MJ Immortal in Vegas; Ski Vegas; J. Edgar in the House
Michael Jackson Fan Fest Showcases Never-Before-Seen Memorabilia and Interactive Fan Experiences for a Limited Time in Las Vegas
Exhibit Opens December 3-14 Alongside December Las Vegas Debut of “THE IMMORTAL World Tour”
Article courtesy of http://www.accessvegas.com – that is the place to go to find out what is happening in Vegas!
Walk through the storied gates of Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, then view his personal book collection in a study filled with his actual furniture.
Peek inside the interior of the 1999 Rolls-Royce Seraph limousine Michael designed himself with 24-karat gold embellishments, then check out the 10-foot-tall statue created for the HIStory tour. Get the feel of Michael’s music videos by wandering through the spaceship set used in “Scream,” sit in the actual throne from the Egyptian-themed set of “Remember the Time,” then stand before the hostile tank from the live concert performance of “Earth Song.”
Never has there been an artist like Michael Jackson and never has there been a more intimate and personal glimpse into the career and life of the King of Pop than what will be assembled during the first-ever Estate-authorized Michael Jackson Fan Fest. Scheduled for December 3-14 at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, the event coincides with the kick off of the extended Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour stop in Las Vegas during December. The Michael Jackson Fan Fest will only be in Las Vegas and will not travel to any other tour stop.
“We are thrilled to offer Michael’s fans an opportunity to experience his life and career up close through the Fan Fest while they also enjoy Cirque du Soleil’s spectacular tribute to his creativity as an artist in Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour,” said the Executors of the Michael Jackson Estate, John Branca and John McClain.
“Michael Jackson Fan Fest will add an unparalleled addition to Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour’s extended three-week run at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino,” says Daniel Lamarre, President and CEO of Cirque du Soleil. “Fan Fest gives fans the opportunity to experience Michael Jackson as a man, iconic performer and immortalized legend.”
Michael Jackson Fan Fest is designed to transport guests on a journey through Michael Jackson’s life, beginning with his rise to stardom through his pop super stardom and beyond as he is immortalized through fan art, photos and Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour. Throughout the experience, fans will have access to rare memorabilia and have the opportunity to take their own photos in recreated sets of the historic music videos and to play the Michael Jackson The Experience video game with other fans.
A wide variety of other personal items will be on display from both his career and Neverland Ranch. Featured career memorabilia will include costumes, the Fantasy glove collection from the 1980s, award statues, tickets, the famed rocket plane from the “Leave Me Alone” video, a castle displayed in the living room of Neverland and others.
Each session of Michael Jackson Fan Fest will last for four hours and will allow visitors time enjoy without overlapping each performance of THE IMMORTAL World Tour shows December 3-14 in Mandalay Bay’s Bayside Exhibit Halls. Fan Fest will be open from 12-4pm and 5-9pm on December 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 and from 2-6pm on December 6, 7, 13, and 14. Tickets for Fan Fest can be purchased in conjunction with Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour or individually. Fan Fest ticket prices start at $35 plus applicable fees for general admission; $75 for VIP tickets. VIP tickets include priority entrance into the event and all activities within the event, a commemorative lanyard and access to the VIP-only lounge. For more information or to purchase tickets, guests can visit: www.michaeljacksonfanfest.com or www.cirquedusoleil.com/lasvegas.
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Hit the Slopes Next Time in Vegas!
Article courtesy of the know it all Vegas entertainment site www.accessvegas.com
The Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort <http://www.skilasvegas.com/winter> is the only resort for Mount Charleston, Nevada, making it a top destination for hundreds of Las Vegas locals and tourists every season. If you are planning a visit to the resort for ski season, here are some things you need to know:
Rates
On weekdays, lift tickets for the whole day (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) are $50 per adult and $30 per child 12 and under. Weekends and holidays will cost you an additional $10 per person. You can purchase half-day tickets, but it is only a $10 discount for adults and $5 discount for children. If you want to get your money’s worth, I recommend spending the whole day there.
Course length and difficulty
Mount Charleston is a great alpine skiing destination. It offers a 3,000-foot run and 860-foot vertical drop. There are 11 trails made for all levels of skiing expertise: 20 percent are beginner trails, 60 percent are intermediate trails, and 20 percent are trails for advanced skiers. Overall, the trails are not nearly as advanced as other resorts on the West Coast, but it’s great for a family vacation or for someone who just needs a quick ski fix.
Other pros
* There are over 300 days of sunshine every year, so you won’t be freezing up there most days.
* There’s a Darkside Terrain Park that offers table-top jumps, rails and other jibs for snowboarders.
* The Big Horn Café at the base lodge offers a great place to rest and eat between runs.
* The Bristlecone Bar is full-service and is open all day.
* If you accidentally left something at home, the resort offers equipment rental. This could include your ski poles to your jacket; whatever it is, they offer a rental for relatively cheap prices. A $150 deposit is required.
* The Resort at Mount Charleston is only 20 minutes away, and they offer Skivacation packages.
Cons
* There are only 140 inches of average annual snowfall, but the resort’s snow-making capabilities keep the terrain 75 percent covered.
* There are only four lifts: two double-chair lifts, one triple-chair lift, and one surface lift. During busy times, this doesn’t seem like enough.
* Experienced skiers will find the resort smaller than many other Western destinations.
Skiers will find the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort a great escape from the lights and hustle of the city. It opens on Nov. 25, so start planning your visit!
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Carol Cling – MOVIE REVIEW
Courtesy of the best paper in Vegas, the Las Vegas Review Journal www.lvrj.com
Eastwood, DiCaprio’s ‘J. Edgar’ proves frustratingly short on character insight
Warner Bros.
“J. Edgar”
137 minutes
R; brief profanity
Grade: C+
Consider the curious case of “J. Edgar.”
On paper, this J. Edgar Hoover biopic looks like a gangbusters, can’t-miss collaboration.
Consider: Double Oscar-winner Clint Eastwood directs from a script, by “Milk” Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black, that focuses on one of 20th-century America’s most powerful (and enigmatic) figures, who’s portrayed by three-time Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio.
Yet as all dedicated moviegoers know, there’s often a slip between (script) page and (sound)stage. And, alas, “J. Edgar’s” essence, its very life force, seems to have gotten lost somewhere in between.
The movie is nothing if not ambitious, focusing as it does on the FBI’s first — and, for 37 years, only — director, a man who obsessively collected other people’s secrets even as he tried to guard his own.
All of which makes Hoover a potentially fascinating focus for any movie, especially one attuned to the ironic contrast between public and private lives.
Yet in trying to convey the scope of Hoover’s extended reign, “J. Edgar” too often loses its title character amid a time-marches-on cavalcade.
Playing Hoover as a determined young man of almost fossilized rectitude, DiCaprio captures the character’s crusaderlike commitment to might-makes-right law enforcement — and the swaggering bravado that transformed him into America’s top cop during Depression-era tumult, when tommy-gun-toting mobsters battled the feds for the American public’s affections. (“J. Edgar” deftly depicts this clash through clips from two contrasting James Cagney movies — 1931′s “Public Enemy” and 1935′s ” ‘G’ Men” — that, brief as they are, deliver more dynamic excitement than the rest of the movie put together.)
Hoover consolidates his power — first as head of the Justice Department’s Bureau of Investigation, then the newly created FBI — through eight presidential administrations, three wars and untold investigations. In the process, “J. Edgar” touches on everything from the FBI’s investigation of the then-”crime of the century” — the 1932 kidnapping of aviator hero Charles Lindbergh’s baby, which prompted breakthroughs in scientific crime investigation — to his penchant for compiling blackmail-quality evidence of the sexual escapades of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and other public figures.
As for Hoover’s own sexual escapades, “J. Edgar” neither whispers nor shouts about his longtime relationship with right-hand man Clyde Tolson (“The Social Network’s” insouciant Armie Hammer), his dapper deputy at the FBI.
Such nuance stands out in a movie that proves frustratingly short on character insight as the aged Hoover recounts his memories — the professional ones, anyway — to a succession of young FBI agents who dutifully transcribe his recollections.
In the beginning, just after World War I, there was no FBI, Hoover remembers. But there were agitators, anarchists, Bolsheviks and other assorted radicals determined to undermine, and overthrow, domestic tranquility, all of which fostered Hoover’s dedication to rooting out Communist subversives he perceived as threats to public safety. (Any link between then and our own jittery post-Sept. 11 now is hardly coincidental, “J. Edgar” suggests.)
After office hours, Hoover takes his all-American zeal home to his judgmental mother (a chilly Judi Dench), with whom Hoover lives until her death. Only one other woman finds a permanent place in his life: the inexplicably loyal Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts, stranded in a thankless role), who rebuffs his awkward romantic advances but agrees to become his personal secretary, keeping Hoover’s secrets until the end — and beyond, when she shreds the director’s secret files so then-President Richard Nixon’s men can’t see what’s in them.
As for Hoover’s other close relationship, “J. Edgar” matter-of-factly captures his longtime bond with Tolson — and suggests how it threatens his public image as all-American crimefighter — without ever really revealing the emotions behind it.
Then again, “J. Edgar” is not any more comfortable with matters of the heart than its title character.
Eastwood mostly sticks to just the facts, ma’am, trying to create contrast between the movie’s eras through a desaturated color scheme that doesn’t always work the way he or director of photography Tom Stern (who’s worked with Eastwood since the early ’80s) intends. And as “J. Edgar” slogs rather than skips between the decades, accompanied by Eastwood’s own tinkling piano score, your eye (and mind) may wander toward James J. Murakami’s detailed production designs rather than the movie’s gallery of cameos. (Look! There’s Josh Lucas as Lindbergh! Jeffrey Donovan as Robert F. Kennedy! Lea Thompson as Ginger Rogers’ mother?!)
Or maybe it’s just the waxworks-worthy makeup that buries “J. Edgar’s” human element — and, ultimately, DiCaprio along with it.
Playing the title character as a younger man, DiCaprio ably conveys not only Hoover’s self-doubt but his bulldog determination to conceal, and triumph over, inner doubt and insecurity. As the character ages, however, the actor is buried beneath a ton of latex, silicone and prosthetics that not only restrict his expressive facial movements but make it virtually impossible for him to disappear inside Hoover’s conflicted character. (Those brown contact lenses blocking Leo’s baby blues don’t help either.)
At times, DiCaprio almost looks as though he’d like to claw through all the gunk so he could find direct access to Hoover’s inner demons. But he can’t — and while that may accurately reflect the character’s own peculiar, precarious balancing act, it doesn’t do much to give DiCaprio, or “J. Edgar,” the kind of breathing room it needs to truly come alive.
Contact movie critic Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.
