Oceans 11...

[Marcus Telcontar]

Finally rented it.

Hmmm.... not sure. Okay I guess, but nothing great. I'll have to think for a bit before judging, but I really dont think it deserves real kudos.

[Figrin D'an]

It's a fun film. The "Ocean's 11" group seemed to have good on-screen chemistry. If you get a chance, check out the original version, with all the guys from the Rat Pack.

[JonathanLB]

I thought Ocean's Eleven was a very well done movie, very enjoyable, infinitely entertaining, even good replay value.

I think almost everyone enjoyed the movie. It wasn't meant to be Earth shattering, just a lot of fun. If you want a similar type of movie that really screws with your mind, you get something like Heist or The Score, well actually Bandits is plenty like those two also. I loved all four of those movies, gave 'em all 3.5 stars.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

The Score was pretty good. :) I bought it before ever seeing it, because I had wanted to see, but hadn't had the chance to. Edward Norton is so talented. I really want to see him in Red Dragon, but I haven't braved that movie yet. ^_^;

I liked the wit in the dialogue in Oceans 11. "Ted Nuegent called. He wants his shirt back." Comedy gold, IMO.

[JonathanLB]

Of them all, I think Ocean's Eleven may be the most "fun," but to be honest I think The Score is the most well acted and the most involved. I would say it is the best of the four, but Heist has some damn good dialogue and I like its actors too (Delroy Lindo and Gene Hackman, of course, is always welcome). I think Bandits was my least favorite of them, but that's kind of unfair because I still really liked it. I liked them all so much it is hard to rank them. The better part is that, despite their similarities, I like them all for different reasons.

Heist has the best plot twists, and it has many of them, but The Score has a great plot twist and such great acting by two of the best actors ever, IMO, that it's impossible to forget. Ocean's Eleven, though, is the plan that goes perfectly, the one time you get to see a plan, you see the plan in action, you see it work perfectly, and everyone lives happily ever after. Refreshing, every once in a while, to see that type of movie, I think. Even though normally you want more "obstacles to overcome," I guess. Bandits meanders a bit more than the other three films, which is the main reason I rank it last, but the ending is hilarious and I love how it is all done. It's funny and quite appealing, but I think I liked it better the first time I saw it than the second, whereas I thought Heist was even better the second time I saw it and Ocean's Eleven was good all three times I saw it. The Score, well, just a solid movie all around. I found it interesting to get all 4 of those movies in a one year period...

Reminds me of the whole Deep Impact / Armaggedon thing and then Antz / A Bug's Life. They usually come in pairs, or at least, even numbers :)

[ReaperFett]

Armageddon was better, Antz/A bugs life were too different, Oceans 11 was great, not seen Heist or The Score :)

[JonathanLB]

I cannot much stand Armageddon, lol, but you know I wasn't much of a Deep Impact fan either actually.

I think I'd choose Deep Impact, given the choice, but umm... Steve Buscemi is hella funny in Armageddon and I prefer the soundtrack to that movie, which I own. Leaving on a Jet Plane, Remember Me, What Kind of Love Are You On?, Musical Score Main Theme, etc. It has some good tracks...

The animal cracker scene... makes me want to barf. The scene where they are actually singing Leaving on a Jetplane is horrid and just, ugg, bad memory.

Deep Impact is silly, though, stupid ending and it tried to be way too emotional, something Armageddon tried I guess too to a lesser degree perhaps.

Those are two blockbusters I could have lived without, but the idea was good, now too bad nobody else will want to try it again for many years because it'll seem too cliche to do.

A Bug's Life was the better of those two films as it was Pixar. Haha, as I wrote a book on DreamWorks with an emphasis on Pacific Data Images' (PDI) work, though, I must say I quite enjoyed Antz ;) PDI also did Shrek and is at work on many other projects. They may not quite be at Pixar's level, but they are an impressive company, which DreamWorks now owns in its entirety.

I just saw Bicentennial Man, which I guess I avoided in theaters and never heard was that good. Umm, wtf? That movie is awesome! I think it would rank right up there in 1999, for me. That is funny because 1999 was not what I considered a good year of cinema, but a handful of my favorite movies of all time came from that year. It was an especially strong year for the best films, but for the middle of the pack movies, I felt it was weak. TPM, Fight Club, and The Matrix are not only among the best movies ever made, but among the most influential too, especially TPM and The Matrix. Bicentennial Man is a new favorite of mine. It would not quite rank up there with those three, hehe, that's too much, but it would be in my personal top 50 or so anyway. I loved A.I., and this was like A.I., but with a more humorous touch, a little less dark, and with an ending that is about equally gratifying, but sad at the same time. I think it was a marvelous film, I'm shocked that it did not receive better press and word of mouth. The best sci-fi seems to escape most audiences. People do not really seem ready for the android debate, or something. Blade Runner, A.I., Bicentennial Man, these are all great films, among the most important, thought-provoking sci-fi movies of the last few decades, but only one of them is acclaimed, and of course it shares a great resemblance to the other two -- it was once considered a commercial and critical failure, too. It, today, is a classic.

A.I. will reach its rightful place in cinematic history, I feel, and a movie like that holds up better over the course of time than does a film like Saving Private Ryan, I think. There are many war movies already and SPR adds very little to the genre (it certainly has very little plot, but that's another argument entirely). A.I., however, adds to a discussion that will become increasingly important in the future, while SPR deals with a subject that will continue to lose meaning to future generations as the last World War becomes increasingly distant. It should always remain important, but humans have a tendancy to let history repeat itself...

It's remarkable how in a year like 1999, you have these two great sci-fi movies like The Matrix and TPM, but then there are three other great movies that go almost completely unnoticed by mainstream audiences. Namely, The Thirteenth Floor, Bicentennial Man, and Fight Club. The Thirteenth Floor deals with an absolutely incredible issue that does not only just apply to the creation of artificial intelligence, but reality in general, and Fight Club is sort of on a similar wavelength. Sure, The Thirteenth Floor shares similarities with both The Truman Show and Dark City, which came before it, and with The Matrix during the same year, but it is a distinctly different film. The issue raised is quite different from that of The Matrix, even though it shares a common theme.

While I love The Matrix, my friend Ben is right in that it lacks the complexity it could have. He loves the movie too, but let's face it, the movie made too much money to be as intellectual as it could have been. The problem is, people like Ben and I love Donnie Darko, but that movie made about $1 million, and The Matrix made about $170 million. Obviously the latter is the better financial decision. The Matrix, though, could be made into an even more complicated movie dealing with many dimensions of reality, or infinite dimensions, if you will. Although I won't get into it, if audiences do not even understand The Matrix, some of them, they sure as to hell wouldn't understand anything ten times more complicated. It would, however, make an interesting movie. Now don't get me wrong, because The Matrix is one of a few films, about 12, that I gave a perfect 100/100 rating. I'm not trying to be pseudo-intellectual about its plot, only saying that other people, and myself, have thought up more intricate, complicated alternate reality theories that would tax the brain much more than The Matrix, but for that reason I doubt any of them would make especially good commercial film ideas...

[ReaperFett]

I just feel that A Bugs Life was a kids film that worked with adults, whilt Antz was a more grown up film (A lot of the funny references would be missed by the younger viewers) that had kid appeal :)

And Bicentenial Man sent me to sleep on a plane. Cant really say if it was good or bad :)

[JonathanLB]

Well I thought it was excellent, and the criticisms of it are totally baseless and, to be frank, idiotic sounding.

Too sentimental? That is a critic's favorite phrase but what does it MEAN?! I know what the word means, I don't know why they use it so often, though, and I don't think they do either. When a movie is good, it seems, you must call it overly sentimental, because I guess good movies to critics should be harsh and depressing, like In the Bedroom maybe, or maybe they should be incoherent and nonsensical garbage like Mulholland Drive.

I even read a few critics who said that Bicentennial Man isn't funny, which in and of itself is hilarious because the movie was just incredibly funny! You'd have to have 0 sense of humor whatsoever and be more robotic than Williams' character, by far, not to appreciate its humor.

I can't say I quite understand most critics with their odd appreciation of such boring, silly movies like Gosford Park and their total rejection of a movie requiring actual thought like Bicentennial Man. I don't expect them to get it right all of the time, but there are a few movies that everyone should be able to appreciate otherwise I just don't see what they are watching. Like Citizen Kane. It would be very odd I think if someone did not find that movie at least amusing and high quality. There is little debate about such quality movies as Ben-Hur, Unforgiven, Dr. Strangelove, Citizen Kane, etc.

Of course, then again there are people who don't like Star Wars, which just goes to show that truly many people simply lack refined taste in film. I guess they cannot be helped, because if they can't find the quality where it obviously exists, then... what do you say but, sorry, sucks to be you.

[Nathanial K'cansce]

Dr. Strangeglove is a great movie. We watched it in 11th grade AP US history class. ^_^

[CMJ]

Alot to comment on this thread....but I'll only take on acouple of subjects mentioned.

First off I also will say that "The Score" was the best(by far IMHO) of the "heist" flicks from last year. I enjoyed "Oceans 11" and to a lesser degree "The Heist" and "Sexy Beast"(one that Jonathan forgot to mention), but they weren't even close to being as good as "Score".

Now to "Bicentennial Man". I really enjoyed the first half, but felt the film got a bit too sappy and over done if the second half. In general I felt the film lost alot of steam.

I can't say I hated it...or even that I didn't like it. I just can't say I dug it. It's one of those movies I'd say is average. :D

[JonathanLB]

I think Bicentennial Man was VERY far from average. I think it was a four star film, easily. I liked every aspect of it, except that I am suposed to believe it is good to be "a mortal human," haha, yeah right. I'm sick of that theme (after seeing this and some other movie I saw recently, umm, too tired to remember). I'd rather be a robot like Andrew who lived forever, thank you very much.

"First off I also will say that "The Score" was the best(by far IMHO) of the "heist" flicks from last year."

I felt it was the best too, but barely, not by far.

Sexy Beast was the least of those, if you include it, but it was still pretty damn funny in parts. I enjoyed it and gave it three stars, but it doesn't get special treatment just because so few people have heard of it. It was a weaker film than the other four, plain and simple.

[JMK]

I really enjoyed both versions of Oceans 11 for different reasons. I loved the Score too. Not the Heist though. Mamet tried to write his own witty style and I thought it failed miserably.