CineVegas honor roll grows

Oscar-winner Anjelica Huston -- a third-generation member of Hollywood royalty -- joins fellow actors James Caan, Don Cheadle, Viggo Mortensen, Rosario Dawson and Sam Rockwell on the 10th annual CineVegas film festival's lineup of honorees.

Individually and collectively, the performers' "brazen careers mirror the innovative and uninhibited films the festival shows each year," said Trevor Groth, CineVegas' artistic director.

CineVegas runs June 12-21 at the Palms' Brenden Theatres and other venues, including Planet Hollywood, where honorees will receive their awards at a June 20 poolside reception.

But the award-winners also will participate in open-to-the-public conversations at the Palms during the festival's closing days, June 20 and 21.

Huston, an Oscar-winner for 1985's "Prizzi's Honor" (directed by her legendary, Oscar-winning father John Huston), will receive the festival's top honor, the Marquee Award. Her upcoming movie "Choke" will be shown at this year's CineVegas.

Caan, who headlined the NBC drama "Las Vegas" for four seasons, earns the festival's Vegas Icon Award, sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which salutes an actor "who embodies the spirit of Las Vegas and who has delivered memorable performances in films and shows set in the city." (In addition to "Las Vegas," Caan's made-in-Vegas credits range from the 1992 comedy "Honeymoon in Vegas" to the 1974 drama "The Gambler.")

Cheadle, who leads the festival's Half-Life Award-winners, also is a Vegas kind of guy, with "Ocean's Eleven" and its two sequels and his turn as Sammy Davis Jr. in HBO's "The Rat Pack." He also has had standout roles in "Devil in a Blue Dress," "Hotel Rwanda," "Traffic" and "Talk to Me," among many others.

Rounding out the Half-Life Award-winners, honored for their careers thus far:

• Dawson, whose credits range from "Rent" to "Sin City." Her latest, "Explicit Ills," won top honors at this year's SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, and will screen at CineVegas.

• Mortensen, who scored his first Oscar nomination this year for "Eastern Promises," after appearances in almost 40 movies, from his 1985 film debut in "Witness" to starring triumphs in "A History of Violence" and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

• Rockwell, whose acclaimed performances range from "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" to "The Green Mile." He appears in the CineVegas selection "Choke," which also features Huston.

Previous CineVegas award-winners include Ann-Margret, Nicolas Cage, Laurence Fishburne, Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Hopper (who now chairs CineVegas' Creative Advisory Board), Holly Hunter, David Lynch, Helen Mirren, Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn, Dean Stockwell, Christopher Walken and Robin Wright-Penn.

Tickets for honoree discussions and other CineVegas events are available online at www.cinevegas.com or by calling (888) 883-4278.

Contact reporter Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0272.