Totally Awesome Time-Lapse Film Of Vegas

You all remember Philip Bloom? He's the British filmmaker who last year threw a questionable tantrum against the Wynn Las Vegas, accusing them of nearly killing him because they failed to remove a feather pillow from his room. That was a messy drama that ended with Bloom first threatening to sue me and then making the whole matter disappear from his blog and elsewhere.

Well, we come not to bury Mr. Bloom but to praise him. This is just spectacular and beautiful and well worth the accolades that Mr. Bloom's many fans have bestowed on his technical genius. Check it out. It's about 4 minutes of sumptuous Vegas Porn, shot from the MGM Signature. I've watched it several times now and just think it is sensational.

24 Hours of Neon from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Hat tip to Markus Hundt in Germany for passing along the link.

Wynn Resorts Responds to @PhilipBloom

[Update: Philip Bloom just sent me two emails. The first: "You REALLY didnt want to post that blog. You have gone beyond personal. this will not be pleasant for you Steve." The second: "you have gone on a personal attack and said some deeply untrue fucked up things. thank god you have SUCH a litigious society. :-)."]


If you're not on Twitter, you may not be aware that my prior post of Wynn-related bits and pieces set off a firestorm because filmmaking GOD Philip Bloom took umbrage with having his already peculiar version of events at Wynn Las Vegas questioned. It seems he's very, very touchy, and although he has no trouble unloading on the hotel in public and urging his Twitter followers to join in on the bashing, when he is placed under scrutiny, he withers and tells me in a series of private emails that *I* am what's wrong with the Internet.

The background: Bloom, the greatest filmmaker and digital movie pioneer in the history of cinema according to his bizarro followers, got sick when he was in Vegas for the National Association of Broadcasters convention last month. He was rushed to the hospital and later a doctor told him that a heretofore-benign allergy to feathers was exacerbating his throat ailment. He asked the resort to remove all the feather pillows and they did so except that they may have left one (of 8) behind. Bloom realized this on the very last day of his trip and decided to make a federal case out of it. His Twitter followers, in fact, believe the hotel almost KILLED him. Really. They've said that and more.

You can read his version of events on his blog. It's not just that there were inconsistencies in his account and an overall whiny, entitled tone but that when fans of the Wynn tried to represent their good customer service experiences in his comments section, Bloom refused to approve those remarks. He claimed that the pro-Wynn people were attacking him because, in Bloom's world, any form of disagreement or dissent is an attack. Just ask the sycophants who follow/read him.

All the Twitter discussion of Bloom's cowardice and discomfort with anything less than sheer devotion may explain why he did, in fact, approve a comment from Wynn Las Vegas late today. I had asked for a response as well, and I received the same paragraph:

As Mr. Bloom already stated publicly, he was a guest of our resort and had an unfortunate experience. We genuinely take such situations very seriously and strive to rectify any problems with a quick response and action. We respect the privacy of all of our guests and don’t and won’t discuss details of their experiences in public. In this case, while we are tempted to provide context which would accurately reflect what actually happened, we opt to take the high road and not reveal such particulars.

That is what we call a "tersely worded" statement. You can just tell they're dying to tell the world what a pain in the caboose Bloom is and how badly he's mangled the facts of the case. But they're taking the "high road," a notion with which Bloom himself is clearly unfamiliar.

I'm sure there's a germ of truth in Bloom's version of the situation. The trouble is, it's also clear he set out to embarrass the Wynn and felt his army of 12,500-ish Twitter followers was a weapon to be used in his personal dispute. He's clearly a high-maintenance kind of guy with an extraordinarily thin skin for someone in the movie business, and I had a gut feeling when I first read his account that he wasn't telling a complete or balanced story to his readers. Now I know for sure he wasn't but that his readers don't much care about the truth anyway.

Only Bloom and the Wynn folks know the true details and the Wynn would never tell, which is something Bloom clearly is counting on. But for as long as I've been covering this city, I have heard only heroic, above-and-beyond customer service stories about this property. This guy was clearly difficult from the word ahchoo.