- Latest in the litany of films that would have been better off with Steven Soderbergh at the helm comes Ocean's 8, a completely uninspired crime caper most notable for featuring an extensive cast of talented actresses. Not that you would necessarily know that they were talented from these performances. Aside from Anne Hathway, who is apparently incapable of delivering anything other than excellent work in wrecks as diverse as this, Interstellar, and The Dark Knight Rises, the remainder of the cast (Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, and especially Helena Bonham Carter) is absolutely phoning it in. What's worse is that I doubt they're even to blame, given how dull the script and direction (by Gary Ross) must have been to result in a movie like this.
- The story, to nobody's surprise, involves a complicated heist and a series of fakeouts designed to trick security guards and audiences alike. It's the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York rather than casinos in Las Vegas this time around, but the rest of the setup is similar to plenty we've already seen. To provide some continuity with the previous Ocean's movies, the film drags out Elliot Gould, Qin Shaobo, and -- in a detail almost too dumb to be true -- the grave of Danny Ocean. Sandra Bullock leads the cast as Danny's sister, Debbie, just as crooked, just as resourceful, and just as smug as her brother. As well-intentioned as they may be, inferior tie-ins like this and 2016's Ghostbusters accidentally lend evidence to the argument that Hollywood doesn't treat its women as well as its men.
- Also featuring James Corden, Richard Armitage, and a bunch of celebrity cameos that I didn't catch. But I did recognize Serena Williams and Kevin Brown.
