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SCOTT WEILANDSATURDAY JUNE 1
ON SALE
SATURDAY
BILL MAHER SATURDAY JUNE 8
SUNDAY JUNE 9
BILLY IDOLSATURDAY MAY 25
CHEAP TRICK, PAT BENATAR & NEIL GIRALDO JUNE 15BOZ SCAGGS
WITH DAVE MASON JUNE 22YES JULY 12ALABAMA SHAKES JULY 19THE WAYANS
BROTHERS JULY 27GIPSY KINGS AUGUST 2
CHRIS TUCKERSUNDAY MAY 26
JOURNEY AUGUST 28 & 29JOE SATRIANI WITH STEVE MORSE AUGUST
30STRAIGHT NO CHASER SEPTEMBER 26 & 27 & 28FURTHUR OCTOBER
1 & 2DEPECHE MODE OCTOBER 6 SOLD OUT
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[ upcoming ]
may 10: Las Vegas Ride for Reading (RTCSNV.com/Cycling) may
16-19: Helldorado Days Celebration and Rodeo
(ElksHelldorado.com)
Center of AttentionCelebrating a successful first year that saw
more
than 450 performances, The Smith Center for
the Performing Arts honored its most important
benefactors and community partners during the
inaugural Chairmans Reception on April 24. The
invitation-only affair started in the courtyard,
where Southern Wine & Spirits served up the
signature Chairmans Celebration cocktail. From
there, the festivities moved to the Reynolds Hall
stage as guests experienced a Downtown Dine
Around, with food from such restaurants as Hu-
gos Cellar, Oscars Steakhouse, Radio City Pizza
and Triple George Grill. And, of course, there was
eclectic entertainment from such artists as Smith
Center headliner Clint Holmes, vocalist Susan
Anton and a performance by Billy Stritch and Jim
Caruso of New York City-based Cast Party.
Photo
s by
RondaC
hurc
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SATURDAY, MAY 4, 2013
FREMONT STREET EXPERIENCE
Register TODAY at www.komensouthernnevada.org
702.822.2324
JOIN US FOR THE 18TH ANNUAL
SUSAN G. KOMEN SOUTHERN NEVADA RACE FOR THE CURE
Online Registration is Now Open!
nspired
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Derby Daze anD PoP rocksThe Kentucky Derby is May 4, and
several
casinos are celebrating with events and
parties. But the bigger, thematically related
news is that the D is hosting the first-ever
Sigma Derby tournament on May 3.
Sigma Derby is the mechanized horse-rac-
ing game that went to the brink of extinction
before a couple of casinos decided it was
worth keeping. One of them was the D, and the
Derby tourney takes it to the next level: It will
be wild, whether you play or just watch. The
buy-in is $50, and the prize pool is $10,000.
The D is also running other race-related
promotions, including $6 mint juleps at the
Longbar on race day.
Other Derby events include four free race-
handicapping seminars. The first is at Palace
Station if you can get there by 6 p.m. on May
2. On May 3, Sams Town will have a seminar
at 4 p.m., while South Point and Sunset Sta-
tion will both host seminars at 6 p.m. While
every sportsbook will show the race on big
screens, dedicated viewing parties with free
admission have been announced for Arizona
Charlies Decatur, Golden Nugget and South
Point. Make a $20 race wager at South Point to
get vouchers for food and drinks at the party.
Bet $20 at Charlies and get a Kentucky Derby
collectors glass. Jerrys Nugget will give you
a Derby glass for a $10 wager or a T-shirt for
a $25 wager on a special parlay card. Its also
selling $2 hand-carved turkey and roast beef
track sandwiches.
After discontinuing its $100 loss-rebate of-
fer, Hooters has instituted a solid new players-
club sign-up program. New members can get
up to $500 in slot free-play at a rate of $10 in
free-play for every 250 points earned. Since
it takes $750 in coin-in to accrue 250 points,
thats a bonus of 1.33 percent. The casino has
machines that return up to 99.52 percent, so
with this add-on you can play video poker at a
theoretical return of 100.85 percent.
Are you holding any Canadian dollars? The
best place in town to exchange them is the
Golden Gate, where you get a 5 percent bonus
in slot free-play or table-game match-play, up
to a limit of $200 per day.
I never thought Id be calling a $14 cocktail
a deal, but that was before I tried a couple of
the specialties on the middle floor of Cosmos
Chandelier Bar. The Fire Breathing Dragon
comes with a nitrogen-treated raspberry that
has you breathing smoke when you drink it, and
the Verbena is garnished with an edible flower
that makes you feel like youve just eaten a
packet of Pop Rocks. Honestly, drinking these
cocktails with a few friends is more fun than
going to some shows Ive been to lately.
Anthony Curtis is the publisher of the Las
Vegas Advisor and LasVegasAdvisor.com. Photo
by
Balfour
Walk
er
Good Ideas! Elsewhere!What Nevada can learn from its
neighbors
nevaDa suPPoseDly has a can-do spirit. But we dont do. Any
businessperson knows you have to spend money to make money. Nevada
claims it has too little of the former with which to do the latter.
The rest of the West would disagree.Ever hear of the Utah
Science
Technology and Research Initia-tive? Check it out at
InnovationUtah.com. USTAR, formed in 2006the year Nevadans elected
Governor Jim Gibbons, who was no friend of state governmentseeks to
build Utahs knowledge economy by investing in the University of
Utah and Utah State. Its based partly on similar programs in other
states. USTAR increased funding to the universi-ties to hire better
and more impor-tant researchersthey brought in people from such
Podunk schools as Harvard and MITand build better facilities for
them.But before you say thats just more
government and money spent on state employees, USTAR also works
with businesspeople throughout Utah to help them use the
universi-ties resources and make the most of new technology. One of
the USTAR programs works with more than 40 frms, and the University
of Utahs Energy & Geoscience Institute has 60 companies helping
to fnance it and benefting from it. USTAR helps startup companies
and works with schoolchildren on science projects. It even has
grant programs run through smaller schools such as Dixie State and
Weber State.
Nevadas response is to consider a new higher-education funding
formula. The formula purports to help the southern schools, but
money will be taken from them and given to the northern colleges.
So our institutions continue to compete for whatever drips out of
the state spigot instead of collabo-rating with one anotherand with
high-tech and other industriesto build the 21st Century Economy
that those of us in higher education are supposed to teach our
students to inhabit without the services or skills they
need.California has iHub, the Califor-
nia Innovation Hub. Its website at
Business.CA.gov/Programs/Innova-tion.aspx (no www frst) calls it an
effort to harness and enhance Californias innovative spirit by
stimulating partnerships, eco-nomic development and job creation
around specifc research clusters. Sacramento emphasizes medical
technology in a nine-county area that, for example, works with 74
medical and health care informa-tion-technology companies, push-ing
into the future by combining government with business, seeking
federal grants and private money, and researching how to connect
everybody to needed resources. If you take Interstate 15 south as
far as you can, you reach the San Diego
iHub, which is pushing research and development in
pharmaceuticals and startups for medical-device companies.As for
Nevada, The Sacramento Bee
recently reported that the states top psychiatric hospital has
shipped out 1,500 patients by bus to other states. This followed
nearly 30 percent budget cuts when Nevada already spent only about
half as much per capita on mental health services as the national
average. These cuts were similar in scope to the ones the Silver
State made in higher education.Ah, but we can at least lord it
over
Arizona, land of anti-immigrant legislation and other lunacy.
No, we cant. Check out AZInnovationChal-lenge.com. The Arizona
Commerce Authoritywhose directors range from the states seemingly
blinkered governor to the owner of the Phoenix Sunsrecruits
companies and pro-motes development. We have agen-cies like that,
too. But this one has the Arizona Innovation Challenge, which
provides $3 million a year in a competition for technology
ventures.Meanwhile, Nevada gave $9 mil-
lion to an out-of-state ad agency to come up with a slogan:
Nevada. A World Within. A State Apart. For that, we spent three
times what Arizona spends on technology innovation. We could have
spent it studying Latin to learn the mean-ing of caveat emptor.
Michael Green is a professor of history at the College of
Southern Nevada.
Arizonas Innovation Challenge rewards fresh thinking, such as
MSDxs work to better monitor multiple sclerosis.
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Rachel MooreFashion Consultant, 25Photograph by Zackery
Williams
My fashion motto comes from Oscar Wilde: You can never be
overdressed or overeducated.
My look is custom made by Elizabeth Celaya, my best friend from
fashion school. The six-inch Christian Louboutin heels I have on
are killer to walk in, but I say you can never go wrong with a pair
of red bottoms. And, the bracelet was made on-set by the owner of
the Gypsy Den, KT Cewe.
My company Rachels FashioNation focuses on personal shopping and
styl-ing for uniforms, editorial layouts and runway shows. I worked
as a professional dancer and model, and I was sent all over the
world. During that time, I had the op-portunity to begin styling
costumes for a variety of shows and entertainers. Jessi C. Acua
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VISIT THESMITHCENTER.COM TO PURCHASE TICKETS.702.749.2000 | TTY:
800.326.6868 or dial 711 | For group inquiries call
702.749.2348
361 Symphony Park Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89106
SUMMER SEASONON SALE MAY 3
TICKETS STARTING AT $24
The Tenors 6/2WEIRD AL YANKOVIC
THE ALPOCALYPSE TOUR 7/6Jewel Greatest Hits Tour 6/6 Dixies
Tupperware Party 8/1 - 8/4An Evening with
Willie Nelson & Family 8/13
Buddy Guy 8/22 Jimmy Connors: What it Takes to Win 8/23
The Symphonic Rockshow Featuring Brody Dolyniuk
with Yellow Brick Road 9/6
PHOT
O B
Y D
AVID
MCC
LIST
ER
PHOTO BY M
ICHAEL WILSO
N
An Evening with Lyle Lovett and His Large Band 8/16
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Profile
Who Said Anything About Being Governor?
Bob Miller talks about life in and out of politicsand about the
possibility
of another Governor Miller
By Matt Jacob
Sitting in the nondescript conference room of the non-descript
Summerlin offce building where he operates his public-affairs
consulting busi-ness, Nevadas longest-serving governor is talking
about how he cant believe hes Nevadas longest-serving governor.
Wasnt part of the career plan, he says. Not for a second.First
thought: Aw-shucks
Bob Miller is playing the modesty card. Then Miller, 68,
proceeds to recount the early 1980s conversation he had with
then-Governor Richard Bryan, who was trying to per-suade the young
Clark County district attorney to become his right-hand man in
Carson City. Dick Bryan wanted me to run for attorney general, and
I declined. I decided to run for D.A. again, and he said, Well,
thats gonna be a problem because no D.A. has ever been re-elected,
and youll never be governor. This was well into my career, and I
said, Gover-nor? Who said anything about being governor?Second
thought: Aw-shucks
Bob Miller is speaking with complete sincerity. Its no doubt the
one character trait that most helped the son of a gambling man
ascend in 1989 to the states highest offce, where he remained for a
de-cade. That improbable journey is detailed in his recently
releasedand aptly titledmemoir, Son of a Gambling Man: My Journey
From a Casino Family to the Governors Mansion (St. Martins Press,
$27).
If someone had told 21-year-old Bob Miller that hed someday be
the governor of Nevada, write a book about his life and that a
president of the United States [Bill Clinton] would pen the
forward, what wouldve been your response? That they need some
mental
health help, because that would be absolutely inconceiv-able,
ridiculous. When I was appointed justice of the peace, I was about
30 years old, and if youre in public offce, people say fattering
things, like, You should be governor someday.
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Wayne neWton, Celine Dion and Elton John will simply have to
make room: Tisto is moving to the top of Vegas marquee. Quite
possibly the most fa-mous man in electronic dance music, the Dutch
DJ/producer is slated for a whopping 40 dates, including May 3, 5,
18 and 24, at the recently opened Hakkasan and an additional 20
gigs at Wet Republic.
What kind of experience will you bring to your nights at
Hakkasan? I want the Tisto Club Life
night to be different than the other nights. There are a lot of
big DJs playing at Hakkasan, so I want to make it special. As soon
as people enter the club, they feel like, OK, Im in Tisto Land now,
Tistos Club Life. Its life as a clubber, and I want it to be
glamorousbut not too VIPstill fresh, sexy, lots of energy and
people com-ing together and meeting each other. A social clubbing
scene is how I try to see it. Its like those things you have to go
to where even if you dont know the music, you still go to the Club
Life night to experience it. Of course, the music and the DJ set is
most important, but I want it to be a Club Life thing where people
come party together.
What about the custom DJ booth thats being built just for your
nights?Im working on a special DJ
booth, yes, but I cant really say anything about it yet because
were still working on it.
Any hints as to what people will see as far as performers,
visuals and the like? I have custom-made visuals
especially for the night, danc-ers and performers in special
outfts, and well decorate the place completely different. My night
is more fashion and art drivennot only high-end Dolce &
Gabbana/Gucci fashionbut just dressing nice. You dont have to wear
$500 T-shirts. Everybodys just looking great.
Do you think youll incor-porate some of the creative fan art
people have been making? Yes! Im defnitely going
to do that. I want people to bring art and show it, and Im
defnitely going to look into seeing if we can set it up
somewherewhen you enter, you can see the art people made, but
people can also tell their story in the club. Also the fashion part
is very important; they have designers coming in and designing
clothes for the staff and for people so they can buy stuff
inside.
With the current club culture in America, do you think fans
sometimes feel isolated because they arent part of the VIP crowd?
Thats what I try to prevent
on my nights. I really want the VIPs to have a good time, but
for me the GAs [general-admission clubbers] are just as important,
if not even more important. When I go to Latin America the GAs are
all the
way in the back and I dont like that too much. Its very
important that everybody who comes to a Tisto show should feel the
same.
Youre active in the (RED) campaign against AIDS. Since youll be
in Las Vegas so much, do you have plans for any community-based
charity partnerships, maybe a Las Vegas outpost of the Club Life
Foundation? I would love to set up some-
thing in Vegas for the founda-tion, because I know Vegas is very
glamorous on one side, but theres also a dark side. Im going to
move there in a few weeks, so Ill have time to explore Vegas, get
to know the city, meet people and try to absorb into the city and
get my head around everything,
and I would love to fgure that stuff out.
Are there any myths swirl-ing around in the EDM blogs out there
that youd like to dispel, perhaps about not playing Ibiza or the
sizable residency con-tracts here? People in Europe are very
disappointed that Im not playing there [too often] all summer;
Ive been going to Ibiza for the last 12 years, so to not go back
there this year is shocking to a lot of people. But Im just really
excited about Las Vegas and a new chapter
in my life, and really try to build something special there and
not just coming in there to cash a paycheckthats the biggest myth
at the moment. People are like, Oh, youre just going to Las Vegas
to cash in, and I think thats the worst thing that people can say.
Obviously were all get-ting paid good money, but its not just about
that: Its about giving back and investing also in the future and
like you said about the Foundation and doing something there. I
really want to make it more than just cashing in on Vegas. Thats
not my goal.
For the complete interview, including why you wont be seeing
Tisto Soup on store shelves anytime soon, go to
VegasSeven.com/Tiesto.
The New Mr. Las VegasTisto takes up residency in Sin City
By Deanna Rilling
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parties
See more photos from this gallery at SpyOnVegas.com
44
palms poolThe palms
[ Upcoming ]
May 3 Ditch Fridays ft. Busta Rhymes
May 4 After-Fight Party ft. Diddy
May 5 Cinco de Mayo
Photo
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by
Teddy
Fujim
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parties
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Photo
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Bobby
Jam
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liquidAria
[ Upcoming ]
May 4 Steve Powers spins
May 5 Social Sundays
May 9 The Real House DJs of Las Vegas
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parties
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54
the BankBellagio
[ Upcoming ]
May 3 DJIkonspins
May 4 DJEarwaxXxspins
May 5 IndustrySundayswithDJCinco
Photo
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Bobby
Jam
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and T
ony
Tra
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parties
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trystWynn
[ Upcoming ]
May 2 Manufactured Superstars spin
May 4 Jermaine Dupri spins
May 9 LA Riots spins
Photo
gra
phy
by
Danny
Mahoney
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parties
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Photo
gra
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by
Am
it D
adla
ney,
Joe F
ury
and T
eddy
Fujim
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1 OakThe Mirage
[ Upcoming ]
May 3 Pre-Supercross Party
May 4 Chris Browns birthday celebration
May 9 Haute Thursdays
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parties
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marqueeThe Cosmopolitan
[ Upcoming ]
May 3 Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano spin
May 4 Kaskade kicks off Summer Lovin
May 10 Dash Berlin spins
Photo
gra
phy
by
Josh M
etz
and T
oby
Acuna
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Gastro Fare. Nurtured Ales. Jukebox Gold.
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Dining
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drinking
Lucky Bar in Red Rock ResortThe beating heart of this
casino languished in a Pardon our dust coma for too long. Now
open, the new Lucky Bar sports a more polished design that allows
360-degree views of the gaming foor. Theres still gaming within
this central hub, but the real action is at the bar, where a new
menu features signature cocktails, half-bottle club service (you
mix your own from indi-vidual bottles), access to the wine lists of
neighboring restaurants and martinis for two, prepared table side
on a guridon (cart). Ill order my Bacardi cocktail with the more
traditional Bacardi Superior
and grenadine rather than the proffered Dragon Berry and Aliz
pomegranate liqueur, but I admire the spirit of re-invention that
permeates this whole project. If were lucky, the shuttered Cherry
night-club space will be next in line for transformation.
The Lobby in The MirageFans of the bar and lounge
at Kokomos might have gone pale at the thought that their
beloved perch above the river of humanity that is The Mirages main
corridor would close along with the vener-able but also pretty
outdated steak and seafood restaurant. And they might have grown
faint when the construction
walls went up for celebrity chef Tom Colicchios Heritage
Steakhouse, slated for a July opening. But they can breathe easy,
as those walls spared the Lobby Bar. When I posted up there for a
rather excellent Side Car just before UNL-Vinos recent Sake Fever
by The Mirage pool, my barman explained that the entrance for
Heritage Steakhouse will be on the other side of the atrium, by
Stack and Jap-onaisa nice new restaurant row for the property.
The
Lobby Bar, at least for now, will remain.
Press in Four SeasonsSlated for a May 3 open-
ing, Press aims to please. By morning, the new lobby bar,
replete with Wi-Fi and oodles of outlets, will feature Lavazza
espresso, house-made pastries and freshly squeezed juices. In the
afternoon, the space will offer salads and paninis to enjoy over a
beer or take to go. But by evening, the transformation to
desti-
nation bar is complete. The indoor/outdoor space borders
Verandah and the pool area, featuring gas fire pits, trel-lises
strung overhead with festival lighting and tableside service of a
small-plates menu that includes throwback ice cream treats. At the
bar, the emphasis is on handcrafted cocktails, revised classics,
tiki drinks and spiked milkshakes, as well as a garden-to-glass
locavore cocktail, featuring Las Vegas Distillerys unique
Rumskey.
Theres No Need to CrawlThe next wave of hotel bars will be
front, center and beautiful
By Xania Woodman
What With MgM Grand rolling out the carpet (and blowing out a
few walls) for Hakkasan, and Mandalay Bay welcoming the
valet-adjacent Light to its lineup, hotel bars might be feeling
like Cin-derellas stepsisters post-shoeing. Never one to miss an
opportu-nity for reinvention, while all eyes have been on the
debutantes, three properties have been toiling away on their center
and lobby bars, turning those natural meeting places and pre/post
vortexes into destinations in their own right.
Swanky additions to the bar landscape: Lucky Bar in Red Rock
Resort and Press in Four Seasons (above).
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concerts
Pri
nce p
hoto
by
Kevin
Mazur
PrInceThe Joint, April 26
Thank u 4 a funky time, Prince!
Taking the stage with a classic
high-collar Prince jacket and curly
hair looking like he channeled Jimi
Hendrix, The Purple One launched
into Lets Go Crazy with a packed
house shouting an enthusiastic, Oh
no, lets go! along with him. Were
the house band for your party
tonight! he told the audience. His
affinity for female musicians was
displayed in the form of backing
band 3rd Eye Girla trio of badass,
talented chicks.
Instead of banging out the ex-
pected hits, Prince delved into his
extensive catalog and less obvious
territory for the majority of his set,
including Shes Always in My Hair
from the Revolution era, plus new
tracks Plectrum Electrum and
FIXURLIFEUP.
The downside of the show was
that with all his guitar shredding
and groovy beats it sounded like
one of the speakers blew about
midway through the set, creating
that annoying fuzzy buzz, but it
thankfully went unnoticed onstage
as he continued for nearly 20
songs. Climbing behind the piano
and closing out with Purple Rain,
he had the crowd going wild. Mak-
ing us truly beg for a few minutes
for the encore, he then turned it
into a full-on dance party. He saved
the best for last with When Doves
Cry and I Would Die 4 U, proving
that even at age 54, Prince is still
one talented Sexy M.F.
Deanna Rilling
JAZZ roots: tHe AMerIcAn
sonGBooKThe Smith Center, April 26
In a scattered homage to a loosely
defined idea in the latest install-
ment of the Jazz Roots program,
three world-class artists backed by
UNLVs jazz ensemble performed
a selection from the generally
agreed-upon canon of jazz-heavy
popular music that defined the mid-
20th century. Some novelty pieces,
only tangentially connected to that
theme, were also performed.
Tony DeSares voice nailed the
smart and smoky mood in songs
including They Cant Take that
Away From Me and Night and
Day. But while his arrangement of
Princes Kiss was well executed,
it wasnt clear if he was going for a
lounge hook or making a statement
about musical lineage. Then he in-
explicably caricatured Elton John in
a truncated Bennie and the Jets.
Landau Eugene Murphy eased on-
stage and carried his half of a duet
with DeSare in Thats Life and
made good work of My Way.
Ann Hampton Callaways vocal
range and emotive power on pieces
from In A Sentimental Mood to
How High the Moon and breath-
taking arrangement of Somewhere
Over the Rainbow made her
performance the nights standout.
However, her improv, audience-
participation-songwriting routine
produced an admittedly funny, but
wildly incongruous piece that had
Celine Dion murdering a one-night
stand. It must have been a relief
to purists when the night closed
with DeSare, Murphy and Callaway
belting out Ive Got You Under My
Skin.
Kurt Rice
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A&E
Movies
The diversions in the ensemble comedy The Big Wedding (that
title fat enough for you?) are strictly actor-related, which is
usually the case at the movies. For example, the way Diane Keaton
selects an asparagus spear at a country club buf-fet while
delivering some dutiful expositional something or other. Or the
rumpled panache with which Robert De Niro, playing the Keaton
characters ex-husband, adapts to a different sort of role than hes
used to playing: that of the unreliable horndog trying to get by on
charm.The movies own brand of charm has its sub-
set of smarm. Part bedroom farce, part heart-tugging familial
dysfunction, The Big Wedding was adapted by writer-director Justin
Zackham from the 2006 French-Swiss co-production Mon Frere se
Marie.In the original, a well-to-do Swiss couples
adopted Vietnamese son is readying a mar-riage. The sons birth
mother, long out of the picture, travels to reunite with young Vinh
for the wedding. Cultural differences and narrative circumstances
require Vinhs adoptive parents, long divorced, to fake that theyre
still together.Some aspects of the earlier flm remain; others
have been changed or added. In The Big Wedding, De Niros Philip
Rothesque sculptor character is living with a caterer (Susan
Sarandon), a longtime family friend. The adopted Colombi-an-born
son, Alejandro (Ben Barnes), has two siblings, the now-grown
children born to De
Niros character and Keatons. The daughter (Katherine Heigl) has
a secret, though the frst sign of fulike symptoms gives it away;
the son (Topher Grace), a 29-year-old virgin ready for love, takes
one look at Alejandros visiting birth sister (Ana Ayora) and
thinks, well, it wouldnt quite be incestuous if ...; meanwhile,
everyones dithering over the quietly fearsome Catholic presence of
Alejandros mom.This is an American movie trying, strenu-
ously, to swing a little. The slapstick is broad and generally
awkward. Five minutes into the picture, Keaton stumbles upon De
Niro and Sarandon in a sex act in the kitchen, and its like: Whoa.
Have we met? Could we get another 10 minutes of setup, please? Hyde
Park on Hudson made a similar mistake and never quite
recovered.What makes it passably entertaining is the
interaction between the stars, usually when the pressure to
deliver is off, and the banter sticks to a confdential key. Like La
Cage aux Folles, The Big Wedding preaches tolerance and
understand-ing. Its too early to say if director Zackham has real
talent, beyond that for assembling an impressive cast. The surest
thing that can be said of The Big Wedding is that youve seen worse
ensemble wedding comedies. But for the record: Jumping the Broom
was a lot better.
Big Wedding (R)
Big BoreLike real weddings, you sit through the
event for the sake of the actors involved
By Michael PhillipsTribune Newspapers Critic
Meet The Big Weddings big cast: Christine Ebersole, Robert De
Niro, Diane Keaton, Ana Ayora, Patricia Rae and Katherine
Heigl.
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[by tribune media services]short reviews
Oblivion (PG-13) In the latest Tom Cruise star vehicle, Jack
Harper is a Mr. Fix-It in the year 2077, living
and working high above whats left of Earth
after a devastating war with invading aliens.
Most of the population has been relocated to
a Saturn moon, except for the scavs led by
Morgan Freeman. Jack knows somethings
up when his boss, Sally (Melissa Leo), orders
him to stay away from a crash-landing site.
Of course he goes and rescues the lone
survivor who just happens to be the woman
from his dreams. No really. Its interesting,
but very slow.
42 (PG-13) This carefully tended portrait of Jackie
Robinson, the man who broke Major League
Baseballs color barrier, settles for too
little. Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman)
endures long odds and societal racism to join
the Brooklyn Dodgers. Harrison Ford is fun
as the general manager who brought him up,
Branch Rickey. The film treads too carefully,
a primer, a story that protects and enshrines
Robinson. It feels like a production watched
very carefully by his survivors. Boseman is
highly capable, but the filmmakers failed to
ask much of him.
Evil Dead (R) This remake of Sam Raimis 1983 cult classic
offers plenty of reasons to jump and turn
away. Mia (Jane Levy) has quit drugs, and
her withdrawal confuses her senses. Her
brother and her friends have brought her to
the cabin in the woods to cure her. But is she
seeing visions of demonic possession, or is
this simply the cold turkey playing tricks on
her mind? Theres a demon that jumps from
human to human, and more splashing of bodi-
ly fluids than one knows what to do with. All
in all, its OK, and likely a franchise ... again.
The Place Beyond the Pines (R)
Luke (Ryan Gosling) is a motorcycle stunt
performer traveling with a two-bit carnival.
Coming through small-town New York, he
learns he has fathered a son with a local
waitress (Eva Mendes). Luke turns to bank
robbery while also trying to establish a
relationship with his son. Then, the story
switches to the police officer (Bradley Coo-
per) who is plagued by becoming known as
the hero who pursued the moto-bandit. Its
a fine film with really solid actors playing
well-written, authentic characters.
in AmericA, youre either a doer or a dont-er. So says the
hos-tile motivational speaker played by Ken Jeong, one of several
supporting sleazebags tipping around the edges of director Michael
Bays Pain & Gain.What the self-help guru is
selling, bodybuilder and gym manager Danny Lugo, played by Mark
Wahlberg, is buying with a vengeance. The movie, based on the true
story of a truly stupid group of pumped-up kidnappers and killers,
wallows in steroidally jacked style and excess. Everything is
super-saturated in faming pastels or hot, rich neon. The images are
packed with glistening muscle and bright, shiny, superslow-motion
struts toward the cam-era, with something in fames as a backdrop.
Its Bay World. And after an hour of Pain & Gain, it felt more
like Pain & Pain.The storys milieu of Miami
bodybuilders, low-level mis-creants and assorted human barnacles
may be something different for the man behind the Bad Boys larks,
Pearl Harbor, Armageddon and the Transform-ers trilogy. But Bays
comedies are funnier when theyre funny by accident.
This couldve been a great black comedy. The script by
Christopher Markus and Ste-phen McFeely throws in every severed
digit, smashed skull and snorted line of cocaine the writ-ers were
required to leave out of their Chronicles of Narnia screen-plays.
Pain & Gain derives from a three-part 1999-2000 Miami New Times
series of nonfction articles by Pete Collins. In 1994, Lugo and his
hapless colleagues targeted a Sun Gym client for kidnapping and
extortion. He was tortured, then crushed by a vehicle and left for
dead. But he didnt die. Others did, later, but not him.The flm
takes the usual
number of moviemaking liberties. Dwayne Johnson bulls his way
through the role of recovering cocaine addict and alcoholic ex-con,
along-side Anthony Mackies gullible personal trainer. Lugos
kid-napping victim (fctionalized for the script) is a
Colombian-American businessman (Tony Shaloub), a smug, insulting
specimen, identifed in glaring close-up by the Star of David
necklace around his greedy neck. (Nobody, except for Ed Harris wily
detective, comes
off well in Pain & Gain, but still.)I laughedoncewhen, in
one
of Bays many freeze-frames, Mackies character is captured with a
look of comical horror on his face at the latest unfortu-nate event
in these criminals endeavors. Elsewhere, the jokes curdle. Bays
touch is like granite. The look and nasty, insincere vibe of the
picture carries the assurance of every Bay project. Ill give it
that.
Cinematographer Ben Seresin shoots digitally as well as on flm,
and the changing stocks and whirling perspectives may not be
consistent, but thats the idea: Theres always something, some
grabby fourish or two-second shift in angle, to divert you from
story or character. Composer Steve Jablonskys music may as well be
scoring Bad Boys 3 or Armageddon 2: Armageddon Outta Here, so
heavy-
spirited is its ambient mood.Bay doesnt have the facility
or the interest or, frankly, the moral flmmaking intelligence
for real social satire. His idea of funny is a rump-level shot of a
stripper getting out of a pool, followed by an abrupt cut to an
obese womans thighs just as an off-screen character mutters the
word repulsive.
Pain & Gain (R)
Jacked upThis is director Michael Bays brain on steroids
By Michael PhillipsTribune Media Services
Anthony Mackie, Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson strut through
Pain & Gain.
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movies
G.I. Joe: Retaliation (PG-13)
The action is nonstop in this sequel. But
do we really want our action to never
end? Like, ever? The plot concerns the
murder of the Pakistani president, stolen
nukes, a frame-up job by COBRA disgrac-
ing the Joes. The Joes fight back. Spoiler
alert: They win. Sure, theres Channing
Tatum as Duke, Dwayne Johnson as
Roadblock and even ole Bruce Willis as
the original Joe, but the movie plays out
like a video game, and weve learned by
now that there should be a difference.
The Host (PG-13) This movie version of Stephenie Meyers
departure from the Twilight series is painful
to watch. Earth has been invaded by aliens
called Souls. Some Souls called Seekers
locate humans to serve as hosts for other
Souls. Saoirse Ronan plays Melanie, whose
body is sublet by a Soul named Wanderer.
Melanie and her Soul become frenemies,
and Melanie arm-twists her visitor to return
to Melanies cave-dwelling survivalist clan.
Then Wanderer falls in love with Ian (Jake
Abel). And then ... you get the picture. Its
agonizingly slow and just not very good.
Olympus Has Fallen (R) This movie is Die Hard in the White
House,
where terrorists appear out of nowhere
to storm Washington, take over the White
House and seize the president (Aaron
Eckhart) and most of the cabinet. Their
only hope is ex-Secret Service agent Mike
Banning (Gerard Butler), the only man
who knows how to get into the fortified
presidential bunker where the hostages
are. Banning stabs, shoots and strangles
his way through legions of terrorists.
There are much better thrillers out there.
Admission (PG) In this fraught romantic comedy, Portia
(Tina Fey) is a Princeton University
admissions officer with a secret. Her
live-in boyfriend, a professor played by
Michael Sheen, treats her like a doglit-
erally. But on a road trip, Portia visits a
new-age alternative high school, run by
John (Paul Rudd). John believes a prom-
ising applicant just might be the same
boy that Portia gave up for adoption. Fey
and Rudd are smooth as silk together,
but the film is only half good.
Spring Breakers (R) Writer-director Harmony Korine is a
resolute sleaze monger. This helps Spring
Breakers, in which not-so-innocent de-
bauchery turns sociopathic. Its about four
teenage girls, three nasty (Ashley Benson,
Vanessa Hudgens and Rachel Korine), one
nice (Selena Gomez). Determined to have
a memorable vacation, the girls get some
spending cash by fake-pistol-waving in a
restaurant. But things steadily move into
a more dangerous space, with an impres-
sive turn by James Franco as a lively
gangsta rapper.
The Croods (PG) Its Ice Age with humans and less ice. The
Croods are a brood of cavepeople; theres
Ugg (Nicolas Cage), Ugga (Catherine
Keener), Eep (Emma Stone) and some
others. Earthquaked out of their dwelling,
the Crood brood embarks on a search
for a new home. They come across Guy
(Ryan Reynolds), a caveboy who knows
about fire and has ideas. Guy leads the
Croods toward a place he calls Tomor-
row where survival lies. Not a whole lot
here, and like most Dreamworks vehicles,
its way too much.
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Photo
by
Anth
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Mair
You managed Club Fortune casino in Henderson before opening your
own place. Why did you make the leap to casino operator, and why
did you choose this specifc location?I saw there were a lot of
defciencies in the service that people were receiving in locals
casinos, and I knew that we could do a better job just by treating
the customers better and giving them more. As for
the location, nobody wanted it, and it was a value that we
thought we could really turn into something. And it was one of the
lastif not the lastnon-restricted gaming licenses that was
available in Henderson.
On a scale of one to 10, how confdent were you when you opened
the doors that youd make it to your 10-year anniversary?Ten. I
didnt know any bet-
ter. Failure never crossed our minds, because we were just too
busy trying to make it work. My brother and I have asked
our-selves, Gee, do you think if we knew then what we know now that
we wouldve had the guts to do this? Nah! Ignorance is bliss.
Whats the story behind the Irish landscape murals?A gentleman
named Edwin
Leishman walked in one night when we were busy remodel-
ing the casino, getting it ready to open. We didnt have
any-thing on the wallswe really didnt know any betterand he said,
Im a mural artist. So we hired him, and we left one night at
midnight and came back at 8 in the morning and he had a whole wall
done, and it looked beautiful.I hadnt seen his work. I
just took his word. In this business, youre fed so much
informationeverythings data, data, and most of your decisions are,
of course, data-driven. But in business in general, your gut
instinct is often a good indicator and very rarely lets you
down.
How does a small-casino operator survive in the 21st-century Las
Vegas Valley?Just by what were doing
here: treating our customers well. We know we have a niche, so
we let the big guys fght it out while we just go about our
business. This is probably
the most competitive gam-ing market in the worldthe Henderson
locals market. The Henderson guests are very, very loyal, and
theyre a good group of people. And when they like you, they tell
you what youre doing wrong and they tell you what youre doing well.
If you listen to them, and they listen to youthats how we learned
about the penny-[slot] phenomenon.
When you look at the rede-velopment of downtown Las Vegas, with
the burgeoning Fremont East scene, are you jealous?No, not at all.
I love it, be-
cause at some point downtown Las Vegas will out-price itself,
and itll lead to more business in downtown Henderson.
You recently purchased the Pinnacle Building on Water Street
from the city, with plans to turn the vacant frst foor into an
urban lounge. So is it safe to say you expect downtown Henderson to
experience a revival similar to that of downtown Las
Vegas?Hendersons redevelop-
ment agency felds calls daily from people interested in doing
business in downtown Henderson. All its going to take is one good
large tenant to come in. Knowing what I know, if I was a developer,
I would be salivating at the opportunities that are going to be
available or currently are available in the downtown redevelopment
district here. If you think about it, wheres the growth of our
Valley going to occur? Its going to come to east Henderson.But were
very much invested
in downtown Henderson. Were not going anywhere. We love it
here.
Whats the biggest penny jackpot youve awarded?$28,000. It was
keno. I was
asleep at 4 in the morning when I got the call. When-ever the
phone rings at 4 in the morning, its either a big jackpot or
something has gone horrifically wrong. So I was glad to hear it was
a big jackpot.
Tim BrooksThe owner of Nevadas only all-penny casino on
surviving a decade,
the allure of downtown Henderson and trusting your gut
instinct
By Matt Jacob
Recipe foR small-business success: Take over a failed casinoone
thats been vacant for three yearsin a stagnant section of downtown
Henderson. Rebrand it the Emerald Island (because your mothers 100
percent Irish), complete with murals of 17th-century Irish village
landscapes and faux stone-work. Market it as Nevadas only all-penny
casino. Then wait for the money to roll in. OK, maybe thats not the
ideal recipe, but it certainly worked for Tim Brooks, who along
with his twin brother, Michael, opened the Emerald Island just west
of Water Street in 2003.As it nears its 10th anniversary this
month, the 8,500-square-foot casino stands as one of the
most popular destinations in downtown Hendersonand a beacon of
hope for the areas future (see Page 30).
Whats the Strip resort Tim Brooks would buy tomor-row if he
could? And whos the casino boss he most admires? Find out at
VegasSeven.com/Brooks.
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