Hollywood Goes to Vegas

Las Vegas is a popular setting for movies. 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2' is the latest film to hit the strip. Check out these other films that enjoy some sun, sin and the occasional casino heist. 

This is the ultimate "when good times in Vegas go bad" comedy. And who are we to argue with a box office champ that spawned two sequels and turned Bradley Cooper into a bona fide A-lister?

Here's one of those rare cases where the remake is better than the original: Frank Sinatra's breezy 1960 'Ocean's 11' also centers around Vegas casino heists, but George Clooney and crew provide much more exciting results.

Nicolas Cage, Sarah Jessica Parker and a slew of skydiving Elvis impersonators highlight the town's early '90s renaissance, when the old casinos of yore were beginning to be replaced by themed hotels and "family friendly" fun.

Cage reveals a considerably darker side – as does Vegas itself – in this bleak drama about an alcoholic who comes to the city to drink himself to death. Elisabeth Shue co-stars as the prostitute who cares for him.

Delight in Vegas at its Rat Pack-era peak, as Elvis Presley romances an almost impossibly kittenish Ann-Margret – all in garish mid-'60s color. One of the most entertaining Elvis vehicles by far.

The dashing Vegas of the '60s was giving way to the cheesy Vegas of the '70s in this James Bond outing, Sean Connery's last crack at the role until his "unofficial" return in 1983's 'Never Say Never Again.'

Cheesy '70s Vegas is on full display in Martin Scorsese's saga about the mobsters who ran the town back in the day. A spiritual sequel to 'Goodfellas' and often compared unfavorably to the earlier film, 'Casino' stands on its own merits.

Scorsese's gangsters weren't the first to call Sin City home: This biopic on Ben "Bugsy" Siegel (Warren Beatty), the Hollywood hood who "made" Las Vegas in the 1940s, shows that crime and casinos have long gone hand in hand.

The bulk of this indie comedy about struggling actors may take place in Los Angeles, but who can forget skinny Vince Vaughn's optimistic chants of "Vegas, baby, Vegas"? This movie is so money and it doesn't even know it.

Doug Liman, who directed 'Swingers,' returns to Vegas for this multi-story comedy about various young people who sometimes cross paths and uniformly get into trouble over the course of one crazy 24-hour period.

This may be the blackest-ever comedy about a Vegas bachelor party gone wrong. Jon 'Swingers' Favreau finds himself back in town with Christian Slater, Jeremy Piven -- and a pair of dead bodies that need to be disposed of.

Hunter S. Thompson's literary takedown of Sin City (and post-'60s America) is brought to the screen by Terry Gilliam. Johnny Depp, as Thompson's alter ego, recruits Benicio del Toro to join him on a feverish, drug-fueled odyssey. Gonzo.

Now here's something that happened in Vegas that we wished stayed in Vegas. Oh, who are we kidding? The endlessly sleazy 'Showgirls' will always be a guilty pleasure. A VERY guilty pleasure.