About Ocean's Twelve - I think Soderbergh and Clooney try to mix up their big commercial hits with smaller, more personal and more "indie" features, because the one allows them to do the other. From a Guardian interview with both of them:

Q6: You were talking about focus groups, and I heard a rumour that Solaris had one of the worst ratings despite it being brilliant. How are your relations with the studio? Is there a relationship in the sequence of films that you work on, for example doing Ocean's Twelve after Solaris?

SS: There's a very direct relation for me. There were three projects that I wanted to do after my sabbatical. Ocean's was one of them. I had the idea when we were actually in Europe promoting the first one.... The Informant and The Good German are seriously strange movies, really weird but, I hope, interesting. When Solaris tanked in the States on the heels of Full Frontal tanking, I immediately called George and said, "We're going to do Ocean's first."

I can't get Warners to pay for The Informant and The Good German on the heels of these two films. I wouldn't pay for them.

GC: Warners were really happy - we sat them down and said, "Okay, we've got good news: we're going to do Ocean's Twelve," and they said, "Oh, Jesus, thank God." Then we said, "And you have to pick up the tab for The Good German and The Informant," and they went, "Okay, fine, whatever."

SS: And that's the reality of the film business - all three of them are movies that I'm excited about. There's a commercial and practical issue that you can't pretend doesn't exist.

GC: It goes back to what we're trying to do, which is do the films that we think are interesting and that people should see, within the structure of the studio system. And part of that means that we have to find some compromises that will help get it done. I don't think you can look at Solaris and think, "That's a compromise film." If the compromise is Ocean's Eleven, that's a good film and we're proud of it, so we'll do this, and happily, because entertainment's a good thing and I don't think it's something to be ashamed of. It's a balancing act, though.

Link here.

You were talking about focus groups, and I heard a rumour that Solaris had one of the worst ratings despite it being brilliant.

Way to go with the hardhitting questions, Graun!

Yeah, it seems like the transcript is missing the sound effect of the interviewer unzipping Soderberg mid-chat.

To be fair that's a fan question at a post-screening Q&A.

t jumps in

How did folks around here feel about The Good Girl?

We caught it a couple of days ago and was really surprised by it.

How did folks around here feel about The Good Girl?

I was surprised by it too. The kind of slow, character study kind of movie that I really enjoy. Painful to watch at times, but in a genuine way.

What JohnSweden said. I liked it.

I really enjoyed it. Loved Aniston. After 10 years of tv and movie roles that bordered on the same, it was nice to see her conflicted and sad and pathetic.

How did folks around here feel about The Good Girl?

Well. I saw it in the theatre, which is when Jennifer Aniston was getting all kinds of hype and praise for her amazing acting skillz, etc. So I was expecting something more than what it was.

Not a bad movie, by any means, but it didn't live up to the hype it was getting at the time that I saw it.

it was nice to see her conflicted and sad and pathetic

"This is the story of a girl, who was put upon ..."

I liked her performance too. Very closed off and desperate. I also liked the creepy Dead Calm kind of an ending, even if the Good Girl ending was meant to be a bit more upbeat.