Beach 1 (and Ocean's 12)

Blues

Wow! Sorry if I disappointed my phlog fan, but I was having difficulty uploading pics with "hello", until I realized that my pics already exist in the webworld thanks to my uber-webmaster James! A few more blunders/experiments and VOILA!

...and speaking of "voila" and the beach, what the hell happened in "Ocean's 12"? I know it was supposed to be a wink-wink-nudge-nudge, insider, cameo-driven Hollywood self-indulgence, but after viewing it, I had one question:

"What?"

So, I watched it again

At what point is a plot so intricate that it crosses the line from being "complex" to just being "confusing"?

So...I got that everything had to come together all at once - the death of Isabelle's mother, the return of the egg to her father, the satifaction of Benedict, the defeat of "Night Fox", but:

1) Did the police really plan to ship the egg from Paris to Rome via a plainclothes officer on a train? I guess LaMark gave them the low-down and I guess he already had an egg replica ready to switch, but how did he know the exact backpack and off-white windbreaker neatly tucked into it for Linus to be ready for the switch?

2) I guess that "Night Fox" had the Oceans under surveillance the entire time following the "bet", but is that the only reason that they planned the "failed" robbery of the museum? Did they plan on getting arrested and having to come up with the "Loosey-loo" alternate? When outlining the plan timeline, Brad Pitt did say "...and at 10:44 we get arrested..."

3) What was the point of Bernie Mac getting arrested and sitting in jail in Amsterdam during the whole movie?

4) And then a couple of little things: What was the point of Chinese guy getting lost in a suitcase? That happened before the meeting with LaMark, which was the starting point of the egg caper, so it couldn't be part of that. And exactly when did Linus' mom get involved? And really, Bernie Mac...what?

Anyway, the beach was fun...