Tag: Steven Soderbergh

Action/Adventure/Heist · Comedies

Ocean’s Thirteen

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Image credit: Ocean’s Thirteen, 2007

If you’re in the mood to watch a greedy, orange-tinted thug finally experience some consequences, you could certainly watch the evening news, OR you could watch the delightful finale to Soderbergh’s Ocean’s trilogy, Ocean’s Thirteen (Disc/Download). Campy and colorful with plenty of late-1960s style cues, this movie takes a lot of twists and turns but pulls it together by the end. From this crew, I’d expect nothing less.

After taking Europe by storm, Ocean’s guys head back to Las Vegas for a job that’s less about profit, and more about revenge. King of the Strip—aka King of Big Glasses—Reuben (Elliott Gould) has suffered a heart attack brought on by the evil dealings of rival casino boss Willy Bank (Al Pacino), and the group is on a mission to make sure Willy’s big opening is an epic fail. Utilizing their entire arsenal of tools (scent gags, fake noses, fake mustaches, bed bugs, food poisoning, earthquakes, loaded dice, minor explosions, slot machine-hacking, etc.), Ocean’s team pulls off both an elaborate heist and a giant f-you to Bank. It’s probably no coincidence that the film also features a labor dispute at a Mexican plastics factory because this entire trilogy has always been about redistribution of wealth. Whether it’s Terry Benedict, or The Night Fox, or Willy Bank, the common villain is a man with too much money and power who needs to be taken down a notch. Or, millions of notches.

Speaking of the plastics factory, I hate to see a perfectly good bottle of tequila sacrificed as a Molotov cocktail, when it could have been used in a real cocktail! Let’s get that gold cocktail glitter back out this week to mix up a drink that’s perfect for Bank’s gilded palace. While watching Ocean’s Thirteen, I recommend drinking a No Dice cocktail.

No Dice*

1 oz Blanco Tequila

1/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse

1/4 oz Cointreau

1 oz Lime Juice

1/2 oz Simple Syrup

1 egg white

Edible Glitter (for garnish)

Combine Tequila, Yellow Chartreuse, Cointreau, lime juice, simple syrup, and egg white in a shaker without ice. Shake well to combine, then add ice. Shake again for another 15-20 seconds, then strain into a chilled coupe glass. Dust with edible glitter.

*Adapted from a recipe in Tequila Cocktails by Brian Van Flandern

These Ocean’s movies are so satisfying because the good guys always come out on top, and they always take care of the people who helped them along the way. There are major and minor players, but each of them gets a fair cut. And the bad guys? Well, they never really suffer too much, but they’re certainly unhappy and inconvenienced by the end. I’d still count that as a win. Cheers!

Comedies · Dramas

Let Them All Talk

LizLocke1 Comment
Image credit: Let Them All Talk, 2020

I often lament that the years 2020 and 2021 were a movie desert. And I get it; we were in a pandemic, most of us were too scared to go to a theater, so naturally studios put everything decent on hold. But there was one incredible 2020 release that was my shining exception: Steven Soderbergh’s poignant, humorous, wonderfully female-centric film Let Them All Talk (Disc/Download).

I lament the pandemic years, but frankly, my problem with new releases started long before the word “coronavirus” entered our lexicon. For some time, I’ve felt like nobody’s making movies for me. Movies rich in storytelling and character development, low on special effects, featuring fascinating female characters. Thank heaven for Steven Soderbergh, Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest, and Candice Bergen, who gave me just what I wanted in this tale about a literary icon crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2 with her college friends. Her nephew (Lucas Hedges) is also along for the trip, and though he’s certainly the odd man out in terms of gender and age, watching him interact with this group of complex mature women is a true joy. As these characters rehash old wounds and old times, trying to connect after decades of separation, their individual personalities create more drama than an explosion or gun fight ever could. It’s a travesty that Candice Bergen didn’t score an Oscar nom for her salty gold digger character Roberta, but frankly, Dianne and Meryl were robbed too. These women are all fantastic. I could watch them talk for hours, and the fact that they’re doing it on a beautiful cruise ship with elegant cocktail lounges and a library to die for? This is a movie for me.

Speaking of elegant cocktail lounges, a lot of champagne gets served on this ship. It definitely makes me want to enjoy a sparkling beverage while I watch, and why not celebrate my favorite feisty Texan Roberta with a margarita version of a French ’75? While watching Let Them All Talk, I recommend drinking a Champagne Margarita.

Champagne Margarita

1 ½ oz Tequila

¾ oz Orange Liqueur

¾ oz Lime Juice

4 oz Champagne

Coarse Salt

Lime Twist

Rub a lime wedge around the rim of a champagne flute. Dip the rim in salt, then set aside. In a shaker with ice, combine tequila, orange liqueur, and lime juice. Shake until chilled, then strain into prepared flute. Top with champagne. Garnish with lime twist.

Naturally, I love the literary aspect to this film, particularly the contrast between Meryl Streep’s Pulitzer Prize-winning character and a commercial mystery writer also on the ship. I can only dream of a future where people are so eager for my next manuscript my agent would tag along on an ocean voyage to spy on my progress, but you never know what the next thirty years will bring. Maybe I’ll be wrapped up in shawls and ego soon enough. Cheers!

Dramas

Magic Mike

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Image credit: Magic Mike, 2012

Living in Austin, it’s hard to escape the name Matthew McConaughey. Our local celebrity keeps popping up everywhere from University of Texas classrooms to the New York Times Bestseller list, and now there’s even talk about seeing him on the ballot one day. This former Dazed & Confused burnout has come a long way, but there is one particular stop along his long and winding journey that was truly unforgettable: the role of Dallas in Magic Mike (Disc/Download).

Say what you want about this crazy Texan, but it takes guts to strut around onstage in nothing but a g-string and cowboy hat. This Steven Soderbergh film about a Tampa male revue club could have easily been swallowed up by campy dance numbers and too many penis jokes (See: Magic Mike XXL). Don’t get me wrong, it still has those. But it also shows us the gritty underbelly of this sex and drug-fueled world. The odd thing about Magic Mike is that for a movie about sexual desire, there’s very little about it that’s sexy to me. So what are we left with? Raw performances, surprisingly beautiful cinematography, and the magnetic screen presence of McConaughey. Like a greasier version of Cabaret‘s Joel Grey, the Master of Ceremonies keeps us engaged, even when we think we’ve reached our limit of screaming women and wet one-dollar bills. Sure, there’s a lot to make fun of in this movie (Channing Tatum’s “furniture line” comes to mind), but this flashy scene-stealer is not one of them.

Now, I have a theory that Dallas is the original “Florida Man”, giving rise to a whole subgenre of trashy urban legends. Can’t you just see him pulling a gun on a McDonald’s employee because the McFlurry machine was broken? Let’s channel some of that Florida energy with a cocktail fit for your girlfriend’s bachelorette party at Xquisite, the Strawberry Mojito.

Strawberry Mojito

3 Fresh Strawberries

1 oz Simple Syrup

2-3 sprigs Fresh Mint

1 oz Lime juice

2 oz Light Rum

3-4 oz Club Soda

Muddle strawberries and mint with simple syrup and lime juice. Add Rum and ice to the shaker, and shake until chilled. Double strain into a glass filled with ice, and top with club soda. Stir gently to combine, and garnish with mint and lime twist.

As someone who has been to an all-male revue exactly one time (shout out to Thunder From Down Under!!!), I can say that the real thing is every bit as cringe-inducing as it looks in this movie. If your friends try and convince you it’ll be fun, just politely sit them down and suggest watching Magic Mike instead. You’ll save your eardrums, and your dignity. Cheers!

Top 5 Lists

Top Five Movie Remakes

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I know I often rant and rave about how tired I am of beloved Hollywood films being dusted off and repackaged for today’s audiences, but sometimes lightning does strike twice.  It’s rare, and in fact, I could not think of more than 5 films that managed the remake successfully.  Everything else just makes me want to drink, even more than I already do.  Here is my list of Top Five Movie Remakes (note:  sequels and classic lit adaptations are not included on this list-  we all know Pride and Prejudice will continue to be done to death, in many iterations, for centuries to come.  That’s just the way it is).

1. Ocean’s Eleven

Image credit: Ocean's Eleven, 2001
Image credit: Ocean’s Eleven, 2001

This film is sort of the holy grail of movie remakes.  Steven Soderbergh managed to turn a moldy Rat Pack lark into one of the greatest caper films of all time.  Who needs Sinatra when you’ve got Clooney?  It’s a tough choice between this one and The Italian Job (also a remake), but since they’re basically the same movie, I must choose Danny Ocean’s crew.  Every time.

2.  Sabrina

Image credit: Sabrina, 1995

Paris is always a good idea.  Even when it’s with Julia Ormond instead of my beloved Audrey.

3.  You’ve Got Mail

Image credit: You've Got Mail, 1998
Image credit: You’ve Got Mail, 1998

As much as I love The Shop Around the Corner, I have to give credit to Nora Ephron for turning a classic Jimmy Stewart film into a perfect modern romantic comedy.  Bookstores and Brinkley- I’m hooked.

4.  True Grit

Image credit: True Grit, 2010
Image credit: True Grit, 2010

I am NOT a fan of Westerns, yet even I couldn’t resist this Coen Bros. update of a John Wayne classic.  Jeff Bridges was born to play Rooster Cogburn, maybe the greatest name in the history of names (sorry, Dude).

5.  The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Image Credit: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, 2013
Image Credit: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, 2013

I went into this one with zero expectations, but was pleasantly surprised.  The Danny Kaye version is beloved by classic movie buffs, but Ben Stiller makes it his own here.  It may have flown under the radar upon its release, but as a grizzled Sean Penn says, “Beautiful things don’t ask for attention.”