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Ocean's 13, a review by Dragonfire

It's bolder. Riskier. The most dazzling heist yet. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and more reteam with director Steven Soderbergh for a split-second caper that stacks the deck with wit, style and cool.

Danny Ocean again runs the game, so no rough stuff. No one gets hurt. Except for double-crossing Vegas kingpin Willy Bank (Al Pacino). Ocean's crew will hit him where it hurts: in his wallet. On opening night of Bank's posh new casino tower The Bank, every turn of a card and roll of the dice will come up a winner for bettors. And they'll hit him in his pride, making sure the tower doesn't receive a coveted Five Diamond Award. That's just the start of the flimflams. The boys are out to break The Bank. Place your bets!

My Thoughts

I loved the first movie and enjoyed the second one overall even though it wasn't as good as the first.  I thought this one was more like the first one.  The reason for them all getting together again and pulling the job was more believable since they were doing it for Reuben.  Wally Bank was a good villain for the story and I think I ended up liking him less than I did Benedict in the first one.  I liked the planning and plotting that they were doing and thought it made for a very entertaining movie, especially with how everything worked out.  The cast was great.  Brad Pitt and George Clooney work very well together and seemed believable as friends.  Overall, this was a very entertaining movie.

 

I posted a review on Epinions after I saw the movie in the theater if anyone is interested.

Ocean's Thirteen

(From Dragonfire: What I've Been Watching on March 1st, 2009)

Marnie, a review by Achim

Title: Marnie
Year: 1964
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Rating: PG
Length: 131 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Mono, French: Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Tippi Hedren ['Tippi' Hedren]
Sean Connery
Diane Baker
Martin Gabel
Louise Latham

Plot:
Tippi Hedren is Marnie, a compulsive thief who attempts to rob her boss, Mark Rutland (Sean Connery), but instead ends up marrying him. Her obsessive behavior continues, but when she is pushed to the edge after a terrible accident, Marnie's groom urges her to confront the past in the shattering conclusion of this psychological thriller.

Extras:
Scene Access
Trailers
Featurettes
Gallery
Production Notes

First off, this is not the usual Hitchcock thriller. Closer to Rebecca in nature, I guess, this is about a psychologically damaged woman and her husband trying to get close her. The themes are strong (rape is mentioned and then of course the reveal at the end) and kudos to Alfred to try something completely different, albeit almost clearly out of his area of expertise. Some scenes manage to shine when things get closer to the director's regular topics, like the hunting scene and especially its conclusion, but in overall it was lacking. I want to point out that I enjoyed the dialog that was put into Connery's mouth!

In my opinion the film's failure lies strongly on Tippi Hedren's shoulders; or Hitchcock's for that matter, who so dearly wished to make a star out of her. The role of Marnie demands a far greater range than Hedren is able to provide. The performances by Sean Connery and Diane Baker are marvelous, but they are not enough to save the film marred by the lead actress and a director trying to find foot in a new genre.




(From Alfred Hitchcock Marathon on January 3rd, 2010)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Kira is being abducted from Bajor and brought to Cardassia. When she awakes there she looks like a Cardassian. She is told that the real Kira died during the occupation and that she is an operative of the Obsidian Order who has replaced the real Kira. But why would the Cardassians go to such great lengths to convince her of that ridiculous story?

My Opinion: This was a very good story. I liked it how she became friends with "her father" despite him being a Cardassian. Kira has certainly grown since her early days on the station. And it's again fascinating to watch "the simple tailor" Garak and how simply orders two cardassian warships to stand down and "forget" their encounter with the Defiant.

Synopsis: Quark buys some salvaged wreck parts. But then he finds a stasis chamber which contains an infant of an unknown species. Dr. Bashir finds soon out that there's something wrong with that (extremely fast growing) child. He seems to be genetically engineered yet there is an obvious flaw that makes him dependent of a non-replicatable drug.

My Opinion: The concealing of the true identity of the alien was well done, I liked that. Too bad that the Jem'Hadar has been portrayed very one-dimensional in this episode. But since I know that we'll see more deeper characterizations in the future I will argue that he was to young and has seen too few of the world to oppose his genetical programming.

Synopsis: When O'Brien and Jake Sisko try to purge a program from the ore processing centre computers they accidentally activate a security program. It was designed to prevent bajoran workers from taking over DS9. And every time they can break through another barrier more parts of the station get locked down until the program initiates the self-destruct.

My Opinion: This episode I enjoyed. Every time "Gul Dukat" announced another containment level I was like "Oh no, what now?" And it became even more interesting when the real Dukat entrapped himself on the station, too. The drawback of such episodes is that main characters rarely die on most shows. Thus you aren't really worried about them. It's no coincidence that Star Trek coined the term "redshirt".

Synopsis: Despite the threat that the Dominion represents the Defiant is on a survey mission in the GQ. There they discover a planet that shifts into our dimension every sixty years. But the time it remains here grows shorter with every cycle. Jadzia falls in love with one of the citizens there and thinks about staying.

My Opinion: I really like Jadzia. But this is the second episode in this season centered on her and the second I didn't find that interesting. The side-plot of Quark trying to get a holographic image of Kira was much more interesting. And especially what Kira and Odo were doing about Quark's attempts.

(From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon on October 18th, 2008)