A lazy Sunday afternoon found me going to the AMC for a marathon of movies, 3 in all.  I started off with Ocean’s 13.

Now, if you remember my previous reviews, I spoke of the curse of the “3″ and how this summer seemed to be the glut of sequels.  I still can not believe how many movies we have this year that are the third in a series.  I was just hoping that Ocean’s would not be yet another disappointment.

And maybe that is what helped me in this movie — I went in with no expectations because I had not heard about it until about a month ago.  With no hype-built expectations, I was able to enjoy a popcorn movie for what it was, fluff.

To add perspective, I love watching the original Ocean’s 11 with Sinatra and the Rat Pack.  Nice, fun flick that looked like fun for the guys doing it.  Then Clooney came out with his remake and I was mildly surprised; it was one of a handful of remakes that I actually liked.  Ocean’s 12 came out and I thought they jumped the shark, but it was forgivable given the amount of fun they had on-screen.  While I do not doubt that they had fun, it did not seem as much fun as the other two to make.

Everybody except Julia Roberts returns, and maybe it is her playfulness in the “boys’ club” that made the first two fun.  Al Pacino was brought in to play the target this time around and he is having fun, as if Michael Corleone decided to ham it up a bit.  One of my favorite lines was from Elliot Gould doing a paraphrase of a line from “The Godfather” — the sad thing is that only 2 other people out of a mostly-sold theater got it as we were the only three to laugh.

Overall, a decent movie that reminds you of the allure of Vegas and why we love it.

My advice: matinee to full price — you won’t feel cheated if you do pay full price…