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Jun. 13, 2008
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Debut Delights

CineVegas hosts world premieres this weekend

By CAROL CLING
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Bill Pullman and Ivana Milicevic star in "Your Name Here." The movie's world premiere is scheduled for tonight.

There's something magical about a movie's world premiere.

And with 10 world premieres scheduled this weekend at the 10th annual CineVegas film festival, local movie buffs have ample opportunity to experience the magic for themselves.

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    • "It's kind of like a pregnancy test -- is it pink or is it blue?" says actor Bill Pullman, whose "Your Name Here" is one of three world premieres scheduled tonight at the Palms. "I can't wait to see it with an audience.

    Pullman plays a renowned '70s science-fiction writer who's plunged into one alternate reality after another.

    "As soon as I read it, I was in love with it," Pullman confesses in a telephone interview from his Southern California home. "I couldn't help myself."

    And even though plenty of people told him not to make "Your Name Here," Pullman says he couldn't resist another trip down the rabbit-hole of "kaleidoscoping reality stories," a genre he's been drawn to since 1990's "Brain Dead," a psychological thriller scripted by "Twilight Zone" veteran Charles Beaumont. "It's followed me -- I'm going to have my own mini-oevre," he jokes.

    Trevor Groth, CineVegas' artistic director, likens "Your Name Here" to "Being John Malkovich," as it "shifts around realities" and explores "existential questions" while taking a trip inside someone's mind.

    This entry in Pullman's "free-flowing realities" canon has a "kind of whacked" perspective "through the prism of the '70s," the actor explains. "All the characters have a kind of cheekiness."

    For actors, there's "almost no incentive" to make independent films such as "Your Name Here," Pullman explains, "because it means not a lot of pay, difficult conditions and probably questions about whether it'll ever see the light of day."

    Yet "the scripts themselves are extremely tasty," he adds, and much closer to "the reason why people got involved in films in the first place."

    That offbeat quality also surfaces in today's other CineVegas premieres: "Big Heart City," a gritty neo-noir about a young gambler, and the documentary "Last Cup: Road to the World Series of Beer Pong," in which players compete in Mesquite.

    Saturday's debuts cover a similarly wide range, from the horse-racing documentary "Lost in the Fog" to the '30s noir musical "Dark Streets." And then there's "South of Heaven," which the CineVegas program notes describes as a mix of film noir, spaghetti Western and "Pee-wee's Playhouse."

    Groth describes "Memorial Day," premiering Sunday night, as "a film that's going to shake a lot of people up," predicting that its "candid video aesthetic" and unexpected twists are "going to push a lot of people's buttons."

    But there's also more mainstream fare on tap at CineVegas on Sunday: a special screening of "Get Smart" to benefit co-star Dwayne Johnson's The Rock Foundation and its Project Knapsack.

    Johnson is expected to attend the benefit screening at Planet Hollywood, where he spent much of the previous two weeks playing a Vegas cabby in the upcoming Disney remake "Race to Witch Mountain."

    Director Abel Ferrara ("King of New York"), meanwhile, returns to CineVegas for the second time with two movies: Sunday's U.S. premiere of the documentary "Chelsea on the Rocks," about New York's legendary Chelsea Hotel, and Monday's screening of "Go Go Tales," set in a struggling strip club run by Willem Dafoe.

    "It's my first comedy," Ferrara says of "Go Go Tales." That is, "it's my first intentional comedy."

    And while Ferrara usually spends his time at film festivals promoting his movie (or, in this case, movies), "what I really enjoy is getting a chance to see the films." Just like the rest of us.

    Contact movie critic Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.

    THIS WEEKEND'S CINEVEGAS SCHEDULE

     The 10th annual CineVegas film festival takes place through June 21 at the Brenden Theatres at the Palms and other venues as noted.

    Tickets are $10 for regular screenings, $25-$45 for the "Get Smart" benefit screening. A locals' ticket package is $125; other packages and passes range from $100-$600 and are available at the CineVegas box office at the Palms, online at www.cinevegas.com or by calling 888-883-4278.

    TODAY

     1:30 p.m. "Wellness" -- In a bleak post-industrial town, a pyramid scheme salesman realizes the healthcare system he's been touting is a scam, prompting a crisis of conscience.

    3 p.m. "The End" -- Gritty post-World War II London provides the backdrop for a documentary about Cockney gangsters, including the father of filmmaker Nicola Collins.

    3:30 p.m. Shorts Program One: The Reveille of Reverie

    6 p.m. "Big Heart City" (world premiere) -- Returning home after six months, a gambler (Shawn Andrews) searches for his missing girlfriend in a neo-noir tale featuring indie legend Seymour Cassel.

    6:30 p.m. "Last Cup: Road to the World Series of Beer Pong" (world premiere) -- This documentary takes audiences to Mesquite, where four competitors prove that beer pong is more than a game, it's a way of life.

    8 p.m. "Cocochi" -- In Mexico, two Tarahumara brothers embark on a cross-country journey through their changing world.

    8:30 p.m. "Your Name Here" (world premiere) -- Bill Pullman stars as a stressed-out '70s science-fiction writer trapped in a series of alternate realities.

    9 p.m. "The Juche Idea" -- A Marxist-Leninist-musical documentary follows a South Korean video artist in North Korea who hopes to revitalize Juche cinema.

    SATURDAY

     11:30 a.m. "¿Donde estan sus historias? (Where are their stories?)" -- A young farmer journeys to Mexico City in search of justice.

    Noon "Lost in the Fog" (world premiere) -- This documentary follows the rise and fall of the title thoroughbred race horse.

    1 p.m. "She Unfolds By Day" (world premiere) -- Filmmaker Rolf Belgum interweaves images of his 80-year-old mother and the creatures she finds in the nearby woods.

    2 p.m. "Año Uña (The Year of the Nail)" -- An American tourist in Mexico finds romance with a young local, who follows her back to New York.

    3:30 p.m. "South of Heaven" (world premiere) -- In this mix of film noir, spaghetti Western, and "Pee -wee's Playhouse," a veteran searches for his brother, who's busy trying to survive his new mentor's crime spree.

    4 p.m. Shorts Program One: The Reveille of Reverie -- See 3:30 p.m. today.

    5 p.m. "Finally, Lillian and Dan" -- Two singles longing for a connection take achingly tentative steps toward a relationship.

    6 p.m. "Happy Birthday, Harris Wilson" (world premiere) -- The filmmakers known collectively as Sweaty Robot debut with a playful yet poignant tale of a guy who's oblivious to the fakeness of his fake moustache.

    7 p.m. "Hi My Name Is Ryan" -- A portrait of the cherubic Clown Prince of the downtown Phoenix art scene.

    8 p.m. "Déficit" -- Gael Garcia Bernal makes his directorial debut and stars as a spoiled kid throwing a marathon party where emotions flare and tensions build.

    8:30 p.m. "Dark Streets" (world premiere) -- A noirish musical fantasy set in the early '30s, about a nightclub owner (Gabriel Mann) caught up in intrigue and torn between two singers (Bijou Phillips, Izabella Miko).

    9:30 p.m. "Schoof" (world premiere) -- Filmmaker Giuseppe Andrews' 23rd homemade feature, focusing on his offbeat neighbors at a Ventura, Calif., trailer park.

    SUNDAY

     10 a.m. Hollywood Heart -- Local teens, assisted by industry professionals, deliver the short "North Side Story.

    12:30 p.m. "Hi My Name Is Ryan" -- See 7 p.m. Saturday.

    12:45 p.m. "Cocochi" -- See 8 p.m. Friday.

    1 p.m. "Last Cup: Road to the World Series of Beer Pong"-- See 6:30 p.m. Friday.

    1:45 p.m. "Get Smart" -- This special screening of the '60s sitcom update with co-star Dwayne Johnson benefits The Rock Foundation and its Project Knapsack. (At Planet Hollywood)

    3 p.m. "The Black List: Volume One" -- A group portrait of 20 influential black Americans, from dancer and choreographer Bill T. Jones to comedian Chris Rock.

    3:30 p.m. "Your Name Here" -- See 8:30 p.m. today.

    4 p.m. "Chelsea on the Rocks" (U.S. premiere) -- Director Abel Ferrara focuses on New York's now-embattled Chelsea Hotel, which has played host to creative spirits from Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix to Janis Joplin and Sid Vicious.

    6 p.m. "She Unfolds By Day" -- See 1 p.m. Saturday.

    7 p.m. "Memorial Day" (world premiere) -- In this provocative cinematic roller coaster ride, a rowdy Memorial Day beach weekend takes an unexpected twist.

    7:30 p.m. "Big Heart City" -- See 6 p.m. today.

    9 p.m. "The End" -- See 3 p.m. today.

    9:30 p.m. "South of Heaven" -- See 3:30 p.m. Saturday.


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