2007-06-08 Entertainment Weekly

In the new issue of Entertainment Weekly (on stands in NY/ LA on Friday, nationwide on Monday), the cover features Brad Pitt and George Clooney.  The issue includes an extensive interview with the Ocean’s Thirteen pals who riff on outsmarting the paparazzi, babies on the set, their “nutty” next project, and why they’ll never wear speedos (Courtesy of Allison Davis, EW Public Relations)

Fun with Brad and George

Being one of the most famous men on earth comes with its share of problems. You can’t take your kids to the playground. There are no romantic sunset walks on the beach. And that backyard barbecue? Forget about it. The simple pleasures just evaporate. Like, say, sneaking a smoke while waiting for your buddy George Clooney in a villa outside Cannes. ”Sorry about this,” Brad Pitt says, contorting his body into a mess of angles and elbows to hide behind a low wall and light up. ”Actually, I’m less worried about the paparazzi catching me than someone, ahem, who doesn’t know I still smoke once in a while.” (Sorry if we blew your cover, dude…but Angie’s a forgiving woman, right?) Welcome to life on Planet Celebrity, which today finds its capital at the Hôtel du Cap in the hills near Cannes. The 1870s estate — cash only, absurdly opulent, and set high above the Mediterranean Sea, where dozens of paparazzi boats prowl —is the temporary home to more than a dozen stars during the 2007 Cannes film festival. But the Big Two, the ones who really matter, are the man currently huddled in the corner like a wet lemur and the guy running late to the interview. So what do two men who so completely embody the modern American male ideal have to say? For the next hour, over club sandwiches and gazpacho, they will talk about their new movie (Ocean’s Thirteen, in every theater near you on June 8), their new lives (with family and without), the nature of stardom, and how to school youngsters in basketball. But for this one precious moment, Pitt just puffs away, extinguishing the cigarette only when Clooney —immaculate in a white linen shirt and khaki dress pants — dashes in, fuming at his friend.

GEORGE CLOONEY: [To Pitt] You bastard!
BRAD PITT: What?
CLOONEY: I did all these interviews right after you. And all the reporters told me, ”Brad said you did the movie for the money”!
PITT: [Laughs] I did. Believe I said it was all for the cash.
CLOONEY: Brutal! [Laughs] How ya doin’?

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Good, thanks. So I’ve heard that you guys call this movie Ocean’s Thirteen: The One We Should Have Made Last Time.
PITT: Credit where credit is due. That was [director] Steven Soderbergh’s line.
CLOONEY: Steven actually wanted to bill it that way, but I don’t think the studio was so thrilled with that. It f—s up the boxed set.

But it does get to a legitimate point, which was that people weren’t so fond of Ocean’s Twelve. Other than for money, why make another one?
CLOONEY: You know, more than anything we wanted another crack. We wanted to go out on a stronger note — and we felt like we had a great way to do it, which was revenge.
PITT: I thought you’re a pacifist, George.
CLOONEY: Well, the movie really is a cry for peace.

Did you know the bad reviews were coming for Twelve?
CLOONEY: [Laughs] No! I thought we did good, and I’m living in my own…
PITT: …world of delusions.
CLOONEY: That was the funniest part. All of a sudden we started getting bad reviews and we were like, ”Really?”
PITT: Totally surprised.
CLOONEY: I had the same thing happen on The Good German. I thought it was really good and we got slaughtered. It’s the worst-reviewed movie that Steven or I have ever been involved in. Steven was like, ”I don’t get it.”
PITT: That’s why you have to do what I do. Don’t read ‘em. I know how I feel about the movies and that’s good enough for me.

I notice you ditched Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones. You clearly thought the girls were the problem.
CLOONEY: Tell me about it. But the thing is, it’s not just that they were a problem on screen. On set they were brutal. You know them, right?

Oh, sure. We hang out all the time.
CLOONEY: So you know why we got rid of them.

But you added Ellen Barkin and Al Pacino.
PITT: Well, Pacino just gave us a little respectability, you know? Something that we needed.
CLOONEY: And he learned a lot from us. He was there to learn. I felt that sometimes you’d look at him and he’d just look up at you with puppy-dog eyes, like, ”Thank you. Seriously.”
PITT: I remember him wandering around the set saying, ”God, thank you, George.” [Laughter]
CLOONEY: Lord. We’re going to hell.

You guys have been buddies for a while. When did you first meet?
CLOONEY: The baths.
PITT: On Pico Boulevard. That’s right. I forgot about that.
CLOONEY: You wouldn’t have recognized me with the leather hood on. [Laughs]
PITT: [Makes a disgusted face] I’m eating here.
CLOONEY: It was when Steven was getting ready for Eleven and we met over at the mixing stage, right? [Pitt nods.]

What was that like?
CLOONEY: It was really hard. A lot of ego.

So Brad was a problem?
CLOONEY: I was talking about Soderbergh. [Laughs]

Seriously, though, you guys are obviously friends.
PITT: It’s true. We have good fun together. We all know each other pretty well now and know each other’s families.
CLOONEY: It’s the funniest thing, I have to say: Since Eleven, when we started, all the guys have gotten married, had kids, and have whole families. This time there were babies everywhere. We’d be on the set in L.A. and I just sit in the middle of the whole thing like an old man.
PITT: He looks like he’s trying to decipher a foreign language.
CLOONEY: It’s true! I’m like, What the hell are these little things?

Do you ever look at each other and go, Hell, I wish I was in the Italian villa instead of changing diapers? Or: Man, I wish I had a couple of those rugrats?
PITT: No.
CLOONEY: No.
PITT: But I tell ya what, kids are a lot of hard work.
CLOONEY: It’s one of those difficult things [when you're famous].

Because of the endless scrutiny?
CLOONEY: Yeah. No one wants to hear you complain, because it sounds like you’re whining. But I think he and Angie have a tougher time living their lives, just going out to see the city with the kids. I mean, look out there, all the boats with the cameras. I was walking around on the beach yesterday and I just thought to myself, Where’s Brad? And all of a sudden you see the cameras all go WHOOOOSSSHH and I was like, Oh, here he comes! I watch that and think, Wow. I know it’s not all that fun for me, and it seems exponentially harder for him. [To Pitt] I was looking at this shot of the two of you on the motorcycle. I don’t know where you were — some Third World country [laughs] — and it just felt like you were really surrounded by people.
PITT: Oh, that was Vietnam. We were surrounded by people. It was on a moped. Sure.
CLOONEY: And it was a great image, because you could see you were trying to get away.
PITT: But we did get one day there. One solid day going around by ourselves.

How did you manage that?
PITT: Well, you go out early enough before anyone catches up with you. That picture? That was the moment they caught up with us.
CLOONEY: That’s why we ride motorcycles all the time.
PITT: He’s right.
CLOONEY: Motorcycles are the great equalizer. You put on a helmet and they can’t see you.

Okay, since I plan to be world-famous, continue to school me.
PITT: Just keep moving. That’s the key.
CLOONEY: You stop, you die. Lobbies of hotels and places like that are the worst. You have to just keep moving to the elevator, because you have to get the elevator door to close. [Mimes pressing a button] C’mon! C’mon!
PITT: And you can hear ‘em comin’.
CLOONEY: It’s like a stampede. [He pounds the table to simulate the footfalls of photographers and fans.] There’s usually a two- or three-second delay before somebody says…
TOGETHER: ”Hey! That looks like…”
CLOONEY: And you go Eeep! And run for the elevator.

I’m curious what you think of the state of the male movie star in Hollywood right now.
PITT: I’m actually a woman trapped in a man’s body. We’re going to be doing something about that soon.

Is Angelina aware of this?
PITT: Yeah, she’s all for it. Kinda into it, actually.

It strikes me that both of you have managed to keep a certain level of mystery about yourselves despite all the scrutiny. I mean, Brad, you were just down there smoking a cigarette hunched behind a barrier.
PITT: [Picks up tape recorder and speaks directly into it] No, he wasn’t! He wasn’t smoking! Um… Honey! Honey, that was George! [Laughs]

But how do you manage that? How does it not ruin your day-to-day lives?
CLOONEY: You adjust your life, certainly. There are certain things you don’t do, there are certain places you don’t go, but then at some point you have to go out. You have to live, you know?
PITT: So you will see George laid out on the rocks in a Speedo later.
CLOONEY: I don’t want to see anyone in a Speedo. Especially 70-year-old men. [Gestures to the beach, which is full of 70-year-old men in Speedos] You learn a lot about the aging process watching that. [Laughs]

Clearly the obsession with celebrity is a little out of control. From where I sit, it looks like you’re the meat being thrown to the lions.
CLOONEY: Right. Well, we are always going to be that society that slows down to look at the car wreck on the side of the road. I think we’re just in one of those places right now, and it seems to be focused on younger kids. Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan and people like that. They’ll get through it, but I wouldn’t want to be growing up around that. If I were as famous as some of those kids who are on the magazines right now at 21 years old, I’d be shooting crack under my eyeball.
PITT: But being that it is our nature, you have to focus on other, more important issues too, because those [car wreck] tendencies can be very disruptive and aren’t a good guide on how to live your life.
CLOONEY: No, it’s a terrible guide.

So how do you get people to focus on the issues that matter to you — and manage to make a difference —without just distracting from the cause?
CLOONEY: It’s interesting. Brad did it first and best — he went to Africa. Was it the Diane Sawyer show?
PITT: It was.
CLOONEY: You made this really interesting decision where you said, ”The cameras are going to follow me, so I’m going to go here. And wherever the cameras follow me they’re going to see this.” It was really smart. And I thought, Wow, here’s a way to take this insatiable appetite and say, ”If you’re going to take these photographs and follow us around, fair enough. But you’re also going to have to go where it will provoke some thought about what else is going on in the world.” It was a really smart play. And all of us have been taking a cue from that.
PITT: The idea was: We can’t get out of the spotlight and they can’t get in the spotlight, so let’s equal that out a little bit.

Both of you guys are extremely political, and you’re not afraid to open your mouths about what’s going on. But in your position, that has to be really well thought-out, right?
CLOONEY: Right. Whatever your [political] inclination is, first and foremost, if you’re going to jump into it, you gotta be ready to take a hit — because that’s going to happen. And you have to be incredibly well-informed. So if you’re going to go and talk about poverty or AIDS in Africa or Darfur, you better know your s—. And you better know it better than any of the jackasses that are going to try and somehow make what you’re trying to do [look] bad. There’s another problem when you try and do too many of these causes. Things start to get…
PITT: …muddled…
CLOONEY: …muddled, right. So you have to pick your fights and go after them, and then it seems like you can help get things done, like the $9 million we’re raising [for Darfur refugees] tonight. [Pitt waves to someone, who turns out to be Angelina Jolie with their 5-year-old son, Maddox. Pitt smiles. Clooney waves and gets no response.] Niiice. Very nice. What am I? No wave for me?

You both seem to project some kind of Zen calm.
CLOONEY: [Feigning hostility] What the f— do you mean by that?!
PITT: Yeah, motherf—er! [Laughter]

I guess what I’m asking is, can I get the number of your pharmacist?
CLOONEY: 1-800-V-I-C-O-D-I-N. [Laughter]
PITT: You adjust. You keep your sanity. You find your moments alone.
CLOONEY: I’ll say, too, we’ve been doing this for a while now. I was in no shape at 21 to be dealing with fame.
PITT: It is discombobulating at first, but the younger breed seems to be groomed for it and accept it in a way.
CLOONEY: Right, because now fame is more an [end in and of itself rather] than working, necessarily.

You’re talking about the difference between ”celebrity” and ‘’stardom.”
CLOONEY: Exactly. Celebrity. You don’t see a lot of kids coming out of theater programs these days.

Who do you like from that younger generation?
CLOONEY: I’ll tell ya, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams are both really good actors. Both have great range and can do all kinds of stuff.
PITT: I think Heath Ledger is really strong, as well.

Hey, as long as we’re on the subject of working with the young folk, what’s going on with your football movie, Leatherheads?
CLOONEY: I wrapped Friday.
PITT: You’re kidding me.
CLOONEY: No. I’ve been in North Carolina for the last four and a half months playing football with a bunch of 21-year-olds. I’ll never do that again. [Laughs]
PITT: [In a mock mothering tone] It’s okay. You don’t have to.

That John Krasinski guy doesn’t look that tough.
CLOONEY: You know, he’s a good kid. I love him, but the fun part is that he talked s—. [To Pitt] I’ve got this kid John Krasinski in my movie. He’s on The Office — really good actor. The first day on the set he’s like, ”I play basketball” and I was like, ”I play a little too.” And he looks at me and goes, ”I’ll kick your ass.” And I was like, All right, whatever. And he’s like, ”Okay, let’s make it $1,000 then.” So for the entire shoot we’ve been talking about this bet. We haven’t played. The whole shoot. And Friday we played.
PITT: Oh, boy.
CLOONEY: And I beat him 11-8! [Laughter] I was wiping my forehead with $100 bills going, ”Whooo, is it hot in here?” Certain things just bring you joy.
PITT: And one is staving off old age.
CLOONEY: Oh, man, you are right.

You guys are costarring in a Coen brothers movie next, right?
CLOONEY: Yep. I was actually last here [in Cannes] with the Coens for O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and it tanked!
PITT: Get out!

What happened?
CLOONEY: You could just feel it in the room. Joel and Ethan and I were all sitting there in the Palais and Joel was like, ”Let’s get out of here! We’re done.”

So when do you start shooting?
PITT: In August or September.
CLOONEY: Burn After Reading is the name of it. It’s just one of their nutty comedies — it makes me howl when I read it.
PITT: It’s a real stretch. George and I each play a loser in our own minds. [Laughs]

They do love to make Clooney look like a buffoon.
PITT: They might top it with Pitt.
CLOONEY: They might. This one might end two careers in one shot.
PITT: [Laughs] I said to them, ”I don’t know how to play this, I mean, he’s such an idiot.” And there was a pause and then Joel goes…
TOGETHER: You’ll be fine! [Laughter]

Okay, last question: For the good of the universe, do you guys swear that you’re done with the Ocean’s movies?
CLOONEY: I think we’re done.
PITT: Don Cheadle had a nice idea. He thought we ought to work backwards and start picking each other off as the numbers got lower. A last-man-standing thing.
CLOONEY: Like Survivor.

Or Ten Little Indians.
PITT: That was Don’s pitch!
CLOONEY: We didn’t want to say it to him, but that’s what Fourteen is. And he’s definitely the first to go.

EW.com

Possible Start Date for White Jazz

WHITE JAZZ START 06/06/2007 at 10:32 AM

While not official, it looks like we start shooting December 10th. Lot of work ahead. I want this thing tighter than a snare drum. I’m really going to endeavor to get the script up on-line. I know I say that sh*t all the time but there’s invariably some legal nonsense that prevents its expedience. Just know that I’ve got guns on it.  [Smokin Joe]  
 

Clooney Talks About Paris, Parenthood and the Presidental Race

What Does the King of Hollywood Think About Starlets in Trouble, and Who Should Be President
June 7, 2007 — ABC News

As a throng of media and fans waited outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater for a glimpse of Hollywood royalty, the three kings — George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon — were inside signing their names in concrete and, of course, cracking jokes.

Clooney, well-known for his practical jokes on set, wore oversize shoes to the event, ensuring he’d cement his place in movie history, just a little larger than life.

“He said to me, ‘Go one size bigger,’” Damon said, describing Clooney’s shoe advice.

Clooney is all smiles and jokes when it comes to the “Ocean” movies, classic capers that pit a ragtag gang of thieves against various casino villains.

“Ocean’s 13″ is the third and rumored to be the last. The cast has grown as close as brothers, which is obvious from the good-natured ribbing Clooney gives his cast mates.

“Pitt has been the toughest to deal with because he is a big star, and Damon’s gotten a little cocky since the ‘Bourne’ sequels,” Clooney said. “[Don] Cheadle’s got an Oscar nomination a while back, so you can imagine how difficult he’s been.”

New Roles, New Responsibilities
But the days of being the new Rat Pack now compete with growing families and domestic demands among the “Ocean” cast. Clooney, the unapologetic bachelor, is unfazed.

“The baby issue, that’s been quite something, I gotta say,” Clooney said. “I’m good with other people’s kids, fantastic. I’m the guy you want around because I go, ‘Here, go over there and get me a drink,’ and they seem to do it.”

Jokes aside, Clooney is passionate about a number of political issues, especially genocide in Darfur.

But he also keeps up with less heady news of the day, including heiress Paris Hilton’s prisoner number.

“I saw the New York Post. They do the hard-hitting news,” Clooney said.

But he said that young celebrities getting into trouble in Hollywood was nothing new.

“You think about it, part of this is cash in very young hands and a lot of fame in very young hands,” Clooney said. “Because they’re doing all the sort of things some of us went through very quietly.”

Clooney said that looking ahead to the 2008 presidential race, he was a “huge fan” of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

“I love him. I’ve been in a room with him many times when he gets up to speak,” Clooney said. “There are people who understand how to lead. He knows how to lead, and that’s to me the most impressive thing about him.”

But the actor is not saying how much active campaigning he’ll actually do for the election.

“I’m cautious to mention people at times because my father ran for Congress and they really ran the ticket Hollywood vs. the heartland against him, and it harmed him,” Clooney said.

O13 Film Review

John Reviews Ocean’s 13
The Movie Blog

Last night I had a chance to attend the LA premier of Ocean’s 13 (which I had totally forgot about. I had JUST got in from seeing Mr. Brooks and was ready to just stay in and relax for the evening when my friend called to remind me last minute). I enjoyed the first Ocean’s movie…. I wasn’t thrilled with the second one at all, although I think I liked it a little more than most… and I’ve had guarded optimism about Ocean’s 13.

With a cast like this, and characters like this… this COULD have been one of the best film franchises of all time. However, the first one was solid, yet not up to potential… and the second one seemed to lose its way. The synopsis for Ocean’s 13 looks like this: “Danny Ocean rounds up the boys for a third heist, after casino owner Willy Bank double-crosses one of the original eleven, Reuben Tishkoff.”

THE GOOD

Style baby… all style. There is a smoothness to the ensemble of the Ocean’s movies. You look at these guys on screen and just wish that you could hang out with them…. but then also sadly realize that they’d never hang out with you in a million years… which only makes you wish you could hang with them even more… or BE them.. either way. The fashion, the talk, the walk, the music… this whole freaking movie just screams style. After all, this is Vegas baby.

The film wastes no time at all. Right from the opening of the film they dive right into the plot. They’ve already done 2 movies to introduce you to the characters and give you an idea of what makes hem tick and what it is they do. There is no need to waste any time on that stuff… and they don’t. This film centers on exactly what they should be focused on… the HEIST! This is a heist movie with a smooth stylish and charming crew. This film wisely just plays to its strengths and leaves out most of the fluff.

SUPER DAVE OSBORNE!!!! I almost didn’t recognize him. Holy crap! For all our international friends, Super Dave Osborne is one of the funniest characters ever to come out of Canadian Television. The worlds greatest stuntman who always puts safety first by using “Genuine Saskatchewan Seal Skin Bindings” on all his gear. Oh man it was such a treat to see him on screen… and he was hilarious too.

This film was much funnier than the first two in my opinion. The very last line of the film that George Clooney gives to Brad Pitt was total gold too (you’ll see what I mean when you see it).

THE BAD

Like the first two films, there are times that it becomes a little bit hard to follow what the plan is. Maybe they just fly through things too fast, or make it overly complex (but then again, i guess it’s supposed to be complex). Still, there are times that they don’t do a very god job of making sure the audience is with them when they’re supposed to be with them.

Al Pachino. No, it’s not that Pachino did a bad job in the film… but you really didn’t need Al Pachino for that role. It was a pretty easy role, that honestly wasn’t that major and didn’t have tons of screen time. Put story first… but if you’re going to go out of your way to put Al Pachino in your film, I’d say give the man a little more to work with.

In heist films it’s always cool to see how the thieves are going to pull off the impossible. But having said that… even when pulling off the impossible, you’ve got to at least give a FEEL of believability to give the finale a real satisfying conclusion. There are things in Ocean’s 13 that are just way too out there on the believability scale and thus leaves you feel a bit wanting.

OVERALL

Ocean’s 13 is easily the best of the “THREEQUEL” movies so far this summer… maybe the only watchable one at that. It’s quite funny, has amazing style, great characters…. and I’m always a sucker for a heist film. Ocean’s 13 pulls off what VERY few film franchises have done… make pat 3 the best of the series. Sometimes too confusing, sometimes too unrealistic, the film still works for me a lot. I really enjoyed this movie. On a scale of 1-10 I give Ocean’s 13 a 7.5 out of 10

From GMA interview with Matt Damon

“On the, the first week of shooting, we ran out of diapers and we had the baby in the trailer and I just asked Brad if he had a No. 1, because the kids were really small and our kids are really close in age,” he said. “And George overheard and he said, ‘Now, I have no idea what you two are talking about,’ because that’s a perfect example of the kind of thing you only know if you have kids. What the hell is a No 1? … And Brad pulled one out and said, ‘This is what it looks like.’ … And George said, ‘Oh, well, you know, those are smaller than the ones I wear.’”

Westwood O13 Media Screening locked up tight!

Leonard Maltin: Threat to Security!?!
Posted Jun 5th 2007 11:56AM by TMZ Staff 

Film critic Leonard Maltin was one of several media members who went through stricter-than-usual security at last night’s all-media screening of “Ocean’s 13″ in Westwood. Keep an eye on that middle-aged critic with the beard, he can’t be trusted! The “ET” critic and the rest of the press corps had to be wanded by security before making their way into the theater. And get this — camera phones were banned! Were they expecting Maltin to bootleg 15-second clips of the movie on Limewire?  Alas, Maltin’s credentials checked out and he joined the rest of the crowd to watch George Clooney and Brat Pitt cash a paycheck.

New look and New Spot for Martini

Martini has launched a new variant and a re-design of the bottle in a bid to refresh the brand’s image. Martini Rosato is a rosé-style product that is made using a combination of red and white wines. The new bottle design – applied to Rosso, Bianco, Extra Dry and their new stable mate Rosato – features a more slender shape and has split the label into two parts and a logo embossed onto the glass. The bottles also feature cocktail recipes on the label on the rear, and these will rotate around every six months.  The re-launch also sees a sponsorship of new film Ocean’s 13, and a sampling scheme taking place in a “Terrazza” stationed just off London’s Oxford Street until June 11. [Source]

Next Wednesday (6 june) the Martini&Rossi has organized a press conference in order to introduce all the innovationes of the historical company: the restyling of the Martini Terrace, the new one spot interpreted from George Clooney and, obviously the new one look of the Martini bottles that come defined “brave, revolutionary, anticipatore of tendencies, innovative”.  [Source]

‘THIRTEEN’ TALES WITH AN ‘OCEAN’S’ VIEW

HANGING OUT ON SET WITH HOLLYWOOD’S COOLEST CAST EVER
By SARA STEWART NY Post
 
 June 3, 2007 — THE SET OF “Ocean’s Thirteen” was a war zone. George Clooney flipped out when anyone forgot a line. Brad Pitt’s costars were under orders not to look him in the eye. And Matt Damon threw a hissyfit about having to wear that prosthetic nose.

As if.

It’d be refreshing to report some juicy infighting during the filming of the latest “Ocean’s” installment, but we can’t. Steven Soderbergh’s genial cast had as much of a grand old time filming this one as they did “Ocean’s Eleven” and its unfortunate sequel, “Ocean’s Twelve.” The good-time gang was born from director Steven Soderbergh’s cardinal casting rule: “No jerks,” he said at the Cannes premiere last week. “That solves everything.”

Thankfully, these nice guys are anything but dull. We scrounged up a few stories - 13, to be exact - about the making of the film, due out Friday, in which Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his crew exact revenge on nasty casino owner Willy Bank (Al Pacino) in trademark grandiose fashion.

1. The Ocean Club

“Thirteen” was filmed largely on a set in Southern California. But producer Jerry Weintraub - who also appears in a bit part as high-roller Denny Shields - went to great lengths to re-create the boys’-night atmosphere of the first two shoots.

“Jerry created this Vegas-style lounge right next to the set, out of a couple of Warner Brothers offices,” says actor Eddie Jemison, who plays electronics expert Livingston Dell. “He had a designer come in, and they put in a bar and a buffet and a foosball table and some gaming tables.”

“There were poker games every day,” says Brian Koppelman, who co-wrote the screenplay with David Levien. “One of the producers even brought in ‘autographed’ pictures of old starlets: ‘Thanks for last night, George - Love, Rita.’ ”

Gambling was a constant diversion for those who weren’t busy shooting, well, gambling scenes. Unfortunately for the actors, they were up against the guys who wrote the 1998 card-shark movie “Rounders,” which starred Matt Damon, who returns as con man Linus Caldwell.

“We took a lot of people’s money,” Koppelman confirms. “The two of us - David Levien and I - and Matt, we got all the money.”

2. The Chewbacca Gag

One of Soderbergh’s favorite running jokes is that Shaobo Qin’s Chinese acrobat - who speaks only Mandarin - can somehow be understood by all the other guys. When accused of ethnic insensitivity by a Chinese reporter at Cannes, Soderbergh seemed taken aback.

“Look, I’m really sorry that was your response,” he said. “The movie is an equal opportunityoffender. This could be somebody from any culture for that joke. It’s sort of like Chewbacca in ‘Star Wars.’ He talks all the time and everybody acts like they know what he’s saying.”

Watch out for Wookiee protests at your local theater.

3. The Skunk

As longtime scammer Rusty Ryan, Pitt dons glasses, shaggy hair and khakis to infiltrate Pacino’s office, posing as an earthquake expert with seismographs. The writers had a specific model in mind for Pitt’s costume: “That was nicknamed the Skunk Baxter look,” says Levien. “You know - that guitarist from the Doobie Brothers.”

4. The Method

The rule of thumb on-set was not to overthink - and certainly not to overact. “There’s not a lot of actor angst going on,” says Jemison. “Not a lot of actors talking about ‘the process.’ I think that would be frowned on by Steven.”

At one point, he says, someone brought in an instructional drama book, which was, predictably, mocked.

“We were all joking, especially Matt and Don, about this book about the acting process called ‘Relaxantration,’ ” says Jemison with a laugh. “We just made fun of all those rules that actors have.”

5. The Oprah Lovers

Ocean’s con men of may be savvy, but they’re no match for the queen of daytime - Clooney’s Danny gets his chops busted by Pitt’s Rusty when he gets choked up watching Oprah.

“That scene is directly out of our lives,” says Koppleman. “David walked into this hotel room with me watching the show, and yeah, I had gotten a little emotional. But when David comes and watches with me, he gets sucked in, too. He might even ask me for a tissue.”

The writers added the bit to the script and held their breath.

“That was the one scene, every draft, we would pray that that scene would stay in the movie, that the guys would be willing to do it,” says Koppelman. “It’s George Clooney and Brad Pitt acting out, word for word, our lives. These great-looking, perfected versions of us. Totally hilarious. We were able to use all of our resources and connections for our own personal catharsis.”

6. The Dame

With Julia Roberts out of the picture, Ellen Barkin turns up as the lone female character in “Thirteen.”

She’s Abigail Sponder, righthand woman to Pacino’s Willy Bank. The role was written for her, as her scene with Damon in “Twelve” wound up on the cutting-room floor. Fortunately, she likes being one of the guys.

“She was totally game,” says Koppelman. “She’s got a riotous sense of humor. She loves being campy. She’s a total gun-moll type of woman.”

7. The Cat Herder

What a cast full of hams, Soderbergh’s directorial experience sounds approximately like trying to quiet a classroom full of fourth-graders on Red Bull.

“Steven would have to yell ‘Action!’ three times sometimes,” says Jemison, “because people were cutting up and singing and joking, trying to crack each other up.”

“There are occasions,” Soderbergh acknowledged at Cannes, “when it’s hard to get everybody to be quiet and focused.”

To which nearly every cast member chimed in: “Matt!”

8. The Sinatra Code

Who knew that simply meeting the Chairman of the Board made a fella beholden to a code of honor?

The arcane notion of the “Frank Sinatra handshake” becomes a minor theme in the movie, which Soderbergh explains thusly: “There’s this urban legend that if you once shook Sinatra’s hand, and you’re dealing with somebody else who did, too, there’s supposed to be a code [between you].”

The code, however, didn’t apply to most of the cast. Only Weintraub and Barkin belong.

“Basically,” Weintraub says, “the older people.”

9. The Schnozz

The enormous false beak Damon sports during a good chunk of “Thirteen” is a plastic surgeon’s nightmare - and something the star couldn’t wait to wear.

“Matt originally had this prosthetic nose for [Terry Gilliam’s 2005 movie] ‘The Brothers Grimm.’ ” says Koppelman. “But when the Weinsteins saw it on him and saw how it diminished his Matt Damon-y good looks, they wouldn’t let him wear it, and he was really disappointed. The idea of Matt going through a lot of this movie wearing this big honker was funny to us. And we knew he would be totally into it.”

As for the nose model, the writers say it comes closest to that of actor Adrien Brody -and, in fact, it’s actually referred to as “The Brody” at one point in the film.

10. The Do-over

While “Ocean’s Eleven” charmed audiences with its breezy plotting and Rat Packretro banter, the sequel fell short of expectations. So did Soderbergh set out to make up for “Twelve”?

Producer-star Clooney admitted as much in an interview last year.

“‘Thirteen’ happened because we thought we could do it better than ‘Twelve,’” he said. “And we didn’t want to go out getting socked in the chin. [This one] is back to ‘Eleven’ in terms of spending more time with the guys.”

But Clooney’s candor paled by the time he made it to Cannes. When a reporter stated flatly that “Thirteen” was far superior to “Twelve,” Clooney seemed wounded.

“Wow,” he said. “That’s a backhanded compliment.”

11. The Revolutionaries

Perhaps the most unexpected story line in “Thirteen” is that of bumbling brothers Turk and Virgil Malloy (Scott Caan and Casey Affleck, respectively), who go undercover at a dice factory in Mexico, where Virgil incites a workers’ insurrection.

“We were researching in Las Vegas when we met this guy responsible for gaming elements,” says Koppelman. “And we asked him, ‘How would you get fake dice in?’ He said, ‘You can’t, after they leave the factory.’ And we go, ‘Well, what about in the factory?’

“He said the chemicals they use to make them are incredibly poisonous, and they can’t make them in this country - they make them in Mexico,” Koppelman adds. “We looked at each other and said, ‘Oh, it’s so unfair.’ And then we just started laughing. Casey’s character would totally have a conscience about that.”

12. The Rewrite Men

As natural as Clooney & Co. make it look, the witty, rapid-fire dialogue comes largely from the minds of Koppelman and Levien. And when it came time to make changes in the script, Clooney would call in the writers. Which, at one point, struck Koppelman as amusing.

“George called us over, and we’re looking around at Steven Soderbergh, Academy Award winner for writing ‘Sex, Lies and Videotape’; Matt Damon, Academy Award winner for writing ‘Good Will Hunting’; and George Clooney, Academy Award winner for writing ‘Good Night, and Good Luck.’

“We were like, you’re the guys who won the Oscars - you come up with it.”

13. The Godfather

Guest stars abound in the “Ocean’s” franchise, but Pacino was a particularly weighty addition. “He raised our respectability, and we brought his down,” Pitt said at Cannes.

Says Weintraub: “He asked me, ‘What do these guys think of me? They’re all friends.’ I said to him, ‘What did you think of Brando when you did “The Godfather”? That’s what they think of you.’ ”

Pacino had a few more “Godfather” connections: He starred with James Caan - father of Scott - in “The Godfather,” and he and Andy Garcia - who reprises his role as casino owner Terry Benedict - were both in “Godfather III.”

Weintraub gears up for ‘Ocean’s Thirteen’

Weintraub gears up for ‘Ocean’s Thirteen’
The Associated Press, Francois Mori  The Dessert Sun

Producer Jerry Weintraub is known for his huge, circus-style promotions, going back to his days as concert promoter for Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley.

In 2004, Diane Sawyer’s “Primetime Live” interviews with Weintraub and the cast of “Ocean’s Twelve” from the producer’s Bighorn Golf Club home in Palm Desert helped turn the sequel into a hit on par with its predecessor, “Ocean’s Eleven.”

But with “Ocean’s Thirteen” hitting theaters this week, Weintraub may be even topping himself.

Last month he canceled an interview in Los Angeles before going to the Cannes Film Festival in France because “Getting together right now is impossible. I can’t even get together with my dinner.

“Hey, that’s a good one,” he said, brightening like the high-roller he played in “Vegas Vacation.” “That’s a Weintraubism.”

Stateside promotions for “Ocean’s Thirteen” begin today with Weintraub and leading men George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon adding their hand and footprints to the cement outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

A publicist said Weintraub is the first producer to be so honored.

“Ocean’s Thirteen” will have its North American premiere tonight at Grauman’s, with stars Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Al Pacino and director Steven Soderbergh expected to attend.

The film will then launch the CineVegas Film Festival Wednesday with Weintraub receiving its Vanguard Producer Award.

 Weintraub, who earned a lifetime achievement award at ShoWest in Las Vegas earlier this year, said he hadn’t sought the producer awards in Vegas, but CineVegas offered to make a large donation to aid victims of the conflict in Darfur in Sudan.

Weintraub and the “Ocean’s” cast will attend a Chicago premiere Thursday that also benefits the International Rescue Committee for Not On Our Watch to aid victims in Sudan.

“This is the most hectic schedule because I’m doing so many events,” Weintraub said.

Weintraub won’t have much time to rest after “Ocean’s Thirteen” premieres and goes wide on Friday. His next movie, “Nancy Drew,” opens June 15.

Samsung phone plays part in O13

Samsung Electronics has placed an audacious bet on an upcoming Hollywood movie “Ocean’s 13” and its villain Al Pacino.  Samsung paid an undisclosed amount to Warner Bros. to provide a diamond-studded mobile phone to Pacino, who plays a Las Vegas casino owner. In the movie to be released worldwide next week, the actor becomes a Samsung fan who yells, “I want that Samsung now!”

The amount of the product placement contract is kept secret but it is estimated to be several dozens of millions of dollars, given that the phone has been given an unusually significant role for a commercial product planted in a major Hollywood movie. In a similar case, Ford reportedly paid $35 million to provide an Aston Martin for James Bond in the 2002 movie “Die Another Day.”

“Ocean’s 13” is a second sequel to the hit movie “Ocean’s 11,” featuring a dozen celebrity stars including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Pacino. The Samsung phone plays an integral role in the plot of the movie, as a team of 13 crooks uses it as a bugging device before they rob the casino owned by Pacino.

In one scene, Pacino uses the handset while moving in an underground elevator and does not hesitate to say it works there “because it’s a Samsung.”

“The moviemaker requested a luxury phone that characterizes Pacino’s personality in the movie, so we provided a gold, candy bar-type handset,” the company said in a press release.

It is not the price of the gold-plated, diamond-embroidered handset that matters to Samsung. Given that the phone has a much bigger role in “Ocean’s 13” than the Aston Martin did in “Die Another Day,” and Pacino shows his indulgence to his phone more openly than Pierce Brosnan did to his car, the price Samsung has paid to Warner should reasonably be well above $35 million.

Known as product placement in the film industry, planting goods in movies and dramas is a popular marketing technique and is growing at a rapid pace these days. According to PQMedia, a consulting firm that tracks the product placement market, the global product placement market grew 24.2 percent to $7.76 billion in 2006 from 2005, and is projected to increase 20.3 percent to $9.33 billion in 2007.

Sine the 1990s, Samsung has provided mobile phones and other electronics appliances to a number of Hollywood and South Korean movies, such as the “Matrix: Reloaded,” “The Departed,” and “Fantastic Four.” In “Superman Returns” last year, the company set a record by placing 274 items such as TVs, monitors, laptops, printers and facsimile machines.

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