The latest Soderbergh and friends outing has arrived on the big screen, and while it is overall a fun experience, I cannot call it a great movie. Calling it merely “good” would be much more accurate. It is a definite step up from its predecessor, but does not climb as high as the original remake.

I also think that this may have been the wrong time of year to release a film such as this. The whole big time scam setup, the plethora of stars, and the way it all plays out just makes me think it would have been better suited as a December release. This is especially true with the already high number of sequels that have hit the screens, and will continue to do so through the summer.

The crux of this outing is a fateful meeting between Elliot Gould’s Rueben Tishkoff and Al Pacino’s Willie Bank.

The pair were partnering on a new casino, but Willie had a different idea for the “partnership.” In other words, there was to be no partnership. The shock of this turn of events caused Rueben to suffer a massive heart attack. Now, this is considered to be just as bad — if not worse — then if Bank had shot him, and is not going to go unpunished. Enter Danny Ocean (Clooney). He rounds up the gang and together they set out to hurt Bank the best way they know how — in the wallet.

Together, the gang from the prior two films rejoin forces to rig slot machines, roulette, blackjack, and craps, all in the effort to make Willie Bank lose, well, his bank. How do they aim to do this seemingly impossible task? Well, they send one guy (Casey Affleck) off to rig the dice, another (Eddie Jemison) off to rig the card shufflers, Brad Pitt to do something to the slot machines, and someone doing something else to the roulette balls. There is also something about Bernie Mac and a domino game that isn’t all that well explained.

This caper film has moments of fun, but I felt I was kept in the dark for long stretches. When the plans came into play, I did not feel like I knew what they were doing. There was a lot of talking, but we are only given bits and pieces of the plot, of the caper, and of the reasoning. The vast majority of the hows and whys were left to off-camera conversations, not too mention how they got their hands on the tunneling machine, or how they got it tunneling under Vegas without anyone noticing.

Partway through this third outing, I pretty much gave up on trying to track the plot points and piece everything together. It all seemed to point towards a pointless exercise in futility. So, rather than pay attention to all of that, I decided to just sit back and enjoy the scenery and the collection of stars that turned out.

It really feels like a vanity project for Soderbergh and his team, like a bunch of stars decided to get together and make a movie. What kind of movie would be perfect for a large ensemble of stars? Why, a caper film of course. It requires a team of people to get things done. They get together and start shooting, making it up as they go along, working from a loose outline. Fun? Sure. Best way to make a good movie? Probably not.

The sad thing is that with so many stars, there did not seem like enough for all of them to do anything meaningful. Often, they end up getting stuck doing little more than sitting around. For example, the great Don Cheadle is left sitting around for much of the movie, watching the tunneler, or Bernie Mac who sells a domino game, or Scott Caan who is sent after Casey Affleck in Mexico. None of these guys do all that much. The story, as it is, just does not leave much room for everyone to do anything.

Bottomline: So, in the end, what you have is a movie peppered with big stars. On the surface it is plenty of fun, but once you scratch said surface the exercise begins to deflate as there is not much existing framework to support it. The performances are fun, many of the sequences are fun, and the movie looks very good. It is a prime example of a movie where the parts are greater than the whole. Worth watching, but not destined to be remembered.

Mildly Recommended.

Christopher Beaumont spends much of his time writing about entertainment when he isn’t sitting in a movie theater. He is known around the office as the “Movie Guy” and is always ready to talk about his favorite form of entertainment and offer up recommendations. Interests include science fiction, horror, and metal music. His writings can be found at Draven99’s Musings, as well as Film School Rejects.

On Friday's General Hospital:

Angry and hurt, Sam confronted Jason asking why he didn't call to let her know he was arrested, but when Ric let himself into the briefing room to taunt them, they put up a united front. It would seem a front is all it will be, however. Jason's heart is with his son, and to a certain extent, Liz. Jason's secret coupled with her new found fame is expanding the divide between them.

When Sonny happened across Amelia's ever-thickening file of Sam's dirty deeds, she came completely clean, warning Sonny that Jason is probably just another target on the con woman's list of marks. Sonny immediately took the information to Jason, who was a lot less suspicious of Sam. He insisted she's changed, but later called Amelia and asked her to visit him at the jail.

It looks like we're seeing the beginning of the end of Sam and Jason. Whether Kelly Monaco is taking her leave, something that has come up several times with the actress, or the writers are just looking to switch things up a bit, remains to be seen.

Lucky apologized to Elizabeth for getting angry about her visiting Jason, but no return apology from the woman for spending time with the mob hit man instead of being in court with Lucky and his family. With each passing day, it seems, Liz is getting more and more selfish and hypocritical. She wants Lucky raising her children because he is stable and safe, but Jason always takes priority. It's getting harder and harder to understand and sympathize with her.

When Jax introduced Kate to Alexis, the two found common ground in their deep-seated dislike for Carly. Playing off each other with wit and charm, I think this is a gal-pal relationship with real potential. As Carly continues to drive Kate nuts, I hope we see her confide in her new friend.

Determined to move forward with his plans to kidnap Laura before Scott can take her away, Luke asks Lulu to enlist Spinelli's help in finding which hospital the court is holding her in. The Jackal is, of course, successful. This story should kick into high gear this coming week.

Warning! News and Spoilers Ahead!

• Having found Laura, Luke allows the kids to say good-bye to their mother before disappearing with her. When Scott finds out, he has Tracy arrested. It is Lulu who bails her out of jail, not her family, prompting Tracy to insist Lulu move back into the Quartermaine mansion.
• The word is Wally Kurth will be back as Ned for the summer. Is he here to help Tracy with her "ghostly" problem and/or sanity?
• Jason finally comes clean about his secret pain to Sonny, who advises him to fight for his parental role with his son. Jason believes Sam is not the person she was, until Amelia confides Sam has known the truth about Jake for weeks now.
• Things will heat up between Patrick and Robin in July. When their parents try to lend a helping hand, will things heat up between Noah and Anna too?

Wife, mother, aspiring novelist, and music editor at BC Magazine, Connie Phillips spends most of her time in a fantasy land of her own creating. In reality, she writes about music, television, and the process of writing, when she’s not cheering on her kids at equestrian events. Contact: Phillips.connie@gmail.com

Breach is the true story about the F.B.I.'s capture of the worst spy in American history — and one of it's own — one Robert Hanssen. But this is much more than a tale about the cloak and dagger intricacies of espionage. It is also a riveting character study of Hanssen himself, who is brilliantly portrayed as a deeply conflicted man — one who is equal parts genius and sociopath — by Oscar winner Chris Cooper.

Hanssen is a guy who wears the same conservative suit daily, and who attends church every single day like clockwork. Although he admits that the Russians are smarter and more devious, he chalks up their downfall to their "godlessness." This is a guy who has a cross on his office wall, and keeps religious icons on his desk. What makes all of this so fascinating is that this doesn't appear to be a cover at all — the apparent patriotism and religious devotion appear to be absolutely genuine. You want conservative? This guy's favorite band is the Andrews Sisters.

But lying beneath the surface of this postcard for family values, there are secrets. What good is a spy story without them, right? Here is a guy with more dualities than a pair of Siamese twins. Hanssen is portrayed here as a brilliant, but deeply bitter man. By day his life is religiously ordered, while by night he secretly makes home pornos of rough sex with his wife, without her knowledge. At work, he is impersonal in his relationships with subordinates, as well as authoritarian and anal retentive to a fault. He is also a computer genius who the movie paints as equally frustrated and misunderstood. If there ever was a sympathetic portrayal of a creepy guy, this is it.

On the other side of the coin, we get Ryan Phillippe's turn as Eric O'Neill, the agent who brought Hanssen down. O'Neill is portrayed by Phillippe as an immediately likeable, if somewhat cocky guy. But his heart of hearts appears to be in all the right places. He loves his wife deeply, and he is morally conflicted at first when he feels that the F.B.I.'s case against Hanssen is bullshit. Playing the gopher to Hanssen's boss, O'Neill respects him even if there doesn't appear to be much to like about him.

From here, the movie weaves a tale that is as much about trust as it is about anything else. The paranoia runs very deep here — not just in the cloak and dagger sense, but in the personal relationships involved as well. Why doesn't O'Neill trust his wife? And how does O'Neill gain the trust of Hanssen — a boss who by this time is begrudgingly growing to like him even as he tests his loyalty pretty much every second of the way?

The one thing that bugged me throughout this movie was the way it failed to reveal the motivations behind Hanssen's apparent treachery toward America in selling out his country to the very "godless" Russians he seems to be so dead set against. The clues offered for this elusive motive throughout the movie are mostly subtle ones. It was never about money it seems — but more about ego. Until he is caught, Hanssen covers his tracks in the same meticulous way that the most clinical serial killer does.

And although I loved this movie, the way it finally paid off by answering that question was a classic case of a cheap Hollywood cop out. Hanssen looks as fiendishly deranged as Hannibal Lechter as he asks O'Neill to "pray for me" in the film's final scene.

Still, as a tightly woven reality based psychological thriller, Breach succeeds on every level in holding you by the edge of your seat throughout it's just under two hour running time. Extras on the DVD include deleted scenes and a profile of the Hanssen case that originally ran on NBC's news magazine Dateline.

Breach will be available this Tuesday in video stores.

You’ll find Blogcritics contributing editor and music raconteur Glen Boyd sharing his Thoughtmares about everything from music to politics to professional wrestling on his personal blog The World Wide Glen: Welcome To My Thoughtmare. In his alter-ego as “Disco Glen,” Mr. Boyd is also the undisputed king of the dancefloor.

With an identity crisis always pushing it forward, You, Me, and Dupree is inconsistently funny. At times it’s a hard drama, over the top goofy comedy, and then a basic relationship tale. It feels disjointed, as scenes fail to flow together, yet there’s still enough material here to laugh at.

Owen Wilson is the star here, playing the lovable Dupree, the down on his luck slacker. Matt Dillion plays Carl, his best friend. Carl’s new wife is played by a gorgeous Kate Hudson, generally taking the role of the sympathizer.

Dupree lands on hard times, and moves in with Carl for what should be a brief period. This sets off the expected conflicts, especially as Dupree attempts to relive his younger days. Laughs take a long time to develop, and are spaced wide apart. The brief payoff is usually brief, though enough to carry the film until its next event.

This is a movie at its best when Owen Wilson is allowed to take over. Carl ends up overloaded at work, and this creates a separate conflict that simply isn’t that entertaining to watch in either a comedic or dramatic way. These scenes, even though Michael Douglas handles the role of Carl’s boss and in-law nicely, don’t feel like they fit. They give the film a hard edge, which negates some of the comedy.

It’s a shame too, as the simple premise of Wilson’s character hanging around, creating awkward situations, and attempting to find work would have been enough. Spinning into the relationship downfall and corporate power struggles leads it into a path that it can’t find a way out of. In the end, it feels as if the comedy is secondary.

That said, this is still worthwhile to watch, simply for Dupree’s antics. It’s a great character that you root for to finally find some success. You’ll need to sit through some uglier spots to find the fun, yet you’ll still come away happy.

The film comes to the hi-def format sporting some of the best, brightest, and overall stunning color you’ll find. The bold presentation never bleeds or lets compression show through. Black levels are rich and deep. This is a clear transfer, with average detail in close ups. A fine layer of grain can be visible during long shots.

Dupree does have some small surround potential. A sequence outdoors in a thunderstorm showcases both booming bass and nice positional audio as the rain lands. Other uses or movement through various channels are noticeable, if not forgettable.

Extras start off with Universal’s typical “U-Control” features that are available only while watching the movie via picture-in-picture windows. It’s not worth watching twice to simply see some photos and brief behind the scenes footage. Two commentaries offer different looks at the making of the movie, one from co-directors Tony and Joe Russo while the other comes from first time writer Michael LeSieur and producer Scott Stuber.

An alternate ending, with optional commentary, would have worked fine in the film, though it lacks the uplifting fun of the included one. Eight deleted scenes run six minutes, with little of note aside from Owen Wilson trying to board a flight. Four great minutes of outtakes are a must see, including a priceless prank played on Matt Dillon.

Dupree’s Memoirs is a digital scrapbook of his life. It’s a nice way to get a little deeper with the character, though most will see it after the film and it’s impact is then wasted. Finally, a spoof trailer plays the film up as a horror movie in funny fashion.

Sci-fi fans have a small treat to look for. Michael Douglas has a sword on his desk in his office. It’s the same style dragonhead from the TV series Highlander.

Matt Paprocki is the reviews editor for Digital Press, a classic video game website which he called home after his fanzine (Gaming Source) published its final issue. The deep game collection which spans nearly 30 systems and 2,000 games line his walls for reasearch purposes. Really. He has also begun writing freelance for the Toledo Free Press.

It's been a long time — 16 years to be precise — since the water mark was set so high by The Silence of the Lambs for serial killer thrillers. And in those 16 years, there has yet to be a movie that even comes close to surpassing it. So it is fair to say I didn't have my hopes set so high when I finally got off of my ass to see Mr. Brooks.

Good thing too.

Kevin Costner plays Earl Brooks a highly successful businessman with a very dark secret. That secret, predictably, is that he enjoys killing people. And after a two year hiatus, he gives in to his more sinister side and once again the "Thumbprint Killer" strikes again. Only this time, he's gotten sloppy and left a witness. That person, Mr. Smith (Dane Cook), reaches out to him — not for money — but to join him on his next assault.

All the while, diligently pursuing Brooks is the very sexy detective Tracy Atwood (Demi Moore). Sprinkled throughout the movie are subplots involving Atwood's nasty divorce, a released inmate, Thorton Meeks (Matt Schulze) hell-bent on revenge, and Brooks' daughter Jane's (Danielle Panabaker) own demons.

As I had expected, I couldn't find any major flaws (or any superlatives) in the way Kevin Costner portrayed the outwardly meek, quiet Mr. Brooks. A great deal of Brook's communication is done through his eyes and through his body language. Costner didn't have far to stretch — he has the eyes and mannerisms of someone you need to keep an eye out for.

What was unexpected — and the only reason Mr. Brooks is remotely entertaining — is watching the inner dialogue Earl has with his other personality Marshall (William Hurt). Marshall is the dark, cruel side that yearns for the kill thrill. He is extremely calculating and exacting; always thinking things through and focusing on the effects of any actions. Hurt's unemotional, flat delivery is the perfect contrast to Costner's nervous, pathetic half.

Other than Hurt's performance, there is little that makes Mr. Brooks remarkable. Much of story is dragged in forty different directions which I found rather irritating. Of what worth was it to focus so much energy on the divorce proceedings of Demi Moore's character? It certainly didn't add anything of vital importance. I again asked myself the same question when presented with Jane’s dilemma. Was it spliced into the film to show that a serial killer can be compassionate about his family? Was any of it really necessary?

Anyway, for me Mr. Brooks left a lot to be desired. I would have preferred it if the movie focused more on the inner turmoil that Brooks continually battles with, rather than seeing so much frivolous shit jammed into the movie as filler. The movie would have certainly flowed better and would have provided to me a much better viewing experience. It’s a shame to see something with so much promise fail miserably. As it stands now, Mr. Brooks is a misguided psychological thriller with little thrill. Ho hum.

Nine years before the movie Ghostbusters became a cultural phenomenon, CBS aired a low-budget live-action series with a nearly identical name – The Ghost Busters – on Saturday mornings. The series lasted one season, and was all but forgotten until Ivan Reitman's wildly successful movie was released in 1984, when the show was briefly revived as an animated series (not to be confused with The Real Ghostbusters, the "official" animated spin-off from the film). Now, proving that every TV series makes its way to video eventually, all fifteen episodes of the 1975-76 Ghost Busters have been released on DVD.

These Ghost Busters were played by F Troop's Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch, with Bob Burns as their tamed gorilla, who served as the brains of the operation. Operating out of a shabby office, Spencer, Tracy, and Kong (Kong is not the ape) were regularly given Mission: Impossible-style assignments to track down and capture ghosts and monsters. Fortunately for them, it wasn't that hard to track down the ghosts, considering that they usually appeared in the exact same graveyard and hid out in the exact same castle in every episode. Live-action Saturday-morning shows are made on the tiniest of budgets, and The Ghost Busters regularly re-used the same four or five sets in every episode.

The humor in The Ghost Busters is pretty corny, with the gorilla providing most of the laughs. It's more interesting to see some '60s and '70s TV stars show up as guest spooks, most notably Jim "Thurston Howell III" Backus as the ghost of Eric the Red. Yes, Backus played Eric the Red. His role wasn't quite as dignified as his part as an extreme-right militia leader in the MST3K classic Angels Revenge, but I suppose it paid the mortgage for a few months.

The Ghost Busters DVD set features quite a few special features, including interviews with Bob Burns and producer Lou Scheimer, photo galleries, and even a full episode of the awful animated version made to cash in on mid-eighties Ghostbuster-mania. (That series is available on DVD as well.) Baby boomers with fond memories of the show will probably be happy with this set, but will modern kids enjoy it? Children are much more sophisticated about this kind of thing than they were in the 1970s, and I suspect even six- and seven-year-olds will be turned off by the moldy gags and low production values. Younger viewers will like the gorilla, though.

Karl Bauer's Deadly Obsessions (2003) is a semi-erotic thriller in which people try to deal with their failed marriages by finding love elsewhere, whether it's in another person or money or both. Marty (Nick Capous) and Rebecca (Irene Glezos) are in a loveless marriage, both of them cheating on each other without really bothering to hide it. Marty has Monica (Michelle Verhoeven), and we can probably assume there are others. Rebecca has her best friend, Lisa (Karen Stanion), a bi-sexual participant in an equally loveless marriage who's teaching Rebecca how to be a proper lesbian while attempting to seduce Marty. Throw in a murder plot, and you've got the makings of some sexy escapist cinema. Fun for the whole family, as they say.

Only, it isn't nearly sexy enough or escapist enough or even campy enough to really succeed in any one direction. The performances aren't so over-the-top to justify the type of guilty pleasure you'd find in a telenova — everyone's very serious about what's going on, but not in a histrionic sort of way. The plot isn't big enough to be escapist. Sure, there's murder and lesbians and deception, but it's not a combination we haven't seen before and none of it's shocking. The lesbian twist is pretty apparent early in the film, so it comes as no surprise. But, the film seems to think of it as something of a trump card (albeit a preliminary one), so it spends all this time setting up a grand reveal and all the audience can say is "well, yeah, of course they are." It doesn't help that the first lesbian scene breaks the 180 degree rule maybe 15 times. That's not the type of thing that instills confidence in your audience.

Nothing the film does, plot-wise, is bold enough to get our attention. At no point does it really go for broke and risk being a big disaster. It plays close to the vest, unwilling to take a real chance. And there isn't enough talent on display (not to say the people involved don't possess that talent, it just isn't on the screen) for Deadly Obsessions to work as a middle-of-the-road thriller. Ergo, it ends up being kind of dull.

And that brings us to the sex. These characters spend a great deal of time having sex. The script has lots of sex. The film does not. What we get more often than not is a fade to black, or a pan to the window. It feels like the sex has been edited out of the film by someone other than the director, like a TV edit. Actually, the entire time I'm watching Deadly Obsessions I can't shake the feeling that what I'm watching is one of those 80's TV movies they show on Saturday afternoon when there's no college basketball on. For most of the film I actually thought that's what Bauer was going for, I thought he'd made an interesting genre choice, but the more I watched, the more I thought it couldn't be possible. Too much of it was modern, even if they did seem to be wearing clothes that had a distinct 80's look. Maybe it's the fact that the film is shot on 16mm.

One more note. The script feels like an early draft. Much of the dialogue is stilted and cliche, almost a script by numbers. There's very little subtext, and what little we do have is played so that it's impossible to miss (which kind of defeats the purpose of subtext). But more importantly, there's a long exposition scene between Marty and Lisa that just destroys any and all momentum the film had. The scene is at least 10 minutes long — maybe longer — but it feels like 45 minutes and after a while you don't even care what they're saying. You just want the scene to end. That's when my roommate decided he'd rather be doing something else.

****************
But hey, I could be wrong. Check out Deadly Obsessions for yourself at the official homepage. You can purchase the film for $14.99 on FilmBaby.com. You can read the director's blog here.

Got a film you'd like to submit for the uber-indie project? Here are the details.

starring: Nick Capous, Irene Glezos, Karen Stanion, and Michelle Verhoeven
cinematography by: Karl G. Bauer
written and directed by: Karl G. Bauer
$50,000/101 min/Philadelphia, PA

On Thursday's General Hospital:

Ric continued to put pressure on Spinelli to come clean about Lorenzo's murder. Spinelli toyed with the DA, resorting to his video-game language and reciting plotlines from the Lord of the Rings while Jason nervously watched on. In the end Ric demanded his laptop, and said he would be getting a warrant to obtain all the computer equipment in Jason's penthouse. After the DA had left the room, Spinelli said that the laptop he gave Ric was a "dummy" and the other computer was set to lock down if tampered with by anyone but him.

Elizabeth sunk to an all-new low. She told Lucky she couldn't go to the courthouse because there was no sitter for the kids, then promptly ran to visit Jason the minute her husband left the house. She asked Jason if there was anything she could do for him. Liz, you're a nurse not a lawyer. Jason's not injured or sick, he's in jail. No, there isn't anything you can do. Go and at least pretend to love the man you chose.

Needless to say, when Lucky found his wife visiting Jason, he was none too happy. But when called out on her lies, Liz only got more angry and indignant.

I guess Michael and Morgan went over to Kate's property again, and this time harpooned one of her ornamental Japanese koi. The only thing we really know for sure is Kate tossed a bag with a dead fish on Sonny's desk demanding he do something about it. Carly showed up at his office in time to hear Kate call her kids spoiled little monsters.

Of course that inspired another cat-fight. Later, Carly returned to the hotel to find Kate and Jax discussing the issue, Kate turning on all her charms (who knew she had any, this is the first we're seeing of it) and capitalizing on her past acquaintance with him. If you thought Carly showed claws over Sonny, she lashed out bigger and badder ones over Jax. It's good to know she can be at least as jealous over her husband as she is her ex.

In the aftermath of Scott being awarded guardianship of Laura, Lulu softened a bit toward her father. She told Luke that if her mother could forgive and love him, who was she to hold resentment for something from so long ago, though it was obvious she was still pained and tormented by everything.

Tracy, on the other hand, knew exactly what the judge's ruling meant and asked Luke when he was leaving and how long he would be gone, saying she would stick to her agreement to help him kidnap Laura. Luke gratefully promised Tracy he would return to her as soon as he made sure Laura was safe from Scott's clutches.

Logan squared off against a gloating Scott at Kelly's. If these two are not father and son, someone in casting messed up. They look, move, and speak as if they were cut from the same cloth. I'm still betting (and hoping) that is what we find out very soon. When Scott left, Logan moved on and began working Lulu, playing on her pain to win his deal with Maxie, who watched on with sadistic pleasure. I'm not sure what happened with Cooper standing behind her while she was discussing the plan with Logan. The only remnants we saw was Logan saying "he just came back for his book," I guess he heard nothing.

Sam returned to Port Charles after her location shoot and ran to the hospital to find out the results of her fertility tests. It was there she learned from Ric that Jason had been arrested. Off to the jail she went.

In the meantime, Amelia ran to Sonny's office to get a little action on the mob-boss's desk. After the fact, Sonny discovered her big thick file on Sam, her past, and all her identities.

Warning! News and Spoilers Ahead!

• On Friday's GH: Sonny learns all the sordid details about Sam's past and Amelia's plan to tear her to shreds. The question is, will he high-tail it over to the jail to tell Jason… or will Amelia beat him to it?

Wife, mother, aspiring novelist, and music editor at BC Magazine, Connie Phillips spends most of her time in a fantasy land of her own creating. In reality, she writes about music, television, and the process of writing, when she’s not cheering on her kids at equestrian events. Contact: Phillips.connie@gmail.com

It’s refreshing to learn that Meadowlands, a series about witness protection program families living in the ultimate gated community, isn’t simply a show about the idyllic, mysterious suburban locale. In fact, we learn more about the town of Meadowlands in the pilot episode than we’ve learned about the island in all three seasons of Lost. No, Meadowlands doesn't get caught up in forcing the audience to play guessing games about a bizarre community. Instead, we are thrust into the sublime weirdness of the residents.

There is a difference between Meadowlands and the usual TV series or movie about suburbia. It's not darkly comical; it's dark. The resident's aren't Picket Fences odd; they're Arkham Asylum odd. An undercurrent of madness makes the melodrama seem more dire and the residents more interesting.

Four of those residents just moved to town. The Brogan family, with patriarch Danny (David Morrissey), his wife Evelyn (Lucy Cohu), their daughter Zoe (Felicity Jones) and her twin Mark (Harry Treadaway), are led blindfolded to their new home. They leave behind their names, their lives and, hopefully, the people who tried to burn them alive for Danny's criminal ways. Meadowlands is the safest place in the world. And they're lucky to be there.

At least Danny tries to convince his family that their seclusion is worth it. While his 17-yea-old son, still silent from his traumatic fire experience, spends his time ogling a neighbor woman who is too happy to show off and his flirty daughter tries to snag the town's hot, bad-boy handyman Jack (Tom Hardy), Danny's focus turns to his wife who pines for a day outside the compound. That's just day one. The true nature of the town is exposed when the aggressive sexuality of the handyman is countered by the aggressive discipline of the local head of law enforcement (Ralph Brown). Scared when the constable reveals that he knows his true identity, Danny runs to the folks in charge and gets a rundown on just how bizarre, and possibly dangerous, Meadowlands’s residents really are.

Compared to most shows that air on Showtime, a channel that masquerades soft-corn porn (The Tudors) and fetish TV (Dexter) as high-end drama, Meadowlands isn’t a likely candidate to fill a Sunday night line-up. It is a titillating drama for sure, but the Channel 4/Showtime co-production lacks the pretense of a show abut Henry the VIII or a serial killer who kills killers.

Within the first 15 minutes, Zoe has already made an indecent proposal to Jack (of all trades!) the handyman and Danny and Evelyn start to try out the kitchen counter. When the sunny neighbor Brenda (Melanie Hill) masturbates in front of Mark with one of the gloves he wears to hide his burns, the oddities are just beginning.

Yes, there is something askew about the entire show. Though we learn a lot about Meadowlands we hardly scrape the surface of how each resident got there. The show certainly has the makings of a quality soap, which makes criticism hard to dish out. The worst you can say about Meadowlands is that it isn’t groundbreaking; the best you can say is that it is it likely to be the most addictive hour Showtime has ever aired.

Meadowlands premieres Sunday, June 17 at 10 pm. on Showtime.

Well, the Las Vegas swindle crew is back in full force in this threequel. The name of the game is getting even. Danny Ocean (George Clooney), Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) and the gang would have only one reason to pull off their most ambitious and riskiest casino heist and the reason is to defend one of their own.

The ruthless hotel and casino owner Willy Bank (Al Pacino) double-crossed Danny's friend and mentor Reuben Tishkoff (Elloitt Gould) out of his money and his share of the new establishment, putting the distraught Reuben in a hospital bed in critical condition and suffering from depression.

Willy Bank made a mistake, because he may have taken down one of the original Ocean's eleven, but the others are left standing. They vowed to get even by taking down Willy and his new place called The Bank.

Their plan is twofold. First they will ruin him financially by turning the tables on the precept that the house always wins. All they have to do manipulate the dice that are being made in Mexico. Second is to simulate an earthquake to give them time to break Willy's computerized security system and steal his precious diamonds showcased under tight security. These diamonds are payment to Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), Danny's arch enemy. In this caper Danny and Terry work together because Willy is Terry's competition on the strip. Besides Danny needs Terry's money to pull off the heist and Willy's diamonds will be the repayment.

As the grand opening of The Bank begins, Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon) is sent in to compromise Abigail Sponder (Ellen Barkin) who is Willy Bank's right-hand woman. Matt Damon and Ellen Barkin share a bit of onscreen chemistry. Barkin plays more than just a sexy middle-aged woman on screen, in fact hers is a quite funny and alluring character. Of course Al Pacino is a master of his craft no matter the genre. If you're looking for good gags, cool action, and witty dialogue this is the movie to watch. With supporting cast members Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Eddie Jemison, Shaobo Qin, Eddie Izzard, and the great veteran actor/comedian Carl Reiner, this is a fun-filled movie. In my opinion this is the best Ocean's episode out of the three films.

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Running time: 113 minutes
Release date: June 8, 2007
Genres: Action/Adventure, Thriller, Crime/Gangster and Sequel
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13