Ocean of fun

Last night, Kris and I got to enjoy one of the perks of her job that is uniquely Vegas -- we attended the premiere of "Ocean's Thirteen." Sure, the "real" premiere was in L.A. on Sunday night, but this was still the Vegas premiere on the opening night of the Cinevegas film festival, and the rest of you schlubs still can't see the movie until Friday. So there.

All the big names were there, too. We skipped the red carpet because that sort of thing is just creepy to observe in person (we observed the giddiness surrounding the premiere of "Strangers With Candy," of all movies, at last year's Cinevegas, so picturing that hysteria times about a billion, we opted to pass). But once in our seats (it was showing on two screens at the Brenden Theaters at The Palms), we were treated to a 30-second appearance by Pitt, Clooney, Damon, Cheadle, Barkin and producer Jerry Weintraub, who thanked the Cinevegas sponsors (which include the company my wife works for, which is why we were there) for the $1 million raised for Not On Our Watch, a humanitarian group currently working to end the genocide in Darfur.

I guess it was sort of cool to be breathing the same air as those celebs, but it's just not a life-changing event for me. I'll never understand why people lined up outside The Palms four hours early to catch a glimpse of the limos shuttling these stars to the premiere. But whatever floats your boat ...

As for the movie, I liked it. Damon and Carl Reiner stole the show, in my mind, as well as the scenes with Casey Affleck in Mexico (you'll understand if/when you see it). Great cast, good script, well executed. I'd give it four stars out of five.

We also had passes to an "exclusive" party at one of the clubs high atop The Palms after the movie. I say "exclusive" because the cast was rumored to be headed there, but of course we didn't see any of them. We did have a drink out on the balcony and enjoy a very cool view of Vegas from 53 stories up, however.

The only downer of the night? Well, it was a little embarrassing with all those women coming up to me saying, "Mr. Clooney, we just loved your movie!" Heh.