Rain Closeup

Robert Redford may not be eligible for any awards at Cannes this year where his new film, All Is Lost premiered to strong response out of competition on Wednesday night, but if the reaction on the Croisette is any indication he could be headed for the Oscars. The film, in which Redford is the only actor playing a man stranded at sea when his sailboat springs a huge leak, is a tour de force for the star and it won a 9 minute standing ovation at its debut tonight where even the return of the rain that has plagued this festival could not put a damper on the mood of the filmmakers , Universal International (releasing overseas) and Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions (releasing domestically on October 18th.) It is clearly an awards season play , not only for Redford  in a role unlike any he has played but also Oscar nominated writer/director J.C. Chandor (Margin Call) who proves his first film was no fluke and shows a remarkable ability to pull off this one-man show with real filmmaking skill. Most reviews  that came in after the afternoon press screening were very upbeat, making it even more of a head-scratcher as to why this film wasn’t put in competition. Redford certainly would have given the top notch list of Best Actor contenders at this year’s Cannes a ... Read More »

Las Vegas is one of those distinctly American creations: it was designed and built by a gangster, in the middle of a deathly desert, as a utopian celebration for bad behavior, gilded excessiveness, criminal activity and off-color kitsch. It's a place where you can stay in intricately themed hotel/casinos based upon the pyramids of Egypt, Arthurian castles, New York City, Paris, Amazonian rain forests, Roman coliseums and Robert Louis Stevenson's novel "Treasure Island," but you'd be hard-pressed to find a museum or library to attend. And yet there's something hypnotically attractive about this place – we keep returning to it, again and again, both in real life and in the movies. This week's "Hangover, Part III" climaxes (as it were) in Vegas, high atop Caesar's Palace, and in keeping with this we decided to celebrate the bad taste and blinding neon lights of Vegas by showcasing ten of the very best Las Vegas movies.  "Ocean's 11" (Lewis Milestone, 1960) It's a swinging good...