Oceans 11 tidbit (1 Viewer)

[Tommy]

I always wondered the exact meaning of this line and who or what it referenced.

"You'll need a Boesky, a Jim Brown, a Miss Daisy, two Jethro's, a Leon Spinx, not to mention the biggest Ella Fitzgerald ever."

Couple of searches and I found this...

According to the director, Steven Soderbergh. here is the meaning of the line. It is a description of people and events needed to carry out the heist.

Carl Reiner's character, Saul Bloom, is the Boesky. That's Ivan Boesky, a hot-shot wall-street trader who got caught committing securities fraud. He's supposed to be a wealthy man to foot the bill who also has some inside information.

The Jim Brown represents a confrontation between Bernie Mac's character (Frank Catton, the inside man) and Matt Damon (Linus Caldwell) that is staged to distract. It is after a famous football (american) player who later went on to play leg-breaking thugs in a bunch movies. (Don't mess with me or you're in for it.)

The Miss Daisy refers to the SWAT van, their "getaway" vehicle. It comes from the movie, Driving Miss Daisy.

The two Jethros are "hillbilly gear-head types" to take care of Miss Daisy. They are Casey Affleck and Scott Caan (Virgil and Turk Malloy)

The Leon Spinks is the disruption of the boxing match, after Leon Spinks' famous surprise upset victory over Mohammed Ali.

And the Ella Fitzgerald is the tape they make and play in a loop in order to get into the vault. This is based on a Memorex commercial from the 70's in which a recording of Ella's voice breaks a glass and the question is asked, "Is it live or is it Memorex?"

 

[Potsie1]

That's pretty awesome!

 

[phaze12]

That is interesting. Knew that it referenced different cons needed but thought that they just made it up.

 

[bogart]

Love it!!

 

[Psypher1000]

He's supposed to be a wealthy man to foot the bill who also has some inside information.

Strange...that seems more like Elliot Gould's character.

 

[Tommy]

Elliot Gould's character was a legitimate wealthy man. The Boesky was a phoney.

 

[Ellasdaddy]

I just realized I've never watched Ocean's 13. I suddenly feel incomplete.

 

[DJ Mack]

Almost as obscure as the call of a craps dealer. Big red, catch 'em in the corner meets Ozzie and Harriet. Fitting.

 

[tommythecat]

I just realized I've never watched Ocean's 13. I suddenly feel incomplete.

It's better than 2 IMO. Not a great movie by any critical standards but I watch it purely for the entertainment and ludicrousness of the scam.

 

[MacGrad]

I just realized I've never watched Ocean's 13. I suddenly feel incomplete.

It's better than 2 IMO. Not a great movie by any critical standards but I watch it purely for the entertainment and ludicrousness of the scam.

I'd rank the movies as follows:

1. Ocean's Eleven (2001)
2. Ocean's Thirteen (2007)
3. Ocean's 11 (1960)
4. Ocean's Twelve (2004)

Plus, as we need to have all-female reboots of movies, anyone interested in "Ocean's 8"? From what I understand, Sandra Bullock is supposed to be Danny Ocean's sister, and the heist will be robbing the Met Ball fundraising gala.

 

[Ellasdaddy]

Plus, as we need to have all-female reboots of movies, anyone interested in "Ocean's 8"? From what I understand, Sandra Bullock is supposed to be Danny Ocean's sister, and the heist will be robbing the Met Ball fundraising gala.

I read the same. Then I shook my head slowly for what seemed like hours...

I'm all for gender equity across the board, but are these "reboots" the way to achieve that? Absolutely not. First, calling ANYTHING a reboot is now the kiss of death in the eyes of the public, so you're just crushing your project and ceiling from the get go. Second, true equity would mean that a group of female cons and thieves wouldn't require the mark of an all-male IP like Ocean's 11, or a group of intelligent, heroic, silly female Ghostbusters wouldn't need to be sold as... well.... Ghostbusters, to get their film made or sold to the public.

The number of quality books and scripts being written and produced by women, starring women, is how equity will be achieved. Not by remaking average movies and swapping male casts for females. Just awful.

In related news, the first draft of my script adapting 'Any Given Sunday' for the Lingerie Football League is almost complete.

 

[tommythecat]

I'd rank the movies as follows:

1. Ocean's Eleven (2001)
2. Ocean's Thirteen (2007)
3. Ocean's 11 (1960)
4. Ocean's Twelve (2004)

Plus, as we need to have all-female reboots of movies, anyone interested in "Ocean's 8"? From what I understand, Sandra Bullock is supposed to be Danny Ocean's sister, and the heist will be robbing the Met Ball fundraising gala.

I was really hoping you were joking...sadly you are not.

 

[Bigkyle]

I once read that Ocean's Twelve was originally a script for a more straightforward European romance film (the female detective, male criminal angle) and was adapted to fit the Ocean's plot after the success of the 2001 film. It's pretty poor compared to 11.

 

[Mental Nomad]

The number of quality books and scripts being written and produced by women, starring women, is how equity will be achieved. Not by remaking average movies and swapping male casts for females.

The catch, of course, is that Hollywood's financiers are more interested in backing reboots than taking risks on new material.

And they don't all fail - the new Star Trek reboot, for example, has done quite well. And if you remember superhero movies from before the year 2000, well, they nearly all benefit by being rebooted.

 

[Ellasdaddy]

The catch, of course, is that Hollywood's financiers are more interested in backing reboots than taking risks on new material.

And they don't all fail - the new Star Trek reboot, for example, has done quite well. And if you remember superhero movies from before the year 2000, well, they nearly all benefit by being rebooted.

Absolutely right about investing in known quantities over original IP or niche works. It was the same story at one time in video games as well. It took years of concerted effort and amazing new games to lift indie games into the mainstream and earn more investment dollars.

Hard to classify superhero movies as reboots though. What Marvel's been doing (and it's really only Marvel at this point) is literally an extended media universe based on their comic books. Yes, there were Blade and Punisher and Spidey movies before the MCU, but Marvel is their home and it's not really rebooting when the ideas come home after being used and abused. When they do finally "reboot" the Avengers, it will be earned.

WB is constantly rebooting their DC comics IP because they're slaves to too many corporate masters and put out disappointing dreck. And look at the hard sell it took just to get some Trekkies onboard with the new Star Trek. I have friends who still refuse to watch them. One can't let go of being "lied to" by Abrams when he swore Khan was not in "Into Darkness"...

Point is, I do think announcing an intent to reboot an IP has overwhelmingly become a death sentence, for good reason. The history of the failures to reimagine or relaunch beloved films or series can leave a cinema fan catatonic. The list makes me ill. "Reboot" has become a fancy word for hacks "recycling" material, synonymous with "poor quality" and screams "cash grab" to much of the ticket buying public now.

 

[ultramark3000]

"Im not sure what four nines does, but the ace i think is pretty high"

great movie ! ! ! ! !

 

[B.C.]

Let's hope the new Oceans 8 movie coming out in 2018 with an all female cast, is more Bridesmaids than Ghostbusters.

 

[Skeeter]

That has bugged me for years! Thanks for the clarification.