Ocean's Twelve by Steven Soderbergh, 2004 (PG-13)

Danny Ocean reunites with his old flame and the rest of his merry band of thieves in a caper covering three huge heists in Rome, Paris and Amsterdam. But Europol agent Isabel Lahiri is hot on their heels.

This is my favorite one of the series, most of all because of Julia Roberts' performance as herself, and the spice of Catherine Zeta-Jones. Overall, the story is solid, well put together, the actors impeccable, and you get the feeling that there is some chemistry beyond the acting that makes it more believable, they all have worked together before, they all know each others and they all know the director, so the bond between those random characters is perfect.

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with George Clooney (The Monuments Men, Ocean's Thirteen, Gravity, The Descendants, Out of Sight, Up in the Air, Michael Clayton, The Men Who Stare At Goats), Brad Pitt (Ocean's Thirteen, world War Z, The Tree of Life, Moneyball, Across the Tracks), Matt Damon (The Monuments Men, Ocean's Thirteen, Behind the Candelabra, Invictus, Margaret, True Grit, We Brought a Zoo, The Informant!, Herafter, Inside Job, The Adjustment Bureau, Promised Land, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Contagion), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Broken City, Traffic, Side Effects), Andy Garcia (Ocean's Thirteen), Don Cheadle (Ocean's Thirteen, Iron Man 3, Out of Sight, Traffic, Flight), Bernie Mac (Ocean's Thirteen, The cooler), Casey Affleck (Out of the Furnace, Ocean's Thirteen), Scott Caan, Julia Roberts (August: Osage County, Duplicity, Mirror Mirror Snow White, Eat Pray Love, Larry Crowne, Fireflies in the Garden), Vincent Cassel (Trance, Adrift - À Deriva, A Dangerous Method, Black Swan), Elliott Gould (Ruby Sparks), Carl Reiner (Ocean's Thirteen), Cherry Jones (The Horse Whisperer, Amelia, The Beaver), Eddie Jemison, Shaobo Qin
From the director of Magic Mike, Out of Sight, Traffic, Haywire, Contagion, The Informant!, Erin Brockovich, Ocean's Eleven, Side Effects, Behind the Candelabra and sequel Ocean's Thirteen

Ocean's Thirteen by Steven Soderbergh, 2007 (PG-13)

with George Clooney (The Monuments Men, Gravity, The Descendants, Out of Sight, Up in the Air, Michael Clayton, The Men Who Stare At Goats), Brad Pitt (world War Z, The Tree of Life, Moneyball, Across the Tracks), Matt Damon (The Monuments Men, Behind the Candelabra, Invictus, Margaret, True Grit, We Brought a Zoo, The Informant!, Herafter, Inside Job, The Adjustment Bureau, Promised Land, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Contagion), Michael Mantell, Elliott Gould (Ruby Sparks), Al Pacino (Scarface, Simone, You Don't Know Jack), Eddie Jemison, Don Cheadle (Iron Man 3, Out of Sight, Traffic, Flight), Shaobo Qin, Casey Affleck (Tower Heist), Scott Caan (Enemy of the State), Bernie Mac (The cooler), Carl Reiner, Eddie Izzard, Ellen Barkin, David Paymer (Payback, The Five-Year Engagement), Vincent Cassel (Trance, Adrift - À Deriva, A Dangerous Method, Black Swan), Andy Garcia From the director of Magic Mike, Out of Sight, Traffic, Haywire, Contagion, The Informant!, Erin Brockovich, Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, Side Effects, Behind the Candelabra

When Reuben Tishkoff is double-crossed in a luxury hotel business with business partner Willie Bank, he has a heart attack. Danny Ocean and Rusty Ryan plot a heist with their friends to avenge Reuben by breaking Bank's casino.

I don't know why the first time I had the chance to watch it, I was completely lost and gave up. It is a pretty straight forward robbery, with that many characters, but that is alright since we know them since 11 and 12. The scenario is fast, witty as usual, perhaps missing some ladies, sad because I really enjoyed Julia Robert's character, but she must be too expensive to afford. And why is Catherine Zeta Jones missing as well?... Anyway, the story is solid, the acting perfect, perhaps I didn't like the fact that it was the third episode and not much had changed, like a perfect formula, therefor quite commercial and a little boring. No?

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Bandits by Barry Levinson, 2001 (PG-13)

with Bruce Willis (Looper, Surrogates, RED), Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett (Robin Hood, Hanna), Troy Garity, January Jones (X-Men: First Class), Rocky LaRochelle, Jaye K. Danford

Two bank robbers, charming Joseph (Bruce Willis) and neurotic Terry (Billy Bob Thornton), battle over the affections of Kate (Cate Blanchett), a housewife they kidnapped before one of their big heists in this quirky love triangle from director Barry Levinson. Gaining notoriety as the "Sleepover Bandits," the partners then force a reality TV show host to cover their 15 minutes of fame while they go on a crime spree -- Kate in tow.

I have been thinking about this movie for a while, I can still recall seeing Cate Blanchett's performance in the car of Total Eclipse of the Heart. It was amazing, reckless, funny and shameless. Then I couldn't remember what made this movie unusual, except perhaps a weird trio, with seemingly incompetent crew, absorbed stuntman by the cowgirl in pink boots and a twist in the story. The plot is good, it is really funny, Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton are a great duet. It hasn't aged, I just watched it again, it really works. I recommend. Plus it is from the amazing director of "Sleepers", "You Don't Know Jack", "Sphere"...