Why OCEAN'S ELEVEN was Father Geek's most disappointing film of 2001, and the 19 Vegas films he enjoys more

Father Geek here. After reading Harry's list of film disappointmets in 2001 I got to thinking about my own cinema let downs of the year. You don't see 300+ movies in theaters in a year without catching some very bad ones, lots of them, but you hope that the ones you've been following the progress on will at least make up for all the real stinkers... the totally unwatchable ones that when you're in a job like mine you have to watch all the way through anyway.

OCEAN'S ELEVEN was my biggest disappointment. Now its NOT a bad movie, its just a... a... an ordinary movie. And a big letdown for ol' Father Geek. Like Harry I loved the original script. The director is one of my absolute favorites. Annnnnnd I enjoy everyone in the cast nearly everytime they have appeared on screen in recent years. Unlike Planet of the Apes, AI, Driven, Pearl Harbor, Ali, and other disappointments for me this year, going into the theater to see this flick I felt that I would be "totally satisfied." I had no reservations. I thought this cast had a very good chanch to pull off the magic that the original Ratpack had in the 1968 motion picture. And since that flick wasn't the best directed, or anywhere near the best caper film ever made I just had faith that this cast and crew, and modern film effects and editing and sound whould just propel this new version into my Top Ten list for the year. My faith was sorely misplaced. I was bored almost to the point of tears. Everyone appeared to be sleepwalking through their roles. The only thing more mediocre than the acting range was the terribly tired plot for the caper itself. Yawn!!! The impossible heist flick has been done alot and nearly everyone I can think of is pulled off better than 2001's Ocean's Eleven. Its not that the movie is a really bad flick, that at least would make it conversational, or laughable, or controversal. NO, this film is "just so so,"... "Ho hum,"... "plain vanilla." It has thus landed at number 20 on my list of fave Las Vegas motion pictures...

1. Machine Gun McCain, 1968, with John Cassavetes, Peter Falk, Gina Rowlands, Britt Ekland, and as Joby Cudo... Jim Morisson of The Doors in his only non-singing film role.

2. 3000 Miles to Graceland, 2001, with Kurt Russell, Ice T, Christian Slater, Kevin Costner, David Arquette, and Courteney Cox. It kicks ass!

3. Las Vegas Story, 1952, with Victor Mature, Vincent Price, Jane Russell, and Hoagy Carmichael, classic noir.

4. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 1998, What can I say? Depp and del Toro are simply outstanding here.

5. Casino, 1995, Scorsese at his best with DeNiro, Stone, Pesci, and Woods all exceptional.

6. Leaving Las Vegas, 1995, With Nick Cage, Elizabeth Shue, and Julian Sands. There's more acting range shown here by the worst of these three than in the total of this year's Ocean's Eleven cast.

7. Perdita Durango, 1997, Alex de la Iglesia's masterwork of terror , with Rosie Perez, Don Stroud, and Screamin Jay Hawkins. Incredible!

8. Six-String Samurai, 1998, 10000 times more fun than Oceans 11.

9. Godfather 2, 1974, Not really a Vegas flick, but enough of one that it lands here on this specialized list.

10. The Night Stalker, 1972, There's a 1000 times more "cool" in this than Ocean's Eleven.

11. Very Bad Things, 1998, With really strong performances by Jon Favreau, Cameron Diaz, Christian Slater, and Daniel Stern.

12. Viva Las Vegas, 1964, Elvis and Ann Margret, very yummy!

13. Bugsy, 1991, With Beatty, Bening, Keitel, Elliott Gould, and Bebe Neuwirth.

14. Ocean's Eleven, 1968, With the real, original, uber cool Ratpack. These guys were real life buddies and it shows here, the magic comes out.

15. The Amazing Colossal Man, 1957, A classic terror of the atom flick, low production values, but loads of fun.

16. The Grasshopper, 1970, With lovely Jacqueline Bisset, Jim Brown, and Joseph Cotten.

17. Hell's Angels 69, 1969, "Real" Hell's Angels rob Ceasar's Palace.

18. Ebony, Ivory, and Jade, 1979, A racially mixed Charlie's Angels. High kicking fun!

19. Showgirls, 1995, Not the best written or acted flick... but, it did have it's finer "points," ones that are missing from Ocean's Eleven.

20. Ocean's Eleven, 2001, Just your average middle-of-the-road, safe Hollywood "product." Nothing to write home about!