CINEVEGAS APPEARS TO be 're-branding' from the Most Dangerous Film Festival to Sin City's Sin Dance, Sindance or SinDance, spelling and spacing differs, depending to which webpage you click on the Festival's Web site. Truthfully, I wondered how long it would take to get to this obvious labeling. The sinful label would certainly give off mixed messages, but would allow simple answers for Artistic Director Trevor Groth and Associate Director of Programming, Mike Platt. They both work summer and autumn at the Sundance Film Festival. For a few years now, winter and spring, they have been helping Robin and Danny Greenspun to take CineVegas to the next level, which they have been working diligently to accomplish.
Why they would take a perfectly good Festival with a perfect name and 'brand' it sinful is beyond me. I realize America is driven by commercial value, but isn't the mere fact the Festival is in Las Vegas invitation enough? Do we need to be that redundant in our advertising?
Another thing—the level of philanthropy associated with the Festival is so high quality, it seems almost sinful to change the brand from CineVegas, or even nickname the Festival. Sin Dance isn't the right impression, when so much un-sinful stuff occurs during the festival. Robin Greenspun, the Festival President, supports the fine works of the Hollywood Heart Program, a non-profit group providing hope, education, arts, recreation, and teamwork for at-risk youth.
Robin hosted the Hollywood Heart reception during the Festival at DKNY in the Forum Shops. It went nicely, hors d'oeuvres served were tasty and the beverages included water, wine and a newcomer in the flavored water vendors. Glacéau produces vitamin water, a natural, juice base bottled water for what they refer to as a nutrient-enhanced water beverage. The sweetener is not high fructose corn syrup, but crystalline fructose. Added vitamins and natural herbs propose alternatives to energy drinks and calming drinks. They taste great. We were all well hydrated the entire festival. Glacéau crews staffed every gathering, party, after-party and event and Robin's reception for Hollywood Heart.
Another philanthropically related event was the Ocean's Thirteen premier, broadly linked to International Rescue Committee, benefiting "Not On Our Watch/Darfur," a project near and dear to George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and Jerry Weintraub. This type of event intends to call global attention to 'mass atrocities…to generate humanitarian assistance…for the vulnerable, marginalized and displaced."
These types of events at CineVegas Film Festival as well as the Honoree Conversations, etc. just don't deserve such a minimizing nickname as Sin Dance.
Anyway, I like the name CineVegas.
On to the best of the Fest—to me. The feature-length film offerings for 2007 were on the whole good, and too many to catch in triple session programming. As the Shorts Segments are sprinkled throughout the week, with minimal repetition, it is hard to catch very many of the feature-length films as well. The ones I did catch were La Vie En Rose, Phantom Love, In The Land of Merry Misfits, On The Road With Judas, You Kill Me, Careless and the excellent documentary, Sun Dogs.
La Vie En Rose topped my shorter list, of screened feature length films, as the Festival's best film. The story was about a musical icon of the early twentieth century—Edith Piaf. Piaf was a person readily filling the category of a larger-than-life personality. Her short life was immense historically. Read my separate review.
Phantom Love tops my list of 'most mind-numbing film' of all time. There were few moments when I wanted to sit another moment…it was a constant struggle to not bolt from the auditorium. Yet, the framing, and cinematography, the magic of black and white lensing and the odd juxtapositions of this woman's life with an octopus, a supposed symbolic, obviously well fed, medium-size constrictor snake in the hallway, the black cats and dogs, all were mesmerizing. The woman herself was stunningly gorgeous. The moral of the story was important, thought provoking, as human rights and abuse are needful of constant public examination.
I just needed more of an actual story in this story, tighter editing—something. I can't imagine how a person could have a life like that, even a damaged personality, in a dysfunctional family. I would never be able to be so little occupied, or hold still that long, even if I were contemplating the state of the Universe. Get a life comes to mind. Show the rest of your family how to do the same—anything besides inertia and deadness.
In The Land Of The Merry Misfits live social deviants and unpopular members of a small town in a rural setting. They are proud descendents of the Middle Ages court jester, mentally challenged street people, devious bad lords, knightly men and beautiful, willful royalty linked women. Maria Menounos received, during the festival, a Brenden Celebrity Star from Johnny Brenden. Her persona as a famous, worldwide entertainment correspondent netted her that star in the lobby. She served as Executive Producer for the '…Misfits' (and was also one of the Producers). She got John Waters to narrate the story, which was the obvious draw for us. Social popularity being a personal irritation to Mr. Waters (Hairspray, Desperate Living), the premise of this movie probably seemed right up his alley, and there you are. This film is no Hairspray.
Keven Undergaro, the Director of '…Misfits' wasn't able to get more than a self-conscious performance out of Doug Sherin, the lead male. Arthur or Robin Hood or a combination thereof he's not. Danielle Weeks and Undergaro did well enough in their roles. The ensemble cast has the feel of theatre, and if you like that, or you are a John Waters fan, you'll be fine with this comedy. I'm always a pushover for graphics using old treasure maps or caricature maps of towns with roads drawn in, buildings not to scale, with big signs and arrows, etc. This device was used thoroughly and gave balance to this dramatic comedy.
On The Road With Judas was a gem of a film, using an interesting device of stories within stories, of a book's characters, the screen version characters, the writer's vision, all looped together around a talk show host's coverage of the writer and his works. To really enjoy this unusual method of storytelling, relax and wait for it to start making sense—it will, if you pay attention—all the way to the end.
This unique story centers on two boys in high school learning thievery for fun, and then as adults perfecting techniques and becoming thieves as an avocation to supplement their entrepreneurial business. Their business crew is clever and hardworking. The ensemble cast played well together, lead by Aaron Ruell and JJ Lask himself. Judas is small and smart, his best friend tall and more noticeable, which lands him in prison, "temporarily." He doesn't rat on Judas and does the time without question. Lask adds in a girl for a peek at how socially numb Judas reacts, to mix things up.
The entire film worked, on many levels, including the acting, cinematography and editing. JJ Lask, Writer/Director of this film adaptation of his 2002 novel, whipped up a fascinating and elegantly fashioned bit of intellectual explorations. Quite witty and relevant. Ben Starkman, a lifelong friend of Lask's and fellow award-winning editor of commercials, did a fantastic job of lensing this complex, location-rich and day/night filming endeavor. Aaron Ruell adroitly delivers an intriguing Judas. I hope that this will come to a local art house so you can catch it. Otherwise, buy it or rent it on Netflix…Lask's original work is definitely a great addition to any discerning film collector's library.
You Kill Me, as the closing night premiere, wrapped up the Festival for me with this totally satisfying final screening experience. I wrote a separate review, as it was a great film noir with a romantic twist, destined for wide circulation in art houses.
Sir Ben Kingsley is the lead in You Kill Me, and was one of several Honorees who visited Vegas for the Festival including Charlize Theron, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Mark Newell. Kingsley's conversation with Elvis Mitchell was excellent. Elvis is so self-assured and knowledgeable; he makes doing an interview look effortless. If I hadn't watched others interviewing Theron and Hopkins make a mess of things, it wouldn't have been so obvious. Kingsley was relaxed and candidly visiting with Mitchell, consequently. Sitting with the audience, a few feet from him, brought Ben Kingsley to life. I don't generally follow actors, just their work. CineVegas' Conversations series of the Honorees of major CineVegas awards brings the actor into my awareness in a way even The Actor's Studio cannot. Kingsley has an engaging personality. A storyteller extraordinaire, impishly delivering impersonations of whoever was in the story, from Lord Attenborough (Ghandi Producer) to Hopkins, he tops any impersonator we have in town. Watching him take on the role of Frank in You Kill Me, screened a half an hour after the Conversation, reminded me of how great a transition it is for the actor going into character.
Careless
Tiresome is the first word that comes to mind when wending my way back through recollections of this film—except for Tony Shalhoub's performance as the oddball father. Colin Hanks (Tenacious D, King Kong, Orange County) portrays Wiley Roth, a clueless lunk head with no particular goals, distinctions or interests—which makes it pretty hard to care what happens to him or why he does what he does, which is fairly idiotic screenwriting, really. Wiley E. Coyote he's not.
We must slog through a feature length amount of time for the filmmakers to elaborate on a story better left as a short. The story takes the low road to parody psychics, taxidermists, police officers and mysterious neighbors whose behavior is odd to Wiley, so they must be drug dealers. He is in a constant state of bewilderment and incompetence, which makes me not want to be around him—ever. Shalhoub's character and the two supporting roles make for some shining moments.
Fran Kranz plays Mitch, Wiley's savvy friend with a baffling attachment to Wiley. His performance played well to Hanks' straight man. Wiley's social ineptitude does not adequately explain his ridiculous inability to deal with the occurrence of a severed fingertip underfoot in his kitchen.
Mitch gets Wiley to tag along to a party. Bored, Wiley wanders out to the patio and meets a girl who is supposed to fill the bill as a love interest. As a romantic comedy, this story just doesn't quite hit the mark. You could take a shoehorn to this movie and still not get the romance to fit into this relationship. Doing her best with an admittedly strange role, Rachel Blanchard brings grit to Cheryl, the nine-fingered woman, who is inexplicably at this very same party. Their initial contact at the party was the only time the relationship worked, especially as a comedic one. That scene played with perfect timing.
Sun Dogs is a documentary about a group of people in Jamaica, headed by Danny Melville, a resident with an odd idea of how to blend a business and another brand for Jamaica a la Olympic quality Bobsled sports team. There is a separate review forthcoming, as a few lines is wholly insufficient to the social value of this film.
CineVegas 2007—Shorts Segments
What is a Short? Why Do You Want to Watch
An Overview
This year’s shorts entries ranged from the lofty heights of artistry to the depths of tedium, and we sat through them all. Short films demonstrate the command of the various crafts, which comprise a filmmaking team’s contributions to the overall film. The producer(s) and Director(s) are responsible for the overall value of the film, the storytelling relevance and the quality of each of the elements. If a story is poor, but the cinematography splendid, we feel we can rate the overall importance of the team’s work by evaluating the separate elements to give credit where credit is due.
CineVegas groups shorts into segments. There are short films submitted by filmmakers the world over. Each year the shorts accepted are loosely associated into Shorts 1, Shorts 2 and Shorts 3. They ‘label’ the segments with catchy words, which may or may not give you an idea of what to expect, or engage you enough to buy the ticket for it. These segments are goodie bags full of stuff, just as it is at a party—you wonder what’s in the bag. Most of us want to know, so we look.
Four locals sub-categories of the shorts entries are: Nevada Filmmakers, not enrolled with the local schools, and the local school film departments—the UNLV Showcase (University), the CCSN Showcase (College) and The Arts Institute of Las Vegas works, which include works from Art Institutes in North America.
The three judges live in Las Vegas: Mitch Truswell, NBC Channel 3 News anchor; Emily Jillette’s career spans film, television and commercials; Gary Nelson’s 50 year background as a producer and director of big and small screen productions nets him guest lecture gigs at UNLV to punctuate his retirement here in Las Vegas.
Jennifer Aniston and Andrea Buchanan’s Room 10 received the CineVegas Short Film Jury Prize. David Schmoeller’s Spanking Lessons received the CineVegas Nevada Short Film Jury Prize. The jury also acknowledged BITCH, Equal Opportunity, Year of the Dog and the local film Danuta with Honorable Mentions.
A new category this year took the form of a CineVegas contest, ‘Direct The Next VEGAS. COMMERCIAL’ winnowing out five finalists from hundreds of submissions. The contest had a separate panel of judges. The five finalists were flown in from different parts of the country to present their VEGAS.com commercial to a panel, which included celebrity judge Dennis Hopper, performers Gordie Brown, Brent Barrett and Nathan Burton, CineVegas executives and VEGAS.com honchos. They screened at a Festival Afterparty at Planet Hollywood. The topical ideas for these special commercial shorts also ranged from ugh to witty. Two entries hailed from the state of New York ("Bingo" and "Day Off") and were rather dull. The Philly entry, "Sweater Vest" was clever until the last three seconds of BBQ-sauce-dominated visuals.
The Nevada entry, "VEGAS.com Saves Lives" was also the only animated finalist, and well thought out, but the voice actors incoherent lines detracted from the overall effect. The title was clear enough, but the commercial itself was muddled and not all that apparent was the concept of going to Vegas ‘saved lives.'
My personal favorite in the Commercial Contest, was the Venice, CA entry "The All Nighter" featuring a young man walking up Sunset Boulevard carrying a shiny, brass ‘stripper’s pole,' which he would set down whenever he spotted a young lovely, encouraging the girl to dance with the pole, while he watched, drink in hand—the tag line is ‘up the odds,' which implies that his idea has an excellent chance of producing results if he tried it in Vegas, inarguable and very appealing without the downer quality of the other topics. Director of this ‘cutie,' Brian Lazzaro, received the contest reward $5K check. He will return to direct a national commercial for VEGAS.com
CineVegas 2007—Shorts Segments
9th Annual Festival
Shorts 1 — People, Loving People
"Business Johnson" gave a smart bit on male bantering. "The Delaware Project" made me uncomfortable. "Dunny" was plain strange.
"Equal Opportunity" was a darkly comedic look at ethnicity issues in an unorthodox way. Various people of obvious ethnic heritage spoke to each other in very deprecatory language and behavior, such as "You smooth, shiny, long-haired…(can't print the rest)" Asian woman," etc. There was a dwarf in a wheel chair that was the boss and the break room door had a sign posted on the Human Rights of the Individual." The film was endorsed by the ACLU, for its direct approach to the ongoing difficulties of the work place.
"Everything Will Be OK" was a very weird animation. "Grammy's" was good. "The Hunter," based on the Tobias Wolf 'Hunters in the Snow' was intriguing. "Lola" was about a woman having an affair while her husband was temporarily disabled. This was not an enjoyable flick.
Shorts 2 — Splatter Time
Before we get into the gore implied by 'splatter,' I want to mention the distinctive films, not even remotely deserving of getting lumped in with the 'drek' of this segment, regardless of the also implied 'scatter gun' grouping of topics.
'Aftermath on Meadowlark Lane' finds a mother and her two sons on the side of the road after their car rolls. As they try to adjust to their brush with death, the boys tell her there is a question they have always wanted to ask, an explanation for why one was dealt with differently than the other. Truly humorous, as the premise is pedestrian until we discover what the question was, and then even funnier, the answers. The twist ending signals a bright future for the filmmakers, the Zellner Brothers. The Zellner family and one other, Pam Bush, comprise the full cast for this short but witty story.
An Asian entry, 'Year of the Dog' exhibited the flair and polish of mainstream feature-length films (subtitled, as most spoke Mandarin Chinese). Kevin Lau directed a cast of skilled actors in this stylish exploration of a child's long-term and lethal reaction to a family tragedy, again with a twist ending leaving the question of generational revenge in rival families.
'His Eye is on the Sparrow' was a preview of the filmmaker's intent to do a retrospective documentary on the African American aspect of the depression. The footage was premium.
A peculiar narrative, with undertones of sex, depicted a possible state of mind for the schizophrenic. 'Rabbit Stories' was noteworthy, its explorations, a la 'A Beautiful Mind,' continue the dialogue of the mysterious mental state of schizophrenia.
The rest of this grouping of shorts was aptly labeled Splatter Time. It would seem that the current set of filmmakers believes themselves reduced to bodily functions as their sole category of topics from which to draw. Next time CineVegas uses the word splatter, I'll consider myself forewarned, and spend time doing anything I've been putting off under the pretext of time constraints.
Calvin Reeder's 'The Rambler' was just plain awful. Possibly he was attempting to secure a Guinness World Record for when, where and what a character could spew, and for how long, and how much. I mean, oh my gorsh.
Visually stunning, 'Filthy Food' nonetheless goes for the same effect, in a parody, I hope, of pornography. This one is simply not to be believed—that T. Arthur Cottam felt a need to make it is hard enough to 'swallow,' but that CineVegas chose to screen it should be chalked up to gratuitous preening. Technique, however skilled, didn't fill the bill enough. Nor did the accomplished skills of Annie Terrazzo, (who along with the food comprised the entire cast). Inclusion of this film cannot be excused. He should have been asked to do another short, exhibiting his skills, but not his unschooled eye or interest in deviant behavior. Silly stupid does not a movie make…even a short.
'The Caress of the Creature' was filmed on location where 'Creature of the Lagoon' was filmed years ago. A graduate student Stewart McAlpine wrought this work as his thesis submission. Thematically, it probably earned him his doctorate, though it would have been on technique, not content. As an attempt on parody of construction workers, real estate developers, and citizenry reactions to someone being g-a-y lent a juvenile feel to the scripting.
'Bomb' had some real moments, because of the young actors Melissa Leo and John Magaro.
Sadly, I had to sacrifice screening the entry from Spain, 'Avant Petalos Grillados,' as the press is not assured a seat in any CineVegas screening, and I needed to exit early to 'get in line' for the subsequent UNLV shorts segment.
Shorts 3 — Still Lives
'Room 10,' Jennifer Aniston's astonishingly masterful storytelling effort was exceptional. Kris Kristofferson turned in what had to be the performance of his acting career. Possibly his expressive character happened in front of Anniston's camera because of her acting background, her knowledge either coaxing it out of him, or simply allowing him the necessary length of time for it to happen in front of her camera. Either way, his performance unquestionably inspired more than just the embittered nurse to see life, marriage and relationships anew. Good for you, Aniston!
'How She Slept At Night' was the most entertaining 2-D action, with photo stills I've ever screened. The narrative is deadpan, the premise witty, the graphics incredibly communicative, considering they are just some scribbles of elusive images on pages, filmed repetitively. Lilli Carre rendered a sparkling 4 minutes of sleepy-time humor.
I was unable to screen the other shorts in this segment.
CineVegas 2007
Local Filmmaker Shorts Segments
Local Filmmakers
UNLV Shorts
There were 19 student entries and Francisco Menendez' own version of a CineVegas Festival trailer, 'Episode 57,' which fell short of the mark. The lame premise was not aided by the wooden acting, nor was the odd extension after the murder of the birthing child. Few of the students chose any higher goals.
Christopher Ordaz exhibited brilliant insight and compassion with 'Danuta.' His tenderly depicted slice-of-life look at a local widow trying to make ends meet with odd jobs like dressing as a clown, holding a sign at the curb of a housing development, or taking tickets at a showroom door while pleasantly visiting with the people streaming into the showroom. She is also trying to cope with the loss of her lifelong companion and husband. It is heartbreaking, and a bit scary to think how often this happens to older people, unprepared for staying alive beyond their projections. Ordaz rightfully, received an honorable mention from the judges.
Another standout film, 'Operations,' featured the UNLV Diving Team. The diving sequences were laced together into a lyrical tapestry set to music. Bravo Dave Christiansen! West McDowell's 'The Journal' was overlong, but engaging. For some much-needed style, the UNLV entry, 'The Maltese Hamster,' was a nicely turned out send up of film noir. G. Scott Thompson did a good job, and there was some surprisingly quality acting.
Joel Schoenbach's 'Chet Lightning: Earth Wizard' earns points as the funniest version of a boyhood fantasy set to film, although the sound and cinematography were quite poor. Another, Ian Anderson's 'Taggers' was overlong, (editing is an art), but the payoff was worth it. More variations like the barbershop scene would have given him the added footage he apparently wanted. As a short, it wasn't short enough.
'Stalked,' 'Reiko,' and 'Ghosts' relied on simple horror which is OK, if they had gotten the lighting right, although another filmmaker said it most likely was the projectionist with 'Stalked,' as he had seen it properly projected. As it had a clever ending, it would be nice to see it again, properly projected.
'Lactose Intolerant' was intolerable.
Nevada Filmmaker
CineVegas programmers give local filmmakers separation from the pack with this special category, which allows them a showcase separate from the Shorts 1–3 segments, or the local students, and consequently, a special judging category. David Schmoeller received that award this year with his excellent satire of the human condition, 'Spanking Lessons,' a very thought provoking and laugh-out-loud comedic work.
'CondomNation' is another satire of the human condition, with a poignant twist ending, as the young woman realizes the importance of life, regardless of orderly, tidy, controlled lifestyles. Lighting and direction, along with the musical score, allow this film a big-screen feel and look. The directors, Alberto Lombardo and Bethany Bassler did a fine job. Bassler was excellent as the lead.
'Sally Peppers: Neighborhood Detective' is this year's entry for promising young filmmaker Jason Leinwand. Lighting, editing acting reflected Jason's attention to detail. Molly Bernard is evolving into an actor with big-screen possibilities. Although only one year has passed since first seeing her, at age 17, in a 48 Hour Film Project short, she has leaped forward in her composure. She delivered a comedic Nancy Drew-type upgraded by Leinwand's story with modern skills such as martial arts, and an inclination to do the deed herself, rather than seek police for closure on difficult situations encountered while solving crimes in her 'hood.
'The Bet' was an interesting idea, although had not the filmmaker pointed out the necessity of closely following the TV screen action, the whole film becomes hopelessly murky and confused, as was obvious from some of the questions in the Q&A—they obviously didn't watch the TV while the actors did their thing, as instructed. And, would anyone, without instruction have caught the premise? The filmmaker's will need to keep that in mind with their next project, or always be there to intro their films.
'Lowell Gleason Wears Glasses' lampoons the silly dislikes or hatreds that people nurse along, such as whether someone is a redhead. Adam and Evan Nix not only guide Doug Ecks to a singularly standout performance, their skillful helming gave the whole story a professional feel.
'Recently Deceased' is a bizarre film, with qualities such as the lead actor's screen presence, editing, lighting, and the overall somewhat interesting premise. Unseen by me were elements earning Chris McInroy a cult following of loudly applauding students.
Totally lost on me were any redeeming values possibly present in the remaining shorts in this category, 'My Wet Brother,' 'The Mark' and '13 Ways To Die At Home.'
CCSN
CCSN Film Department professor John Marsh prepares a DVD each year of all the entries for the college showcase. This shifts the burden of the lighting and sound from the projectionist to the filmmakers. These elements are even, thusly allowing a viewing of the students' skills unsullied by projection issues, including the wait time for each entry. We were finished in a record 67 minutes, while being enabled to view 14 entries!
Blake Hillbourne, also in last year's showcase, is a young filmmaker with an outstanding eye for the elements of film. He prepared the overview CCSN promotional 'commercial.' It was sufficiently skilled to pass muster with Marsh, and his Edit 2 has become the college program's official logo. Blake elegantly demonstrated he could get work making commercials.
First up were the PG category films. 'The Sandwich,' by Steve Frey was a comedic look at student life. 'Si Se Puede' was a potent documentary hello from the Hispanic community. The well-edited footage of last year's six-mile walk along The Strip should earn Manny Sanchez a foothold in documentaries and news coverage, as well.
Another documentary, 'The Break In' was done with flair. Greg Benoit's skilled depiction, including archival footage, was about the theft of his final school project. Don't laugh—this may not be a lame student excuse. I was on a location shoot in Boulder City, where in fact, footage shot the first day was handed off to the seamstress for safekeeping, which is a euphemism for hijacking a shoot. The remaining shoot was similarly ridiculous, and ultimately the footage was held hostage at a post shop in LA. I have still not heard the outcome of this power struggle over footage of a Stephen King non-horror short.
'Canned' was Shawn McDaniel's drama exhibiting his control of color palette lighting and editing. 'Cutting Fools was Mike Lui-Kwan's excellent documentation, heavily edited to an immaculate 2 1/2 minute short of life in Editing 1 at the college.
Advanced works with increased risks were the 8 entries in the R rated portion of the Showcase.
Out front by several lengths was Adam Nix's 'Boots and Socks' documentary of a mid-twentieth century nudist, farming with a bunch of other nudists, in southeastern Oregon. Outstanding footage of relatives and locals sharing anecdotes of this group leader, along with filmed heirloom photos of the era, were tightly scrunched into an engaging 7 minute peek at these people, and their lead farmer who happened to be Nix's relative. The family trip to Oregon, in which Nix kept on working, was to visit a great uncle. The heritage footage is all the more valuable, as this uncle caught it in a car crash three weeks after the Nix family vacation visit. Nix's diligence as a filmmaker on vacation is to be commended. His brother, Evan, helped him polish and edit this professional look documentary.
'The Foreseer' was a skillfully edited trailer for Kelly Copeland's upcoming sci-fi fantasy. It did the job for most, who expressed an interest in seeing the film when she finishes it. 'Who's Easy' is a 1-minute comedy about life as the Vid 1 college videography crew.
'Untitled Documentary' was a masterful edit of some of the footage Manny Sanchez caught of fellow classman Copeland's 'The Foreseer' shoots. Having been on one or two shoots, I found the framing (perspectives) as unique as Sanchez' on-the-scene cinematography done in his own 'Si Se Puede,' which gave a sense of immediacy and physical involvement to the viewer.
'Opera Daisy,' by Ron Rierson, although not my cup of tea, was certainly visually provocative. Rierson's other entry 'Air Conditioned Meat Prior To State Vector Collapse' may or may not have filled the bill as a professionally rendered piece, as I was too offended to focus. Another in the skilled work-which-I-personally-didn't-need-to-screen was 'Ghost In The Doll,' a nevertheless haunting look at addiction, even though Mike Edmonds couldn't tell the story without a vomiting scene.
A film that played like a comedy, but hadn't started out that way apparently, was 'Life in Vegas.' Director Garrett Hammel skewed his filmic survey of young people to a negative view of Vegas. As a Las Vegan, I am familiar with the singularly difficult position in which we find ourselves, living separate from the shenanigans and prurient nature of our neighbor, Vegas, a country onto itself. I can only hope the young students get out and find Las Vegas and its people and culture.
Art Institute of Las Vegas
The students at the Art Institute are learning graphical arts, which are displayed adequately in the entries for this showcase of Las Vegas students, as well as others from other Art Institutes elsewhere.
Reviews are © Carol Lane Patterson and reprinted with permission.
