Ocean's Eight (2017)

[BoogieBurns]

36 minutes ago, slowpoked said:

Did Anne really not remember Awkwafina helping her barf, or was she already playing her part in the heist by that time?

Absolutely already in on it by that point. The audience just wasn't aware yet.

[slowpoked]

On 6/12/2018 at 11:21 AM, questionfear said:

Also, I feel like OF COURSE there's going to be plotholes galore in a movie like this...but I enjoy the rube goldberg plan, and watching the heist ladies run around flirting with each other and just being badass was worth it...it didn't need a plot when it had Sandra Bullock animatedly yelling at people in German and Cate Blanchett wearing those impossibly hot suits. 

So right on the money!

I'm glad this is doing well, because you know, old women leads do not necessarily equal box office movie. It's hard enough to get a movie fronted by a 35-year old female and have movie execs convinced it can do well. So I'm glad this DUO of 50 year-olds fronted a summer box office.

Edited June 26, 2018 by slowpoked

[Sandman]

On 6/12/2018 at 2:21 PM, questionfear said:

... but I enjoy the rube goldberg plan, and watching the heist ladies run around flirting with each other and just being badass was worth it...it didn't need a plot when it had Sandra Bullock animatedly yelling at people in German and Cate Blanchett wearing those impossibly hot suits. 

THIS.

I enjoyed this one immensely. The cast is what drew me to it. Loved Hathaway's turnabout role -- actually, I liked everything about her performance. I liked it as much (or almost as much) as 11, and much more than 12. (Haven't bothered with 13, which looks really draggy.) I thought the heist had the right balance of implausibility, elegance, daring and slapstick. I loved that, while it had a couple of Fridge Moments, the movie included an actual Fridge Moment in its closing -- and stuffed the fridge full of jewels! I thought that was a neat joke.

I also enjoyed the inclusion of the quartet of theatre badasses from the previous generation in Dana Ivey, Marlo Thomas, Mary Louise Wilson and Elizabeth Ashley as the Little Old Ladies.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Sandman

[Miles]

The movie was good-ish. A bit too much foreplay, not enough of the heist itself and there were a few logic holes in there. But overall a fun ride.

 

I was positvely surprised that Anne Hathaway wasn't "in on it all along". I was fearing that would be the twist somewhere toward the end. It wouldn't have worked at all.

For a while I was wondering why they didn't just swap the neckless without anybody noticing. That was revealed in the end, so good on them. But some things still don't make sense. For example, why would you break up the neckless and smuggle it out for everybody to see instead of just throwing it in with the crown jewels? Worse, they put people who were previously pretending to be waitstaff in fancy dresses and had them walk out with the diamonds in plain view. If that insurance inspector had been even half way competent he would have spottet the stones from the neckless on them and that some staffmembers had transformed into high society. Afterall, there were cameras everywhere. But they told us he was basically the best. So what is it?

I'm also sure that nobody will find it suspicious that Debbie Ocean was holding up three security guards in front of the room with all the crown jewels in them, once it's discovered that they were stolen. Again, all of this is on camera.

I'm also skeptical about how much money they supposedly made. You can't fence the crown jewels as is and the individual stones aren't that much worth on the black market either. There are just no buyers. Diamonds are always shown as great untraceable currency in these films, but unless they have a large legal trail and the price gets pushed by a monopoly, diamonds aren't worth that much. I'm sure these women have connections, but I don't buy all the hundrets of millions they supposedly got.

Here is hoping in the inevitable sequel they'll get to the heist a bit quicker, make it a bit bigger and plug some of these logic-holes. Then that could be a great movie.

 

On a shallow note, Sandra Bullock's and Cate Blanchett's noses are distracting. I'm trying to figure out if it's bad nose jobs or if all the face lifts have distorted the noses. Either way, they should find a better plastic surgeon (ideally they wouldn't have gotten plastic surgery in the first place, but that ship has sailed).

 

On 8.6.2018 at 2:42 AM, afterbite said:

Sandy B and her German probably got the biggest laugh out of me.

Ah crap, I saw the german dub (it's hard to find screenings with the original dub around here) and sadly that joke fell completely flat. I was wondering why Heidi Klum had an american accent, like she hadn't spoken german in while. I guess they didn't redub her, but used the soundbite from the original dub and there she had been on an english speaking set all day and probably months in america before.

Were there other scenes with Bullock speaking german?

 

On 8.6.2018 at 8:52 PM, enoughcats said:

Tom and Lorenzo wonder if the movie was geared to their demographic.  When they saw it, gay guys were the major demographic in their audience.  And they talk about how well the movie will reach out to folks for whom the Meta Gala isn't important.  

I'm a gay guy. Couldn't care less about the Met Gala. See above what I thought about the movie.

 

On 12.6.2018 at 8:21 PM, questionfear said:

Also, I feel like OF COURSE there's going to be plotholes galore in a movie like this...but I enjoy the rube goldberg plan, and watching the heist ladies run around flirting with each other and just being badass was worth it...it didn't need a plot when it had Sandra Bullock animatedly yelling at people in German and Cate Blanchett wearing those impossibly hot suits. 

The annoying thing is these plot holes could have been pretty easily corrected. No major rewrites needed. especially, the carrying out the necklace in plain sight thing. Of course this was the rule of cool but imo it wasn't cool enough to make up for how dumb it was.

Edited July 4, 2018 by Miles

[Hanahope]

On 7/4/2018 at 5:12 PM, Miles said:

For a while I was wondering why they didn't just swap the neckless without anybody noticing. That was revealed in the end, so good on them. But some things still don't make sense. For example, why would you break up the neckless and smuggle it out for everybody to see instead of just throwing it in with the crown jewels? Worse, they put people who were previously pretending to be waitstaff in fancy dresses and had them walk out with the diamonds in plain view. If that insurance inspector had been even half way competent he would have spottet the stones from the neckless on them and that some staffmembers had transformed into high society. Afterall, there were cameras everywhere. But they told us he was basically the best. So what is it?

I'm also sure that nobody will find it suspicious that Debbie Ocean was holding up three security guards in front of the room with all the crown jewels in them, once it's discovered that they were stolen. Again, all of this is on camera.

I'm also skeptical about how much money they supposedly made. You can't fence the crown jewels as is and the individual stones aren't that much worth on the black market either. There are just no buyers. Diamonds are always shown as great untraceable currency in these films, but unless they have a large legal trail and the price gets pushed by a monopoly, diamonds aren't worth that much. I'm sure these women have connections, but I don't buy all the hundrets of millions they supposedly got.

finally got around to seeing this.

I too wondered about the break up of the necklace.  I presumed that it was on the chance guests were searched again on their way out, and by breaking the necklace up into other pieces, they wouldn't be noticed or at least recognized.  I don't know that a good insurance investigator would have recognized the whole necklace by the various smaller pieces re-organized.

I presume that's what they will do with the stolen crown jewels.  Take them apart, reset/organize them, sell/fence them as new pieces.  Or, find those kind of people who would pay for such things to keep for their own pleasure.  Sarah's character, as a fence, is implied to know/find such people probably.  Sure the prices will be less, but even at 20%, that's a huge chunk of change.  I admit, I no nothing about jewelry sales.  I have no idea if you have to have some sort of legal paperwork to sell large pieces of jewelry.

There were only "waitstaff" remade up, Cate, Mindy and Awkwafina.  I don't think Sarah was remade up, I thought she just added the piece to what she was already wearing.  Same with Sandra.  And Rihanna wasn't previously inside at all (or at least wasn't seen as waitstaff).  But yeah, one would think a good investigator would be able to match some of the photos.

Yes, Debbie holding things up was suspicious.  That's why the investigator was on to her from the beginning.  But, as you said, she was on camera the entire time, so he couldn't pin it on her directly.  Its unclear whether the crown jewels will have been discovered as fake.  Royalty/countries may not want to admit that.  Or maybe there's some fence that will to buy back the jewels on behalf of a country on the down low.

What I thought to be the biggest potential problem was if Cartier hired a female guard as well, which should have been done.  She would have gone into the ladies room and that would have spoiled taking the necklace.

I agree that the whole magnet clasp thing was a needless plot point that added too much complexity because really how could the necklace have come off by itself?

But fun movie, nice to see so many leading women.

[topanga]

On 6/9/2018 at 7:36 PM, stealinghome said:

just got back from seeing Ocean’s 8 and really, really liked it. It was exactly what I wanted from a summer popcorn movie. That said, I do agree it also lost a little zip somewhere along the way—I think there were too many twists/a little too much plot and not enough character (see below).

All the actresses were somewhere between solid and really good, but Anne Hathaway was definitely the standout. You could tell she was having an absolute and utter ball with the role. I think HBC also had a good time going a bit outside of her comfort zone/playing a parody of herself.

My biggest gripe is that I wanted more of the actresses hanging out and doing buddy comedy things. I’m disappointed that the scene of Sandra Bullock and Sarah Paulson bickering over the computer got cut, for example (the one that ran in trailers). The fun of a movie like this is in seeing the buddy chemistry between the actresses, and the cast had it in spades—I especially wanted more of Bullock and Blanchett just strolling around NYC looking fabulous. But there weren’t many scenes of the group just hanging around playing off each other, and we didn’t really get a sense of the group dynamic. The writers could have had a lot of fun with the generation gap, for example, between Bullock/Blanchett/Paulson/HBC and Awkwafina/Rihanna/Kaling(/Hathaway), or between the characters who had worked together before and the newbies. They did a good job kind of defining each character with the introductions and some of the initial interactions, but then it became a lot of plot and it felt like the characters got a bit lost. I would’ve shaved some of the twists off (like the magnet on the necklace, all of the Corden plot, or even the heist-within-a-heist, tbh) and just let the characters just interact more. I just don’t really care about the logistics of the heist, you know? I am way more interested in seeing the characters interact and having them drive the movie, not the plot.

I finally saw this, and I really enjoyed it. However, I agree with your entire post. 

I liked the heist plot, though it got a little convoluted at the end—and the pace slowed. The writing and directing  could've been tighter in that third act.

But I also agree that there should’ve been more interaction amongst the players. Sandra Bullock’s biggest strength as a comedic actress is her witty banter with other actors. e.g., While You Were Sleeping, Two Week’s Notice, Miss Congeniality, and The Proposal. She and George Clooney even gave Gravity some much-needed moments of humor. 

Debbie and Cate Blanchett’s character had some of those moments, but not enough. And Mindy Kaling? She and Debbie could’ve had way more humorous scenes together  

And IMO, the score in Soderbergh’s Ocean’s 11 is one of the key reasons that movie was so great. I think this film tried to have a similar score without plagiarizing the original.

 

On 6/13/2018 at 11:26 PM, Cranberry said:

I mean, they didn't say it out loud, but nobody can convince me that Lou wasn't 110% gay. Debbie feeding her off her own fork and the lines about them having a "rough patch" and the like were pretty intentional, too, I thought!

I don’t think they’re lovers now, but they might’ve been in the past. When Lou picked up Debbie from prison and was caressing her hair, Debbie says something like, ‘Be careful. I’ve been in jail a long time.’

[ribboninthesky1]

I really wanted to like this, and I think it was a combination of factors why I didn't:

• Soderbergh didn't direct. The Ocean's 11 film had a convoluted plot as well, but it worked. 
• I agree with someone's earlier post that it felt like Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett were phoning it in.  Either that, or they played it TOO cool.  I'll take a risk and express my opinion that one or both of them were miscast. They didn't vibe the way George Clooney and Brad Pitt did, and that relationship is the lynchpin of the film.  I can think of at least two scenes in the Soderbergh film that highlighted the dynamic between them: for example, the poker lessons and after scenes, and the "you think we need one more?" scene.      
• It wasn't particularly funny, not even in a subtle way.  Sandra Bullock can be funny, but I think her wheelhouse is the physical, almost slapstick, comedy. It wasn't that kind of film.  I originally thought Blanchett was the miscast, but the longer I ponder, the more I think they both were.  I wonder what someone like Allison Janey or Jamie Lee Curtis would have done with the dialogue. 
• As much as Mindy Kaling's voice grates my nerves, I think she would have been better with the witty banter needed to raise the entertainment factor. 
• Someone else mentioned mumbling/having a hard time understanding some of what was said - maybe it was more clear in the theater, but from my home flatscreen, I have to agree.  Especially between Bullock and Blanchett. 
• I didn't mind the Yen cameo, but having him involved in the most lucrative execution of the heist felt lazy. 

In any case, Anne Hathaway definitely was the standout.  I also think a lot of it was because her character had the most dialogue outside of Sandra/Cate, and was allowed to have a personality. 

[Kel Varnsen]

Watched this last night on demand and really enjoyed it. The only thing that kind of bugged me was the heist seemed to go a little to easy, basically exactly as planned except for the magnet thing. There weren't really any cool, think of a solution to a problem on the fly type of scenes. There also wasn't really a bad guy trying to stop Debbie's crew like Andy Garcia in Ocean's 11. I think that was sort of related to my first issue though.

I did like Debbie coming out of prison in the fancy dress though. Of couse it was a shout out to Clooney getting released from prison in a tux, and even though it made no sense, it was pretty funny. Especially since of couse the dress still fits and looks awesome on her.

Edited November 17, 2018 by Kel Varnsen

[supposebly]

I'm really sorry to say that I found this utterly boring, dragging, charmless, unsexy, and unfunny.

I was hoping for fabulous! They need to do better!

[blugirlami21]

I was super excited to hear about this movie because I love the series. 

I'm sad to say that I didnt really like it all that much. I hated that it started off with Danny's death. I dont think it added anything to the movie or Debbie's character. And it felt kind of petty to me.  I also thought that Debbie was a sad character. She felt kind of beaten down and joyless.  

I never felt like they were having fun nor did I think it was particularly funny tbh. Everything felt so serious.

I think it would have worked better as a standalone film rather than a continuation because the comparison to the other movies will always be there and unfortunately I found this one wanting.

[JBC344]

On 6/25/2018 at 10:52 AM, BoogieBurns said:

Absolutely already in on it by that point. The audience just wasn't aware yet.

Anne's character wasn't in on it during the heist. She put everything together after the insurance agent showed her Debbie's picture. 

[Kel Varnsen]

1 hour ago, JBC344 said:

Anne's character wasn't in on it during the heist. She put everything together after the insurance agent showed her Debbie's picture. 

No I am pretty sure Debbie brought her in before that. They mention that she knew something was up because Helena Bonham Carter's character was such a bad actor.

[nilyank]

1 hour ago, JBC344 said:

Anne's character wasn't in on it during the heist. She put everything together after the insurance agent showed her Debbie's picture. 

She was already in on it. She was faking by ill in order to get the diversion in the bathroom.

[JBC344]

No, I just rewatched the scene and Anne wasn't in on it from the begining. When Anne is explaining it she mentions she was first tipped off from HBC's taking the pictures, and the bad acting. Then when the investigator shows her the photo of Debbie and says that normally she would be the prime suspect but she had an alibi. 

When Anne saw Debbie's photo she recognized her as the woman who ushered her into the bathroom. Anne specifically says that she knew Debbie had something to do with it because she never forgets a face. 

Afrer Anne's meeting with the investigator that is when she sought out Debbie and Debbie cut her in. 

Edited December 24, 2018 by JBC344

[aradia22]

I do not hate Anne Hathaway anymore. But I don't get why she was getting so much praise for this movie. She was fine. 

I wish the writing had been more remarkable. It wasn't very funny or incisive or compelling. But my biggest problem was the direction. Woof. This is the kind of movie that is supposed to sell you on the glitz and glamour. And while there were cameos of sorts and they got movie stars for the main cast and notable locations and pretty clothes, and for the most part... it looked ugly and cheap. What was with the lighting in this movie? 

Cate Blanchett was okay. Sandra Bullock looked pretty bored throughout. I'm not sure if it was because she was forced to play the "straight man" and be more serious or if she was actually just bored by the material. I wouldn't blame her. Rihanna was not that bad for a non-actress. Everyone else was just fine. They didn't give them enough for them to have memorable moments. Maybe Helena but even if she had more screen time, the script was so serviceable that she didn't have anything to play. For chrissakes, you have Helena Bonham Carter. If you give her scenery, she will chew it. So many missed opportunities. 

I didn't hate it but it felt like a lesser episode of Leverage in spite of the toys they had to play with. And unlike Leverage, I didn't care about any of the characters as people. I know there was a female co-screenwriter but I lay a lot of the blame for this movie's failures on Gary Ross. On screen representation matters but so does behind the scenes representation on the creative team. You wanted me to find the revenge plot empowering when it was just another woman scorned? How many times do we have to do this dance? *cough Oz The Great and Powerful* *cough Maleficent*

[Chaos Theory]

I am actually curious what would happen if Oceans 11 came out today.  Would it still get the same reviews and fans it did then because today’s audience are insanely hard on tv often harder then people paid to review movies.

this movie actually did remind me of all the good things about Ocean 11 but with women.  It has the same heist feel to it that 12 and 13 lacked.  I liked all the characters. They all played their parts well and the end was fun.  

[Ms.Moon]

I saw Ocean's 8 this weekend on HBO and I got to enjoy the clothes more.  The clothing the ladies wear are all really nice, reflect their personalities well and in Lou's case made me think she was a rock star.  Honestly Cate Blanchett's wardrobe in this movie is the absolute most, the green suit she wears after the heist made me think of GLAM! Bowie and I sort of had a crush on her after that for the rest of the movie.  

[aradia22]

Quote

I saw Ocean's 8 this weekend on HBO and I got to enjoy the clothes more.  The clothing the ladies wear are all really nice, reflect their personalities well and in Lou's case made me think she was a rock star.  Honestly Cate Blanchett's wardrobe in this movie is the absolute most, the green suit she wears after the heist made me think of GLAM! Bowie and I sort of had a crush on her after that for the rest of the movie.  

I hope one day Cate Blanchett plays a Miranda Priestly (as played by Meryl Streep) kind of character. If rom-coms really make a comeback I can see her playing a fashion editor or advertising executive or entrepreneur but in that glamorous movie way where you mostly just wear amazing expensive clothes and bark orders at underlings. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

I was disappointed when I first saw this in theatres, because I had been anticipating it for 2 years after its announcement, and I was really expecting it to be like The Greatest Movie Ever Made.

Unfortunately, it's not, but I rewatched it again recently, and it's very simple: I really do enjoy this movie!  

[Amethyst]

I wish it wasn't meant to be a reboot.  At least O8 could stand on its own as a decent film, but in the shadow of its predecessors, it doesn't hold up.  And the last version was already a reboot.

The problem is that the characters had plenty of cool, but none of the charm.  The social interactions are part of why the last films worked so well, and there's very little in this one.  The only ones who are really fleshed out were Debbie, Tammy, and Rose (and only a little).  I did love Lou's green suit, though.  Cate had the swag to pull it off.

There were a lot of moving parts to the heist that hinged on luck, but I guess Debbie had plenty of time in jail to plan this thing out.  But two things that stood out too much to ignore:

1.  The magnet on the necklace.  What a stupid thing to introduce, because as complicated as it was, it's solved way too easily.  The purpose of the magnet was additional security.  Nine Ball's sister making a duplicate wasn't the issue, it's that the necklace wouldn't have fallen off in the first place.  It was designed to stay put.  Unless Daphne was being pawed by numerous people while she was rushing to the bathroom, that necklace wasn't going anywhere.  And Tammy just happens to find it in the fountain later?  That alone would have her pulled aside for questioning, no matter Daphne said.  But as luck would have it, Daphne was clued in on the heist and covered for them all.

2.  The investigator.  This was a waste of time.  He already had a friendly relationship with the Ocean family and didn't want Debbie to get arrested.  And since he was aware that Becker had set up Debbie in the first place, he turned a blind eye to the rest of it.  But why weren't the police investigating this?  A well-known thief is present at an event where a $150 million dollar necklace goes missing, and the case is just left to one random jewelry investigator?  Again, dumb luck. 

 

On 10/22/2018 at 6:07 PM, ribboninthesky1 said:

In any case, Anne Hathaway definitely was the standout.  I also think a lot of it was because her character had the most dialogue outside of Sandra/Cate, and was allowed to have a personality. 

IA.  I don't know if her acting was better, but she was more livened up, which made her more interesting.  The rest were just blank slates.

[BetterButter]

Margot Robbie developing Ocean’s Eleven prequel with Bombshell director Jay Roach