Personal Favorites: The Chefs of Las Vegas (4 stars)
By Heidi Knapp Rinella
$24.95
Mix recipes with biographies, stir in beautiful color photography and bind. The result is a window into the backgrounds and tastes of the most talented chefs in Sin City. While it's not likely the casual cook is going to prepare duck breast with green-peppercorn plum sauce (Andre Rochat's fave) or grilled Amish chicken with truffled mac and cheese (Michael Mina's), it certainly gives you food for thought.
DVDs |
Totally F***ed Up (NR) (4 stars)
$24.99
In Mysterious Skin, indie mainstay Gregg Araki already has given us a film that likely will find its way into many critics' top-10 lists. Its thoroughly self-aware teenage hustler, played with great skill by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, would have felt right at home in Araki's early Slacker-like drama, Totally F***ed Up. Released in 1993, it profiles a half-dozen gay and lesbian teens as they share their pain, joy, hope and anxiety. Even a dozen years removed from its creation, it packs a lot of punch.
Gunner Palace (PG-13) (4 stars)
$24.99
Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein's engrossing documentary showcases the daily activities of the gunners of the 2-3 Field Artillery, bivouacked in the half-demolished Azimiya Palace that once belonged to Uday Hussein. Absent an overt prejudice toward the morality or political efficacy of the coalition's mission, all the film asks of us is to observe this group of professional soldiers, whose daily grind ranges from killing cracker-stealing rats and minding a poolside barbecue to raiding the homes of suspected terrorists and dodging RPGs. It isn't Apocalypse Now, but after five minutes, you wouldn't want it to be anything but Gunners Palace.
Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (PG) (2 stars)
Supercharger Edition
$19.98
Before being elevated to emeritus status in Hollywood, Peter Fonda was the go-to actor for movies exploiting such pursuits as motorcycle worship, drug abuse, street racing and leather fetishism. In Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, Fonda is an aspiring NASCAR driver who gets on the wrong side of the law with bombshell Susan George. The great thing about Fonda has always been his willingness to play second fiddle to a hot Charger or Harley. Also new to DVD is Race With the Devil, in which Fonda and the late, great Warren Oates are chased through Texas by a band of Satanists. Far better evidence of Fonda's range can be found in The Hired Hand and Ulee's Gold.
After Four, We're Under Our Host |
We knew the end of civilization was nigh with the creation of the Double Down's bacon martini. Now, there's another sign: the Boa 4.05, a cocktail made from, among other things, balsamic vinegar, and served with a rim of cracked black pepper. We have yet to sample the cuisine at Boa Steakhouse in the Forum Shops, but it is comforting to know we can simply order a drink, dump its contents over our salad and begin dining.
CLONING |
Wax On, Wax Off
With federal funding for stem-cell research at a standstill and only sneaky South Koreans experimenting with human cloning, what's a poor Las Vegan to do? Why, get a wax duplicate of yourself made, of course. For "a mere $300,000" and up (the price increases with body size), the Strip's Madame Tussauds wax museum will render your likeness and grant you immortality—as long as you don't put yourself near any open flames or outside in the summer. Wax figures of pets start at $50,000. Info: 862-7811.
LOCAL CD |
Transit (4 stars)
Transit
This straight-ahead rock quartet delivers a tight half-dozen tracks in their strong, self-titled release. Triple-threat Matthew Hedegaard's vocals are well-suited to the music supplied by Trevor Smith, Anthony Parrulli and Dell Star, a good mix of tempos and moods.