i like these hollywood sellouts

so i went to see ocean's 13 last night by myself. (call me weird if you will, but i think i may even prefer to see movies by myself.)

SPOILER ALERT:

to my supreme surprise, the good guys won, and the bad guys were made to look life fools. i just didn't see it coming this time!

seriously, though, i really did like this movie and thought it was better than the second one and just as good as the first one. i think this trilogy is quite well done. the visuals in this one are as sharp as the first two, if not better. i've never been to las vegas, but the helicopter scenes overlooking the city are pretty incredible, and soderbergh's lighting is as smooth and pleasing as anything he's ever done, including 'traffic.' the tone is once again light-hearted, funny, and smart. i was trying to think to myself as i left the movie last night whether there is any part of me that says: "clooney, soderbergh, pitt, damon, and pacino (to a lesser degree since he was only in this last one) are just sellouts by making these movies. they just wanted to make some easy money and hang out w/ each other."

every single one of us has had that (often lame) conversation with other people where we bitch about some actor or director whose work from the past we respected a lot and were let down when we saw them (apparently) doing a movie just for the cash (think samuel l. jackson in 'deep blue sea':

- in case you missed this classic, here is the plotline: "Searching for a cure to Alzheimer's disease a group of scientists on an isolated research facility become the bait as a trio of intelligent sharks fight back.")

after a few minutes thought, i think this movie (and this trilogy) are too good to qualify as anything close to "sellout flics" for any of the parties involved. matt damon is great (i think his acting is VERY underated - man, was he good in 'the departed'!), george and brad are witty and have the great timing they have always had, and soderbergh is still on top of his game. just b/c the subject matter is not as deep or impressive as 'traffic,' 'sex lies and videotapes,' 'good night, and good luck,' 'babel,' 'fight club', 'sleepers,' 'a river runs through it,' 'good will hunting,' 'the good shepherd,' or 'syriana,' (damn, the quartet of pitt/damon/clooney/soderbergh have crossed paths a lot in the past 5 years!!!) doesn't mean that these guys don't excel in the heist genre. so what if these movies also pay very well (the first two have netted almost a half a billion $ a piece so far)?

at the end of the day, all 3 movies are not only well-written, well-cast, well-acted, and well-directed, but they're also smart enough to make fun of themselves and the genre in general, which is always a plus in action movies.

brad, matt, george, and steven, keep on keepin' on....