MOVIES: ‘Saint John’ goes marching in at CineVegas
A genuine made-in-Vegas indie kicks off the 11th annual CineVegas film festival, which runs June 10-15 at the Palms' Brenden Theatres.
The festival's opening-night premiere, "Saint John of Las Vegas," stars Steve Buscemi, pictured at right, as a former gambler trying to go straight as an Albuquerque insurance investigator — until he's asked to shadow the agency's lone-wolf superstar, who's been dispatched to Las Vegas to check out a wheelchair-bound stripper's $200,000 claim for lost lap-dance wages. Among the only-in-Vegas characters they encounter on their road trip: the stripper, naked militants, a demonic junkyard owner and a character known as Smitty the Flaming Torch. Sarah Silverman, Romany Malco, Peter Dinklage, Tim Blake Nelson, John Cho and Emmanuelle Chriqui co-star for director Hue Rhodes.
"The independent film industry is going through a transitional period right now as innovative filmmakers must find new ways to get movies made and seen, which is why CineVegas is thrilled to open our 2009 festival with 'Saint John of Las Vegas,' " comments Trevor Groth, the festival's artistic director. "Not only is it a fantastic comedy with a phenomenal cast," he says, "but it was made by a forward-thinking company, IndieVest, whose revolutionary approach to film financing and distribution just might be laying the groundwork for future generations."
The festival lineup also features eight "Jackpot Premieres," world premieres competing for the festival's $10,000 feature film Grand Jury Award, ranging from "The Asylum Seekers" (in which six people try to escape modern life) to "Daylight," about a pregnant woman caught in a life-or-death situation.
Other CineVegas world premieres: "Easier With Practice," inspired by a writer's comedic long-distance relationship with a mystery woman; "Etienne!," the tale of a beloved dwarf hamster and his devoted owner; "Godspeed," an Alaska-set thriller; "Mercy, " a contemporary romance written by and starring previous CineVegas award-winner Scott Caan; "Patriotville," a modern tale of greed, lies and romance; and "Redland," about a family's struggle to survive the Great Depression.
"Our narrative competition this year represents the kind of aesthetic and thematic diversity that is alive and well in the American independent arena," Groth notes. "Ranging from an exquisitely rendered period piece to a subversive political satire to love stories between a man and a woman as well as a boy and his hamster, they represent the kind of uninhibited and adventurous filmmaking that CineVegas has long championed."
In addition to world and U.S. premieres of features and documentaries, CineVegas also features advance screenings of high-profile films, new independent features and shorts and features from Nevada filmmakers. (Stay tuned to the Review-Journal — and the Vegas Voice blog — for complete festival details.)
Additional information about CineVegas is available at (888) 883-4278 or online at www.cinevegas.com, where movie fans may register for a new contest to win all-access passes to the festival by watching Jackpot Premiere trailers at www.cinevegas.com/jackpot. The contest continues through May 4.
The complete Jackpot Premiere lineup:
"Asylum Seekers" (USA, 2008)
Director: Rania Ajami
Cast: Pepper Binkley, Bill Dawes, Judith Hawking, Daniel Irizarry, Stella Maeve, Camille O’Sullivan, Lee Wilkof
Six people on the verge of a breakdown decide to check themselves into an insane asylum, only to discover there is just room for one.
"Daylight" (USA, 2009)
Director: David Barker
Cast: Alexandra Meierhans, Michael Godere, Aidan Redmond, Ivan Martin
When pregnant newlywed Irene is violently taken hostage, she confronts the truth about her marriage - and finds a state of unexpected grace - in her fight to survive.
"Easier with Practice" (USA, 2009)
Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez
Cast: Brian Geraghty, Kel O’Neill, Marguerite Moreau, Jeanette Brox, Jenna Gavigan
While on a road trip to promote his unpublished novel, Davy Mitchell finds himself falling for a mysterious phone sex caller.
"Etienne! " (USA, 2009)
Director: Jeff Mizushima
Cast: Richard Vallejos, Megan Harvey, Caveh Zahedi, Rachel Stolte, Solon Bixler
After Richard's best and only friend, a dwarf hamster named Etienne, is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decides to take his pocket pet on a bicycle road trip up the California coast to show it the world before he must put it to sleep.
"Godspeed" (USA, 2009)
Director: Robert Saitzyk
Cast: Joseph McKelheer, Cory Knauf, Courtney Halverson, Ed Lauter, Jesse Ward, Hallock Beals
An intense, dramatic thriller set in the lingering light of the Alaskan midnight sun.
"Mercy" (USA, 2008)
Director: Patrick Hoelck
Cast: Scott Caan, Wendy Glenn, Troy Garity, Erika Christensen, Alexie Gilmore and John Boyd, with Dylan McDermott and James Caan
A successful but cynical young writer writes about love but does not really believe in it until he meets Mercy, who turns his world upside down.
"Patriotville" (USA, 2008)
Director: Talmage Cooley
Cast: Justin Long, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Rob Corddry, Keir O’Donnell, Missi Pyle
An idealistic museum manager and a beautiful troublemaker go to war with a corrupt mayor to stop a casino from being built on their town’s “historic” battlefield.
"Redland" (USA, 2008)
Director: Asiel Norton
Cast: Lucy Adden, Mark Aaron, Sean Thomas, Kathan Fors, Bernadette Murray, Toben Seymour
As a family struggles to survive in rural isolation during the Great Depression, their daughter's secret affair begins a journey into the unknown.
