Ocean's Thirteen

2007-06-04

The Ocean's series rests on the notion that crime is fun and that criminals are just like the rest of us, only better looking. Ocean's Thirteen cartwheels further into a moral abyss by building the main plot around Reuben Tishkoff (a dottering Elliot Gould) who is arrested in a Chris Hansen “To Catch a Predator” sting as the opening credits roll. ...

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When Rocky Petralia’s second tour of ‘Nam ended he couldn’t go home. Not because, as the Great Unwashed chanted in the streets of Cambridge and the hills of Berkeley, America was a lie, but because he no longer believed in the existence of Lies or Truth. Give peace a chance? Why not give napalm a chance? What’s the difference? Everyone sells out in the end. Rocky needed to clear his mind.
He caught a transport to Manila and bummed a ride to Jolo Island on a rickety schooner transporting cases of Yukon Jack and frisbees. Rocky retreated into the jungle where he lived on papaya and wild boar. A native tribe took him in and set him up in a starter hut with south facing views and plenty of charm. The girls were affectionate. Vietnam drifted into the remote canyons of his mind.
The years rolled by. One thick humid night the tribal elders organized an outing into the nearby town of Kulay-Kulay. A movie theater had opened. They hiked en masse and queued up to see something called “St. Elmo’s Fire.” Rocky had mixed feelings about watching on film the society he had long since abandoned, but once the movie started he was enthralled. The fashions, the hair, the...the attitude, it was the attitude of what America had become that captivated Rocky. The introspection and the angst were palpable. This movie was speaking directly to him. When a coked up Demi Moore moaned, “I never thought I could feel so tired at 22,” Rocky was flummoxed. That was exactly how he felt retreating from NVA regulars at Quon Loc, as he dodged land mines, punji traps, and AK-47 fire. When Rob Lowe keenly observed, “This is our time at the edge,” Rocky spilled popcorn on his then girlfriend, Pipoya. Hell yes! It all made sense. Every generation has their own time at the edge. Rocky had been through his. It was time to go home.
Rocky knows that wherever his journey takes him, his life must revolve around cinema. This art form, with the power to reach into the farthest corners of our planet, can change the world. As a critic he marshals whatever influence he has to encourage film makers with vision and to expose the charlatans. Somewhere out there a would be artist gazes into the night sky and dreams of making the next “St. Elmo’s Fire.” To that young person Rocky says, God speed, follow your passion, and wherever possible, Rocky Petralia will be your man in motion.