ocean's 11

i had my cable out of commission for a while last week, so my only option for vegging out was to watch a movie. i looked through the archives of my dvds and ocean's 11 caught my eye. i decided to watch it again.
dang, i really like that movie. its just a lot of fun. its one of those rare movies where it lives up to its cast. ive often found that movies with alot of famous people in it usually ends up being just ok. often the sum becomes less than its parts. for an example, just look to 'meet the fockers'- an amazing cast and a really stupid movie. but this one actually is every bit as good as you hope it will be. all the actors have their own defined characters that each get their moment to shine and get a laugh. also, the gimmick stays surprisingly fresh. i know exactly how the hiest is going to work, but its still a bunch of fun just to watch them pull it off.
and then theres the music. i just love the music! its certainly nothing i would go out and buy a cd of, but it fits so perfectly as cheesy sixties vegas music. it pumps up the silly fun of the movie to the next level. great stuff.
will all that going for it, how did they miss the mark so royally on the sequel ocean's 12? maybe they will get it right with ocean's 13...

a quick weekend list

saw a ton of movies this weekend. rex came down to visit, so we had to do some movie watchin'! a really brief review of each:

saw 2- it was alright. nothing too amazing. i liked the first one, but this one isnt quite as good. the characters were amazingly idiotic in each situation and there wasnt really any sort of tension to any of the situations. mostly gore, not much thrill.

primer- wow. ive seen this movie a dozen times or so, and it just does not get old. the ideas behind the time travel paradoxes and possibilities still blows me away. i could easily watch it 5 times in one day... again.

the big empty- it was fun. not that great, not that bad, but it was fun. the storyline was too crazy and unreal to really be taken seriously, but it was enjoyable to watch.

hitchhikers guide to the galaxy- saw it again. rex hadnt seen it yet. i think i reviewed it earlier. check out the archives.

pootie tang- i was actually impressed with this movie. i am a big fan of undercover brother, and i had just thought that this was a poor mans version of that movie. i was wrong. undercover brother is a spoof of the blaxplotation movies and james bond, pootie tang is a straight up comedy, and a good one at that.

elizabethtown

over the weekend i ended up going to the theater and seeing elizabethtown. i wasnt totally pumped for it, but i wasnt dreading it either. i kind of like orlando bloom, i think kirsten dunst is kinda cute, and ive never been too impressed or disappointed with the director camron crow. so i didnt have too much by way of expectations, good or bad. i was rooting for it to be a good movie. and it is. kindof.
actually its two good movies. there are two really strong plots going through the film. one centers on the guy's dad dying and he has to go down and get the body from his dad's relatives. while he's down there he realizes how the extended family are so real and loving and he starts to really understand his dad. the other story is about how he is ready to give up on life and then happens to meet a girl who has extra life to give. they meet and fall in love as she tries to teach him to live and focus on living instead of working. both stories are done well, they are told in a way that makes you understand the characters and enjoy the path the movie is taking you on. the only problem is that the director cant decide which story is the most important one. just as the dad stuff gets good, he switches to the girl stuff. just when the girl stuff starts to develop, he switches back to the dad stuff. it was kind of frustrating and actually made the film feel like it was alot longer and more drawn out than it really was. it could have been a great movie if it had just picked one of the plots instead of trying to be everything.