Victoria Hart, who was chosen to perform at George Clooney's recent yacht party in Cannes, says she is loving her new-found celebrity status, and has even signed a few autographs. Victoria, 18, said that while she wasn't nervous actually performing, it was when she was socialising afterwards that she realised the amount of stunningly good-looking actors in the room. She told GMTV: "I was chatting to Steve Jones from T4 for a while, and then he said, 'I'm surprised you want to talk to me when all these guys are here'. And I turned round and Brad and George were right there. My stomach flipped then!" [Daily Mail]

I've updated the following galleries 2007-05-24 O13 Photocall , 2007-05-24 O13 Premiere and 2007-05-24 O13 Press Conference

FROM HOLLYWOOD TO DARFUR

The charity of Clooney, Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and producer Jerry Weintraub does not stop on the movie screen. They also came to the world's largest film festival to raise money and awareness for refugees in the Darfur region of Sudan.

"We're not politicians. We're not able to make decisions. We're not able to do anything except bring attention to something, and that's the thing we can do," Clooney said.

"Kids are dying from diarrhoea ... that just shouldn't be in this day and age, and it's that kind of thing that needs to be changed. Enough is enough," Pitt added.

The United Nations says some 200,000 people have died and more than 2 million have fled their homes since the conflict in Darfur flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government. Four "Ocean's Thirteen" cast members -- Clooney, Pitt, Cheadle and Damon -- and Weintraub launched the Not On Our Watch Foundation to raise money and draw attention to the refugees. Earlier this week, they raised $10 million at a Cannes party, and in June they head to Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Chicago for similar charity events

Clooney took issue with anyone doubting his motives.

"At what point does anyone think anyone of us needs more publicity?" Clooney said. "I'm not going to defend what I think is doing the right thing ... we are doing it because we all think we would be criminal if we didn't take it a step further."
[Complete Article]

’Thirteen’ the charm for Clooney and pals
By Stephen Schaefer
Boston Herald Entertainment Reporter

Friday, May 25, 2007 - Updated: 03:14 AM EST

CANNES, France - The dashing, debonair cast of “Ocean’s Thirteen” came to the Riviera for the world premiere of their starry heist sequel but were coy about whether “Thirteen” is the final chapter in the series. The glam guys, headed by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle, seemed divided about diving in for a fourth “Ocean’s.” When asked whether there might be an “Ocean’s 58” or an “Ocean’s 69,” Clooney replied: “That would be a whole different ‘Ocean’s.’ ” Director Steve Soderbergh shook his head and added, “Never again.”

But Damon, who this summer bids farewell not just to Linus, the “Ocean’s” burglar, but amnesiac Jason Bourne as well, kept his options open, saying he was “more sad” that he might not get to do another flick with the “Ocean’s” posse. “The Bourne thing I’m definitely done with,” he added. “We’ve ridden that horse as much as we can. Outside of feeling like a prostitute for putting out two No. 3s in one year . . .” “Better than three No. 2s,” Clooney instantly noted to laughter. Damon agreed. But does his vow to not be Bourne again mean that Jason dies? “I’m not going to say. I could just not do them anymore,” Damon said, adding that “the character lives on in the books,” so another actor could be born as Bourne.

Although the cast spent most of the press conference joking around, the actors did inject a note of seriousness into the proceedings. Two nights before their premiere, Clooney and friends raised $9.2 million for Darfur relief efforts with a charity fund-raiser on a yacht at nearby Cap D’Antibes. “We knew we were coming here and it’s a great international platform and chance to raise money and raise awareness, specifically about Darfur,” Clooney said. “Don, Brad, Matt and I have all been in that region in the last year and it’s a been a concern of (ours) for the last few years. We find there is a lot more attention in the United States than internationally on this issue.” Added Damon: “We felt we’d be remiss if we didnt try to direct some of those resources to this life-and-death struggle.”

As for “Ocean’s,” the stars showed they still had a few tricks up their sleeves. In the third installment of the series, the two smoothies, Clooney and Pitt, go soft and teary-eyed watching an Oprah Winfrey show. The scene and its tough-guy sentimentality brought applause from the Cannes press.

Ocean's 13 beats the odds cannes report Steven Soderbergh's caper movie wows the crowds at a remarkably dud-free festival, says Sukhdev Sandhu
By Sukhdev Sandhu
25 May 2007
The Daily Telegraph

Where are the turkeys? It's a question that has been on the lips of many Cannes veterans this year. The 60th anniversary of the festival has passed by with barely a hint of controversy. Those of us who exult in the high drama of a previously venerated auteur getting laughed out of town, or of audiences booing films - as happened last year with Richard Kelly's still-unreleased Shortland Tales - have been disappointed.

Many people thought that the world première of Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's 13, screening out of competition and adding a bit of Hollywood glitz to proceedings, might be that turkey. After all, Ocean's 12 was an awfully lazy piece of self-indulgence. This time, George Clooney's team of coders, safe-crackers and confidence tricksters decide to gang up on casino owner Al Pacino after he double-crosses Elliot Gould. The set-up lingo is as impenetrable as ever, but there are some fascinating insights into casino technology, and some of the banter - "You should settle down. Have a couple of kids,'' Clooney tells Pitt - is agreeably knowing.

Cannes Alert: Clooney's New Gal-Pal?

Is George Clooney hiding a new squeeze? There's some buzz over at the Cannes Film Festival that the Ocean's 13 star has a new girlfriend. Not only that, but she's said to be in France with him right now. Meanwhile, as I write this, Clooney and the rest of the Ocean's 13 gang have just landed at the Hotel du Cap after the movie's black-tie premiere at the festival. While they popped into the premiere's official after-party for a short visit, a source reports they hightailed it to the du Cap for an exclusive private dinner and shindig. [E! Online]

OCEANS OF GLAMOUR
By John McEachran
25 May 2007
Scottish Daily Record

Girls steal the show at film's premiere party THE Ocean's boys were back in town at Cannes last night. But it was the ladies who stole the red carpet show as Ocean's Thirteen made its debut at the famous film festival. Heart-throbs George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon all turned up for the premiere of the movie, the third in the series. Angelina Jolie, in Cannes to promote her own latest movie A Mighty Heart, led the glamour parade. She arrived, wearing shimmering yellow chiffon, on the arm of actor boyfriend Pitt and they waved to the cheering crowd. The Hollywood power couple were closely followed by pop princess Kylie Minogue, dressed in a black corsetstyle dress with see-through panels Also among the celebrities who graced the opening of the latest in the series of crime capers was Czech supermodel Petra Nemcova, 27, who used to date pop star James Blunt. Israeli model Hofit Golan, a business partner of British dress designer Scott Henshall, wore a gravity-defying creation in brilliant red. Ocean's Thirteen, in which Clooney plays master thief Danny Ocean, also stars talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Al Pacino as a casino boss. Ocean's regulars Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle and British comedian Eddie Izzard all make appearances. But Clooney hinted the film would be the last in the series. Asked if there would be an Ocean's Fourteen, he said: "We've kind of sapped that tree."

CLOONEY & '13' CREW RAISE A YACHT OF LOOT FOR DARFUR
24 May 2007
New York Daily News

Those handsome "Ocean's Thirteen" con artists - George Clooney, Brad Pitt (both at r.), Matt Damon and Don Cheadle - scored a cool $9.2 million on the French Riviera Tuesday night. But nobody's calling the gendarmes.

The only people likely to complain about Clooney's latest caper are the paparazzi. Most of them were left at the dock when the Oscar- winner and his crew shoved off on the 237-foot yacht that was the scene of the Not on Our Watch benefit for Darfur.

Among those piped aboard the RM Elegant (a Greek-registered vessel that ranks No. 49 on Power & Motor Yacht mag's list of the world's 100 largest yachts) were "Ocean's Thirteen" castmates Ellen Barkin, Andy Garcia, Scott Caan and Elliott Gould and charity co- skipper Jerry Weintraub.

Everyone looked their best. Tan-n-tuxed Clooney "was a dead ringer for Cary Grant" in "To Catch a Thief," says our spy. "Ellen looked fierce in a tight velvet dress. She has the most rocking body you've ever seen." Cheadle, who told Foxnews.com's Roger Friedman that he'll direct himself in a biopic about Miles Davis, appeared to already be channeling the jazz legend's style.

Guests paid as much as $25,000 a ticket for the Audi-sponsored cruise. Steven Spielberg personally chipped in $1 million and, we hear, OK! Magazine donated around $2 million (which may explain why it had the exclusive on coverage).

Pitt came without Angelina Jolie, who was having dinner with Mariane Pearl, whom she plays in "A Mighty Heart." He met up later with them and daughter Shiloh, who's about to celebrate her first birthday.