Hell, they needed someone else to sing for him in O Brother!
He got compared to Sinatra because of Ocean’s 11. Not because of the singing.
I think the comparison is off base.
Clooney is cool, but no one is as cool as Frank.
Whereas Sinatra could do both, thus making the comparison even more inappropriate. 
Gwyneth Paltrow would make a great Tracy Lord.
For anyone looking for a video of Clooney’s speech, here it is on YouTube.com: http://elfurl.com/visit.php?id=187i
Let us not forget the fuckability factor that both these men possess.
Since we talked about this movie last night at trivia, I’ve been itching for an opportunity to watch it again. And of course, like you, looking for excuses to mention it in as many threads as possible. Truly a great, great film.
Comparisons to Sinatra are unfair to the target of comparison.
It’s like calling someone the “Next Michael Jordan.”
Frank and MJ are in league’s of their own.
Hanks is too old for the job, unfortunately. I’d cast Ed Norton instead.
Naomi Watts would make a good Tracy.
Word. Totally underrated movie thanks to his direction and Sam Rockwell’s performance. The montage to the horrid Elvis impersonator is better than ten Super Bowls.
(and Clooney is a good singer, he just doesn’t like to show it off)
Yeah I remember hearing that his singing was planned to be in O Brother, but they decided to dub him instead.
I like the guy, I really do. But every single interview I’ve ever seen with him, he’s mentioned Batman and winning Sexiest Man in 199-whateveritwas, and “pretty boy Pitt” taking the title from him, etc, etc. He comes across as intelligent, witty, funny, etc. But his off the cuff personal anecdotes are all carefully rehearsed sound bytes which turn me off a bit.
I bet he is a great guy who values his personal life and doesn’t really want to share it with us. Good on him. But I get a little turned off by his carefully rehearsed way of constantly letting us know, over and over again, how deep down a great guy he is when in fact, I don’t think I really know anything about him at all.
It’s a beautifully shot movie, but perhaps a little too weird to be equivalent to North by Northwest or Casablanca. It was rumored that Soderbergh ‘helped’ a lot with the direction, which might take away the singularness somewhat. Anyway, I did like it, and I’d like to watch it again. Clooney’s last scene in that one is a marvel.
Like many here, I beg to differ also. Sure, he had his share of clunkers and forgettables, but he also had, as many have mentioned,
Out of Sight
Three Kings
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Fail Safe
South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut
The Thin Red Line
I know they’re disliked or disregarded by some, but I absolutely loved Solaris and Intolerable Cruelty. The Oceans films are fun, fluffy eye candy, and I thought he did a good job in The Perfect Storm.
He deserves much credit for directing Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (which I see he is getting)
I see he also Executive Produced Fail Safe, Insomnia (the Christopher Nolan film with Al Pacino, Hilary Swank, and Robin Williams) and Far From Heaven.
He’s been around, paying his dues since 1984. He’s finally where he wants to be and good for him.
I can’t wait for his next movie, Steven Soderbergh’s The Good German, starring with Cate Blanchett and Tobey Maguire.
If he’s not a Hollywood Legend yet, he’s well on his way.
I didn’t mean to belittle his work. I find most of those films enjoyable.
But there wasn’t a Godfather or Vertigo in there.
Someone else summed it up better than me later in the thread. He doesn’t have any universally and commercially praised “GREAT” works.
Scarlett Johanssen could do it except her age is a tad too young. Zooey Deschanel might also be a fit.
I’m sorry, but when Sinatra got involved with the Mafia, he lost any vestige of cool he might once have possessed.
Brief hijack here for a Sinatra story.
Jay Leno was once asked what was the funniest joke he’d ever heard. Leno said it was a joke Sheckey Greene told years ago in his Vegas standup act. The joke:
“A lot of people say Frank Sinatra’s a bum. Not me. In fact, Frank saved my life one night. A couple of thugs were beating the hell out me in the parking lot of a casino, and Frank said, ‘OK boys – He’s had enough!’”
Scarlet Johanssen, clearly.