STORY€ =oz oz=o a,i" r *;-,t 6 i r il;i,;1', f-"i i i,'l: -* ;t # [],n ri; * [T r. i f $' .,lir:jr,,i,.rLstt'l#ri,;i.r,;irit,jtS, -f;..Hlitfi'"ti{l:'+iin"r*5 i:*fi}4;$ fiqmV,V tcn g;srs'ss frr*nndxfueps lln'rftm as ffrmnrq$rfism BY MICIIAEL GILTZhe best special effect in a movie this summer may simply be the sight of George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon palling around in a casino and pooling their star wattage in "Ocean's Thirteen," the Stephen Soderbergh heist com- edy opening June 8.</p><p> This third (and possibly last) entry in the slick-but-shaggy trilogy co-stars Al pacino, Don Chea- dle, Ellen Barkin, Bernie Mac and Elliott Gould, among others, and the plot is ... well, secondary to watching big stars have fun for our amusement.</p><p> In an exclusive chat with Cloo- ney, Piff and Damon just before the movie's world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, the trio of powerhouses revel in re-creat- ing the ring-a-ding banter of Frank Sinatra's Rat pack by teasing each othe4 joshin' around - and gamely ignoring the paparazzi bobbing up and down in speedboats in a nearby harbor.</p><p> Yet all three have put the insatiable media curiosity to good use as they've ascended the Hollywood mountain.</p><p> Latest case in point: The guys hosted a Cannes screening that raised funds . for Darfur, a cause Clooney in particular has taken up.</p><p> Eo o Go cDAILY NEWS: In 'Ocean's Thir- teen,'the line'You shook the hand of Frank Sinatrar is sort of shorthand fol saying, 'You should have respect for tradition and be a person of your word." So, did any of you ever actually shake the hand of Frank Sinatra? ALL THREE: [In unison] No! GEORGE CLOONEY: I did get a call from him once.</p><p> BRAD PITT: You did? CLOOI{EY: It was the tumiest, weirdest situation: I had this boy- cott of "Entertainment Tonight" years ago because I was in a fight wjth "Hard Copy" [which wm cir. ing intrusive footage of celebri- tiesl Ijust said, "I'm not going to help you guys make money at'Entertainment Tonight' and then the same company screw us over with 'Hard Copy.' I'm not going to put money in your pocket to buy these lvideo imagesl ": PITT: That was a good coup i CLOONEY:Yeah, itwas agood one I It worked pretty well i PITT: I followed suit GLOOI{EY: I know So I was in my trailer on "ER," and I got a call from Nancy Sinatra safing. "Hold on a min- ute," and she put her father on. lt was just when all these helicopters were flying over his house and there were reports saying he was dying [But] it was two years before he died And he said on the phone, "lt's not workingl" I said, "what?" He said, "This is Francis, it's not worK- ing!" I said, 'nvhat do you mean, 'It's not working'?" He said, "The helicop- ters are all over! This thing you're do- ing, it doesn't work! Nqt for s-!" I said, "Oh " And he said, "All rigbt " And then he hangs up That was it! [Laughsl He was p--d that there were helicopters fl ying overhead DAIIY NEWS: The Rat Pack came frrst. of course. and their films followed.</p><p> With you guys, though, it was the op- posite; "Ocean's Eleven" was first.</p><p> CLOONEY: Yeah, we don't really care for each other PITT: I don't necessanly like you guys Well, a couple I do GLOONEY: I hke what's the one B]-ryl Cheadle? He's a good fellow Bul the rest Oh. and that iittle terrow PITT: SI)aobo fC/rinesc ur:tor Slrcrobo Qirr, n,ho plcrrrs Yerr l CLOONEY: Sberobol I ltkc ltint But the rest I can do wirholrl DAI|Y NEWS: So Matt, it doesn't hurt your feelings when you call up Srad and George and say, "What are you up to?" And they(, ze zo E r-t i l-i II say, "Oh, we're making a Coen broth- ers movie ['Bu]n After Reading"l to- gethel?' MATT DAMON: Yeah, yeah, I appreci- ate the shout-out, that's nice lTo CIoo- ney andPittl Than-ks for reaching out and including mel lFaking irritationll get to do "Syriana." CLOONEY: Yeah, you get to do the tun one DAMON: Oh, than-ks.</p><p> CLOONEY: "Come out to Morocco, Matt!" DAMON: "Come out to the Arabim Peninsula " DAILY ilEWS: ObyiouslS none ofyou need to make any movies unless you want to .,.</p><p> DAMOI{: So why did we make a second sequel to a remake? lThey all laugh l DAILY NEWS: Good point But as we're on it, you may want to stop now before "Ocean's 27" becomes a Dean Martin roast with a 5200 million budget.</p><p> PITT: I want to ride this thing right into the groundl CLOONEY: He's doing the next one "Ocean's One " Just Brad PITT: We're going to kill everyone off It'll be like a last-matl-standins kind of thinsDAILY NEWS3 Your friendship tends to st.etch out to other pals, doesn't it? Brad's got a Western,'The As- sassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,'coming up in the fall, co-starring Matt's fliend Gasey Affeclq Bent brotheL DAMON: Actuauy, Casey is so neurotic . he would want to re- hearse for his auditions for that over the phone with me And we would talk and talk and talk He would talk for four hours! And then I'd flnally say, "Dude, I don't know what else to tell you " And then he'd say, "Fine," and hang up.</p><p> And then he'd call Ben and do the sme thing for another four hours! GLOOI{EY: We had that too. with CLOONEY: [To Dcmon] Pacino, though, tqok your advice DAMON: He did PITT: In all fairness, he did get comfortable by the third or fourth week DAMON: I was surprised to find out that this was his frrst movie! PITT: Alan? GLOONEY:AI It,sAI ! l}I jAlPacino Hejustkeptcollingus : and mking us .</p><p> DAMOil3 Yeah, lale-nighf phone calls . .l oo t o3 0 = zr€o @ c -o l N oo
