Movie Marathon: The Ocean's Movies

**New blog series alert** - Movie Marathons!! I'm going to watch a selection of film franchises (mostly as rewatches) and give my quick thoughts! First up, The Ocean's movies: 

1. Ocean's Eleven - This is one of my favorite films of all-time. I loved it the first time I saw it, the 5th time, and the 20th time. I don't find that many films made after 2000 to be that rewatchable (compared to 80s & 90s films), but there is just something about this that is so smooth and sleek. And the cast is just perfect and the chemistry they have together is a dream. To me, this is Soderbergh's masterpiece. There are so many iconic shots (the one of Clooney coming up the escalator, the shot of them driving through Hollywood with the camera mounted to the back - giving it a very old school Hollywood feel, and so many more). The way the dialogue bounces off of every cast member so breezily, and is both outwardly hilarious at points, but also sneakily funny in parts (one of my favorite lines is part of a side-bar dialogue "Tess is with Benedict now? She's too tall for him". I laugh every time). It also features one of my favorite lines of dialogue EVER - "Does he make you laugh?" and Roberts replies "He doesn't make me cry". It's such a gut punch. Even the things that are ridiculous, have sort of made the film somehow even better - like Don Cheadle's horrendous British accent. It just somehow works and is actually just really funny. Or how Pitt spends the entire film eating and talking with his mouth full of food. I remember the whole poker scene being incredibly cool in 2001 - with that cast, but unfortunately it didn't age very well (I don't think any of those actors made it out except Joshua Jackson). The actual heist is also super cool, and I think it still holds up. They literally thought of everything. I still can't find a plot hole.  

2. Ocean's Twelve - I remember really liking this one when it first came out, but I never watched it again. I saw a lot of people calling it awful, so I assumed that maybe I misremembered or was just swayed by my love for the first one. But, no, I love it. Obviously, not as much as the first one (that will just never happen and it doesn't have to!). I know the whole "Tess pretending to be Julia Roberts" thing is really ridiculous, but I remember watching this with my mom in the movie theater, and we laughed and laughed at this whole scene. I still find it really amusing - mostly because Julia is such a good actress that she pulls it off so well. Especially when she sees Bruce Willis and she's trying not to be excited about the fact that he's talking to her. Matt Damon is great in this scene too. It's just overall a very fun scene, and I love it. I think the weak link of this one is Catherine Zeta-Jones (I rarely like her), but she doesn't ruin the film for me. I couldn't really remember how it all plays out (again, only seen it once when it was first released so it's been 20 years!). I knew there was a twist with LeMarc and Zeta-Jones character, but I couldn't remember exactly. I do think the whole set-up with Benedict demanding his money back is really ridiculous, because wouldn't they have anticipated that and kept a low profile? And if he found them, they have enough money still to relocate and start over with new names and such. It's just stupid. 

3. Ocean's Thirteen - Now this one...is not good. I saw this one only once, as well, and also when it was first released in theaters. I don't, however, remember a single thing about it. I watched it for this post only 2 weeks ago, and I...also don't remember anything about it??? They partner with Benedict and try to take down a rival casino, I think? I don't remember why, though. And there's a whole painful scene with Matt Damon trying to seduce a drunk Ellen Barkin that is really hard to watch. It's just not interesting at all. And the side characters are really, really sidelined (Affleck is off starting a strike at a factory in Mexico?? Why, exactly??). And no Julia is a big mistake - I think Soderbergh underestimated her importance in the first two. I also think that the heist isn't believable in this one with them causing a literal earthquake in the high rise casino (putting so many lives in danger). They also rehash my favorite line with "Do you think it's funny?", "Well, it sure as shit ain't sad". I appreciate the throwback, but...just...NO. 

4. Ocean's 8 - Okay, so I was very disappointed with this when I first watched it. I thought I was going to love it - combining the Ocean's films with my favorite actress of all-time, Sandra Bullock, along with one of the best actresses of all-time, Cate Blanchett, seemed like a slam-dunk. I was hopeful that a second watch would allow me to appreciate it more, which I actually did (but I'm still a little disappointed). I think one of my big nit-picks is that they steal from a museum, but I realize that I was actually wrong about that - they do steal from a museum but they steal the crown jewels that are on loan, so they are, in fact, stealing from royalty billionaires so I don't mind that as much. And they also steal from Cartier, also a billion dollar company. I also remember thinking Awkwafina was awful (and I thnk it might have been the first thing I saw her in that everyone else praised her and I didn't get it), and I still do! And it's funny that she's in so much now and I still can't stand her (as an actress, I'm sure she's a lovely person!). I do think that Rihanna is a sneaky highlight - I would love to see her act more, but everything she was in kind of bombed, so I think she might have given up on the acting thing. It's a shame though because she's funny! I think the attempt at the whole meta thing that was successful with the second one, fails here with Anne Hathaway playing a version of herself (and then being in on it - even though it makes no sense as to why she would poison herself....LOL....if she's in on it, wouldn't she have just not eaten the soup and handed off the necklace in the bathroom??? So dumb). I think it's clear that Soderbergh is not involved with this one because it's certainly not as sleek or smooth. And, the plot holes are not tiny - they are very in your face and there are a ton of them (Hathaway would have been arrested immediately - nobody would believe that she couldn't feel a 6lb necklace being taken off of her neck). There is also a chemistry issue - Bullock and Blanchett do not have the same chemistry that Clooney and Pitt have, and none of the side characters even really interact with each other. Plus, they cast James Corden??!! Why??? 

Side Note: I wanted to watch the original Ocean's 11 film from 1960 (I've never seen it!), but it wasn't available anywhere to stream for free at the moment but I will watch it eventually.