Sunday, June 10, 2007
Movie Reviews: OCEAN'S THIRTEEN & HOSTEL: PART II
In theaters
OCEAN'S THIRTEEN
Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his ever-expanding band of merry men plot their latest heist. Also starring, of course, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle and Carl Reiner. And joining the cast are Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin, one of whom will play Danny's love interest.
Cast: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Bernie Mac, Ellen Barkin
Director(s) Steven Soderbergh
Writer(s) David Levien, Brian Koppelman
Status In theaters (wide)
Genre(s) Comedy
Release Date June 8, 2007
Running Time 113 minutes
MPAA Rating PG-13 - for brief sensuality
Review:
Ocean's Thirteen is a fitting finale to the heist caper trilogy. Not as convoluted and cocky as the previous installment, Ocean's Thirteen returns to what made the first film so much fun, a Vegas set caper. Everyone less Julia Roberts returns and they all are clearly having a great time chewing up screen time throughout the film. Pacino's addition to the cast feels a little under utilized as he's given very little to do through the movie. Cloony and Pitt continue to exude cool and share wonderful chemistry, they clearly enjoy being around each other. Casey Affleck and Scott Caan really shine in one of the many subplots. Ellen Barkin's performance, sadly, comes off a bit stiff, she adds very little to film besides being a plot device. The film really hits its stride as it heads into the home stretch, as we get to watch all the set ups pay off and don't disappoint. If there is a flaw here, it's the first third of the movie is overly busy and it can be difficult to follow why things are happening and what purpose they serve. Still this is a very fun film and recaptures, for the most part, the first film's sense of cool.
B+
HOSTEL: PART II
A trio of bright-eyed coeds (Lauren German, Heather Matarazzo, Bijou Phillips) take a break from classes to check out the beauty of Europe. But wait — why does their B&B come with bloody torture instruments instead of a continental breakfast?
Cast Jay Hernandez, Bijou Phillips, Roger Bart, Lauren German
Director(s) Eli Roth
Writer(s) Eli Roth
Status In theaters (wide)
Genre(s) Horror
Release Date June 8, 2007
Running Time 93 minutes
MPAA Rating R - for sadistic scenes of torture and bloody violence, terror, nudity, sexual content, language and some drug content
Review:
Hostel 2 arrives with more gore and oddly funny situations. Roth expands the scope from the first film, here exploring the clients in this enterprise. The general framework of the film, once the first films survivor plot line is tied up, is almost a carbon copy of the first film. Sadly this movie is straddled with some very one dimensional characters and even stiffer acting that exasperates the script's deficiencies. Roger Bart's character is the most intriguing and he delivers a wonderfully complex performance as Stuart, a conflicted potential customer. Eli Roth actually seems to tone down the amount of scenes with gore here but what's in there is memorable, inventive, and sometime winch inducing. Roth has some real talent as a director, something he shows off in one particular sequence as the film approaches its climax, but the rest of the film just feels uneven. At times it's taking itself seriously and at others it almost approaches schlock, some he did successfully in his first movie Cabin Fever. Some of the sequences which are suppose to be shocking end up coming off as unintentionally funny. Suspense and fright seem to have been left by the wayside, robbing this horror movie of any real scares. The twist at the end of film is also pretty obvious from very early on in the film. In the end, the second and last entry into this series is more of the same; nothing in it really rises above being mediocre.
C
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