Ocean's Eight

Going in: I had heard it wasn't all that great. I've seen the trailer but not much in terms of reviews so it should be pretty fresh. Surprisingly, my daughter Adah wanted to see this movie (she only has about one movie a year she wants to see but this time, she wanted to see this one as well). She's going to contribute and edit. Thanks Adah! You can follow Adah on Instagram @harperssky1.

Popcorn: 7/10. I'll just see it the once. It was okay but not something I'd pay again to see. I'm not sure I'd buy it (Adah said she would) except to finish out the Ocean's set. But I would probably rent it a few times. Overall, it's good. Not great but good.

Art: 8.5/10. I'm surprised it rated this high. It's a good story, well acted, some great production design and costuming, and overall enjoyable.

Acting: 3/3. This is an all-star cast and they earn it. Little acting subtleties here and there. Some over the top acting that's usually intentional. Not a lot of emotion, but this was more of a "let's have a good time" movie.

Music: 2/2. I really liked this music. The score was a blend of original music and callbacks to the original. But the tone was amazingly consistent. It didn't do a whole lot for swaying the emotion of the movie, but I kept noticing how well it fit together.

Filming: 1/2. It wasn't horrible and thinking about it afterwards, I think they missed some opportunities with the color. There weren't any stand-out shots but it wasn't bad either.

Art Dept: 2/2. This was amazing. Most of the story was in the Met and I never felt like I was jarred out of the Met. Adah thought that it was all filmed in the Met but I think the production cost would've been through the roof so some studio must have been used. And then the costumes. They were amazing and colorful. Really well done.

Editing: 1/2. No stand out moments here. Except maybe near the end. I will say that I never noticed the pacing of the end. I mean, it was a surprise that we were done with the movie. It was tight enough to be noticed, but I don't think enough to get a "2".

Story: 4/4. This story is all about female empowerment. One pseudo-line of the movie is "I don't want him. I don't even know him. But men stick out and we need to be invisible." And that's why the movie exists. It's fun, but it's pretty clear why it's there. Not a lot of subplots (like maybe one?). Characters are good and have some room to play. There were a couple of times that I thought something was going to happen, but it wasn't set up well. Nothing based on coincidence. This is more of a 3.5, but enough to warrant a 4.

Directing: 3/3. This is a movie that's pretty well put together. It's enjoyable and doesn't borrow too much from the former movies. I think more could have been done with the camera and even the characters a bit. But it wasn't bad.

Production: 2/2. This was worth watching on the big screen, but I didn't feel a lot of connection with it. However, going with my daughter, I noticed that may have been the point. It's worth seeing in the theater.