CineVegas 2009

In the last few days the internet has been a buzz over four PSA-style online videos that promote Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8. Starring Lois and Clark actor Dean Cain, the ads have become instantly infamous for their crude humor and edgy style in the most un-Microsoft way. One in particular was apparently too edgy and pulled because, according to a Microsoft rep, “some of our customers found it offensive.” The director of these spots, comedian-turned-writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait, is a friend of the Festival and was kind enough to talk about them.

How did you come about getting the Microsoft commercial gig?

Fred Savage turned it down. (I’m not kidding.)

Were you surprised that you were asked to direct these? What was your first thought?

Yes. It was like Christmas and my Birthday all rolled up into one.

Did you write the commercials or were you given an outline of sorts?

Brain Harris and Craig Moore at the Bradley and Montgomery advertising firm out of Indiana wrote the spots. After that we would all pitch ideas and collaborate together. It wasn’t any different than how I worked with Jimmy Kimmel or Dave Chappelle.

How many different commercials did you make? Are there still more to come?

Four spots altogether. I’m not aware of anymore being ordered but I did hear that if we do Microsoft requested much more vomit this time.

Speaking of vomit, one commercial in particular, OMGPIP, has just recently been pulled off the net. Did you know about this? Any thoughts?

I was surprised when it was pulled. It seems pretty tame compared to a Comfort Wipe commercial.

What do you think of “viral videos” in general? Have any favorites?

Viral videos are a great distraction from the fact that we are all marching to the grave. With that said I like any video with dogs wearing clothes or that features funny monkeys.

Just recently we released the first version of our iPhone App called CineSlots. It had been in development for several months with the coding ninja skills of Hunter Hillegas who took our pie in the sky idea and made it into a reality (more info on the app here). What follows is in an interview with him about iPhone Apps, CineSlots and this wondrous city we call Las Vegas.

How did you get into developing iPhone Applications?

I’ve been doing programming on the Web for many years, building tools for bands like The Offspring, Bad Religion and Social Distortion. I’d dabbled in programming for other platforms but not until the iPhone did something really catch my interest.

The iPhone is a great platform for developers - it’s like a computer in your pocket. It’s really pretty amazing.

What separates the iPhone App ecosystem from that of Palm or BlackBerry? Do you develop for other platforms? Why or why not?

In terms of those alternatives, it’s night and day. The development platform for iPhone is based on the same tools for the Mac, with many years of engineering behind them and a legacy of good user experiences and great technology.

While the Apple iTunes App Store is not perfect, it does remove a lot of the obstacles to selling your software and getting it in front of people. I’m convinced it will continue to improve and some of the current issues will get worked out.

As far as other platforms, I have done some BlackBerry programming, which is all based on the Java programming language and some very crusty tools. It wasn’t fun. I have nothing against the BlackBerry (that’s what I had before iPhone) but until the tech and tools are more developer friendly, I can’t imagine doing any more apps.

Palm has a new device called the Pre which runs a new operating system called WebOS. It looks interesting but they’ve only let a very small number of people into their developer program so far - I can’t comment on specifics until I get to really dig in. Palm seems to be teetering on the brink - we’ll see if they survive or not. At least they have a solid product in the Pre.

Any particular challenge you looked forward to in developing CineSlots?

It’s always fun to work on an application with great visual design and that’s what we have with CineSlots. In terms of it’s components, the app is fairly straightforward. It combines several types of media, from photos to video.

What sort of unexpected speed bumps did you run into?

Going into it, the one thing I expected to be a bit of a challenge was the spinning reels - we wanted a realistic looking experience. I tried several techniques, some of which had less than stellar results.

Eventually, we were able to work together to combine a bunch of high quality frames into just the right container - it came out looking pretty good.

What other have apps you developed?

I have two other shipping apps on the iPhone:

Vegas Mate is a location-aware city guide for Las Vegas tourists. It helps visitors plan all the aspects of their vacations, from hotels to restaurants to shows and nightlife. Users can rate and review everything and share those reviews with others. More information is at vegasmateforiphone.com.

Bombora is a wave/wind and ocean condition tracking tool for surfers and boaters. More information at bomborasurf.com.

You seem to have a real love for Las Vegas, why is that?

With Las Vegas it was love at first sight. No other place is so much capital concentrated into such a compact resort corridor and somehow the economics work out (at least most of the time) - that fascinates me. From there I started to learn about what it takes to design, build and then manage one of these places - I was hooked.

I started my RateVegas.com Web site in 1999 and the Two Way Hard Three design blog a few years later. Since then it’s been quite a ride!

Any sneak peeks at future apps you might be working on?

Well, the next thing on the slate are upgrades for both Vegas Mate and Bombora. Vegas Mate 2 should be out in mid-July and it will feature a long list of upgrades including restaurant menus, over the air content updates, and more. Beyond that, I have a few irons in the fire but nothing I can talk about yet.

We will be updating CineSlots to include the 2009 fest information sometime very soon.

We’re giving away free CineSlots promo codes at random to people who comment on this post. You can also buy the app for only 99¢ on iTunes.

LOOKIN’ TO GET OUT, the film CineVegas screened at the 2009 Festival as part of its tribute to Marquee Award winner Jon Voight, is available on DVD today for the first time. Directed by Hal Ashby, the DVD is a newly remastered director’s cut of the 1982 film, which stars Voight (who also co-wrote the film), Burt Young, Ann-Margret and Angelina Jolie in her big screen debut.

The film is about two gamblers who must leave New York City after one loses a lot of money, and doing what all gamblers in trouble would do, they hurry to Las Vegas to turn their luck around.

Ashby had secretly re-edited the movie and donated it to the UCLA Film and Television Archive before passing away in 1988. Once Voight found out about the hidden film, he decided it was important to share the updated version with the world.