Preposterous to poignant, new films have Vegas links aplenty

By Jerry Fink

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Las Vegas no longer feigns to be “Broadway West,” but maybe we can stake a claim to “Hollywood East.”

Four recent films with varying degrees of quality, budget and purpose have strong Vegas connections, including the theatrical release “Everybody Wants to Be Italian,” featuring 1996 Miss Teen Nevada Cerina Vincent, and the video release “The Art of Travel,” co-starring Johnny Messner, who has a passel of relatives here.

Also on the billboard are “Boys of Summer,” a heartwarming documentary by Las Vegas resident Robert Cochrane, and “Crazy Girls Undercover,” a farcelike action adventure written and produced by Norbert Aleman, who created the “Crazy Girls” topless revue, which will celebrate its 21st birthday Sept. 18.

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“Everybody Wants to Be Italian”

Opening on Friday on the East Coast and in Salt Lake City, this romantic comedy is directed by former Salt Lake City resident and physician Jason Todd Ipson (“Unrest”) and stars Jay Jablonski (“Unrest”) and Cerina Vincent, a native of Las Vegas whose parents live here.

The plot involves a lovelorn fishmonger (Jablonski) who pretends to be Italian to impress a beautiful Italian woman (Vincent).

Women will enjoy the movie for its dialogue about love, soul mates and the ticking biological clock, Vincent, 29, said during a telephone interview from her Los Angeles home. Men, she said, will enjoy the raunchy humor.

Vincent grew up in Spring Valley, where her mother taught ballet in a home studio. Vincent’s formative years were spent dancing, singing and acting in local productions before she graduated from Durango High School in 1997 and headed to Los Angeles.

Vincent, who enrolled at Marymount College, hardly had time to unpack her bags. Her theater professor introduced her to his agent, who landed her spots on the TV shows “USA High” (1997-99) and “Power Rangers” (1999-2001).

Many fans will remember her from the 2001 spoof “Not Another Teen Movie,” in which she was naked throughout (it was made for $15 million and grossed more than $66 million) and for her role in the 2003 horror film “Cabin Fever,” in which she was torn apart by a dog (made for $1.5 million, grossed more than $30 million).

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“The Art of Travel”

The film stars Christopher Masterson (Francis in “Malcolm in the Middle”) and co-stars Johnny Messner, 38, who considers Las Vegas his second home because of the number of family members who live here.

This coming-of-age story blends adventure, comedy and self-discovery as a group of young people travel through the 125-mile-wide Darien Gap, a dense jungle between Panama and Colombia that is filled with natural dangers and drug dealers.

With a $500,000 budget, this was a pure labor of love by the cast and crew, who traveled some rough terrain, Messner said. “It was raw moviemaking on every level.”

The movie, loaded with talent and high production value despite its low budget, was written by Brian LaBelle and Thomas Whelan and directed by Whelan.

The film was released by First Look Studios to video stores this week.

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“Boys of Summer” (at the Galaxy Theatres, Neonopolis, Friday-Sept. 11)

Inspired by the 1989 baseball film “Field of Dreams,” Las Vegas documentary filmmaker Robert Cochrane took his father, Dan — who had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease — on a trip across the country in summer 2004.

His goal: Bond with his father by attending baseball games in each of the 30 major league ballparks.

When they left Walnut Creek, Calif., they had $3,000 in cash and a mini-DVD video camera. The total cost of the adventure was $15,000.

What came out of the ad hoc shooting was an uplifting story about the relationship between a father and son and the kindness they were shown.

After screenings at several film festivals, the 95-minute movie is being released to theaters — beginning with the Galaxy Theatres at Neonopolis. A red carpet, invitation-only premiere is planned for Friday. Then there will be six screenings daily through Sept. 11.

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“Crazy Girls Undercover”

Producer/writer Norbert Aleman may have meant this to be a straight-ahead action thriller using some of the cast of his long-running topless revue “Crazy Girls,” but it comes off as a campy film that verges on soft porn.

Technically, the film is well-done but suffers from a weak script — although it gains some muscle thanks to the directing of Chris Langman and to Dave Connell’s videography.

Also adding a little credibility to the film — whose preposterous premise is that the “Crazy Girls” are Las Vegas’ answer to Charlie’s Angels — is British actor Clive Robertson (star of the Aaron Spelling soap “Sunset Beach” for three years in the ’90s).

The film was shot in Las Vegas.

Aleman says the video was made for pay TV and is available at On Demand, where it will run for two months; then it moves to Showtime on Dec. 1 and Bravo and Starz on Jan. 1.