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Thread: Bettie: Vegas-themed Movies

  1. #1
    Bettie
    Guest

    Bettie: Vegas-themed Movies

    Just wondering what everyone's favorite Vegas-themed movie is. Mine would have to be the classic "National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation"! I just can't get over the scene where Clark is in the downtown casino playing "Guess A Number" and "Casino War" - which is now a real game! I guess "Paper Rock Scissors" will be showing up at the Bellagio next!

    Not entirely Vegas-themed, but pretty darn hysterical is 'Rat Race." Any scene with the high rollers making bets is great (my favorite is the maids on the curtains), and I love John Cleese as the owner of the Venetian - heck, I just love John Cleese!

    Obviously, my tastes run toward comedy, but I'd love to hear what other movies out there people like. "Casino"? "3,000 Miles to Graceland"? Thanks!

    Bettie

  2. #2
    SOTSOG
    Guest

    SOTSOG: Hard Eight

    Movie opens up with old guy helping out a down-on-his-luck young kid.

    Kid: "I lost all my money playing blackjack"
    Old Man: "Do you count cards?"
    Kid: "What? Why, no, of course not!"
    Old Man: "Seems to me if one were to play blackjack then counting cards would be the thing to do."


  3. #3
    learning to count
    Guest

    learning to count: Re: Vegas-themed Movies

    Oceans Eleven the original and the 2001 version. Of course National Lampoon's Las Vegas Vacation! And last but not least Honeymoon in Las Vegas.

  4. #4
    Parker
    Guest

    Parker: Movie favorites

    My all-time favorite Vegas movie would indeed be "Casino." I'm a huge fan of DeNiro, and it is by far the best role that Sharon Stone has ever had. Of course, it's not for everyone. The "f-word" is used 362 times, which averages out to about once every 30 seconds for the duration of the movie.

    Still, it was filmed entirely in the Las Vegas area, and it is mostly a true story. The DeNiro character is actually Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, and the "Tangiers" casino is actually the Stardust. Most of the actual casino scenes were filmed in the Riviera, although a couple were done at the Plaza. The exterior scenes were done at the Landmark shortly before it was imploded. Rosenthal's lawyer, Oscar Goodman, plays himself in the movie, and of course is now the mayor of Las Vegas. Here is a link to an interview with Frank Rosenthal:

    http://www.casinoguru.com/features/s...senthal_01.htm

    Frank has his own website, which may also be of interest:

    http://www.frankrosenthal.com/web/index.shtml

    Another favorite of mine is "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," which is very true to the book of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson. Perhaps you have wondered what it would be like to walk into Circus-Circus with a headful of LSD. Or maybe not. At any rate, thanks to this movie you can find out without risking any of your own brain cells.

    The book originally appeared as a series of articles in "Rolling Stone" magazine. Thompson is still listed on the masthead of "Rolling Stone," under "National Affairs Desk," despite the fact that he has not written anything for the magazine in many years.

    Thompson swears that every word of the book is true. His "Samoan attorney" was actually chicano activist Oscar Zeta Acosta. Thompson changed his ethnic origin in the book to protect him, and Acosta responded by suing him for defamation for doing so. The movie is also useful to me from a personal standpoint, since there are large portions of the 60's that I have no recollection of at all.

    Here is a link to a site with more info on Hunter S. Thompson:

    http://www.gonzo.org/books/fl/index.html

  5. #5
    Adam N. Subtractum
    Guest

    Adam N. Subtractum: Re: Movie favorites

    I also loved Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, although I have yet to watch it while not under the influence of something or other...lol. Casino, of course, is another classic. Another one I really love is Leaving Las Vegas. It's not for everyone, but I could appreciate Nicolas Cage's character (I thought it was an awesome performance, very accurate).

    ANS

  6. #6
    Parker
    Guest

    Parker: Interesting

    Another one I really love is Leaving Las Vegas. It's not for everyone, but I could appreciate Nicolas Cage's character (I thought it was an awesome performance, very accurate).

    Apparently, we have similar tastes in movies.

    I almost mentioned "Leaving Las Vegas." Cage is another of my favorite actors, and the movie's portrayal of the seamy side of Las Vegas is dead on.

    However, it is one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen in my life! :-)


  7. #7
    scobee 1
    Guest

    scobee 1: Re: Vegas-themed Movies

    Thanks for starting such an interesting thread, Bettie. I think you are a great asset to RGE and those of us who like to make conversation through our fingers. Your leaning towards comedy is apparent and appreciated. Everybody loves a pratfall or a good joke. Adv. players can be so serious sometimes....

    One of my favorite movies also happens to take place in Vegas, although it has so little to do with gaming it is not often thought of as a 'Vegas movie.' My only connection to Vegas through the years has been with movies until I finally took my first visit last year, right after 9/11. I thought, "The world could end tomorrow and I have never been to Vegas." After waiting so long I have to say that not a week goes by that I am not planning another trip back. In April I spent an all-too-brief time downtown. There is no place on earth like Sin City. I even loved 'Viva Las Vegas' and have seen all the above mentioned movies at least once.

    Now that I have sufficiently teased everyone: My favorite is "One From The Heart." This Coppola film was the first film made after 'Apocalypse Now' through his Zoetrope Studios and was shot with revolutionary video effects and without one 'exterior' from the real live City of Dreams. This co-production with Paramount's Barry Diller was almost universally panned, and as the saying goes, "People stayed away in droves." In fact, Diller pulled out at the last moment and Coppola was forced into bankruptcy. Not until his daughter's film 'Virgin Suicides' was released a couple of years ago was any film produced and released with the Zoetrope banner. This was the film that killed Zoetrope for 20 years. All he had left was his office and his winery. No good deed goes unpunished. He bet his entire BR on one roll of the dice and crapped out. Whatever became of poor Francis?

    So why did I like it? Well, it starred Frederic Forrest, Terri Garr, Raul Julia, Harry Dean Stanton and Nastasia Kinski.... all in their prime. It was truly revolutionary and experimental...insanely bold and idiosyncratic... sort of like Coppola's 'Citizen Kane' except the heroes are working class citizens of Vegas...waiters, lounge singers, musicians, circus girls, etc. The movie takes place on one magical Fourth of July night when our couple is breaking up on their fifth wedding anniversay. The soundtrack is filled with Tom Waits songs and is melancholy and frighteningly sad and beautiful. Each one of our characters is offered the liason of a lifetime with the dream of romance found....but in the end, our married couple both realize that love is deeper than romance and watch the sun rise on another working class morning in Vegas together again, at last. It is profoundly touching and despite all the special effects, bad singing, and stylistic excesses...a moving story of two people who belong to each other and so stay together. Hank and Frannie... how common, how human, how 'American Dream' gone wrong ... how utterly Vegas.

    Another cool aspect is you see all these landmarks and scenes that fill the screen saying 'This is Vegas!' but it was entirely shot at Zoetrope Studios. The soundtrack was the only critically acclaimed part of the film, as Waits was nominated for the Oscar. This film was so bad it was pure genius. It is like Vincente Minelli on peyote... it is so ambitious it was doomed from the start... sound familiar?

    Also, Rebecca De Mornay's film debut.

  8. #8
    scobee 1
    Guest

    scobee 1: Re: Movie favorites

    > Another favorite of mine is "Fear and
    > Loathing in Las Vegas," which is very
    > true to the book of the same name by Hunter
    > S. Thompson. Perhaps you have wondered what
    > it would be like to walk into Circus-Circus
    > with a headful of LSD. Or maybe not. At any
    > rate, thanks to this movie you can find out
    > without risking any of your own brain cells.

    > The book originally appeared as a series of
    > articles in "Rolling Stone"
    > magazine. Thompson is still listed on the
    > masthead of "Rolling Stone," under
    > "National Affairs Desk," despite
    > the fact that he has not written anything
    > for the magazine in many years.

    > Thompson swears that every word of the book
    > is true. His "Samoan attorney" was
    > actually chicano activist Oscar Zeta Acosta.
    > Thompson changed his ethnic origin in the
    > book to protect him, and Acosta responded by
    > suing him for defamation for doing so. The
    > movie is also useful to me from a personal
    > standpoint, since there are large portions
    > of the 60's that I have no recollection of
    > at all.

    Hunter Thompson also once ran for sheriff of Aspen, Colorado in the seventies and nearly won with his 'Aspen Freak Power Uprising '. Imagine what this tony resort would be like now if he had. His writing was the 'darker side' of Tom Wolfe's 'new journalism' that revitalized the genre for decades to come. Thanks for the reminder of the glorius anarchy that was the birthright of the every love-child, hippie-freak, peacnik, weirdo rebel who grew up in that era. Thank God some people bothered to write it down. From what I remember....:-) .... it was a time of individuality and experimentation that will never be seen again.

    a couple of my favorite quotes:

    "When the going gets weird, the Weird turn
    pro. "

    "I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or
    insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."

    and of course he coined the phrase, "Fear and Loathing."

  9. #9
    Parker
    Guest

    Parker: Re: Movie favorites

    > Hunter Thompson also once ran for sheriff of
    > Aspen, Colorado in the seventies and nearly
    > won with his 'Aspen Freak Power Uprising '.
    > Imagine what this tony resort would be like
    > now if he had. His writing was the 'darker
    > side' of Tom Wolfe's 'new journalism' that
    > revitalized the genre for decades to come.
    > Thanks for the reminder of the glorius
    > anarchy that was the birthright of the every
    > love-child, hippie-freak, peacnik, weirdo
    > rebel who grew up in that era. Thank God
    > some people bothered to write it down. From
    > what I remember....:-) .... it was a time of
    > individuality and experimentation that will
    > never be seen again.

    > a couple of my favorite quotes:

    > "When the going gets weird, the Weird
    > turn
    > pro. "

    > "I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol,
    > violence, or
    > insanity to anyone, but they've always
    > worked for me."

    > and of course he coined the phrase,
    > "Fear and Loathing."

    Indeed. And for those who Don't Get It, who still think the movie (and book) is just about a couple of guys getting stoned and trashing hotel rooms, consider the following quote:

    "San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run . . . but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of the world. Whatever it meant . . .

    "History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit, but even without being sure of "history" it seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash, for reasons that nobody really understands at the time - and which never explain, in retrospect, what actually happened.

    "My central memory of that time seems to hang on one or five or maybe forty nights - or very early mornings - when I left the Fillmore half-crazy and, instead of going home, aimed the big 650 Lightning across the Bay Bridge at a hundred miles an hour wearing L. L. Bean shorts and a Butte sheepherder's jacket . . . booming through the Treasure Island tunnel at the lights of Oakland and Berkeley and Richmond, not quite sure which turn-off to take when I got to the other end (always stalling at the toll-gate, too twisted to find neutral while I fumbled for change) . . . but being absolutely certain that no matter which way I went I would come to a place where people were just as high and wild as I was: No doubt at all about that . . .

    "There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning . . .

    "And that I think was the handle - that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting - on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave . . .

    "So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave fiinally broke and rolled back."

    There you have it, my friends. People have written volumes trying to explain the 60's, yet Thompson perfectly defines the very essence of it all in just a few paragraphs. If you still don't get it, all I can say is, "You had to 'ave been there."

  10. #10
    Joe Miner
    Guest

    Joe Miner: Weird...

    > "When the going gets weird, the Weird
    > turn
    > pro. "
    You have to love a guy like this!

    > "I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol,
    > violence, or
    > insanity to anyone, but they've always
    > worked for me."

    > and of course he coined the phrase,
    > "Fear and Loathing."


  11. #11
    Joe Miner
    Guest

    Joe Miner: Wow...Hunter Thompson!

    Until this minute I have never heard of Hunter Thompson. What great words. I will visit my local libray or Amazon.com to check him out. Where did you get those quotes? In other words what Hunter Thompson's books would you recommend?

  12. #12
    Parker
    Guest

    Parker: Hunter S. Thompson books

    > Until this minute I have never heard of
    > Hunter Thompson. What great words. I will
    > visit my local libray or Amazon.com to check
    > him out. Where did you get those quotes? In
    > other words what Hunter Thompson's books
    > would you recommend?

    Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (the source of the quote referenced above) is far and away his best work. None of his other writing comes close.

    Hell's Angels was written before Fear and Loathing . . . Thompson spent nearly a year riding with the Hell's Angels - wearing a brown leather jacket, and riding a Kawasaki! And lived. It is interesting reading, to say the least.

    The Great Shark Hunt is a compilation of all Thompson's writing up to the date of it's publication, including an exerpt from Fear and Loathing . . . It has some good material, some not-so-good material, and a lot of stuff that is just plain filler.

    And as I mentioned in my post above, the movie, "Fear and Loahing in Las Vegas" starring Johnny Depp, is very true to the book.

    Do a Google search on "Hunter S. Thompson" and you will find a wealth of info.

  13. #13
    Bettie
    Guest

    Bettie: Re: Vegas-themed Movies

    > Thanks for starting such an interesting
    > thread, Bettie. I think you are a great
    > asset to RGE and those of us who like to
    > make conversation through our fingers. Your
    > leaning towards comedy is apparent and
    > appreciated. Everybody loves a pratfall or a
    > good joke. Adv. players can be so serious
    > sometimes....

    Tee-Hee! (I blush)

    > So why did I like it? Well, it starred
    > Frederic Forrest, Terri Garr, Raul Julia,
    > Harry Dean Stanton and Nastasia Kinski....
    > all in their prime. It was truly
    > revolutionary and experimental...insanely
    > bold and idiosyncratic... sort of like
    > Coppola's 'Citizen Kane' except the heroes
    > are working class citizens of
    > Vegas...waiters, lounge singers, musicians,
    > circus girls, etc. The movie takes place on
    > one magical Fourth of July night when our
    > couple is breaking up on their fifth wedding
    > anniversay. The soundtrack is filled with
    > Tom Waits songs and is melancholy and
    > frighteningly sad and beautiful. Each one of
    > our characters is offered the liason of a
    > lifetime with the dream of romance
    > found....but in the end, our married couple
    > both realize that love is deeper than
    > romance and watch the sun rise on another
    > working class morning in Vegas together
    > again, at last. It is profoundly touching
    > and despite all the special effects, bad
    > singing, and stylistic excesses...a moving
    > story of two people who belong to each other
    > and so stay together. Hank and Frannie...
    > how common, how human, how 'American Dream'
    > gone wrong ... how utterly Vegas.

    Wow, with a description like that, how can I NOT go rush right out and rent it THIS VERY SECOND? Well, for one, I'm still in my pjs. And, I really won't have time for another couple of weeks, but I cannot believe that I haven't heard of this movie. Of all the movies that everyone listed above, this one goes right on the top of the must-see list. Thanks for clueing me in! Plus, I LOVE Tom Waits - very cool!

    Bettie

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