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Dr. Jeffrey Korchek Has Our First Look At Soderbergh's OCEAN'S ELEVEN!! 2ND REVIEW ADDED!!! Very Enthusiastic!!!
Hey folks, Harry here... I had the opportunity to be in the first audience anywhere to see Steven Soderbergh's TRAFFIC... a film that played much longer and a lot more scattershot. At that stage, TRAFFIC was very solid, but not nearly as focused as what won him BEST DIRECTOR this past year. Soderbergh knows how to use the testing process to a 'T', especially when a studio lets him do his thing... and with that Oscar and the success of this past year, he garners the sort of respect from studios that very few get now.
When Moriarty and I received the following test screening review from the testing grounds in Scottsdale, Arizona... I was left a bit bewildered by a sentence near the end of the review... "it's amazing how often they overlook the importance of a good, tight, script." Well, being someone that has read about six drafts (including the shooting script) of OCEAN'S ELEVEN, the key thing I can point out is that the script was extremely tight. However, knowing how Soderbergh directs, he allows his actors a chance to try things, working within the character to make it theirs.
And in this extremely advance print of the film... and by watching it with this audience... Soderbergh was keying in on what played and what didn't. Heck, I've just been through the post process on my TV pilot... in fact, this morning I get my finished edit, and with each edit, it got tighter and tigher... faster and faster. You begin to find the needless self-indulgent moments and trim... you begin to see elements that you need to put in to make it breathe, then as you get closer to the end of it all... the piece is finally ready to sing. Hell, in my pilot we even tested it with some folks and found some things not playing... so they didn't make the cut. Including two spies.
SO, with that I'll out and out guarantee you that while Dr. Jeffrey Korchek has written below a review giving OCEAN'S ELEVEN a 'B'... well, come late December... you'll find that becoming an 'A' to an 'A+'. How do I know? Because it's Steven Soderbergh... and he's the best in town right now!
This is a remake of the caper film made in 1959 starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and the group that was known as the coolest of the cool, the Rat Pack.
Clooney’s been really good in films the last few years after B & R; Brad Pitt has stumbled a time or two, but he’s still good, and Julia Roberts — well, she’s currently enjoying a reasonably good streak of movies. Fill in the rest of the roles in this ensemble with some good character actors, add Andy Garcia as the bad guy, and this should be great, right? The nearly completed work print saw its very first test screening with a large audience on 7/24 in Arizona, where it was 108 degrees and people live to go to the movies as a great way to escape the heat. It appeared to only be missing a few opticals — blue and green shots hadn’t been corrected yet, and while they said the music was only a temp track, it was actually pretty decent. When asked if any remembered the 1959 version, few hands went up. It's an old favorite of mine, so I’ve followed the remake a bit over the last year or so.
I wanted to enjoy it, I really did. It had all of the right elements — great cast, glitzy settings, a romantic story driving the caper, and the caper itself was structured pretty well. Clooney’s playing Danny Ocean (the Sinatra character from the original), our leading man, and he gets out of prison. Julia’s his wife, and she’s divorcing him. He really loves her, but now she’s hooked up with Garcia, who’s in charge of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. Underneath the Bellagio is a Safe & Depository that sets a new standard for security.
Clooney wants two things: first, to get his wife back, and second, to heist a bazillion dollars out of Garcia’s safe. The film has a lot of high-tech heisting tools like in MI2 — slick video pick-ups, and a top-secret device to shut down the power long enough for the heist. In the original, Sinatra’s Pals used dynamite to blow the electrical towers; once done, it took just enough time for the back-up generators to come on to allow for the heist. Same idea, here, which is no surprise, and not a real spoiler. However, the plot device used here had a Big Enough Hole in the idea that you could drive a semi-truck through. Remember the EMP-side effect from an atomic blast? They use that here, but forgot that it would also disable all cars, VCR’s, etc., that carry a microchip. Bad science.
Some great chemistry between Clooney and Pitt; like Paul Newman and Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and great scenes when they were together. Poor Julia didn’t get that much to do but to be The Girl, and she had a couple of good moments. Elliot Gould steals most of the scenes he’s in as the money man backing the heist.
Here’s the bottom line. I really wanted to like it. It reminded me of how I felt and what I thought when Star Trek: TMP first came out. You liked seeing these people together, the visuals were pretty good, there were definitely some good moments, etc. BUT, the movie was empty — there was no heart to it. We’ve had a lot of movies like that in the past few years — The Avengers, Lara Croft, etc. No matter how much money the producers throw at the screen with casting, effects, locations, etc., its amazing how often they overlook the importance of a good, tight, script. It gets a ‘B’ for effort, but misses the mark.
Dr. Jeffrey KorchekAnd now we have this look...
Harry, I didn't want to send any advance word on the movie, but after reading the other review, I had to send my two cents in (no spoilers are included here). I too was at the Scottsdale test screening for Ocean's Eleven last week, and I must say that either the kind Dr. had some flat soda during the flick or he just doesn't quite get the thing.
Yes, it was evident that this was a very early cut of the film, and the pacing did need some work, but this has the makings of greatness, and even as it was, it buried anything I have seen so far this year. Soderbergh, who was present at the screening along with Jerry Weintraub and a host of other black-clad producer types, has a very unique sense of style and man, he brings it in full force on this one.
Clooney and Pitt, as the Dr. says, have perfect chemistry across the whole film, Matt Damon does a great job as the new guy of the crew (and I think is better than what Wahlberg would have been), Julia Roberts, with limited screen time and a very late introduction, does wonderfully with her scenes, and what a unique pleasure to see Carl Reiner playing an end of his rope con man. Even Scott Caan and Corey Affleck are great as the constantly fighting Mormon Molloy Brothers. The cast could not have been better.
The script is smart, with good lines (the ending is a bit surprisingly smarmy...hopefully that will change), and it smartly takes time to poke fun at the characters and the logic of heist. It treats everybody with intelligence, and while there are some slight reality gaps, I never lost faith in the drive of the story. This fiction, right???
The only problems I noted on my survey card could be easily fixed in editing...no reshoots should be needed here. And my faith in Soderbergh's editing abilities (is there a leaner flick than The Limey?) allow me to know that this already very good movie will be the best time in a movie house all year...no question. But, keep in mind that this is no big statement piece or Oscar heavy nor is it intended to be...it's a very good, fun ensemble work that is smart and very, very cool. I can't wait to see it again.
Luc's Pop.
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just the ones you want to keep.
Soderbergh knocks it out of the park again... bring on this and Schizopolis 2!! -
Jul 30, 2001 5:37:15 AM CDT
Didn't you dis the final version of Traffic as being inferior to
by jonquixote
Hindsight + popular opinion + Academy Award = About Face!
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Clooney and Pitt seem the obvious choices for the Sinatra/Martin roles, both being tres cool cats. I can do without Julia Roberts...perhaps after another edit they can minimalize her, but that's just wishful thinking. Just so long as none of them consider a Vegas lounge career, I think we should be okay.
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I hate to say this because he seems a really nice guy but I have hated every film Clooney's been in. Out of Sight was unwatchable crap, Dusk till Dawn should of been good ... I mean Vampire Strippers & Tarantino how can you go wrong but it was ordinary at best, Perfect Storm was just blahhh, Batman & robin was abysmal, Three Kings was terrible and Peacemaker was bland. The one common link. Clooney's spectacular lack of charisma and likability on the big screen. Throw in a director who to be honest has never made a film I have really loved, a movie star female lead who usually phones in her performances, Brad Pitt and a cast of thousands who will be reduced to soundbites with no real personality because there wont be time to develop real character. My prediction .... this is gonna suck big time.
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Actually, I become more and more impressed with Clooney's work every film I see him in. Probably the two best examples are Out of Sight and O Brother Where Out Though (awesome DVDs both). I'm kind of surprised to read that some people didn't like Out of Sight -- it was extraordinarily critically acclaimed after all, with Oscar nominations in writing and best picture nominations just about everywhere else (it won best picture from boston society of film critics AND the national society of film critics), and the screenplay won a million others... writers guild too, I think... I'd have to look that up. Rottentomatoes has it as one of the highest rated films of the last five years, too...
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Are you Mikey from the old cereal ads who doesn't like anything??? Out of Sight sucked, Three Kings sucked, and Soderbergh isn't worth watching?? Allow me to not take any stock in what you say about a movie that is months from release.
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I am so pissed at morons who post things that Harry never said. Seriously, if you can't check simple facts than get of the friggen talkbacks and die.
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traffic sucked and is overrated. clooney is good. julia roberts is creepy. oh yeah did i mention my TV PILOT? it's getting tighter and tighter each day...
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Mainly because the reviewer considers the original OCEANS 11 a personal favorite/classic. The original OCEANS was simply the Rat Pack drinking, partying and getting rowdy while the heist served as little more than colorful background music. This remake is more about the heist than the partying (I think), so comparing the two is going to be a problem to anyone who is in love with the original
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isn't Matt Damon in this film as well?
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The Rat Pack showed up on set every day after resetting the gold standard in carousing the night before. The movie was an afterthought compared to the ongoing, and seemingly neverending, party. This time around, I'm hoping that the party will be onscreen rather than off. I'm certainly happy to hear that Elliot Gould is stealing scenes again. When's the last time that happened?
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1...The original Ocean's 11 was released in 1960, not 1959; 2...The reviewer neglected to mention whether or not the immortal "EO-11 Theme" (sung by Sammy Davis, Jr. in the original, and used by the gang as a "secret whistle") is used in the re-make. Come on, man, this is important! Is it in the re-make or not?!; 3...I've been to the Bellagio hotel/casino myself, and after casing the joint, I can personally attest that...Spider-Man will suck. Ha ha, funny.
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"The final version of TRAFFIC is a glorious almost GREAT film. The various stories seem a bit abbreviated. Everybody seems to feel the Benicio Del Toro section is the best, I agree and he should be nominated for Supporting Actor, and Erika Christensen should be nominated for Supporting Actress. But unfortunately not all the pieces are equal or fit as perfectly as some. The film just feels less personal and more ponderous than it should. When it works, it works brilliantly. Unfortunately it isn
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With O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?, Clooney showed that he is completely beyond the Batman fiasco. He hasn't made a truly bad movie since (One Fine Day came close, but that's fluff.) Whenever someone praises Soderbergh, I like to think of the director's own recent quote, saying something to the effect of: just about anyone could be a good Hollywood director with about a day or two of instruction. Not a knock on the guy, just an interesting quote from someone who should know. I guess Michael Bay skipped class that day.
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I just saw America's Sweethearts this weekend, only because I had free passes. I probably wouldn't have spent my hard earned cash on this drivel and I would have been right. But seeing as how this is not a review of that fine piece of cinematic shit, I'll just say that the less that JR is in Ocean's 11, the better. She may have mass appeal, but she really only has one role: The woman every woman wants to be and the one every man wants to be with. She plays that part in every single movie she has ever been in. Sure, she is (semi)appealing in those roles, but does she really deserve an Academy Award for it? I'm tired of appealing. I want some actual talent. A little less teeth, Jules, or perhaps use them to bite into a role that requires a bit of ACTING. Time magazine may have chosen you to be the best MOVIE STAR in America, but notice they didn't say ACTRESS. Thoughtfully chosen words, Time. Kudos.
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Best Director Steven Soderbergh was a pleasant surprise. I honestly thought the Oscar was going to go to Ang Lee. He did win the DGA Award, guaranteeing him the win, but I was happy that Soderbergh got it. And 4 Oscars. But Best Picture of 2000, as far as I'm and a lot others are concerned was NOT Gladiator. The Academy is fucked up and needs more retooling than the actual production of the show itself. As for Ocean's 11, yeah I'll see it. -
Does anyone actually recall what MI2 was about?
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Alpha, are you serious with the Clooney dissing? This guy has proven himself to be one of the last few actors is Hollywood who actually reads scripts before cashing in a paycheck. Clooney has the best resume in Hollywood right now. Out of Sight, Thin Red Line, Three Kings, Perfect Storm and O Brother- five great films in three years. That's right, I though Perfect Storm was great- just because People magazine likes to put the guy on their fucking covers doesn't mean he isn't one damn fine actor.
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He's not in it. That fucking haircut, George Clooney is in it. I love the original Ocean's 11. Great fun. Cool guys and a big heist, my favorite kind of movie. This coolection of fucking pretty boys they have in this re-make (Yeah, I said re-make. Not "Re-imagining" or "re-telling" or any of that other pansy-ass shit. It's a fucking re-make. Live with it) couldn't carry Frank, Dean and Sammy's drink. I'm a very angry man. The fourteen times banned champion of the world. Your hero. See you in Hell.
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Vince and Favs are our Rat Pack. MADE is the hipster caper of our generation.
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This movie is looking better and better with every passing day. I've got faith in Soderbergh after Traffic, Limey, and especially Out Of Sight. SHAMELESS SITE PLUG COMING RIGHT UP......
www.oceans11.co.uk has lots of other info and pictures for the remake and original... -
What a load of liberal, stereotypical cliched defeatist bullshit that movie was. Come on midnight basketball..errr baseball. Yeah right. Who wrote this shit? The movie was completely predictable,right from frame one. Only thing i liked about Traffic was the different colour tones they used for each segment. That girl that was on drugs was as phony as a three dolla bill. Who really believes this crap? Then you got the typical drug dealer schooling the goodguys on how they're jobs are useless.What a load. Never saw Brokovitch , so no judgement there. Yet again another Liberal piece of shit like POTA, with it's animal rights agenda.Now we'll have to sit through some PC crap about bankrobbers.
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In my opinion, anyway, he'll undoubtedly deliver (if nothing else) slick entertainment with a beautiful cast. See Out of Sight if you still have reservations about his commercial instincts.
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Bad enuff we gotta look at harry's mug pasted onto his book(good one harry hope you sell millions of copies) but now we have to hear daily updates about his new venture...sigh.. can't blame him though,what else is this site, with it's milling minions, good for if you can't recruit them to watch your show.
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I was at the Bellagio when they were filming some scenes. From what I saw this is going to be a great film. The scene I saw with Roberts and Clooney was one of the best conversations in a film I have ever seen. Watch out for this one.
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I'll echo what others have said; it must at least be better than most of the crap that the studios churn out. But a few more points:
1. Soderbergh is very likely the best director working today. He has created a style that is distinctly his, putting him in the ranks of Hitch, Scorcese, Kubrick, and Allen; he is one of the founders of the indie movement, and made one of that movement's best films ever (sex, lies & videotape); he tells a story with sophistication and conviction; he has mastered numerous genres(coming of age -- King of the Hill; surrealism -- Schizopolis; crime -- Out of Sight and The Limey; political thriller -- Traffic; Hollywood big-star vehicle/social consciousness -- Erin Brockovich. In addition, he is especially gifted at drawing out fine performances from his actors and actresses. Finally, he is an intelligent and modest spokesman for his craft. Like the greats, anything he does is worth seeing at least once.
2. Clooney is terrific; he's the next William Holden, and, if you've seen Holden's movies, that's saying a hell of a lot.
3. If Elliot Gould is stealing scences, look for an early front runner for a best supporting oscar (it'll make up for MASH, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, and all those years in the wilderness).
4. The collected talent at work on this film makes it a must-see.
Along with Ali, Gangs of NY, and Fellowship, it's rightfully among the most anticipated films of the year. -
You cannot replace Frank, especially with george clooney. In fact, you can't replace any of the Rat Pack. Sure the original was not all that great of movie, but it was their movie. I will be skipping this one for purely ethical reasons.
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.....now this. Oh God, somebody come up with the Slamdance to AICN's Sundance.
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.....now this. Oh God, somebody come up with the Slamdance to AICN's Sundance.
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I don't know about everyone else's pilots but mine is unbearably tight. It may not even exist anymore.
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Ok, I'll take it back. I seemed to remember the Traffic review here stating that it was inferior to the preview screening, but I can't find it so I must assume that I just dreamt the whole thing (which would explain why I woke up this morning and found Bobby Ewing in my shower). All apologies.
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Jul 30, 2001 10:46:06 PM CDT
CONFIDENCE: "OCEAN'S 11" will be the best movie of the Christm
by nicksh15
Fans need to keep the faith in Steven Soderburgh's remake of 1960's "Ocean's 11." It has a superb cast, a truly phenomenal director, (ANYONE THAT HATES ON Mr. SODERBURGH SHOULD REALLY WATCH HIS FILMS AGAIN) and a great premise for a fun two-hour escape we can all enjoy. So smile a bit and get excited...
Oh, while I'm writing, one thing is irking me about this site as I become more and more involved with its ongoings.
PLEASE... If you haven't seen a film, DO NOT WRITE A REVIEW AND PRETEND YOU HAVE. We all want attention in life, but lying to people in order to have such a privelidge is plain wrong. It pains me that people lead me on about films and what they are all about when the information they are telling me is actually inconsistant with the film, (I'm not speaking of rightful opinions, but factual things in films that turn out to be plain false). Please have respect for all who come to Harry's site and BE HONEST!!!
People... there is A LOT of disdain flowing through the words of our talkbacks lately, mostly because of a disapointing summer season. But please, let's try to have a bit more respect in our words and maybe try to enjoy some more movies this year instead of having negative expectations heading into the theater.
Have fun, oh, and go see, "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." I am betting it will be GREAT.
Nick out. -
Sorry I dont get your cereal reference (obviously its a US thing). As I said as much as I hate to say it (because HE DOES SEEM TO BE A GREAT GUY) I have never liked one film that Clooney has been in. I'll give quick reasons. Dusk till Dawn lacked any real redeeming qualities to his character so it was hard to feel any connection to wether he defeated the vamps or not. Out of Sight was in my opinion awful from beginning to end ... it was also a box office flop so I am guessing that others agreed. Three Kings had its moments but ultimately lacked characters I could care about. The less said of Batman & Robin the better. One Fine Day was forgetable crud. Peacemaker was bland but watchable. Perfect Storm had good effects but again lacked characters you could care about, which was unforgivable in a film about real people who died. O Brother was an interesting premise but I just didn't like it much. Never once have I watched a film with Clooney in it where I felt I was watching a character with any emotional connection. Now he's remaking a role by a man who was great at getting you to connect even though he was a so so actor. Sinatra had on screen charisma if not great acting technique (Man with the Golden Arm being a huge exception). If you read my post you'll see that I said that Soderbergh had never made a film I loved not that he wasn't worth watching. Soderbergh is always worth watching (even Out of Sight) but he's yet to make a film I loved. Frankly this films premise and actors leave me cold. Plenty of people post that they are dead keen about this film and thats fair enough but I will be suprised if I enjoy it. Oh and if I do I'll post that it suprised me.
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Clooney dissing? I said he seems like a genuinely good guy. He likes comics, he's a blood relative of Miguel Ferrer, he doesn't seem to think he's better than the average worker just because he gets paid a lot at his job, few people have a bad thing to say about him as a person. All those good things mean that I have liked him in one film that he's been in. One of the films you listed I hated, One I really disliked, One was all effects and little emotion, One I wanted to like but it just didn't connect for me and Thin Red Line features fairly minimal Clooney. I'm sorry but the guy leaves me cold. Julia Roberts can make me care about her but often phones in her roles (Runaway Bride) or is plain bad (Mary Reilly) but when she works she works spectacularly well. By all accounts she is a bit of a difficult flighty woman in real life and I dont thinks she's half as nice to people around her as Clooney but when I sit down to watch a film I think shes just more able to get that emotional connection with an audience. Given Clooneys relatively poor box office returns I dont think I'm alone in my lack of connection with the guy. I hope he'll prove me wrong but given that he has yet to do it in about 8 films you'll forgive me if I dont agree with you. Oh and I you enjoy the film and it lives up to your expectations. (not everybody has the same opinions which is part of the beauty of life).
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Teenage kids getting high, what's going to happen to the one who's had the least screen time? Good girl gets into drugs, what will her life spirl down to? Not one, but TWO buddies cops in this movie... guess what happens to them? Service guy that nobody knows walks into the safehouse by cracking a lame joke, think he's an assassin? Food tastes funny, nah couldn't be poisoned. Not to mention the stupidy of Zeta Jones suddenly developing all these underworld ties just because she finds some microfilm and is the wife of a drug lord. Or worse yet, EIGHT FBI guys guarding a stool pidgeon look directly at the only guy in the parking lot, walk back past him, and still he gets the drop on ALL OF THEM. Then buddy cop #2 (the fattest slowest FBI agent) manages to run across the parking lot faster than anybody else just so his buddy can yell, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Your average Miami Vice episode was better written than that piece of crap (I did like most of the acting and how it was shot, just lousy script).
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Why I am a Clooney Fan, an Essay by JonQuixote. "Batman and Robin was a fetid piece of shit. This rancidness was obviously the responsibility of one man: Joe 'Mr. Nipples' Shumacher. George Clooney, after a couple misfired attempts to become a movie star, took one look at Batman and Robin and said, 'whoa, this is a fetid piece of shit. Never again.' He decided that he had enough money in his bank to last a lifetime, and was not going to sell out again. Regardless of what you think of his later movies: Out of Sight, Three Kings, O'Brother, they were certainly different, and not your usual Hollywood fare. Thus, as an actor, George Clooney is a risktaker, something that is the antithesis of most Hollywood leading men, who like to play it safe and collect their big'ol paychecks (see Ford, Harrison). And, if more actors were like Mr. Clooney, then we'd get less cookie cutter braindead movies appearing at our cineplexes every Friday. For that alone, he's worthy of accolades." And for the record, Alpha, do you associate Box Office success with quality? I suppose movies like The Shawshank Redemption, The Iron Giant, and Citizen Kane must suck too, since they were all box office failures. They certainly can't compete, quality wise, with monster hits like Tomb Raider, Gone in 60 Seconds, and, Jurassic Parks 2 & 3, huh?
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Don't know where that came from (caffeine kicking in? or did Deliverance possibly play on TV last night while I was asleep and saturate me with subliminal messages?) but I will be there for this movie. I did not see the original and was hypnotized by Traffic (with utter BOREDOM!) but with this cast I would say it can't go entirely wrong. It will be a good "date movie" for all you single guys...when you suggest it just mention that it stars Clooney, Pitt, and Damon. You can watch the action and the womenfolk can watch the "action". I am honestly looking forward to this movie as I like all the stars involved and can't wait to see EG again. Fun, Fun, Fun!
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Jul 31, 2001 11:18:31 AM CDT
"ProFromDover" is the reason I go see half the movies I do...
by sloppy slacks
The comments that "ProFromDover" WON'T see the movie b/c Frank Sinatra simply can't be replaced is kind of close-minded, don't you think. I give EVERY movie its fair-share of watching...even drivil like The Avengers or Godzilla in recent years. You can't dismiss a movie b/c it shares the same name and premis as another. I'm sure Clooney himself would never say that he's trying to REPLACE Frank for his role in O11. I say give it's fair share "Pro", you may be pleasantly suprised at how well Clooney could pull it off. I know I've been surprised by Clooney's groth in recent years.
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Okay, I keep reading all these posts about how horrible Julia is and I've got to wonder...did anyone on this site see Steel Magnolias? I'm a guy and I'm going to get flamed for this big time, but she is pretty damn good in that movie for as early as it came in her career. And for those of you who criticize actors for not making more ballsy choices, I have to say bullshit. Actors who turn down roles, go against type and only do the movies they think have artistic integrity are few and far between. In fact, Johnny Depp and Sean Penn are two of a very small handful who have done it successfully. Even Robert DeNiro, one of the finest to ever grace the screen, can be seen in none other than ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE. This business has an interesting way of dictating actors careers to them. Therefore if you look like a gorgeous movie star with a "million watt smile", chances are that's how you are going to get cast. Julia Roberts may be playing the same "types" of roles, but that's because she is the best in the business at playing those kinds of roles. Just food for thought, don't crucify people for making a living doing what they do best.
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Fuck this. Do we really need another reason to have old JR on the cover of fucking Redbook for the zillionth time this year? In her cuddly little sweater above a heading that reads, "Julia: Newly Single and Learning how to Love Again", right next to a heading about how Kegal exercises will turn your man into a steaming pile of lust? That really works, by the way. I'm doing them as I type! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!
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absolutely correct and not just about that someone on here will have something to say about you liking the movie SM. I am a woman (and originally from the south) and I loved SM BUT I also know quite a few men who watched that movie and really enjoyed it. And yes, you homophobics out there, they were straight heterosexual men. Just as Sandra Bullock plays the perky tomboy that is also feminine, Julia Roberts plays the vivacious, vulnerable everygirl. As long as she continues to do it well, I'll keep watching and enjoying. Teamed with Clooney she should be outstanding.____A Bee waiting to see if the homophobes creep out from under their rocks...
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Julia has gone from being a decent B-actress to being this kind of uncontained ball of nervous 'lookit me!' energy. I was watching some terrible entertainment show last year- ET, I guess- and they were covering the New York Critics Awards. Okay, fine. Some asshole with a mic and a painted on smile asks Julia if she's nervous, and she says, "no, not really." Beautiful, all systems are go. Then said asshole asks Soderbergh the same exact question, to which he answers, "yeah, you know, sort of."- and Julia screams like a Howler Monkey. You know the sound; you probably hear it in your nightmares. She laughs at Soderbergh's gentle little answer like somebody's tickling her ass with a feather. And for what? Shit, it wasn't even funny. She's just become this flirty, toothsome parody of herself who's only around to make old Hollywood guys feel good about themselves. Sure, she's the highest paid actress around, but at what price?
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A second, glowing, rebuttal review after a mediocre one was posted? What a co-inkeedink.
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Its not about success its about failure. Clooney has failed to ever make me care about one of his characters. The fact that his films have on the whole also failed to make money tends to show that a lot of other people agree that his films haven't been enjoyable. Ironically the one that did make a lot of money was the fetid piece of crap B & R. Perfect Storm made ok money but cost so much to make that the studio probably broke even, small films like O Brother would of made a slight profit (assuming Clooney didn't ask for a big fee). I hate a lot of his films and you dont, thats cool. I hope it lives up to your expectations but I fear Oceans 11 will live down to mine.
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Actually, the Perfect Storm made over $300 million worldwide in theatres (not counting tv & video), so that's a pretty substantial hit. But I didn't really like it either, though I think it was less Clooney's fault than it was the directorial approach and the feeling that it fell so far short of the book. You also mention money, but I'm under the impression that The Perfect Storm is the first film that Clooney recieved full pay on since B&R. I know he took a salary hit to make Three Kings and O'Brother.*** Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and tastes - hell, even I'll admit he's not the best actor (although Soderbergh really helped improve him!) - but I don't think you can deny that he's a risk taker, and, in today's formulaic bland Hollywood, that's a good thing! I wish more actors, especially major talents like Cruise and Hanks, took that approach.
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Correct me if i'm wrong, but don't people come here cos they are interested in movies, not to catch the latest installment of "Harry's Life"?
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This generation needs to create its own mythology and stop plundering the past for ideas. Face it: Soderbergh has no original vision, but then neither does anyone in Hollywood (or modern Vegas, for that matter). This mainstream mongering needs to STOP! Fist Tom Cruise turns MI into a one man egotrip (it's supposed to be an ensemble spy piece, you arrogant asshole), then Will Smith re-invents the hertiage of James West, then Godzilla gets transformed into a wimpy iguana; now Soderbergh (tries to) replace the Rat Pack with the Bonehead Brigade. Kids nowadays need to know what Classic Cool really is - ripping off the original will do nothing to edify the MTV minions about true talent and timeless greatness. If the new version really is supposed to be so different from the original, WHY CALL IT OCEAN'S 11! Because they want to pedal nostalgia and pander to Brad Pitt's legions of clueless fans at the same time. Cyncial bastards. Oh, and that "smugness" Soderbergh patronized in the first film is actually COOLNESS. Arrogance is the audacity to steal the legacy of legends you did not contribute to. I will actually picket this epic insult when it opens December 7, you are welcome to join me.
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But I do not understand why they have to remake this movie. It is centered around the cool style and members of the Rat Pack. There was no other reason for making it except to showcase them. And in that case what is the sense in remaking it, WITHOUT THEM??? I can sense this is going to be as bad as the POTA. It fits the if it ain't broke don't fix it category. And expecially don't call Steven Soderbergh to fix it. I agree this generation needs to find it's own thing. There is a fine line between "re-imaging" and "raping" and original
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Casey Affleck is in Oceans 11? Why don't we hear more about him? He has consistently been great in films. Nobody saw them and some of them werent good but he was great- like drowning mona, dessert blue, 200 cigarettes, and TO DIE FOR, which was really good and so was he, and probably how Van Sant met Damon and Ben. He doesn't work as much as other people might if they were him but thats good isn't it? I mean he could probably be doing teen movies and teen magazines but he doesnt. Do we have to have every new comer in fifty magazines after one movie? Heres a guy who has worked for nine years (To DIe FOr first) and refrained from shoving his face in the public eye. Hes kind of a freako mystery... like all really great performers. Is that on purpose or is it bro's shadow or is it another indication of the industries lack of taste? Hes always different and always fun to watch. I hope that he isn't just a bit part in this movie. HE was too small a part of Good WIll HUnting (because he was so fantastic!) and lost in the hoopla of Matt and Ben MAtt and Ben promotion. Im a big fan and ready to watch him as a leading man. In Ocean's? MAybe not because of all the stars but I just thought I'd put in my two cents.
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