You have no idea how much enjoyment my coworkers and I have gotten out of this over the past week or so:
Ocean's 13 | B+
director: Stephen Soderbergh
starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, Matt Damon, Eliot Gould, Andy Garcia, Carl Reiner
Author’s note: I wrote this several months ago and it got lost in the shuffle of all my other wildly popular posts. So, here’s my review to prep you for catching it on DVD.
Another fun jaunt through Vegas comes courtesy of the all-star cast and crew of Ocean’s 13, the third flick telling the tale of Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his misfit crew of lovable criminals embarking on a revenge heist at the newest, most lavish hotel on the Strip.
After the (relative) misfire of Ocean’s 12 and its European locale, it’s nice to see the crew back in Vegas. The city’s a character in and of itself, and adds the kind of ambiance that makes these movies work so well. It’s a call-back to the heyday of the Sinatra Vegas–the Vegas populated by charismatic mobsters, no-nonsense gamblers, crooning showmen, and high-class style. Today, we’ve got screaming kids and overweight couples in spandex populating the casinos. It ain’t quite the same. The look and–more importantly–the style of Ocean’s 13 is a bittersweet reminder of how it used to be in Vegas. (Take it from me; I’m 68 years old.)
Enough about that; the movie itself has the same hip style the first two did, with the focus directed more towards the “fun” of 11 than the dry and sometimes unwanted sarcasm of 12. Returning to Vegas has a lot to do with that, as that town is where these characters are truly in their element.
Pretty good; better than the second, but the first is still the gold standard. Some of 13 felt like they were just going through the motions–fun motions, mind you, but still in the “old hat” category of motions. Let’s all do the locomotion.
Weekend Links
Hope your 2008 is going well thus far. A few links for your perusal.
CBC at the Aud – A great piece CBC did on the soon-to-be demolished Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo. There’s a lot of history in that place, history I’m sure a lot of the newfound fans the franchise has found in the last two years don’t know about. Very much worth a watch for all ages. I want some of those orange seats, dammit! (Thanks for the link, Snakes.)
How Well Do You Know Your World? – A good geography-centric time-waster. I look forward to pwning the world.
GettyImages Winter Classic – A gallery of images I badly want to buy so I can blow them up and hang them on my wall. If you know of any way to buy some of these for less than the exorbitant price they charge on the site, feel free to drop me a line.
Bill Simmons’ Links – I may as well pay homage to the guy I’m stealing post ideas from.
The Ultimate Warrior is Insane – I took this directly from Simmons’ column, but it’s worth highlighting. Six solid minutes of nonstop, ‘roid-fueled hilarity.
Michael Jordan Highlights – A great, great video sure to captivate your very soul.
Oh, and The Wire’s final season starts airing Sunday night. You should’ve already completed seasons 1-4 in marathon viewing sessions, based solely on my dubbing it the “greatest show in the history of television,” so you should be rearing to go for Sunday. I know I am (though I’ve already watched the first two episodes via nefarious Interweb means. It’s as good as ever, folks.)
A true classic
I’ve never been to a Super Bowl; never to a Stanley Cup Final game; never to the World Cup; never to an MLB playoff game. I’ve never been witness to the in-stadium spectacle and attention one becomes a part of at such major sporting events, but I think I and the other 71,000 fans at Ralph Wilson Stadium today can now say we have. What a day for the Sabres, the Penguins, the sport of hockey, the NHL and the city of Buffalo. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed or been more blown away by a sporting event than I was by today’s NHL Winter Classic; it’s not something any of the fans in attendance will soon forget (nor those who watched on TV, for that matter).
A Winter Nightmareland
Despite a quick start and the presence at the stadium of Kevin Everett, the Bills went down in defeat to the New York Giants amid absolute miserable weather conditions. I’m still wringing the freezing rainwater out of all my clothes. Anyway, despite a bad day on the football field, I got some memorable pictures, which you can view in the gallery. Click below to take a look.
On a more festive note, here’s hoping you all have a great holiday and better new year. Thanks for coming to the site and I resolve to make it even better in 2008 (think more singing cats and commentary on the numerous problems advertisers face when not using chimps in their commercials). Happy holidays!
Timebomb
| We got a timebomb [x3] Na na na na We got a warning light We got a warning light We pull the plug out and we Na na na na Timebomb ticking Timebomb ticking It’s a timebomb ticking Tick tick tick tick Timebomb ticking Timebomb ticking It’s a timebomb ticking Going We got a timebomb [x3] We’re going sideways We got a timebomb [x3] Timebomb ticking Timebomb ticking |
 Beck Timebomb Release: 2007 Lyrics: Beck Music: Beck |
That's more like it
Mild spoiler warning…
[flv:/media/room23.flv 426 240]
If you haven’t been keeping up with the weekly Missing Pieces webisodes on abc.com, you haven’t missed much. This week’s entry, however, might be worth watching. Enter Room 23 for a look at Walt’s exploits while in Other captivity.
I Am Legend | B-
director: Francis Lawrence
starring: Will Smith, a German shepherd
Lots o’ potential. Lots o’ cop-outs. The Hollywoodimazation of Richard Matheson’s semi-classic novel starts off surprisingly well before taking a turn onto Predictable Street in the town of Clichéville. The review from here on out will feature spoilers from both the book and the movie, so I urge you to stop reading and head…
director: Francis Lawrence
starring: Will Smith, a German shepherd
Lots o’ potential. Lots o’ cop-outs. The Hollywoodimazation of Richard Matheson’s semi-classic novel starts off surprisingly well before taking a turn onto Predictable Street in the town of Clicheville. The review from here on out will feature spoilers from both the book and the movie, so I urge you to stop reading and head to your local Waldenbooks to pick up the novel. Take a day or two, read it, then decide if you want to drop the ten bucks on a flick that pales in comparison…but isn’t that bad.
Anyway, the first two-thirds of the film are very close in tone and plotting to the book, something I never expected going into it. and that makes it all the more disappointing that the climax and conclusion of the film veer off the tracks, favoring the cliched, “safe” choices studios make far too often. I’d give the audience more credit than they do. Theatergoers can deal with downbeat endings if they’re done well. The talent behind this project is skilled enough, to my eyes, to have pulled it off, but we’ll never know. Instead, we get an uplifting if somber “happily ever after” for the human race.
Lost Season 4
Thoughts later……
Thoughts later…
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
I’m trying to work myself back into writing shape for Lost’s premiere early next year, so I’ll start off slow with some links for your perusal on this fine Tuesday.
SI.com – A great article on Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett, who suffered what looked to be a devastating spinal cord injury in the opening game of the season, but has defied all odds to walk again. A…
I’m trying to work myself back into writing shape for Lost’s premiere early next year, so I’ll start off slow with some links for your perusal on this fine Tuesday.
SI.com – A great article on Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett, who suffered what looked to be a devastating spinal cord injury in the opening game of the season, but has defied all odds to walk again. A must-read.
Green Team! – “Enviro-Tips from the driving force behind the environmentalist movement.” (not safe for work)
Battery Hack – A great way to brush up on your automotive skills while simultaneously saving a ton o’ money.
Skyway or the Highway – I wish I had enough faith in Buffalo’s leadership to think innovative, just plain cool stuff like this could happen. My fingers are crossed.
Valuable Intelligence – A disturbing glimpse at one of the most feared members of the animal kingdom. I felt a bone-chilling veil of frozen terror envelop me when I first saw those eyes. Erm.
広島アレン!!! – I’d like one channel amongst the 786 we have to choose from to feature nothing but Japanese television.
Desktop Tower Defense – The new web game that’s sweeping the nation. And by “nation,” I mean Jeff’s laptop.
HOW’D IT GET BURNED? – This man has an Oscar on his mantle. I do give him enormous credit, however, for that scene in Turd Ri-….er…Ghost Rider that featured a ninja chimp.
The Man in the Hat – Despite the involvement of whiny 20-something Shia Leboueueof, they had me at hello. When can we buy tickets?
Ninjas Walk Among Us – This one’s an oldie but a goodie; one of the original “greatest websites ever.” I think everyone’s website could benefit from more emphasis on the stealthy assassins of Hokkaido.
Optimus Lame – The best part of the video is its’ final 20 seconds, when Optimus “leaps” into action. Pretty impressive.
The Wire – The best show on television returns for its fifth and final season January 8th. I’m hoping it leaks out like season 4 did, so I can watch it all in one marathon viewing session. Don’t let the lack of exposure the show gets lead you to think it’s not worth watching. On the contrary, I think the series is one of the best and most important shows ever to grace the airwaves.
The Sports Guy – Bill Simmons’ latest column featuring–wouldn’t you know it?–a page full of links! I’d love to just steal them all for my post, but I must give credit to his pop-culture genius.