Every week in the Wednesday edition of this newsletter, I answer a question from the previous Monday's Act Four Live chat. You can read the transcript of the Oct. 2 chat here and...
| |  | | | | Alyssa Rosenberg on culture and politics | | | | | | Police block traffic on the Las Vegas Strip on Monday, following Sunday night's mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas. (David Becker/Getty Images) | Every week in the Wednesday edition of this newsletter, I answer a question from the previous Monday’s Act Four Live chat. You can read the transcript of the Oct. 2 chat here and submit questions for the Oct. 9 question here. This week, in the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas that as of this writing has killed 59 people and wounded more than 500 others, a reader who is planning a trip to Vegas asks for recommendations for a pop-cultural guide to the city. I have never visited Las Vegas, but I am planning a trip to Zion and Bryce national parks next April and will tack on a couple of days in Las Vegas to see what the fuss is about. I’m still going to go! Most iconic Las Vegas movie or book I should make sure I have seen/read before then? I answered, “If you haven’t read ‘The Godfather,’ there are some really interesting explorations of Las Vegas in it; Lucy Mancini, the woman with whom Sonny Corleone is having an affair, is a much bigger character in the novel than in the film, and it’s through her perspective that we see the rise of the Corleone family in Las Vegas. I think the ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ movies (both the original and the remakes) are a nice look at what makes Vegas appealing, and ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ is a melancholy look at its ugly side. ‘Behind the Candelabra’ is a wonderful movie about Liberace, a Vegas icon.” But because I know I don’t know everything there is to know about any one area of pop culture, I turned the question over to the chatters, who came up with some great suggestions that I wanted to share with you here. - “Totally agree about ‘The Godfather.’ For fun, the best Las Vegas movie is ‘Viva Las Vegas’ with Elvis and Ann Margret.”
- “May I suggest ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’? It’s not for everyone’s taste, but I think it captures well the psychedelic side of Las Vegas.”
- “I’d add James McManus’s ‘Positively Fifth Street,’ which interweaves the World Series of Poker and a murder trial that exposes some of the unhealthy connections between crime and politics. Max Allan Collins’s ‘Neon Mirage’ is a fictionalized account of the rise and fall of Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegel, which is largely sympathetic to Siegel. Another film you might watch would be ‘Casino,’ based on a true story, as they say; Martin Scorsese directs a script by Nicholas Pileggi and starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone.”
- “One of the more redeeming features of the original ‘CSI’ series was that it portrayed a range of people who actually LIVED in Las Vegas, not just the tourists,” to which another reader adds “Most of my knowledge of Las Vegas comes from watching the original ‘CSI.’ I realize that a show focusing on crime might not be what someone wants to watch right after a mass-murder, but the first couple seasons had some episodes with robberies instead of murder. They also talked about Vegas history and the mob connections. Speaking of which, I recommend going the Mob Museum!”
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