Director of 2009’s big Vegas movie lauds city as film site

Heather Graham and director Todd Phillips are in town, promoting the DVD launch of this year's big Vegas movie, "The Hangover."

Thursday night, they private-partied at Caesars club Pure.

Phillips told me he hopes to shoot a sequel next summer -- but "quite honestly, it probably doesn't take place in Vegas."

"We don't necessarily want to repeat the idea. I'm all about reality in comedy, and I don't know that in reality, these guys would ever come back to Vegas. They had a real hard time here."

Phillips was in town recently with Robert Downey Jr. and "Hangover" star Zach Galifianakis. The trio just wrapped "Due Date," set in the Grand Canyon. They'd helicopter to Vegas for breaks and stay at Caesars again.

I said to Phillips: "Whoa, Robert Downey Jr. in Vegas; that must mean he did this, that and the other."

"Robert's not like that," Phillips assured me. "Robert stays in his room and gets to bed, and works out."

The director said he owes Vegas a debt of gratitude for being so welcoming and making shooting easy, thanks to Caesars Palace workers, police who facilitated public shots, and everyone in the "upper-upper levels" of Vegas.

"More movies should be shot here. It was really one of the greatest cities I've gone to, to film, and I've been to many cities."

Dunham Foresees a Vegas future

Also at Caesars, ventriloquist Jeff Dunham headlines the Colosseum tonight and Saturday ($49.50-$89.50) -- and he envisions playing Vegas regularly.

"I know that someday, if I'm tired of the road and don't want to do it anymore, I have a feeling I'll end up there," he tells me.

You may think he's one of only two ventriloquists in the world -- along with Mirage headliner Terry Fator -- but he and some 400 others (about 20 work in comedy and on cruise ships; the rest are hobbyists) meet at a ventriloquist museum near Cincinnati.

"We have a ventriloquists' convention every year, as scary as that sounds," Dunham says with a laugh.

"There are people walking around talking to each other with their dummies. It is a sad thing," he jokes.

Check out the rest of our chat in the back of today's Neon section.

ALICE IN CHAINS PARTY AT STRIP CLUB

Alice in Chains rocks tonight at the Hard Rock Hotel ($39.50-$150). The official after-party is at Playground strip club complex's built-in rock club Dead Man's Hand; Alice in Chains' Jerry Cantrell is trying to turn Dead Man's into a Vegas version of L.A.'s Viper Room. ... Muse Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel ($39.50-$150) ... Andrea Bocelli Saturday at MGM Grand Garden arena ($80-$416) ... Dave Matthews tonight and Saturday at Planet Hollywood ($84) ... Larry the Cable Guy Saturday at Mandalay Bay Events Center ($39-$69) ... and find more in Neon on Megadeth, Ice Cube, Rodney Atkins, Miranda Lambert, Mannheim Steamroller, plus Garth Brooks at Wynn Las Vegas.

Doug Elfman's column appears on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. E-mail delfman@reviewjournal. com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.