Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Lots of screenings of this one this week. I’m amazed to see that PG-13 on a Walt Disney Pictures film, but I guess it had to happen eventually, and this seems like a good title to have it happen to.
Pleaseletthisbefunpleaseletthisbefun...
Hi Harry,
Yo ho! Yo Ho! The Pirates life for me. I just got to see one of the first screenings in LA of Pirates of the Carribean. Hooray for good Pirate movies. It's long over due. While supposedly not quite finished there weren't too many things that needed to be tweaked for final distribution. This movie was exactly what it needed to be, everything that I had hoped for it to be. It was a fun and fantastic story that calls back to the ride that inspired it. These call backs are brilliantly funny and avoid being cheesy which would have been so easy. As for the writing, there was only one line in the movie that is really quite bad, I think it's in the trailor, but that is forgiveabe what with the rest of it being so good.
The entire cast is excellent, but Johnny Depp is brilliant. He is a master at playing quirky, something I usu ally hold against him in his choices of roles...I wonder what he could do with a "normal" character. But, I digress, Johnny Depp is Captain Jack Sparrow. I can imagine no one else pulling him off so perfectly. Kira Knightly is everything you could hope for in a spunky damsel in distress.
I don't want to go into spoilers but just wanted to let everyone know that this flick doesn't disappoint. It is a total romp. If you want more detail I can give it, but first I'm off to buy an eyepatch and a parrot.
Call me "alphabet soup".
Okay, that was a quicky. This next one’s a bit more in-depth. Let’s see if it’s good or bad.
Hey Harry,
I noticed that no one else had written in about the preview screening of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN that Bruckheimer held (and hosted) on Saturday night, so I thought I would weigh in.
First of all, it was a kick and a nice surprise to have Bruckheimer there, and speaking about the film. He explained that the print we were seeing was incomplete, etc. (looked pretty good to me though).
What we had the opportunity to see was some of the most shameless fun I have had at the movies in a longtime. Dictionary definition popcorn flick. I won't go into plot specifics (mostly b/c it's not worth it...the script is sometimes surprisingly convoluted for this type of film) But the story of how the titular curse came upon the Black Pearl - the pirate's ship – and the effects of the curse itself are pretty unique.
The obligatory romantic subplot (along with it's main players) is the most boring aspect of the film. I realized watching this why Orlando is so great as Legolas: it's b/c being stony and docile works for the elves that Tolkein created, but not so much as a scallywag. Oh well.
The action set pieces aren't always unique, but they all work, and are fun to see (especially when there is a skeleton at the other end of a sword), and Johnny's first escape attempt, segueing into his sword fight with Orlando are the epitome of action as humor.
The strongest elements in the film are Depp and Rush as the 'good' and 'bad' pirates, respectively. It is clear that both actors had loads of fun with these roles, and are hysterically funny (the first shot of Depp's Jack Sparrow still has me giggling two days later). Personally, I love both of these actors in almost anything and as far as "surprising commercial vehicles" go, this was a smart move for both of them.
I hope this film is successful, b/c it was just a good time. It played wonderfully with the audience I saw it with, but the last twenty or so years of movie-goers have not been kind to pirates in the cineplexes. I'm interested to see how this one plays with the crowds.
Drink up me hearties, yo ho.
In'n'Out
Cooooooool. I’m sure we’ll hear more about this one in the days ahead.
"Moriarty" out.
