I was going to title this post “”Mark’s a Blog Hog” but then I realized he’s not really “”hogging” the blog inasmuch as he’s, you know, doing his job while I sleep. But I’m older than young Bell and need my rest, especially here at CineVegas where we keep finding ourselves stumbling back to the room in time for sunrise.
I’m leaving this afternoon and I have to say, I’m not ready to go. Usually after 4-5 days of a festival, I’ve had enough but this time I wish I had a few more days. In my opinion, CineVegas is really becoming one of the best fests around. They really know how to mix it up between the glitz and glamour of Vegas and the weird little indie flicks that make all the best film fests tick. Did that rhyme? Sweeet. But seriously, there’s so many cool little films here as you’ll see as more coverage rolls out. And not only that, but festival programmer Trevor Groth has always been my favorite programmer at Sundance and his offbeat sensibilities mixed with seriously good taste really come into play when programming this festival. But Trevor’s sensibilities get bumped up a notch due to Mike Plante’s crazy tastes and because of that, you really never know what you’re going to get so you’re sort of always on your toes and that’s a good thing.
Not only that, but the vibe here is just plain cool. Mark and I have ended up in some of the trendiest clubs and bars here in Vegas and to us, it’s just hilarious. We’re constantly waiting for someone to tap us on the shoulder and say “”c’mon guys, you know you don’t belong here.” So Mark and I whistle down as many free drinks as we can before we get caught. But seriously, the parties here are relaxed and fun. Plus it’s an indie film fans wet dream. We were at Ghostbar the other day for some cocktail hour and in the room was Gregg Araki, Bob Hawk, Morgan Spurlock and new SXSW fest programmer Janet Pierson. Now for me, that’s like, pretty cool as all those people have had a hand in some pretty big indie movements. Plus I saw MCA from the Beastie Boys AND Britney Spears! See, it’s all a mishmash of cool here at CineVegas.
Anyway, just wanted to bid the fest a fond farewell as I hand the reins over to Mark and Jamie. Oh! Kate and Chris the PR folks here at CineVegas are full-on champs! They make sure we’re all taken care of and have had our backs when we were late getting to screenings or trying to get into parties. Kate even found Gore’s festival pass that he lost 20 minutes into being here. Yes, you read it here. Film festival guru Chris Gore committed the cardinal sin of film fests. But Kate saved the day and has treated us great all week.
The other cool thing about any fests but especially the one this year is seeing old festival friends and meeting new ones. Mark and I have been hanging with our old pals Eric Childress and Eric Snider all week as well as Jeff from Reelz, Gabe and Paula from the Atlanta Film Fest and Silas from Collider. Nice people all. I also had the pleasure to finally meet and talk to Karina Longworth who is someone I admire and get this- Eric Kohn from Indiewire, who I mercilessly took to task in this very blog. Come to find out he actually isn’t evil incarnate. He’s a really nice guy and we’ve been palling around all weekend.
Sigh. Back to real life. Shine on CineVgeas, you crazy diamond.
You saw MCA? That’s awesome!
Chris Gore is cool, I saw him at a screening of “My Big, Fat Independent Movie” when it played at Cinequest.