Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NORM: Casino-set film attracts Astin

Sean Astin could be leaving Middle Earth for Las Vegas. James Woods might be in LV-set movie. Comic Marty Allen recently turned 82. Mikhail Gorbachev visited dancers.

Sean Astin, a loyal hobbit in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, could be shooting a lot of Las Vegas scenes this summer.

Astin has expressed a serious interest in signing up with Las Vegas-based Insomnia Entertainment for a role in a casino-set film "Yonkers Joe."

Astin would portray an estranged Down Syndrome-stricken son of an old-school dice hustler who is trying to rekindle his relationship with his son in the middle of plotting a big casino scam.

James Woods is a front-runner for the father's role, said Trent Othick, Insomnia honcho.

Astin, whose father, Michael Tell, is the editor and publisher of the Las Vegas Israelite newspaper, just completed his latest film, "Elvis Has Left the Building," co-starring Kim Basinger. She plays a cosmetic saleswoman who was born at an Elvis concert and can't escape her links to the legend. She accidentally kills some Elvis impersonators in a traffic accident and flees the scene.

In other Insomnia-related news, Amy Adams, who shot Insomnia's "Standing Still" in Las Vegas late last year with James Van Der Beek and Colin Hanks, has been cast opposite Rob Lowe in CBS' pilot "Dr. Vegas." Joe Pantoliano, who crossed Tony Soprano one too many times in "The Sopranos," is also joining "Dr. Vegas."

The Scene and Heard

Two Hollywood heavyweights have come on board "Vegas Live! With Clint Holmes and Sheena Easton" as part of overhauling the show for its next incarnation in May with Fox affiliate KVVU-TV, Channel 5. The new executives are Dave Boone, who has written for the Academy Awards, and Layne Britton, former chief of business affairs for Dick Clark Productions. The search for a studio continues, with the Stardust reportedly a front-runner. ...

TrimSpa's deal with Jeff Beacher, the promoter who stages the "Comedy Madhouse" at the Hard Rock Hotel, is not contingent on a specific weight loss but rather is a direct sponsorship deal, said Jeff R. Jacomowitz, the Cedar Knolls, N.J.-based company's corporate public relations manager.

UPN TV's "America's Next Top Model" is holding a model search from 5-8 tonight in the Hard Rock Hotel's Montreaux Room. ...

Belated happy birthday to local comedic treasure Marty Allen, who turned 82 Tuesday. On Allen's 36th birthday, Elvis Presley was inducted into the U.S. Army and reported to Fort Chaffee, Ark., where he starting raking in $78 a month. ...

ESPN Zone at New York-New York is staging its first King of the Wings contest at noon Saturday. Regional wings-wolfing winners have 15 minutes to win the title.

Sightings

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, lunching Tuesday at America, a restaurant inside New York-New York. ... Pilar Montenegro, Latin American superstar vocalist, dining with friends Sunday at Spago in the Forum Shops at Caesars. ... Palms owner George Maloof, making an appearance Tuesday on "On Air With Ryan Seacrest." ... Former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev, meeting backstage with three Russian members of Celine Dion's dance team after Saturday's show. As Gorbachev left, a spy tells me, two of the female dancers began leaping with unbridled joy.

The Punch Line

"A great flame follows a little spark." -- Dante Alighieri

Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.