iTunes Exclusive Episode Oceans 8
Rob, Chad, and Don Ford review Ocean's 8, a spin-off directed by Gary Ross featuring Sandra Bullock as Debbie Ocean planning a heist at the Met Gala with an ensemble cast including Kate Blanchett, Rihanna, and Aquafina. The hosts debate whether the film is a gender-bending remake or a standalone spin-off, ultimately criticizing the weak script and convoluted heist plot despite strong star power, with only Don willing to revisit it on streaming.
About this episode
Key takeaways
- The film features significant star power with half the cast having Oscar nominations or clout, but the script was weak and characters lacked sufficient development even at 110 minutes
- Rihanna and Aquafina stood out as the most fun performances and brought fresh energy compared to other cast members
- The film attempted torch-passing symbolism to indicate women taking over from the original Ocean's trilogy but ultimately dropped the baton, failing to execute this narrative well
- Gary Ross as director was considered a missed opportunity; the hosts wished a woman director had been chosen for this project
- Despite strong ensemble cast, the script and direction covered them in tin rather than letting them shine like they should have
Q&A
Is Ocean's 8 a gender-bending remake or a spin-off?
The hosts disagreed: Rob saw it as a pure spin-off and its own entity, while Don considered it a gender-bender that makes a point about being an all-female Ocean's 11. Chad agreed with Don that it functions as a gender-bender in execution.
What is the relationship between Sandra Bullock and Kate Blanchett's characters?
It's subtly implied on several occasions that they are more than just friends, with their relationship hinted at throughout the film rather than explicitly stated.
How does this film compare to the 2011 Ocean's 11?
The 2011 version worked better with its flashback sequences and character development. Ocean's 8 tries the same approach but falls short, with too many moving parts that feel forgotten or discarded.
Would the hosts watch Ocean's 8 again?
Chad said no. Don said yes, but only on HBO or Netflix streaming. Neither would pay theatrical prices to see it again.
Read Transcript
one If you're hearing the sound of my voice, it means the following conditions have been met. At least once in your life, you've checked out the Clubhouse Podcast live every Sunday night, 7 Eastern 4 Pacific, your one-stop shop for all things pop culture. But it also means you subscribe to our little show on your favorite podcast out because it's time for another ATTUNED EXCLUSION!
Number 390! So close to a milestone. Will we get there before the end of season 8?
Only time will tell. Welcome. My name is Rob.
I'm Mr. from the Clubhouse Podcast. And I got nothing.
I'm just going to write to it. I'm not alone for this. Joining me in the co-host chair is my co-host and a man who just wants to steal your heart.
He is Chad. Welcome, sir. Well, how sweet of you.
Not mine, there's. Running out the days is the official fact checker of this show. And a man whose heart was stolen from him as he approaches his first wedding anniversary.
You may know him as Fondongo but his mom and name him Don Ford, I'm going to call him Don Ford. Ah, feel the love in the room. Hey, what should I get to take?
Are my kids are calling you brother love? Is that your best birth pressure? I love you.
Hey, what should I get to Fantastic Pape 4 for a anniversary gift? First anniversary is the paper anniversary. So what I get to renew this paper USA Today?
I am not taking any credit for anything that's in, yeah, I'm backing away from this slowly with my hands visible. Here's the comics, okay? Whenever we do one of these, it is to review that.
Good luck with that. This is no exception. Let's talk Oceans 8.
Directed by Gary Ross. We're going to start this whole thing. Yes, sir.
Oh, we got to thank JT and everybody at Levinson for the invite. Thank you guys so much for letting us come see movies early. So we can talk to the Enterprise.
The Enterprise. I'm so, I'm so, I'm, the Empire. The Empire about them so they can make the best possible decision for their entertainment dollar.
This is a spin-off from the Ocean series and I have said this a billion times on this show. If you have not seen the original Oceans 11, go and I'm talking, am I talking George Clooney? I'm talking to Chairman of the board.
I'm talking Frank Sinatra. The original is so awesome, especially the ending because the ending is different in the original and I love the way they do the ending. But this is a spin-off of the newer version.
This is, this is where Sandra Bullock, who's Debbie Ocean, is Frank's brother. Frank's sister. No, Danny.
Yeah. Danny. Danny.
Oh. Frank Sinatra played Danny Ocean. I am so just out of this.
It's alright. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But she is his sister.
Just got out of a five-year stint in prison and, you know, why wouldn't she just go back into it? What a shocker. She decides that she's going to pull off a heist of a multi-basillion dollar necklace at the Met Gala with her best friend, Liu, played by the great Kate Branchet.
I mean, this thing is chock full of stars. Griffin Dunn is in this, I'm seeing. Very briefly.
Very briefly, but always great. You have Elliott Gould and Halfaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling, The Rihanna, Dakota Fanning. I can't believe I'm going to say this person as, this is their name, Aquafina, apparently Boba Water makes an appearance.
Sarah Palson is in this as well. I enjoy Aquafina very much. Rihanna.
I said Rihanna. Oh, okay. I did.
I did. I did appreciate you paying attention. I didn't hear it.
This runs about an hour 50. Let's talk about it. I mean, I've seen the trailers.
You guys, we were dividing in concrete that night. You guys wouldn't saw this. I wouldn't saw another film so we can make sure we have as much coverage as possible.
A lot of heavy hitters in this. Yeah. You know how I feel about some of the members that is cast.
And Halfway, how you doing? You know, Sandra Bullock, how you doing? But I'm going to rely on you guys.
I mean, the trailer to this looks great. Well, you look at the star power. Oh, absolutely.
A ton of it. Four half of the eight. How you doing?
How you doing? Have either one in Oscar or been nominated for an Oscar. Correct.
And review currently located at www.theclubhousepodcast.com. That's our website. What the hell?
I'm trying to do a female version. Okay. That went over well.
That's your boy. Wrong. That's our website.
Go ahead, Donna Ford. Continue. Okay.
So the star power is there. I mean, we figure half the cast have Academy Award nominations or they got clout. They got some clout.
They got some clout. So you know, here's the thing. The two roles that won it out for me that gave my shout out to is that this surprised me.
It was actually the aquafina. It was one. And Rihanna was the other.
Because they added the most fun. Did you find her performance? Stella.
Ella. A. Oh.
Yes. Stock the landing. I don't know about that.
You're welcome. Internet. I don't get it.
You carry. She has a song called umbrella. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. It's lost.
Yeah. Okay. Okay.
But so those Rihanna and aquafina actually they surprised me and I know, I know. And it's even weirder because of the way it's spelled, isn't it? Okay.
Can you look up her character name? Just call her that. It's it.
Bottle water. Okay. Bottle water.
So bottle water and in Rihanna, they, I think, added the most fun, new, not your normal role or the kind of the outcast, now let me ask you this, Donna, as you talk about the Rihanna. Yeah. Will this take the bad taste out of people's mouth from the epic known as battleship?
Yeah. It's good. She's going to, she's starting to redeem.
Okay. Okay. Okay.
Um, but here's the thing about like plan shit in, in, um, uh, Bollock, they try to be the new Rusty and Danny, which would be from George Clooney, and from the other trilogy. I called the trilogy. Not the original.
I was cut like say the trilogy and they fell short. Okay. I don't think they, they did it.
Now there are a couple, you said Elliott Gould, he's only in there for what? One, five minutes. Five minutes.
But you know what? I'm still calling. Yeah.
Yeah. And there's another cameo by a person from the trilogy. Okay.
One of the eleven. All right. I'm saying, which I put in my review again at www.covasplotcast.com.
That's our website. They're saying we're getting the torch past us because we got these cameos, but the people that did it from the, um, from the trilogy, I'm Danny's, Danny's brother. I'm taken over.
I'm, I'm the new. I'm the next sister. Yeah.
The next sister. It was on turn. So I'm, I, how, what they did with Danny's character is kind of weird to me.
I can understand why I thought it was a bad move. It's, I'm going to say spoiler free, but. But what, what what?
One of the things that's in your intro to your, to your written review is there's been a lot of what they're calling gender bending. Yeah. Where you're remaking a film, you know, go spusters being, I enjoyed this film.
Oh, no. You've got to go alone. No, no.
You've got to go alone. That may, that may not. that will see this as a gender bender and it's not.
It's actually a spin-off. It's its own entity. It's an entity, but it's saying we're getting the torch passed us, but it's just, it is, when you watch the movie and you watch the trilogy, this is a gender bender.
This is, we're having another ocean's 11, but it's all female. We're making the point that this is all female. They even say there's one scene in the film where they're saying, we don't have been.
We are not doing men. All right, Chad, and you have to be the tie break on this because I don't see this as a gender bender. This is more as a pure spin-off.
I agree with Don. I mean, you guys saw the movie. And I worked that into my written as well.
And where is that? That's at www.coposbikeos.com. That's our website.
And yes, I've been holding my tongue here. I was in the position of having never seen anything with oceans involved. Really?
I've not seen any of these films. That is perplexing to me. It didn't really interest me.
It really didn't need to go back and watch the movie. I probably should. And maybe it would add a little bit of context to this.
And I did like the 2011, that was good. Ocean's 11, not 12, but I think you'd like that too. Probably so.
I mean, you've got a strong enough cast here. But as, they're fun movies. Don't just grab some popcorn and enjoy them.
Well, and I just assumed I would have been willing to make that leap that with the people they had involved it. Yeah, that how could this not be good? And then I remembered, well, I've seen Harlem night.
I've seen grownups. I've seen them take casts of actors that should work brilliantly together. And they just don't.
And yes. And to me, Empire and Brooklyn, I know we're picking on Eddie Murphy, but it's just so easy. Yeah.
Well, it's some low-hanging fruit. But that's the case here that you had a cast of people that were platinum. And they covered them in tin.
Really? Yeah, yeah. They really did.
The script was weak. They just didn't give them enough to run with. They had no material to work with here.
Really? They really didn't. The script was really, really lame.
The heist itself got, I think, purposefully convoluted just to make it look like it was more clever than it really was. They worked well together, but I just don't think they responded well to the script they were given or to the director that was lording over this in Gary Ross. What I really wish they had done was got a woman director.
I really wish they would have. All right. I can see that because something tells me that if this was because it's it's we're clearly in the middle of a of a of a statement being made here by Hollywood that you know there is a there is a clear as we discussed it as you as you and Don discussed earlier with the whole gender swapping thing that it's a it's a title wave at this point.
You know, we had Ghostbusters a couple of years ago. So Roger P. Henson is remaking basically what women want with what men want.
It's coming out next year. You've got the hustle coming out. That's a remake of dirty rotten scoundrels with the halfway and Rebel Wilson.
And it just seems to be a trend that they keep taking swings at and they never really seem to connect all that well. And I don't think it's the fault of the women involved. I think they're just not getting really good material with this film.
There's a few subtle scenes where it says we are getting the torch pass to us. You mentioned this film is not kind of saying. Do you know what?
I'm the which I put in my review again is that I'm the anchor person on a relay race. And I'm going to win the gold for America because of me and my fast speed at the final being the anchor. And then when the baton gets handed to him, they drop the baton and they don't even metal.
That's what this film does. Yeah, they drop the torch. They drop the guy.
Drop the torch. We're getting the torch handed to us, but they drop it and falls in the lake. But I don't think it's a I don't think it's anybody's fault on screen.
I really don't know. No, no, no. It's well, I mean, here's the thing.
Bullock in plan chat tried too hard to be the new rusty end of the new. I don't know. They take that to it.
They kind of take a different angle on that relationship because it's really implied on several occasions that they're more than just friends. Okay, it's definitely implied that they are in a relationship. It's not just a partner and crime thing.
And it's very subtle. You may have not picked up on it. Now look back.
Maybe. No, I could see that. I could.
I mean, I looked into it. And yes, that's that was where they were going with it. And I'm like, okay.
But if you saw the 2011 11, the cluny and pit had that same kind of thing that these two have in this one. We're there like best friends. And I would kind of put it where in the 2001 version, it's like me and Gary.
I'm just being honest. Like me and Gary. And this is maybe I there might be one or two subtle things, but I don't think they're trying to make that point.
Well, and again, I think that they had been giving a little bit meteor script. I think it would have made more sense. I just don't think that that the characters here got fleshed out enough.
We didn't get to know them well enough. Even in our 50. Even in our 50.
Wow. It's like there were so many moving parts to it. And I think that, you know, things just kind of got forgotten or discarded and they focus too much in one area and not enough in another.
And on the 2001 version, it really had a few things going on, but it worked in the work well because they were the way they showed it and the way they flashbacked. And this one, they're trying to do the same thing, but it falls short again. Not a lot of flashback, though.
I mean, only a tad, but there's only a tad, but still it showed the flashback trying to say, this is how we did this and this. If you like to leave your brain at the door, have some con and some, you know, look the other way kind of things or distraction. We you might like this kind of stuff.
You might like this film, but it'll probably do well just because the people involved, but I just wish they would have given them something better to work with. And I think, again, we're trying to say, hey, this is a female version. We got the torch.
We dropped it. Anything else for us to file analysis? No, no, let's break it down.
The way you do the final analysis on this show is we're not going to give you thumbs up, thumbs down, better grades, numbers, diamonds, anything like that. I'm going to ask these boys up to two questions. Question number one is would they see this film again?
At the answers, no, then we're done here. If the answer is yes, then the follow-up question is going to be, how far are they willing to go to see it again? From the best of the best of the worst of the best, here's the spectrum.
Full price at the theater, down to a twilight show, down to a matinee, down to early morning on a weekend, down to second run at the dollar theater, down to actually leaving your house to check it out from red box, down the streaming, down Netflix, down to cable chat. Let's start with you. Would you see Ocean's 8 again?
Not likely. All right. Don, would you see Ocean's 8 again?
Yeah. How far you want to go? Only HBO or Netflix.
So just barely on that side of the fence. If it's on HBO or Maya, it's on. Gary Ross directs Ocean's 8 for this whole thing.
Yes. Again, we got to think JTN everybody 11 since for the invite. Thank you guys so much for letting the guys come see this movie and that way they could review it and give their honest opinions.
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