‘Sex and Lies’ Offers Chance to Be Sinful — and Get Paid for It
By Reel N.M. DAN MAYFIELD Of the Journal
The new film “Sex and Lies in Sin City” will start shooting Monday in Santa Fe — and the Las Vegas thriller needs extras.
Gwen Savage of Film Savage will hold a casting call for a bunch of colorful characters, from mobsters to (ahem) newspaper reporters and strippers, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at her office, 4421 McLeod NE, Suite F.
The film is about the weird, mysterious life of Las Vegas, Nev., casino bigwig Ted Binion, she said. His biography reads like a Mario Puzo thriller, with vaults filled with silver bullion, casino deals gone bad, drug deals gone bad and one very hinky murder.
The film will shoot for 20 days and is being produced by Sony along with Lifetime, Savage said.
“We have Vegas strippers and showgirls, gangsters and the whole nine yards in it,” Savage said.
The film will star Matthew Modine (“Any Given Sunday,”"Memphis Belle” and “Full Metal Jacket”) and Marcia Gay Harden, who won an Oscar for her work on “Pollock.”
For more information on the paid extras casting call, visit filmsavage.com.
HAUNTING WINROCK:
The Winrock Mall area is pretty much a ghost town these days — unless you’re in movies.
The mall has been taken over by two films,
“Observe and Report” starring Seth Rogen and the new indie film “Easier With Practice” from firsttime writer/director Kyle Alvarez.
Last week, “Easier” took over the now-closed T.G.I.Friday’s on the mall’s north side.
It’s a road trip movie that takes place in New Mexico. Brian Geraghty stars as Davy Mitchell, on a promotional tour for his unpublished novel.
While crashing in an Albuquerque hotel, Davy gets a phone call from a mysterious woman, and the two strike up a relationship. The plot comes to a head when Davy decides to meet her.
It’s based on a true story by writer Davy Rothbart, which was published in GQ Magazine in 2006.
Alvarez was in L.A. and looking for a story to make into a film. “I’d quit my job. I was in the middle of my two weeks’ notice, and this story came along.”
His job? Warren Beatty’s assistant.
When the script came together easily, Alvarez knew he had something.
“It was the first time that I felt an inherent confidence,” he said. “I know exactly how to do this, to make four pages into 100.”
Alvarez decided he didn’t want to work for a movie star anymore; he wanted them to work for him. In this little story, about a man trying to find love in the midst of lifealtering turmoil, he found a script that was right up his alley.
“I wanted a characterfocused drama with highquality actors,” Alvarez said. “We don’t blow anything up. No stunts. The important moments come in small places.
“I started calling to find out who was available, and on my short list was Brian (Geraghty),” Alvarez said.
A RESTAURANT REBORN: So last week the T.G.I.Friday’s was renamed Fearweather’s, for the scene when Davy (Geraghty) meets the woman.
It wasn’t, however, Geraghty’s first time shooting a movie in New Mexico. He was one of the featured actors in “Love Lies Bleeding,” which filmed here last year and has yet to be released.
Though he’s been having a blast on the set, he said the Downtown scenes a few weeks ago — just as the weather was warming up and motorcycles were coming out — were tough.
“The hardest part has been shooting Downtown with the motorcycles,” Geraghty said. “They knew every time I wanted to speak … Rrrooomm, rrooom.”
Bikes aside, he said, he’s made buddies at his hotel — the MCM Elegant — where he stayed during “Love” and now for “Easier.”
New Mexico almost becomes a character in the film.
“A lot of our movie takes place with a Route 66 vibe,” Alvarez said.
Several local businesses opened their doors for him, from the Silver Moon Lodge to Bird Song Used Books and Dan’s Comics and Books. It seems he’s found several of Albuquerque’s nooks and crannies to shoot in, from the Wash Tub Laundromat to the Casa Grande restaurant and the old Fox’s Booze and Cruise.
The location crew looked at other cities, but they didn’t have eager small businesses who were willing to be so accommodating to movie shoots.
WELCOME, DIGITAL AGE:
The film is using the new Red Camera, the first fully digital movie camera. Though digital cameras are as much of an accessory as a handbag these days for family snaps, for a real movie, they don’t cut it. Alvarez said the Red Camera will do several things for a smallbudget film like “Easier With Practice.” Developing and editing film is an expensive proposition for filmmakers, but digital editing is much easier.
“It’s so cool. Our rough edit is theatrical quality,” Alvarez said. “I’ve seen some big-budget things done with it, but I haven’t seen an independent film on it yet.”
Alvarez is as eager to see daily footage — simply downloaded to his MacBook — as he is to watch the actors work live.
From the time he finished the script to the day production started, his producer, Cookie Carosella, has been with him.
“I read it and loved it. Kyle has a good way with a story,” she said.
Carosella set dates and hit up investors to get the film made. Alvarez credited her with making the movie happen — mainly by saying, “We’re going to start shooting on April 28,” he said. No matter what, that was her date. The film wrapped last Saturday.
The film has been shot entirely in New Mexico, mostly in Albuquerque.
“We had one scene at Fenton Lake,” Alvarez said. “I was shocked. It looked like the ambiguous Northwest.”
THE STARE DOWN: And, if you ever had any doubts about Jessica Alba after her great dis of Albuquerque (we’re boring, and, according to her, there’s nothing to do here but hang out at Wal- Mart), well, there’s a new YouTube.com video of her in a staring contest. Really. She can manage a totally blank stare for 1:09. I wasn’t surprised.
SEND US YOUR TIPS: If you know of a movie shooting in New Mexico, or are curious about one, e-mail Film@ABQjournal.com.
(c) 2008 Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.