Week Of June 19, 2006 - Mon / Wed / Fri

June 19, 2006

Once again, I am wondering what to write about CineVegas after a nice time, raves from the high-end critical crowd that seems to love the festival, and a real sense of schizophrenia about what this festival really wants to be.

I think of it as Trevor Groth's summer job, as he brings his Sundance experience, taste, and interest in giving a breeding ground to films that don't seem quite ready for The Big Snow to Vegas for nine days each summer. But, like most other somewhat successful Tier 3 festivals (for example, Sundance is on Tier 1, Seattle on Tier 2), two festivals exist within the superstructure. There is the programmed festival which features (in this case) independent films from young directors, with a clear interest in product that has not been seen anywhere else. And there is the promotional festival, which is loaded with as many celebrities as can be produced and whatever crumbs can be sucked up from distributors who are already in the process of marketing these films (which is why they ring a bell with audiences).

The festival showed 28 feature length films this year and 10 were World or US premieres, plus there was one "work-in-progress," which was also a first showing. (There was an 11th US premiere listed, but the film premiered at Seattle a week before it played in Vegas.) 7 of 8 competition films were World Premieres with one US premiere.

The three premieres that were not in competition were pretty much unmitigated disasters. One was the festival opener and another was the festival closer… both starring Rebecca Stamos... both apparent disasters. Opening night's Lies and Alibis, is a film that Sony owns and is unceremoniously dumping on a handful of obligatory screens this summer. The closer, Wet Dreams, generated eye-rolling by every person I talked to who saw it and its 69 minutes are described by Film Threat's Michael Ferraro with, "Never has a film so short felt so long."

The third premiere is an Artie Lange starrer, Artie Lange's Beer League… a $3 million direct-to-DVD-on-Howard-Stern's-back film that claims it will be distributed in the fall. Ha ha ha. (And that was, apparently, the biggest laugh anyone got from this film.)

On the flip side, there is a nice selection of 7 films with actual distributors and 9 more from the festival circuit which have no distribution.

The experience of the festival, as a guest, is terrific. Accommodations at The Palms are very nice. The hospitality HQ is generous and comfortable. The festival team is energetic and work hard to help. The outside publicity team, from B|W|R Public Relations, gets everything they can out of the talent that shows up for the festival… and make no mistake, this festival draws a nice turnout. They have great support from Dennis Hopper - who I had that chance to have dinner with - along with Hopper's wife Victoria Duffy, The Insider's dessert-eating goddess Maria Menounos, festival chief Trevor Groth, and FX Feeney. Festival honorees - another part of the program - Christina Ricci, Dame Helen Mirren, and Taylor Hackford also had dinner nearby, socializing in a relaxed atmosphere. Lovely. Really.

Still, all that added up and CineVegas remains precisely a low-end Sundance. And I really don't understand what the need for that festival to exist is… especially in Las Vegas, where as fun a trip as it can be, is never going to draw a lot of serious press to witness 8 competition films, most or all of which - with due respect - are never going to resurface again.

I only saw two of the films that were awarded at the festival and much as I admire the effort, neither GI Jesus nor 5 Up 2 Down is good enough to make it onto cable television, much less into theatrical release, even an art house release. I don't want to run these films down too intensely or get into a war of words with any of its supporters, which obviously include the smart, experienced jury members, but… no. There is strong work in front and behind the camera in both films, but the bottom line… no.

G.I. Jesus (the hey-zeus pronunciation), is a story of post-traumatic stress syndrome and disappointments at home for a G.I. who signed up for Iraq in exchange for a green card. (According to Visalaw.com, it is almost impossible for an immigrant without a green card to get into the military. However, there is legislation under consideration called the DREAM Act that would, if passed, give legal immigrants without permanent residency that status if they served two yeas in the military, two years in college or 910 hours of community service. None of this is dealt with on any level by the film, but I was curious.)

The film is shot in digital video, the format which, in a conversation with FX Feeney, was noted as one of the positive grace notes of the festival. But shot-well considering, it still has the look of something that was once shot in Super 8 and is now virtually a home made movie. The performances from newcomers Joe Arquette and Patricia Mota is solid, if unsensational. (Ms. Mota's body is sensational, but even though she shows it to great advantage, it doesn't replace filmmaking issues.) Telana Lynum is a 10-year-old find who seems ready for her own Nickolodeon show. But writer-director Carl Colpaert, who has a distinguished career as a producer of indies, goes off the rails repeatedly. The film seems to be lacking any clear message, leaving only a singular story of one soldier with little context that makes sense. The film reminded me a lot of 60s and 70s one-acts that were anti-war while hiding behind a premise, like Kennedy's Children. But the theatrical nature of those plays just doesn't translate. There are movies with similar dynamics that I quite dislike - like Half Nelson - that look like masterpieces in comparison, and even those films get limited distribution, so what standard are we working with here… aside from kindness?

5 Up 2 Down refers to a week in the life of an artist/addict (Isaach De Bankole), his girl (Paz de la Huerta), and his best friend (Kirk Acevedo). And - as its award for cinematography would suggest - it is beautifully shot digital, c/o cinematographer Till Neumann. And it is very well acted by the ensemble. Like Ms. Mota, Ms. De la Huerta is a physical force of beautiful nature. Still, it just isn't half as interesting as any of the 20 other addicted artists you have seen in the last decade.

I actually liked this film more than I liked G.I. Jesus. It felt more like a fully realized movie. And the stakes were clearer. But this film isn't Gridlock'd, much less Basquiat. Good for a reel, but not a movie or a filmmaker quite ready to catch a wave.

I don't know what more to say about CineVegas. I want to encourage any festival that shows this kind of ambition. But you just keep getting smacked in the face with that "The Most Dangerous Film Festival In The World" promotional tag line and you realize that there is nothing dangerous about the festival. The greatest danger is nodding off.

Who does CineVegas serve? I don't quite know. It's not really much of a local film festival. I don't think Trevor Groth or Dennis Hopper or the many others are just doing it for an ego kick. And if its soul is to be the Sundance for movies that can't make it to Sundance's stage, so be it… but it has no business being in Vegas as that.

I thought through the weekend, "What is the most dangerous film and how would it fit into a festival?" The first answer was easy. The perfect recent film for a fest with that hook is Destricted, a group of shorts on pornography. I didn't like Sherrybaby, but it is more dangerous than anything in this line-up. If politics is dangerous, go for it with more than one or two titles. Abel Ferrara is a dangerous filmmaker. He had a film at the fest, but 3 or 4 Ferrara titles probably would have a hard time drawing a crowd the size that Christina Ricci can from the cover of Vegas magazine. If you're going to pander with an early screening of Nacho Libre, you better be showing Napoleon Dynamite, the short that led to NP and the film from the Hess' producer that was at Slamdance this last January.

Or not.

It's not really up to me. But nothing is more frustrating than seeing a festival that has so much going for it and leaves all but a handful of people who want to be strong constituents for its future cold… even though we respect the effort… even though we respect the people… even though we want to fall in love with the festival. They get a ton of journalists who are happy to come to Vegas for a weekend or for a week on the festival. But once you have them there, the next step is to grab us by the throats and to get us excited.

I was excited by just how horrible the new Beatles Cirque de Soleil show, Love, is… but more on that another time…

E Me: What movies do you find dangerous?

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