'Sonic Youth: Sleeping Nights Awake' Documentary To Be Featured At CineVegas Film Fest

The CineVegas film festival has announced it's line-up and one of the main films is a documentary on aging, hipster downtown NY noiseniks, Sonic Youth, called "Sonic Youth: Sleeping Nights Awake."

Produced by non-profit filmmaking patrons Project Moonshine, the twist with this digital-video doc was that it was shot entirely by seven high school students and featuring interviews, backstage footage, and 10 songs that were filmed live in Reno, Nevada on back in July 06.

Other films included in the fest will be Abel Ferrera's reprobate stripper-paean, "Go Go Tales" (it was at Cannes last year and still has yet to be picked up) and his doc about the infamous New York hotel, "Hotel Chelsea, Chelsea on the Rocks," "The Great Buck Howard," which features a score by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! and stars Tom Hanks and John Malkovich (it screened at Sundance earlier this year), Alex Gibney's doc, "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson," arrested development artists doc, "Beautiful Losers"(which features a score by Beastie Boy collaborator Money Mark) Rainn Wilson as the failed drummer in "The Rocker," and Clark Gregg's "Choke," which features some Radiohead and other indie artists on the film's soundtrack. CineVegas will run June 12-21 at the Palms Casino.

More from Ferrera's 'Hotel Chelsea,' from Jeffrey Wells' blog. The notorious hotel has a storied rock n' roll relationship (tales that include Nancy Spungen's death at the hands of Sid Vicious and legends that involve Nico, Leonard Cohen, etc. etc.) and evidently features interviews with "residents past and present" like director Milos Forman, Ethan Hawke, Dennis Hopper and subversive comic artist R. Crumb, plus vintage music, archival footage and re-enactments of famous Chelsea episodes -- Nancy Spungen and Sid Vicious, Janis Joplin -- performed by Bijou Phillips, Jamie Burke, Adam Goldberg, Giancarlo Esposito and Grace Jones. Ferrera is debauched incarnate, so he probably sounds like the man for the job when it comes to rock bacchanalia stories.

Watch: 'Sonic Youth: Sleeping Nights Awake' trailer
Read more...

Abel Ferrara Planning "King Of New York' Prequel; 'Go Go Tales' Premieres At NY Film Festival

Remember the gangster magnum opus "The King of New York" starring Christopher Walken, Laurence Fishburne and Wesley Snipes? Turns out sweaty, cantankerous cretin Abel Ferrara is planning a prequel to his 1990 ahead-of-its-time classic.

Ok, this isn't exactly new, we admit. The low-life malcontent director announced his intentions on making this film ages ago, but like any good Ferrara film, financing usually takes a couple of years.

Titled, "The Last Crew," (or "Pericle il Nero" depending on which online source you trust) and set in the '70s Ferrara - who is promoting his new stripper T&A film, "Go Go Tales" - talked about the film recently to Paper Magazine (according to IMDB Michael Pitt is one of the actors attached).

Ok, he didn't say much other than indicating that it typically doesn't have money behind it yet, "I can't wait to get started. When the money starts coming faster we'll start envisioning it more clearly," he told Paper mag succinctly.

And it's the first he's said of it in a while. As for recording commentary for his own films like 'King,' he said, "Those things are a joke but the pay is good sometimes. It's like watching home movies -- there's Nicky, Uncle Victor, that kind of thing."

As for "Go Go Tales," you'll remember that naked cliche/provocatress Asia Argento makes out with a Rottweiler in the film. Other film highlights include Matthew Modine banging on a toy piano and scat-singing while his miniature fox terrier straddles a pole and Pras from the Fugees microwaving "free range hot dogs."

The film starts out with "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell and the Drells and Grace Jones is all over the soundtrack as well. During the NY Film Fest's screening last week Abel stepped on stage during the credits, tried to address the crowd through a turned-off mic, then threw a beer bottle and stormed off. Earlier on Ferrara was in fine form looking a mess, yelling at the audience from the wings and sweating profusely onstage. Ah, gotta love him.

Abel Ferrara Talks Strippers At the NY Film Fest Press Conference

Thanks to Doug Mosurock for contributing to this report.
Read more...