Week #7 in summary...! Cillian Murphy week, Part I

I watched a few Cillian Murphy movies this week, with some other films thrown into the mix. Oh, Cillian Murphy week runs into next week too...so many movies, not enough days...

• The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006) My first R15 for my fifteenth birthday...just a shame that for my 16th birthday I won't be watching my first R16. I think that happened when I was like 10 years old...6/10


• Mean Girls (2004) The. Best. High. School. Movie. Ever. Oh, it's one of my favourite films of all time too. 10/10


• Inception (2010) The third and probably final time I watch this movie in a while. This blog features some pretty intense actor/character stories, so definitely read this if you have seen the movie! 10/10


• Dear John (2010) I don't think watching this after watching Inception did it any favours...but it's a Nicholas Sparks adaption, so how could I possibly like it?! 4/10


• Breakfast on Pluto (2005) It is still really bothering me that Cillian Murphy is a much prettier girl then I will ever be. Someone should really get me some blue contacts one day and I might have a chance. 7/10


• Sunshine (2007) Cillian Murphy saves the world! And scares me off R13 movies for the rest of my life. 8/10


• Cold Mountain (2003) One of the most down to Earth romance movies I have ever seen. Otherwise, what I like to call the R16 version of Gone with the Wind. 10/10


• Ocean's Eleven (2001) Filled with Hollywood's cool cats and all the fun one with a bowl of popcorn could hope for...8/10

The best week ever. Yes, that is because Cillian Murphy was in most of the movies I saw this week. And I got to watch Inception again with all my friends.

Highlight: Duh. Going to the city with my friends for my birthday.

Lowlight: My actual birthday? Nah, it was a pretty good week for me.

Ocean's Eleven

As promised, I am starting to watch another trilogy, this time the Ocean's series, of course starting with Ocean's Eleven. I would have watched this later, but I had to get in before it got sold...which is weird because I thought it was a classic. With a cast full of Hollywood's hottest celebrities (if you could call George Clooney 'hot') and helmed by Steven Soderbergh, this film just spells classic, doesn't it?
Danny Ocean (George Clooney) is a thief who has just been paroled from prison. He seeks out his partner, Rusty (Brad Pitt) and he has a job. And it is to rob the vault that houses the cash of three casinos in Las Vegas. And he plans to rob it on a night when 150 million is in it. So they recruit nine guys and they begin to put Ocean's plan in motion. Everything is going well until Rusty discovers that Ocean's ex-wife, Tess (Julia Roberts) is the main squeeze of Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), the owner of the casinos. Rusty asks him what is he going to do if he has to choose. But Ocean says that if his plan goes smoothly, he is going to be able to have his cake and eat it.

In my belief, Steven Soderbergh hasn't been such a great director of late. Sure, he did make that two part biopic Che, but did that get a theatrical release here? No. Then there was The Girlfriend Experience, which has the tackiest trailer I have ever seen. But don't get me started on The Informant!... So even though I had my doubts about Mr. Soderbergh's skills, I was still somewhat intrigued by his work with Ocean's Eleven, which is really just a Hollywood remake, but offers more than the average fare.

Ocean's Eleven is just an all-out fun film which doesn't take itself too seriously. Despite this, it does leave a little room for intelligence which meant I could easily relax into it whilst feeling satisfied with the outcome. If anything, this film is like the male version of The Devil Wears Prada...that's a fashion showcase for the women and Ocean's Eleven is a fashion showcase for the men. I imagine that tux and sunglass sales went up after this movie was released coz most guys would want to look like George Clooney or Brad Pitt. Speaking of which, the (mostly male) cast do exceptionally well in this movie, making it stand apart from other remakes/blockbusters. This is typically a guy movie, but I'm sure girls like me can enjoy it too.

Steven Soderbergh succeeds in remaking a film for the modern market by making it fun but intelligent at the same time.

8/10