-piece sets up Saturday at Yayo Taco.

The man behind Mouse

Jeffrey M. Anderson | Thu, Jun 19, 2008 (midnight)

In 1995, Don Cheadle gave one of those once-in-a-lifetime performances that made him a star—almost. His hair-trigger performance as Mouse in Devil in a Blue Dress had critics buzzing.

Time to party with the big ants

John Katsilometes | Wed, Jun 18, 2008 (5:11 p.m.)

CineVegas Film Festival organizers found Las Vegas Drive-In too far removed from the festival headquarters at the Palms to stage a sanctioned event out on Carey Road and Rancho Drive. So they are building their own drive-in, a bit closer and on a locale with a (slightly) more inviting atmosphere, downtown Las Vegas. On the corner of 3rd and Ogden streets, specifically, where the throwback horror film Them! will be shown on an outdoor inflatable screen just off the Fremont Street Experience. The film was made in 1954 with a budget of something like $224. Actually, it was a major release at the time, billed as one of the first true horror blockbuster films. The plot centers on what can happen to ants if they are exposed to deadly radiation – they get really big. And, apparently, pissed. The screen being used is similar to the inflatable used for the ...

CineVegas at first blush

Bethany Acree | Wed, Jun 18, 2008 (1:10 p.m.)

CineVegas 2008 has provided many firsts for this Las Vegas lady, and this past Monday night I racked up a few more. After navigating through a sweltering hot parking garage, I finally found my way into the Wynn. For the first time. It certainly made an impression, as if just by walking in I had suddenly inherited a trust fund. I scurried past the blackjack tables and straight to a deep glowing nightclub: Blush, the host of this evening’s CineVegas party. This should be fun, I'm a twenty-something in Vegas. Clubbing is what we do here. Except this is my first time, and I've lived here almost a year. I'm a little anxious as I flash my credentials and walk past the linebacker at the front door (or is that what they call the bouncer?). I'm a little early, but Blush is by no means empty. Couples and groups are ...

The Cool School

Julie Seabaugh | Wed, Jun 18, 2008 (11:56 a.m.)

Los Angeles in the ’50s provided no cultural support or art scene to speak of, so from jazz, surfing, custom-car culture and Barney's Beanery residents shaped their own, from the ground up.

When art worlds collide

Julie Seabaugh | Wed, Jun 18, 2008 (11:13 a.m.)

Much like CineVegas art-scene docs The Cool School (Ferus Gallery, LA, 1950s) and Beautiful Losers (Alleged Gallery, New York, 1990s), Tuesday's "Marginal: Art for Its Own Sake" panel was both colorful and chaotic. With Billy Al Bengston, Ed Moses and sometime-artist Dennis Hopper representing Ferus, Stephen Powers, Jo Jackson and Geoff McFetridge representing Alleged and critic Dave Hickey thrown in for good measure, dominant themes included creating in a vacuum, placing a monetary value on works and leaving a legacy. Though Losers is the superior film, the Old Schoolers enjoyed themselves far more, cracking each other up as they gossiped, kvetched and broke down into insider sub-groups, while the remainder just tried not to embarrass themselves. The highlight, however, was easily the no-holds-barred Moses, who offered such nuggets of wisdom as "If it doesn't ream your a**hole out, let's move on!" and "Ninety-eight percent of everything is bullsh*t. I'm being ...

The Juche Idea

T.R. Witcher | Wed, Jun 18, 2008 (10:53 a.m.)

Jim Finn’s strange new film plays as a sort of mockumentary about a South Korean activist (Lee) who joins an artists’ commune in North Korea, where she spends her days doing farm work and making revolutionary propaganda films based on, and in accordance with, Juche, that country’s state ideology.

Three cheers for local filmmaking

Josh Bell | Tue, Jun 17, 2008 (10:06 p.m.)

Despite how much the festival has grown in the last several years, CineVegas never forgets the community it operates in, and always offers a program of local short films, in addition to showcases for UNLV and CSN students. The Nevada Filmmaking Shorts program seems to get more accomplished every year, and the 2008 slate was refreshingly devoid of any egregious misfires (hello, half-hour documentary about buffets). Instead it was full of accomplished, well-made shorts mostly from local talent, with just one ringer (a very slick AFI thesis film whose only Vegas connection was one producer being from here). Two of the shorts I'd actually seen before, at the Dam Short Film Festival in February: UNLV professor David Schmoeller's Wedding Day and the Thompson brothers' Passenger Seat. Passenger Seat seemed cleaned up a little, with clearer sound, and was just as funny and offbeat the second time around. The Thompsons are ...

Sonic Youth documentary a largely staged affair

Allison Duck | Tue, Jun 17, 2008 (5:06 p.m.)

Crystal Cleer ProductionsProject MoonshineSonic Youth: Sleeping Nights AwakeSonic Youth Michael Albright was just a twinkle in his parents’ eyes when Sonic Youth first hit the scene in 1981. Albright, who directed and edited the documentary Sonic Youth: Sleeping Nights Awake,was a long-term substitute teacher when he began working on Project Moonshine. This organization offers high school students a creative outlet by giving them the chance to film documentaries on issues of importance in their community. Albright led a group of seven high school students who filmed a documentary about Sonic Youth when they came to their hometown of Reno on the 4th of July in 2006. The film feels more like a concert recording than a true documentary because it is probably 90 percent concert footage with a few band interviews interspersed. The camera angles used by the cinematographers did offer unique vantage points, allowing viewers to feel like they ...

O.A.R. goes online and interactive with Deep Rock Drive

Allison Duck | Tue, Jun 17, 2008 (4:20 p.m.)

As Spencer Patterson reported last month, a Vegas-based company called Deep Rock Drive is taking the live show to the next level. Last night I had the opportunity to check out one of their interactive concerts myself. Rockville, Maryland-based O.A.R. had made the trip to Vegas to give an international concert broadcast live over the Internet to 4,000 people in 35 countries. Fans from as far away as North Korea, South Africa and Singapore took part in the interactive show, voting on which song they wanted the band to play next and leaving a constant stream of comments during the concert, which ranged from the serious, shout outs from the military in Iraq, to the silly, “I caught you a delicious bass.” The band members could read these comments and respond to them live. Lead singer Marc Roberge chuckled as he read Comments like “have my babies” and “we f***ed ...

Drive, He Said

Ken Miller | Tue, Jun 17, 2008 (1:55 p.m.)

So I'm at the pump the other day, giving that slightest of upward nods to my fellow fillers, as if to say, "Hey, we're all in this together." But who am I kidding? The only thing we're all in together is a long-ass line to fill up our gas-guzzling, eco-killing machines, and we'll be in the same long-ass line next week. If you believe TV news, all of America is sick—sick, I tell you! —of these rising gas prices and can’t take it anymore. But where's the proof of that? Has anyone really seen a decrease in the number of cars on the road? Do you have any less of a wait at the pump? Is it getting any easier to find a parking spot close to work? If you listen to us media types, we’ll have you believe that the revolution is finally here because GM closed four plants ...

Life imitates art

Benjamin Spacek | Tue, Jun 17, 2008 (12:55 p.m.)

About 40 minutes into Go Go Tales, a malfunctioning tanning bed bursts into flames, threatening to burn Ray Ruby's Paradise to the ground. Not a moment later, the print itself catches on fire, and the image onscreen disintegrates before our eyes.

The scoop on the poop-inspired Planting the Seeds at Wynn LV

John Katsilometes | Tue, Jun 17, 2008 (9:50 a.m.)

It was the most inspired celebration of crap in Las Vegas since Starlight Express was staged at the Las Vegas Hilton. But unlike the regretful Andrew Lloyd Webber skate musical, renowned contemporary artist Takashi Murakami’s poop-fueled Planting the Seeds did indeed use actual manure as the center of its simplistic, childlike storyline. The 12-minute animated feature, one of the dozens of events hosted by CineVegas, was displayed Tuesday night on the giant waterfall screen at the Lake of Dreams at Wynn Las Vegas. The film’s two main characters, Kailkai and Kiki, happily discover the more valuable property of manure as they plant watermelons along the great rural landscape. You could cut the excrement – I mean, excitement – with a knife as the crowd anticipated the rare viewing. Most of those on hand found this s*** pretty entertaining, and afterward Murakami laughed when I asked about his inspiration for the ...

Regulating expectations

Josh Bell | Tue, Jun 17, 2008 (12:12 a.m.)

Today I made a last-minute adjustment to my CineVegas schedule, heading to the press & industry screening of Finally, Lillian and Dan this morning before I had to take care of some things in the Weekly office, thanks almost entirely to this rapturous review by one of my favorite critics, Karina Longworth. I'd already been somewhat intrigued by the movie's description on the CineVegas website and had hoped to possibly see it, but was resigned to the fact that I just couldn't fit it into my schedule along with all the other things I had to cover. But the review plus the addition of the morning screening gave me the motivation to make time for it, and I'm generally glad I did, even if my reaction was nowhere near as strong as Karina's (she says it moved her to tears). Karina's a well-known longtime supporter of the indie-film genre known ...

CineVegas: not just for the out-of-towners

Julie Seabaugh | Mon, Jun 16, 2008 (11:58 p.m.)

Rocker red carpets and Get Smart benefit screenings are all well and good, but long lines and jammed theaters aren't merely indicative of high-profile projects boasting blinding star wattage. For instance, folks were still trying to find seats when the world premiere of Where I Stand—a documentary about the colorful life of Hank Greenspun as narrated by Anthony Hopkins—finally started 15 minutes late. The unveiling offered the most fascinating people-watching experience yet, particularly when an elderly, self-described "close friend of Brian's" provided running commentary ("That woman's a sex therapist!"). All festival and publishing ties aside (the Greenspuns are part owners of CineVegas and owners of Las Vegas Weekly's parent company), the laughter, tears and thunderous applause made it clear that Old School Vegas certainly loves itself some Greenspuns.

Unintended local tie-in for Murakami artwork

John Katsilometes | Mon, Jun 16, 2008 (5:23 p.m.)

I just heard something quite odd in the CineVegas Conde Nast lounge/game room/media center: The Murakami work, titled Planting The Seeds, the one to be shown in a few hours at Lake Of Dreams at Wynn Las Vegas, the animated work that is part of a new full-length animated film by the vaunted Japanese contemporary artist, the segment at that has been shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art in L.A. and the Brooklyn Museum, the one that has received laudatory reviews in both art centers … is a 10-minute clip of two juvenile characters, Kailkai and Kiki, throwing poop at each other. No, this animated work is not an artistic interpretation of the Gibbons’ divorce proceedings.

Audience response and the entertainment value of documentaries

Benjamin Spacek | Mon, Jun 16, 2008 (4:48 p.m.)

“It’s supposed to be funny,” I am informed by the woman sitting to the left of me, whose friend apparently had seen the film the previous night and had given her the tip. “It’s really funny,” echoes the man sitting on my right, “I saw it last night.” Normally I would consider a repeat viewing to be a ringing endorsement, except it turns out that the guy is the brother of Ryan Avery, the subject of Hi My Name is Ryan, the film I am about to watch. Having now seen it, I, too, can attest to the picture’s sense of humor, but I question whether comedy is its most valuable asset. The movie has a generally humorous tone, matching the artistic expressions of its eccentric singer-subject. However, I found the serious segments to be the most compelling and perceptive. These all-too-brief encounters give us the most illumination into Ryan’s ...

Awfully deliberate or deliberately awful?

Matthew Scott Hunter | Mon, Jun 16, 2008 (4:33 p.m.)

I’ve only seen four films at the festival so far, but it seems to me that the big euphemism at this year’s CineVegas is “deliberate pacing.” Now, a slower pace is par for the course with independent films, and there’s nothing wrong with including some leisurely paced, ponderous moments—so long as you’ve given the audience something to ponder. But the material in the films I’ve seen has been anorexically thin, cloaked in latex fat-suits of pretentiousness. Studios are infamous for forcing filmmakers to stick to the Hollywood formula: quick characterization to inciting incident to conflicts to raising the stakes to resolution to end credits, with no room for scenes that don’t advance the plot. Art films, on the other hand, don’t even have to have plot, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t fat to trim. Every scene should be doing something, whether it’s setting a tone, developing characters, creating atmosphere ...

Assimilation is complete

Julie Seabaugh | Mon, Jun 16, 2008 (3:55 p.m.)

Remember that Super Nintendo commercial from the early '90s featuring kids eating, drinking, sleeping and, as one unfortunate's hands pixilated, being Super Nintendo? At times that's how it feels to be a part of CineVegas—that these 10 days leave films, parties and Red Bull haunting your dreams and dripping from your pores. There are signs and banners; a million television, print and online previews, news stories and reviews; people, people and more people. And not even breakfast is safe, as each morning in the lounge, they arrive: a dozen-plus flat boxes from Krispie Kreme containing chocolate-glazed cream-filleds, each as addictive as the atmosphere and festooned with the oversized X celebrating CineVegas' 10th anniversary on top. All that's left is for CineVegas toilet paper to complete the scheme.

Born on the Bijou: Phillips center of the action at Palms Pool party

Jennifer Grafiada | Mon, Jun 16, 2008 (3:28 p.m.)

Following the screening of the noir musical Dark Streets, set in 1930s New Orleans, the film’s cast and crew—along with the cast and crew from Big Heart City and Happy Birthday, Harris Malden—joined members of the media for an after-party at the Palms Pool. To tell you the truth, it was more of an after-get-together, the type where people stand around or sit with drinks in their hands. The big event of the night was Bijou Phillips singing a couple songs onstage; she is both aurally and visually appealing. Her life reads like a noir musical. She is the daughter of John Phillips, lead singer of The Mamas and the Papas, and a South Africa model (hence, the aural and visual appeal). Her name means “jewel” in French and she was a child equestrienne champion. She started modeling at 13, emancipated herself from her parents and at 14 was living ...

The Black List: Volume One

Benjamin Spacek | Mon, Jun 16, 2008 (12:28 p.m.)

Your reaction to The Black List will depend largely on your expectations for documentary filmmaking, though it’s difficult to imagine anyone not being at least intrigued and entertained by it.

Deficit

Julie Seabaugh | Sun, Jun 15, 2008 (10:50 p.m.)

Pity Bernal wasn’t on hand for a post-film Q&A (seems the Y Tu Mama Tambien, Motorcycle Diaries and Science of Sleep star is attending a wedding in Spain this weekend), as Deficit is a film worth discussing—and rewatching—at length.

Patriotism at its most awkward

Julie Seabaugh | Sun, Jun 15, 2008 (10:41 p.m.)

It's not every short preceding a feature that garners attention on its own accord, but there it is in the official literature: "Chelsea on the Rocks (Preceded by To Kill an American, Director: Matthew Modine)." Obviously it's the semi-famous actor at the helm rather than the three-minute film itself earning the mention, but with such a pedigree and the promise of oh-so-intriguing violence, interest is piqued either way. Unfortunately, what unspools is the caliber of those Saturday-morning "The More You Know" PSAs at best and laughably heavy-handed at worst. American begins with the message, "There are people in the world that don't like Americans. There are people in the world that want to kill Americans. This film is designed to help those would-be killers identify an American. So they know exactly what an American is," promising a combination of insight and levity. But the humor never arrives, and the insight ...

She Unfolds By Day

Benjamin Spacek | Sun, Jun 15, 2008 (10:18 p.m.)

Director Rolf Belgum has a curious eye, and a curious imagination, so it stands to reason that She Unfolds By Day is a curious film. Ostensibly, it’s a documentary about dealing with his mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s. Except that it isn’t.

Slimmed-down Rock has dropped a few stones

John Katsilometes | Sun, Jun 15, 2008 (7:20 p.m.)

As a defensive for the 1991 University of Miami national champion football team, Dwayne Johnson was listed at 6-foot-4, 255 pounds. But as his star has grown, he’s shed some poundage. Johnson (who is also shedding the nickname “The Rock”) still stands 6-4, but after watching him work his way down the red carpet before today’s premiere of Get Smart at Planet Hollywood, it’s obvious he’s considerably lighter than 255. Adroitly employing a football frame of reference to illustrate my point, I said to the onetime Rock, “You look more like a quarterback now.” To which he replied, “This weight is technically called being svelte. Svelte is what it is!” ROCK ON: The premiere at the Stomp Theater and Johnson’s appearance was also to raise money and awareness for his Rock Foundation and Project Knapsack. A portion of the proceeds from the screening are being donated to Martinez Elementary School ...

Schoof

Tasha Chemplavil | Sun, Jun 15, 2008 (11 a.m.)

I am the first one to admit that I am not the person for whom Schoof was made. But—as the number of people who walked out mid-movie proves—I am confident that the majority of the population fit into this same demographic. Therefore, I’m going to proceed with reviewing this “movie.”

Happy Birthday, Harris Malden

Josh Bell | Sun, Jun 15, 2008 (10:47 a.m.)

The filmmaking collective known as Sweaty Robot (Juan Cardarelli, Nick Gregorio, Ben Davidow, Matthew Sanchez, Eric Levy) write, direct and star in Happy Birthday, Harris Malden, but unlike other groups who’ve taken this route (Broken Lizard, Kids in the Hall, Monty Python), they’re less a sketch-comedy troupe (although they are known for comedic online short films) than a self-contained production company.

Here’s to H2O

Julie Seabaugh | Sun, Jun 15, 2008 (2:58 a.m.)

As someone long skeptical about this whole eight-glasses-of-water-a-day edict passed down however long ago, I gotta say the second-best thing a laminated CineVegas credential gives one access to (aside from the, you know, movies and all) is the water. Though Red Bull's nice to have on hand as far as sponsors go, there's free Fiji every time you turn around, with bottles on ice strategically scattered around the lounge, arranged in an eye-pleasing diamond shape on trays circulating at Wednesday night's Concert for Giving performance/party at the Palms pool, even being passed out in theaters prior to a film or two. "Ah! It's that Fiji!" an elderly gentleman behind me shouted to his elderly spouse before the lights went down for The End. "It's the expensive stuff! It's filtered through volcanoes!" Only three days in and already a pattern is emerging: Maneuver my un-air-conditioned car through the too-small-to-begin-with-and-half-of-it's-blocked-off-with-infuriating-gates parking garage, ...

Cocaine Cowboys II: Hustlin’ With the Godmother

Josh Bell | Sat, Jun 14, 2008 (7:51 p.m.)

Billy Corben’s 2006 documentary Cocaine Cowboys was an almost perversely entertaining look at the Miami drug trade in the 1980s

Film critics gone wild

Josh Bell | Sat, Jun 14, 2008 (2 p.m.)

As someone who's been going to CineVegas for six years but hasn't been to a single festival party, I'm always amused to see evidence of film geeks cutting loose and getting down at Vegas hot spots. Film Threat's CineVegas blog coverage is full of images of their writers (and some other film journalists) living it up Vegas-style, and Indie Wire's Eric Kohn also has at least one party pic of his own, along with some typical out-of-towner observations about Vegas. Tonight's party is at the Palms Pool, but as usual I will be at my favorite hangout—sitting in front of my computer.

Last Cup

Tasha Chemplavil | Sat, Jun 14, 2008 (1:53 p.m.)

Anyone who’s spent any significant amount of time on a college campus knows about the illustrious game of beer pong. The activity that combines ping-pong balls, beer and plastic cups is a favorite among the frat-boy set.

Explicit Ills

Tasha Chemplavil | Sat, Jun 14, 2008 (1:39 p.m.)

I’ve never dropped acid or suffered a concussion-induced state of temporary delirium. But after watching Explicit Ills, I feel like I’ve undergone both afflictions ... simultaneously. With its multitude of stories, Ills proves that the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts—especially when the parts are not that great.

Cochochi

Benjamin Spacek | Sat, Jun 14, 2008 (1:31 p.m.)

After graduating from elementary school, two Mexican brothers are sent on an errand to deliver medicine to some relatives. They disobey their grandfather by taking his horse for the journey. Along the way they get lost; then they lose the horse and, finally, each other. The boys (and the audience) spend the rest of the movie searching.

The End

Julie Seabaugh | Sat, Jun 14, 2008 (1:23 p.m.)

It might as well been called I Loved the End of World War II!, this irksomely grainy, black-and-white documentary about a collective of East End, London, gangsters, or as they prefer, “villains.”

Groth growth philosphy for festival: Don’t get too big

John Katsilometes | Sat, Jun 14, 2008 (9:40 a.m.)

The CineVegas Film Festival has grown in every measurable way since opening at Paris Las Vegas in 1998, and Artistic Director Trevor Groth says it might be at its limit. “I think we’re in a pretty good place, I really do,” he said Friday night during the festival’s 10th anniversary party at Simon at Palms Place. “There is always room for improvement, and we’ll always grow in the sense that we’ll refine the festival and keep moving forward. But in terms of size, I don’t see us adding more films, we can’t attract too many more people in the venues or in the theaters.” The chief complaints I’ve heard have been logistics – parking, specifically. One of the attendees at Friday’s party told me it took 30 minutes to park. “You have to try to keep the intimacy, and I think, really, that’s the strength of the festival, all these ...

Some sound advice from Dr. Hopper

John Katsilometes | Sat, Jun 14, 2008 (8:53 a.m.)

During a video interview for this Web site (and with expert assistance from Greenspun Media Group multimedia whiz Sean Hellwig), I asked Dennis Hopper about being clean and sober for 25 years, which he is. I think the question went, “Dennis, what about being clean and sober for 25 years? How does one do that?” He thought for a moment, then said, “Don’t drink alcohol or take narcotics. That’s how you do it.” He also said that, of all the characters he has portrayed, Billy of Easy Rider would have the deepest appreciation of Vegas. “He would have had the most fun here – if he’d lived.” Incidentally, Easy Rider turns 40 next year and Hopper, still the coolest guy in the room, turned 72 last month. WE NEED VERIFICATION ON THIS On display in the CineVegas Lounge – check that, the CineVegas CondeNast Lounge – is a black Cadillac ...

Spears under close observation at Palms Place

John Katsilometes | Sat, Jun 14, 2008 (8:12 a.m.)

Over the past couple of days I have attended the unveiling of new white tiger cubs to be on display at the Siegfried & Roy Secret Garden at The Mirage, and crossed paths with Britney Spears at the CineVegas party at the Simon at Palms Place. In one event I was able to observe the rare, exotic, mercurial, sometimes uncontrollable entertainment sideshow. The other was the white tiger event. I’d heard murmurings about Spears throughout the day from those attending the festival at the Palms (Brenden Theaters, specifically), that she was in town and heading for the hotel. It was like tracking a Space Shuttle landing. I’d taken a dinner break at Nove, the fine Italian eatery near the top of the hotel, where the restaurant was still twittering about Spears’ visit there – I’d missed her, coincidentally, by less than 30 minutes. I was told she had a young ...

Grading the grub

Julie Seabaugh | Sat, Jun 14, 2008 (3:31 a.m.)

Festival chairman Dennis Hopper, artistic director Trevor Groth and well-moustachioed Pioneer Documentaries jurist Morgan Spurlock were among those taking in the 55th-floor views from Ghostbar's outdoor patio at Tuesday's Filmmakers' Reception/Happy Hour sponsored by Netflix. The gelatinous purple, green and orange lumps one server described as "like the best Fruit Roll-Ups you've ever have": 2 stars. Miniature chocolate-banana-cream pies: 5 stars. Later in the evening, Bill Pullman, fresh from his Your Name Here premiere, joined the surprisingly low-key 10th-anniversary party held poolside at Palms Place, where Britney Spears had cordoned herself off in a cabana. Rice Krispie squares: 2 ½ stars. Froot Loop squares: 3 stars. Cotton candy: 1 star. Homemade Sno Balls: 3 ½ stars. Finally, at the midnight Beer Pong After Party presented by Last Cup in the CineVegas lounge, the lack of munchies earned a dismal 0 stars. The icy tubs of Busch Light flanking the six ...

Thoughts on shorts

Josh Bell | Fri, Jun 13, 2008 (7:10 p.m.)

Short films tend to get overlooked easily at film festivals, but one of the great things that CineVegas does is make sure that doesn’t happen. This year’s festival includes two regular shorts programs, plus screenings dedicated to shorts from local filmmakers and from students at UNLV and CSN. There are also a substantial number of shorts playing before festival features, which is a great way to make sure that people who wouldn’t ever bother going to the shorts programs see at least one or two short films during the festival. Probably the best short I saw today was one that preceded a feature: David Lowery’s A Catalog of Anticipations, which played before Wellness, is an eerie and strangely beautiful story told via still photographs and a bit of stop-motion animation. Lowery manages to mix an arty coming-of-age tale with creepy fantasy elements to create a very memorable result. The films ...

For everything else, there’s CineVegas …

Julie Seabaugh | Fri, Jun 13, 2008 (6:48 p.m.)

Spying The Rocker's Fred Armisen outside the Brenden Theatres restrooms, talking to a leggy blonde with pink facepaint flaring upward from her eye sockets: zero dollars. Watching him slowly pick his way through the throngs queued up at Nathan's, Panda Express and McDonald's: Priceless.

House of Blues is haunted by goth-rock ghost Peter Murphy

Jennifer Grafiada | Fri, Jun 13, 2008 (4:54 p.m.)

British rockstar Peter Murphy is now more like the Grandfather of Goth than the Godfather of Goth, as he is widely heralded. He’s hit the big 5-0, but he’s still got a fan base that packed the House of Blues to see him perform solo on June 7th. Back in ’78 in England, Peter Murphy was the lead vocalist for Bauhuas, a band that popularized the goth-rock genre (a titillating fusion of early horror films and glam rock). The band members played around with all things macabre, performing dressed as vampires, rising up on-stage from coffins and careening around in a hearse called the “Bauhearse.” The band broke up in ’83 and didn’t reconvene until ’05 at Coachella and then in ’06 for a tour with Nine Inch Nails. In the intervening years, Peter took himself for a wild ride on the Bauhearse. His more than two decades-long solo career ...

Dylan: Father and Son

Richard Abowitz | Fri, Jun 13, 2008 (12:38 p.m.)

Father’s day weekend is upon us. And, a new album came out this week. A man stands there, on an album cover, literally, a man with his hat in his hand. His famous name is on the cover of the disc, too, and the producer, Rick Rubin, is a legend at helping artists reconnect with their muse. Open the packaging and the disc has the famous label, Columbia, there, too, even with the dissolution of the recording industry: Columbia Records. It is all a fan could hope for, almost. Except this isn’t the man. This is the son. To this day on his Never Ending Tour, the man’s father opens his concerts with a taped voice saying: “Ladies and Gentleman please welcome, Columbia Recording artist Bob Dylan.” But musically speaking this Columbia recording artist is best known for his couple minor hits in the Wallflowers. At the end of the ...

He’s no Cormac McCarthy, but still …

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (7:33 p.m.)

I'd be willing to wager a crisp Mr. Hamilton … er, Lincoln, that the general populace would overwhelmingly recognize the name "Chuck Palahniuk" over "Sam Rockwell." Nothing against the Confessions of a Dangerous Mind star and this year's Half-Life Award winner, but folks have actually been known to vomit and/or pass out at Choke readings; the same can't be said (as far as we know) of Charlie's Angels. Not to mention that David Fincher wouldn't have earned mad propers for directing Fight Club if the cult literary hero hadn't penned it in the first place. Why is it, then, that the 142-page CineVegas '08 guide spends half a "Sure Bets" page on Choke, yet makes no mention of Palahniuk? The handy-dandy CineVegas '08 Pocket Guide? A mere 19 Palahniuk-less words (though neither "Sam" nor "Rockwell" make the cut, either). There's a blip on CineVegas.com's official blurbage, but over there you ...

Women in Boxes

Josh Bell | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (12:45 p.m.)

Slight but entertaining—the documentary Women in Boxes takes a look at the unsung heroes of magic acts: the assistants. Female assistants of all ages, from a woman who came from a circus family and started assisting her magician father in the 1950s to younger second-generation assistants who hope to take center stage as magicians themselves.

Talk of sex and candy canes is none-too-sweet

Jennifer Grafiada | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (12:08 p.m.)

While working out my quads at LVAC, I’m approached by a man who has the intention of hitting on me. He asks me such questions as, “Where are you from?” and “Where do you work?” I answer him in a somewhat thorough manner, and he then proceeds to tell me that I’m self-absorbed. First of all, he approached me, and he asked the questions. I’m inclined to be gregarious and loquacious. Also, I don’t really care about him or his life, but I do know how to reiterate questions to the asker as dictated by proper conversation protocol. Then, when I inform him that I grew up in the Midwest, he responds, “There are no black people there. Did you have any black friends?” I thought back to my childhood in Oklahoma -- wonderful memories, but not the most immediate. I vaguely remembered sitting in a tree with a friend, ...

Sweet Home Sedona

Matthew Scott Hunter | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (12:08 a.m.)

Enjoying Las Vegas nightlife is a tough job if you live waaaaay out near Summerlin. First, there’s the commute. You have to drive for nearly 10 minutes before you even see the teeny little Stratosphere on the horizon. To make it the rest of the way, you have to run a gauntlet of gas stations—at least a dozen, each boasting a sign announcing in big, bold numbers exactly how much this drive is costing you.

The Orb

Annie Zaleski | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (12:02 a.m.)

It’s easy to forget that Orb songs such as “Blue Room” and “Little Fluffy Clouds” were revolutionary back in the early ’90s, especially because band mastermind Dr. Alex Paterson’s type of chilled-out electro is so ubiquitous today.

We don’t need no education

Xania Woodman | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (12:01 a.m.)

I leave Bob for Aaron. Then to Daniel and Ron. . . I feel rather like a swing slut. Along the way we learn some tricks, or as Greg puts it, “swing-jitsu.”

Sex Pistols

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

“Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” Johnny Rotten’s final words could scarcely have been more irritating as his Sex Pistols exited the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel when last they played Las Vegas, in September 2003. Not only was the line recycled (he’d said exactly that following the Pistols’ first “last” show—San Francisco ’78), it also felt sadly valid after the perfunctorily scripted Vegas stopover.

Hulk resmash!

Mike D'Angelo | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Five years ago, audiences worldwide were less than bowled over by Ang Lee’s self-consciously arty take on Marvel’s most wantonly destructive superhero, which often felt less like a summer popcorn flick than like an audiovisual dissertation: The Not-So-Jolly Green Giant: Filial Consternation and the Unchecked Id. Still, the suits weren’t about to abandon a potential franchise that easily.

Alanis Morissette

Josh Bell | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

What to expect from the new Alanis Morissette album?

Standard Operating Procedure

Jeffrey M. Anderson | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Morris returns with this gripping, grueling documentary on the Abu Ghraib controversy, but thankfully, it’s less a typical angry, unpleasant affair than a movie sprinkled with his unique style. Most of this information has been covered elsewhere, but Morris slows things down a bit, interviewing several of the low-ranking soldiers or MPs who took the fall for torturing prisoners. He intersperses these with his signature re-creation footage—shot by Robert Richardson in extreme, dramatic angles—slow motion and heavy layers of music (Danny Elfman provides the Philip Glass-like score).

They are the champions, my friend

John Katsilometes | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Dennis Mitchell is the Beatles fan who will not let it be. Dan “Big Daddy” Lea is the Harley guy who, upon laying the bike down, simply dusts off and opens the throttle once more.

The Help Desk

Las Vegas Weekly Staff | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

City to turn up thermostats one or two degrees to save $6,000 a month.: Also, city employees now allowed to wear G-strings and tear-away pants to cope with the heat.
Privé Las Vegas to honor Kevin Federline as “father of the year.”: He was second in line; David Archuleta’s dad declined.
Study: Nevada has lowest high school graduation rate in the nation.: Hey, with those ultra-safe construction jobs waiting out there, is it any wonder?

Martini mania

Max Jacobson | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Most of us in my field like to think of ourselves as knowledgeable in terms of predicting trends, as well as the potential success or failure of a concept when we are faced with it. But nothing can explain the frenzied response that has characterized Blue Martini, a new restaurant and lounge at the Town Square mall.

Taking a stand

John Katsilometes | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

By the time Hank Greenspun calls out Sen. Joseph McCarthy from the podium at the War Memorial Building in Las Vegas, you’re hooked. Yep. Like the man it is centered on, the documentary Where I Stand is great theater. The documentary moves at a rapid clip, and Greenspun’s scrap with McCarthy is a just one glimpse into his personal tenacity.

Just ducky

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

John Duck was 10 years old when he first heard Duane Eddy’s 1958 hit “Rebel Rouser.”

The Return of “Them!”

Ken Miller | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

My love of movies began with the monster genre, specifically those shown during the “Creature Features” on Saturday afternoons in the 1970s. Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy were all great company, but my real fascination was anything featuring a large (insert insect/animal/human) attacking miniature cities until a (insert scientist/army guy/innocent-looking blonde) saved the day.

Ladytron

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

French electroclash artists may be a dime a dozen, but who else save the deceptively innovative four-piece responsible for 2005’s seductive Witching Hour would deliver not one but two cuts sung entirely in Bulgarian?

An Oscar-worthy state

Ken Miller | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Oscar Goodman is, as everyone knows by now, the Happiest Mayor in the World. And why shouldn’t he be? He’s in charge of one of the fastest-growing cities of the last 20 years, the voters love him, and he gets to say anything he wants. The most recent outrageous thing to come out of his mouth is that he may run for governor in 2010—okay, maybe that one’s not so outrageous. After all, Nevada has, arguably, the worst governor in the country. Assuming that Hizzoner is serious and actually runs and actually wins, we at the Weekly couldn’t help but wonder what the Silver State would look like under his regime.

Nevada’s gay duh

Steve Friess | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Next week, when Californians start allowing same-sex couples to legally marry as a result of a recent state Supreme Court ruling, the Golden State will reap a massive financial bonanza that should go a long way through the summer toward softening the harshest impacts of an ongoing recession and record fuel prices.

Slow and steady

Josh Bell | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

In a cramped office on the UNLV campus, filled with books and monitors and computers and DVDs, Francisco Menendez is conferencing via Skype with editors in LA working on a movie he directed. But it’s not Primo, the film 15 years in the making that Menendez will finally premiere at this year’s CineVegas film festival. It’s even older than that, a movie that the filmmaker shot 20 years ago and sent off to an LA lab to be processed.

Silver Jews

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

The Silver Jews’ long, shadowy existence as one of indie rock’s famously reclusive outfits officially ended in 2006, when leader David Berman overcame substance abuse and stage fright to take his project out on its first-ever tour.

Sound and vision

Deanna Rilling | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

As doo-wop plays over the KUNV 91.5-FM airwaves on Saturday night, Chad Martinez gets ready to switch things up a bit.

Beauty marks on the “Beast”

Jacob Coakley | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

“Bat Days” is a yearly weekend when hundreds of goths dressed in their best black finery descend en masse on Disneyland. That these misfits, depressives and angsty creatives still make a pilgrimage to the center of all things wholesome in entertainment—well, there’s clearly a love of old-fashioned Disney lurking in every one of our alternative, elitist-artist veins. So while a production of Beauty and the Beast may be geared toward families, there should still be room in the production to use some creative staging and performances to bring out something edgier, a little more Cocteau than just straight Disney, right?

Battle of the Titans

T.R. Witcher | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

With the recent death of a sixth construction worker at the CityCenter construction site, the comparisons between the enormous project and its spiritual brother, the Hoover Dam—where construction fatalities were also a fact of life—come into further relief. They are, after all, the two most dynamic construction projects in the history of Nevada.

Dream Zone

Lauri Quinn Lowenberg | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Laura translates what your dreams are trying to tell you.

Bring the Heat

T.R. Witcher | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

“Crimp and release,” instructs glass blower Jim Sammarco, of the Hot Glass Works studio.

Peggy Plots Your Planets

Peggy Allison | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Peggy Allison is the author of The Fundamentals of Astrology: A Comprehensive Guide for the Beginner. She is a professional astrologer who lives on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and prepares personal astrological charts. Contact her at 340-774-2932, 340-513-3755 or at [email protected].

Bun B

Damon Hodge | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

With II Trill, the follow up to 2005’s semi-solid Trill, Bun B (Bernard Freeman) might finally get credit for helping power the South’s rise in the rap game.

Guitar Hero

Aaron Thompson | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Mere Mortals bass-guitar bombshell Mimi Star knows a thing or two about good ol’ U.S. rock ’n’ roll.

Chelsea on the Rocks

Jeffrey M. Anderson | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Maverick director Ferrara may not seem like a documentary kind of guy—doing research, interviewing people, following up on leads, etc. Yet Ferrara found a way to adapt his ramshackle style to the documentary format, and his new Chelsea on the Rocks works spectacularly.

In the beginning, there was CineVegas

Josh Bell | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

These days, CineVegas is among the fastest-growing film festivals in the country, named by Variety in 2006 as one of the Top 5 “festival gems” and attracting more and more high-profile celebrities, filmmakers and press coverage each year. Ten years ago (December 10-13, 1998), the first CineVegas was held at Bally’s, with satellite events at the Huntridge and Gold Coast.

The heavenly hitter

Damon Hodge | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Lerner’s in the makeup chair, readying for his next commercial, whose campy script calls for Lerner to narrowly escape an oncoming car. Lerner is the self-professed Heavy Hitter of personal-injury lawyers—“Many of our clients have received settlements of over One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00)!” his website screams. He’s practiced law in town for nearly 20 years, the last 10 of which he’s spent building a reputation as an ambulance-chasing, do-gooding, make-the-bad-guy-pay attorney, even if that superhero persona exists first and foremost in his own mind.

Before the Rains

Tasha Chemplavil | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

It’s 1937 in Kerala, India. English spicemonger Henry Moores (Roache) is building a new road to a treasure trove of spice. Local villagers T.K. (Bose) and Sajani (Das) find work as Moores’ foreman and housekeeper. But while T.K.’s success brings him a Westernized state of mind, Sajani’s only brings tragedy.

So what’s the good news?

Las Vegas Weekly Staff | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Floods in the Midwest? Rotten tomatoes? Gas price record du jour? Enough already! We’ve reached our saturation point. We gathered the Weekly staff together for a group hug recently, and in the middle of the feel-good clasp, we felt compelled to share the good news in our lives. Luckily, one of us was taking notes.

How the West was won

T.R. Witcher | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Cowboys are, of course, a mainstay of American culture. So it’s curious that more attention isn’t paid to the animals that kept them off their feet. Deanne Stillman’s entertaining new book elucidates the perhaps obvious but still compelling story of just how significant the horse was in the history of the nation.

Planet B-Boy

Ken Miller | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

It’s got to be hard being a breakdancer, or b-boy, as illustrated in Lee’s compelling documentary Planet B-Boy. Most make almost no money, and very few get respect for their work. In one particularly eye-opening part, Korean b-boys are called “weak” by a fellow countryman because he feels that dancing is the only thing that makes them happy. And some of the craft’s founding fathers complain that performers such as Justin Timberlake and Usher are trained by b-boys, but never give them props for their work. (They have a point—can you name even one famous b-boy?)

Interstate…hate?

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Will STP break down before they reach Las Vegas?

Oil’s not well

Dave Berns | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Sales are down. Tips are off. Work is disappearing. The national unemployment rate climbed to 5.5 percent from 5 percent in May, the largest jump in 22 years, with the loss of 49,000 jobs. Longtime Nevadans/immigrants; men/women; young/old—it doesn’t matter. Many sense something is wrong.

The Red Head

Xania Woodman | Thu, Jun 12, 2008 (midnight)

Weighing in at a bladder-busting 92 ounces—you might just want to bring some friends in on this one—the Red Head fishbowl honors those red-headed partiers out there, those imbued with the spontaneity and drinking know-how to throw ’em back like champs.

Don’t Fret: Dr. Duck uncorks his favorite guitar songs

Spencer Patterson | Wed, Jun 11, 2008 (11:27 p.m.)

John "Dr." Duck, host of the syndicated KUNV 91.5-FM radio show Dr. Duck's Guitar Prescription, went 30 cuts deep to list (in his opinion) the best guitar songs in rock history: 1. Duane Eddy, “Rebel Rouser” (1958): “The one that got it all started on guitar for Dr. Duck. After hearing this song, I couldn't think of anything else for at least the next two weeks.” 2. Elvis Presley, “That's All Right Mama” (1954): “This is the one that got Rock & Roll started back in July 1954, Sun Studio, Memphis, Tennessee. That’s Scotty Moore on lead guitar and Elvis himself on rhythm guitar.” 3. Ricky Nelson, “Hello Mary Lou” (featuring James Burton on guitar, 1961): “When asked about his varied style of playing guitar, Burton said, "What is so important is that you play for the artist and for the record and for the song. Everything else falls into ...

Our philosophy: Life is a microcosm of softball

John Katsilometes | Tue, Jun 10, 2008 (3:56 p.m.)

The last time we’d played was about a year ago. On that last night, a couple of otherwise bored Clark County Metro officers were called to the second game of our men’s Monday D-plus league double-header at Doc Romeo Park. Someone, probably a parent, had complained about profanity spewing from our dugout. We were losing, the umps were screwing us into the ground, half the team (that half) was succumbing to too many Bud Lites, and it was screaming hot, about 129 degrees in the outfield. As I peeled off the rubberized red ankle supports I’d been wearing to prevent injury while traversing the uneven terrain in the Doc Romeo outfield, I thought, “I am perfectly capable of being relatively happy not doing this anymore.” And I would have reached that conclusion without the arrival of the two Metro officers, who talked down to my offending teammates as if they ...

TLDR: Too long, didn’t read

Richard Abowitz | Tue, Jun 10, 2008 (2:42 p.m.)

I remember the first time I got that TLDR message from someone who I sent a link to. So, let me start this long item with the short version for the TLDR crowd, because this is about you and what is being said about you: 1) The Atlantic Monthly, in a cover story for a forthcoming double issue, worries, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.” Don’t worry, you aren’t stupid just lazy. The only thing I find stupid is the article. 2) And, while we are on the subject of commonplaces about the Internet and our reading habits, I take a seemingly random digression about the decline of serious fiction in the United States, to point out the only problem with contemporary fiction is caused by the failure of literary- minded writers to be at all contemporary. Meanwhile, I trill and thrill over ...

From UNLV to CineVegas in 48 hours flat

Jennifer Grafiada | Tue, Jun 10, 2008 (1:06 p.m.)

Running around town with a camera, crew and a looming 48-hour deadline, approximately 30,000 amateur filmmakers in 55 cities created short films for the 2007 48-Hour Film Project. Starting Friday evening, they had exactly 48 hours to write, shoot, edit and score their short films, which screened at local theaters the following week where they were scored by the audience and a panel of judges. In each city the competition dictated specific elements that had to be incorporated into each movie: a character, a line of dialogue, a prop, and a genre. In Las Vegas these were a collector, the line “There isn’t anything like it,” a billiard ball and in the case of UNLV student Crystal Meeks the genre film de femme. Meeks, who is also president of an independent film productions company and an aspiring screenwriter and director, won the Las Vegas 2007 48-Hour Film Project. Her eight-minute ...

“I wouldn’t say that it’s crap.”

Josh Bell | Fri, Jun 6, 2008 (4:47 p.m.)

This week is all about Adam Sandler doing his Adam Sandler thing and Jack Black having the right level of Jack Blackness. Or as Josh Bell explains of You Don't Mess with the Zohan and Kung Fu Panda,"If you don't like Sandler and you don't have kids stay home." Plan accordingly. Catch more Josh Bell every Friday night at 6 p.m. on 107.5 FM's Xtreme Disorder.

87% cool

Josh Bell | Fri, Jun 6, 2008 (2:33 p.m.)

Josh Bell weighs in on a sequel 18 years in the making: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. And if you don't want to see it, too bad. Listen to Josh live every Friday at 6 p.m. on 107.5 FM's Xtreme Disorder.

Josh Bell kinda enjoys The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Josh Bell | Fri, Jun 6, 2008 (2:11 p.m.)

Weekly film critic Josh Bell introduces the summer of acceptability complete with religious allegories, superheroes, stoners and perfectly acceptable movies. Hear his thoughts on The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian or listen to him live on 107.5 FM's Xtreme Disorder every Friday at 6 p.m.

Eighteen years of neck strains and hangovers

Las Vegas Weekly Staff | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (5:35 p.m.)

Eighteen years is a long time in the life of a band, and an especially long time in the life of a metalcore band. There’s the exhaustion of endless touring, neck injuries from heads banged too forcefully, the sting of tattoos, pounding hangovers and throats sung hoarse from night after night of bone-shaking vocals. But bands like Hatebreed just never tire. Formed in 1990 in Connecticut, Hatebreed has spent the past 18 years recording, touring and bringing their brand of brutal hardcore to a diverse community of fans. Saturday, May 31 found Hatebreed, goth metal quartet Type O Negative and special guest 3 Inches of Blood shaking the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay as part of the Jagermeister Music Tour. You can bet there were a few strained necks, plenty of ass-kicking hangovers and maybe even a bit of fresh ink to wake up to on Sunday morning.

The Seventh Sign: K-Fed to be awarded “father of the year” award

Aaron Thompson | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (4:46 p.m.)

If you need any more proof that our society is getting ready to go belly-up in an extraordinarily decadent firestorm of xenophobia, consumerism and irrefutable broadband-streamed ignorance, all you have to do is look at the perceived standards of parenting in the 21st century. Which is why then it really should be no shock that about every friggin’ blog site on earth is saying that Las Vegas nightclub Prive has awarded Ex-Brittany beau Kevin “K-Fed” Federline their father of the year award, set to be handed out at the club on June 13. While the Prive rep we spoke with wouldn’t confirm or deny these rumors, apparently this isn’t the first time Fed’s won father of the year accolades. Last year Details magazine named both he and Ex Anna Nicole Smith partner Larry Birkhead fathers of the year. Details wrote: "The New Dad, as represented by Kevin and Birkhead, is ...

Gavin Rosdale

Annie Zaleski | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Poor Gavin Rossdale. In the ’90s, the Bush frontman was a heartthrob, but after his ban's popularity wanned—Rossdale seemed destined to become merely Mr. Gwen Stefani.

Record time

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Though a dedicated handful waited outside this May 30 morning like pale, black-clad puppies, the calls and in-person inquiries at Eastern and Flamingo have been nonstop for weeks, says store manager Karl Hartwig.

Homemade Charm

Mike D'Angelo | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Imagine the wide-eyed little boy from Witness abruptly transformed into Rushmore’s precocious Max Fischer, and then further imagine that oddball juxtaposition as rendered with a distinctly British sensibility, and then add a dollop of affectionate ’80s nostalgia, and you’ll have a pretty good sense of the goofy fun to be had.

Book ’em, Roxy

Aaron Thompson | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Booking manager Roxy Amoroso is stressing, and it’s not yet 9:30 p.m. There’s a bartender trying to enforce parking restrictions while her bands are trying to set up, and making noise about all the $20s she’s getting. No matter. Amoroso isn’t going to let it ruin her night.

Jewel

Josh Bell | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Of all the mainstream rockers to undergo country makeovers recently, Jewel makes the most sense.

Fight Plan

Ken Miller | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Let’s just get this out of the way in the interest of full disclosure: I’m a huge fan of mixed martial arts, in particular the Ultimate Fighting Championship. I’ve followed UFC’s evolution since its infancy in the early ’90s, and I’ve yet to see another fighter command attention the way Tito Ortiz did when he burst on the scene in 1997.

Mansinthe

Xania Woodman | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Creepy as Marilyn Manson is, the pale, lanky star is also a known lover of the nefarious and oh-so-delicious green (or, as I discovered in Hungary, red, blue, clear or black!) spirit absinthe.

Eat like a top chef

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

We asked Vegas' own Top Chef alums to spill on where they go for a good meal in town. From the poshest of the posh to strip mall gems, follow their suggestions and you'll be dining like a top chef.

The Manilow Principle

Steve Friess | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

About 15 minutes into Barry Manilow’s Music & Passion show at the Las Vegas Hilton last week, I received a mocking text message from my partner. Miles had ducked out of having to go with me, my 16-year-old niece, Courtney, and my mother because he had to go to work at the last minute, but he hardly seemed unhappy about that twist of fate.

Must-see reform

Greg Beato | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

For years, Hollywood celebrities have fought to keep us healthy by enjoying sumptuous $1,500-a-plate meals at lavish benefit galas, auctioning off their old shoes to the highest bidder and holding hands with each other and singing. Despite such efforts, however, cancer, heart disease and countless other ills continue to afflict us. Frustrated, no doubt, by their lack of progress, today’s most forward-thinking stars have decided that disease isn’t the real problem after all—the cure is. Thus, they’ve declared war on health care.

Weezer

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Don’t let the current Portishead and Nine Inch Nails releases fool you; this is not 1994.

Rev-ving up

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

For the past four years, the Maloof brothers have listened to demos from enough bands to fill every room in their Palms hotel. None impressed enough to earn a spot on their Maloof Music label. Until now.

Anarchy in the LV

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Before beginning a 25-date European and Japanese summer tour, the reunited U.K. punk godfathers—original lineup: Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and Paul Cook—will perform once in the U.S. Not in New York City. Or Los Angeles. But in Las Vegas, at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel. Considering the band’s 2003 gig at the same venue didn’t even sell out, we’re wondering why

I want to be a star

Damon Hodge | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

You’d think watching Gordon Ramsay curse out lowly waffle-flippers on Hell’s Kitchen would be enough to deter anyone from a career in the kitchen. Not so. Enrollment in culinary schools throughout the country is on the rise, powered, industry observers say, by the rising popularity of reality-television cooking shows such as Bravo’s Top Chef, Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen and the Food Network’s Next Food Network Star.

My Morning Jacket

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

It’s difficult to think of a band with a fanbase more diverse than that of My Morning Jacket. The Louisvillian rockers are beloved by classic rockers pining for a revival of thundering mid-’70s Crazy Horse. They’re favorites of jam-banders, who dig the live guitar interplay between Jim James and Carl Broemel.

Peggy Plots Your Planets

Peggy Allison | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Peggy Allison is the author of The Fundamentals of Astrology: A Comprehensive Guide for the Beginner. She is a professional astrologer who lives on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and prepares personal astrological charts. Contact her at 340-774-2932, 340-513-3755 or at [email protected].

Custard’s last stand

Jennifer Grafiada | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

This is my first visit to Luv-It Frozen Custard, a bastion of Las Vegas decadence, and I have a blast treating myself to a tasty slice of the Vegas demographic. It’s been in the same spot and run by the same family since 1973. It’s a tiny shack adjacent to a Mighty Mart and Olympic Garden Strip Club on Oakey off of Las Vegas Boulevard, and many of its customers have been coming for decades.

Middle East melange

Max Jacobson | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Two restaurants using the buzzword “Mediterranean” to describe their respective cuisines sit in a modest upper Charleston Boulevard mall. Both of them serve food that is more Middle Eastern than anything else, but that label still carries a stigma as far as owners are concerned—or so it would seem.

Let there be light

T.R. Witcher | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Sadly, it’s no longer enough for hotels to have hip boutiques and ultralounges—and, even worse, we may be at the point where fancy-pants homeowners need more than Viking ranges and granite countertops to impress their neighbors. The new news, then, is light, one of the fastest growing sectors in the world of design and home furnishings.

From across the world, right next door

Max Jacobson | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

The food here is as authentic as any Persian cooking I’ve eaten in this city. Isn’t Iran on the shores of the Caspian? You could’ve fooled me.

6.66 reasons to see “virtual” metal band Dethklok

Aaron Thompson | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

1. Gore; lots and lots of gore. 2. The bowel-shaking gravel of singer Nathan Explosion’s vocals. 3. Their album The Dethalbum is the highest-charting cartoon metal album ever produced (No. 21 on the Billboard 200)....

Dream Zone

Lauri Quinn Lowenberg | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Lauri answers what your dreams are trying to tell you.

Usher

Ben Westhoff | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Usher albums used to get you in the mood, but the Atlanta-based megastar is not exactly sure he should be doing that these days.

Now we’re cooking

Spencer Patterson | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Missing that local flavor on Top Chef? We are, too. After dominating the first three seasons of Bravo’s reality cooking juggernaut, Las Vegans were shut out of Season 4. As in, not a single one of the program’s 16 invited contestants hailed from our renowned culinary haven! (They probably just wanted to give some other cities a chance after seeing Strip-employed knife-wielders place second, second and first in succession, with a third and fifth mixed in for good measure.)

The Help Desk

Las Vegas Weekly Staff | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Don King and Emeril Lagasse get spots in the Gaming Hall of Fame.: Organizers decided the current hall didn’t have enough big hair and “Bam!”
Las Vegas ranks 18th nationwide in carbon emissions.: That’s right—our carbon footprint is the size of Shaquille O’Neal’s.
Las Vegas ranks among 40 best cities to live in.: We almost made the Top 30. Damn that carbon footprint!

Chefs to watch

Grace Bascos | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Season 4 of Top Chef maybe Vegas-free, but we have high hopes that three local kitchen stars will take their talents to television in the near future.

Film fanatic

John Katsilometes | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

There are two reactions I get when [people] learn about CineVegas. Most, four out of five people, really get it. It makes perfect sense because it is a city that welcomes all these types of people and can have parties every night. Then there is the one in five who think the city lacks culture.

Jessica Snook

Xania Woodman | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

A hometown girl! Jessica enjoys what is quite possibly one of the sexiest jobs in this sexy city of ours.

Nice piece of glass

Danielle Kelly | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

What makes a thing erotic? What magical components conspire to make the sum of an object’s parts seductive? Sexy is a one-liner: in your face, clear as day, lit up like a neon sign. But the erotic is about what isn’t there, charged with mystery and promise.

Sex and the suburbs

Josh Bell | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

With the sexual revolution in full swing, so to speak, the show’s adventurous suburbanites explore such racy activities as group sex and partner-swapping, while their teenage kids do some experimenting of their own.

Strip it good

Jennifer Grafiada | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

In an estrogen-rich room, I am full of testosterone. I want to ace this course. I want to prove my sexual prowess, assert my feminine power. However, I soon learn that lap dancing and pole dancing are more about mastering technique than shedding inhibitions.

Take the Gibbons test

Ken Miller | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

The Jim/Dawn Gibbons divorce saga has quickly become a reason for living if you’re a Nevada resident who even dares to pick up the daily paper. Odds are most of you have heard about it in some form, but just to make sure you were paying attention, we present the Weekly Gibbons Divorce Quiz.

Bra Boys

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Though the title implies otherwise, Bra Boys is neither an ’80s sex romp nor a cross-dressing exposé. The documentary does, however, concern porn: the little-known genre of wave porn, specifically. Huge, heaving curves. Explosions of foamy spray. Men rhythmically darting in and out with their large, phallic objects. Somewhere around the middle, bad vibes harsh the buzz. Then the wave porn resumes.

You Don’t Mess With the Zohan

Josh Bell | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Unlike nearly every Adam Sandler movie in recent memory, You Don’t Mess With the Zohan isn’t overloaded with sappy sentiment, and it doesn’t end with hugs and tears and lessons learned (well, okay, it does, but only a little bit).

Nervous Nitelife, chicks with decks and a battle royale

Team Hangover | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Chicks with Decks: Kicking off the month of sexy guest she-jays will be Ukrainian-born Maxim magazine hottie DJ Loli.

From TV to Vegas

Damon Hodge | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Kitchen competitions have taken cable and Las Vegas by storm. Hell's Kitchen winner (3rd season) Rock Harper and Iron Chef America competitor Akira Back spill the secrets of their prime-time moments doing battle at the cutting board.

Kung Fu Panda

Josh Bell | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Kung Fu Panda opens with a dynamic and visually striking dream sequence, in which ancient Chinese panda Po (voiced by Black) imagines himself a great kung-fu warrior, taking on all foes and teaming up with a group of fighters known as the Furious Five. Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, it’s full of bold colors, canted camera angles and a jagged animation style somewhat reminiscent of the TV cartoon Samurai Jack.

Desert Divide

Dave Berns | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

The 20-year-old woman walked into Rick Aco’s restaurant, a sad look covering her face. It had been almost two weeks since Zulma Yessenia-Pena lost her boyfriend to an apparent gang shooting, leaving the young woman to raise the couple’s three-year-old daughter. Las Vegas police had not found the killer.

Oh, Shoot!

Xania Woodman | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

"Jeremy!” Yet another go-go dancer mounts photographer Jeremy Womack for a one-armed cuddle, while his other hand cradles his beloved camera.

Terms of endearment

Ken Miller | Thu, Jun 5, 2008 (midnight)

Much is currently being made of the attempt to enact term limits, passed in 1996, on many of the Valley’s elected officials. That got us to thinking: What would some of our elected officials eventually have named after them if they stayed in office long enough?

Blush a haven for the sick as DJs hold court

Jennifer Grafiada | Wed, Jun 4, 2008 (5:47 p.m.)

It’s midnight on a Tuesday at the beautiful and intimate Blush Boutique nightclub, and it’s getting more crowded by the second. The living room-like club is packed with attractive women in the tightest and tiniest pieces of silk and well-dressed, wealthy-looking men. It’s industry night, the club’s most popular night of the week, and also the night of The Undisputed, a DJ heavyweight battle featuring DJs Crooked, Scooter, Justin Hoffman, Sid Vicious, Cobra, Sean Perry, Eleven, Three Mike B., Reflex, Karma, Rush, Chris Cutz, Neva and Fresh One. I ask DJ Hoffman, who is chilling by the booth waiting for his turn, for his take on the big showdown. Hoffman explains that it isn’t a battle at all. “It’s billed as ‘The Undisputed’ because no one is disputing. We’re all friends -- we talk on the phone, trade music on IM.” Then he introduces me to DJ Crooked from NYC. ...

Yucca Mountain: A project only Toxic Avengers can love

Aaron Thompson | Wed, Jun 4, 2008 (5 p.m.)

Today, the office of Nevada Attorney General and Executive Cougar of state law, Catherine Cortez Mastro, filed a formal petition asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reject the DOE’s application for a license to build the enormous-friggin’ nuclear waste dump 90 miles north of the Las Vegas Valley. While the distance from the city to the dump is marginal at best, especially considering the seismic activity like the 1992 magnitude 5.6-magnitude quake that shook the area or the 4.7-magnitude one that shook the area in 1999, it’s probably only a matter of time until “the big one” hits and sends tons of toxic nuclear waste downhill, right into Vegas. And while I’m a huge fan of the idea that our everyday citizens could possibly be turned into hordes of Toxic Avenger-like beings roaming the strip and downtown looking to fight crime and rid the city of the homeless, the odds ...

Meet Sully Erna and his softer side

Allison Duck | Tue, Jun 3, 2008 (10:24 a.m.)

Maybe if Sully Erna of Godsmack had been my music teacher, I would have paid a little more attention in class. Surely if Erna had dropped his pants during lessons, as he did during Saturday night’s show at The Joint at the Hard Rock, I would have been rapt. But even without the flash of sunburned hip, Erna’s acoustic show was a treat: two parts VH1 Storytellers and one part PSA for the power of music. Performing a blend of Godsmack songs, his original music and covers, Erna delivered an intimate performance that felt like peering into Erna’s own living room. The stage was set up with couches and coffee tables and a few lucky fans got to listen to Erna from these prized seats. GodsmackSully Erna on MySpace While Godsmack is known for their pounding drums and bass, lead vocalist Erna managed to capture the powerful sound of their ...

Wright’s laughs come in bits and pieces

Julie Seabaugh | Mon, Jun 2, 2008 (11:50 p.m.)

He’s made his name as one of the most unusual and influential comedians of the ’80s, and as Steven Wright demonstrated Sunday night at the Orleans Showroom, his Grammy nomination for last year’s I Still Have a Pony (an album over 20 years in the making) was both well-deserved and proof of his continued relevance. It’s all in the unique phrasing for the Boston native, and in keeping things succinct, and for an impressive hour and a half he delivered a far higher Laughs Per Minute ratio than any of the hopefuls yukking it up on the current incarnation of Last Comic Standing. Take, for instance, “I have a solution to the gas problem…make the gallon bigger.” “If heat rises, heaven might be hotter than hell.” “You know, the Earth is bipolar.” “Imagine Pulitzer Prize-Fighting.” “I’m addicted to placebos.” Slowly shuffling back and forth across the stage or standing with ...

Wranglers lose game, but not fans’ loyalty

John Katsilometes | Mon, Jun 2, 2008 (11:08 p.m.)

The Las Vegas Wranglers fired 27 shots at Cincinnati goalie Cedrick Desjardins tonight and he snared, stopped and batted away every one in a 4-0 victory by the visiting Cyclones before a little less than 7,000 fans at Orleans Arena. The loss likely ended the Wranglers’ hopes at winning the ECHL’s Kelly Cup, with the series moving back to Cincinnati for Game 6 and, if necessary, Game 7. But the Vegas team faces (pardon the gambling references) long odds and a stacked deck against a team that is a little bit quicker, a little more talented and a little more focused than the team from Las Vegas. Cincinnati has not lost consecutive games in the postseason yet, and it would take a monumental effort by the Wranglers to end that trend, on the road, after being shut out on its own ice in Game 5. Certainly, there will be reports ...

Job benefits include loose dress code, cultural studies

Sometimes, I'm pretty sure I have the best job in the world. I run around in my underwear with my friends and we drink ourselves into oblivion. I don't wear much more clothing at home by myself than what I wear when I'm at work, and no one is paying me at home. I really only get dressed for the commute to and from work. The real world is a menace! Perhaps my last blog item hinted that I might have a negative attitude toward this line of work, and that I'm only in it for the money. This is simply not the case. While my job is not perfect, I really do enjoy it. It's an amazing study on the many varied cultures of the world. Vegas has tourists visiting from practically every country on Earth, and I get to interview them intimately. I've learned behavioral consistencies that are ...

Scouring Las Vegas as part of a new media team

John Katsilometes | Sun, Jun 1, 2008 (2:36 p.m.)

Over the past couple of months, a lot of people have been asking me, “So, what are you doing now?” and I give them the same answer, “Paper or plastic?” Let’s see, the last time I posted a blog at LasVegasWeekly.com, the site was in its old design (which I felt was quite effective in challenging the reader to locate the information the reader was actually seeking) and I was writer-at-large for Greenspun Media Group. Then, in March, I was promoted to editor of Las Vegas Life magazine. Three weeks later the company reorganized its magazine titles, and Life was put to rest. One day I will write a novel about my experience about my days as Life editor, which will read something like this: “One morning I was busy editing and organizing the May issue of Las Vegas Life and … THE END!” It’s been something of a thrill ...