CineVegas screening series hits the road for L.A.

Las Vegas' CineVegas film festival throws itself an early 10th birthday party with an April screening series in Los Angeles.

"CineVegas: 10 Years on the Edge," will run Friday nights throughout April at Los Angeles' Silent Movie Theatre, showcasing 10 movies from the festival's decade-long history -- and spotlighting such annual sections as Area 52 (devoted to offbeat offerings) and La Proxima Ola (a showcase for new Mexican cinema).

"This series will allow filmgoers the rare chance to see some of the films they may have missed at the festival, or favorites that they'd like to enjoy all over again," Trevor Groth, CineVegas' artistic director, said in a news release.

The series kicks off Friday with back-to-back showings of 1971's "The Last Movie," written and directed by Dennis Hopper, who chairs CineVegas' Creative Advisory Board. "The Last Movie" first played CineVegas in 2003, when Hopper won the festival's Marquee Award.

Screenings continue April 11 with the dark comedy "The Living Wake" (a 2007 CineVegas world premiere) at 7:30 p.m., "Trona," a 2005 U.S. premiere set in the title desert town, at 10 p.m. and "The Nest," an Area 52 selection from 2004, at midnight.

The April 18 lineup features the award-winning 2007 world premiere "All God's Children Can Dance," based on Haruki Mirakami's short story, at 7:30 p.m., plus the horror comedy "Bubba Ho-Tep," with Bruce Campbell as a geriatric Elvis, which premiered at 2002's CineVegas and shows at 10 p.m. At midnight, "Garbanzo Gas," a 2007 Area 52 selection.

A final trio rounds out the screening series April 25: the 2007 U.S. premiere of the teen drama "Loren Cass," plus "Bad Habits (Malos Habitos)," an award-winning U.S. premiere, part of the festival's La Proxima Ola, and the science-fiction thriller "Radiant," a 2005 world premiere.

The Silent Movie Theatre is located at 611 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles. Tickets (priced at $10 each) are available by telephone at 992-7979 (CineVegas) or (323) 655-2510 (Silent Movie Theatre); more details also may be found online at www.cinevegas.com or www.silentmovietheatre.com.