You can't beat a good swashbuck for pure enjoyment, and throw in Mr Depp hamming it up for all he's worth and you have a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours entertainment.
What do you film experts/buffs think?
Pirates Of The Caribbean
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so lacklustre
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Pirates Of The Caribbean
signed with love and vicious kisses
I agree with you that Johnny Depp's gloriously fey performance made the movie entertaining. My girlfriend and I caught it a few weeks ago when we just wanted some popcorn escapism and we both enjoyed it. It went on about 40 minutes too long, the sword fights became indistinguishable and Lelia thought that it was unbelievable for the girl to fall for Orlando Bloom when "Johnny Depp is just fucking hot." I'm happy the movie has raked in a ton of money because it gives Depp more clout to do things like Ed Wood and Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas.
I also thought it was incredibly cheeky to cast Jonathan Pryce as a loving, devoted father. The man looked like he had something VERY naughty on his mind in every single scene he was in. I love Jonathan Pryce. Geoffrey Rush didn't have much to work with though, did he? I'll never understand hiring actors of that stature (and price range) and then not giving them much to do other than vamp.
I also thought it was incredibly cheeky to cast Jonathan Pryce as a loving, devoted father. The man looked like he had something VERY naughty on his mind in every single scene he was in. I love Jonathan Pryce. Geoffrey Rush didn't have much to work with though, did he? I'll never understand hiring actors of that stature (and price range) and then not giving them much to do other than vamp.
I love swashbucklers a lot, and I had fairly high hopes given Mr. Depp's notices and the writers, who did a good job on "Shrek."
Still, the whole thing left me kind of cold, despite some nice sword fights and overall good acting, particularly from Depp. (I too am a Johnathan Pryce fan, btw, though I'm not sure I get the "naughty" vibe from him. I think he excels at playing milk toast types, like in "Glengary Glen Ross" and here.)
All I could think about is that Bloom and Depp are actually about the perfect age respectively to star as hero and villain in a remake of my all-time favorite sword-fight movie, "Scaramouche" (the 1950's version with Stewart Granger, Mel Ferrer, Janet Leigh and Eleanor Parker, I think -- based on a mediocre novel by Rafael Sabatini -- but which a remake would want to stick closer to, 'cause there's some interesting stuff in in).
Otherwise, I grew sort of impatient and kept thinking how much better it would have been if they could've gotten Joss "Buffy" Whedon to write it (though considering his record with somemovie rewrites, perhaps it wouldn't have helped....he worked on the first "Toy Story," but also "Waterworld.")
Still, the whole thing left me kind of cold, despite some nice sword fights and overall good acting, particularly from Depp. (I too am a Johnathan Pryce fan, btw, though I'm not sure I get the "naughty" vibe from him. I think he excels at playing milk toast types, like in "Glengary Glen Ross" and here.)
All I could think about is that Bloom and Depp are actually about the perfect age respectively to star as hero and villain in a remake of my all-time favorite sword-fight movie, "Scaramouche" (the 1950's version with Stewart Granger, Mel Ferrer, Janet Leigh and Eleanor Parker, I think -- based on a mediocre novel by Rafael Sabatini -- but which a remake would want to stick closer to, 'cause there's some interesting stuff in in).
Otherwise, I grew sort of impatient and kept thinking how much better it would have been if they could've gotten Joss "Buffy" Whedon to write it (though considering his record with somemovie rewrites, perhaps it wouldn't have helped....he worked on the first "Toy Story," but also "Waterworld.")
http://www.forwardtoyesterday.com -- Where "hopelessly dated" is a compliment!
bobster is now poppet's favorite board member. a mention of buffy, and i didn't even bring it up!!!bobster wrote:....Otherwise, I grew sort of impatient and kept thinking how much better it would have been if they could've gotten Joss "Buffy" Whedon to write it (though considering his record with somemovie rewrites, perhaps it wouldn't have helped....he worked on the first "Toy Story," but also "Waterworld.")
but don't you think waterworld was hopeless anyway? there's only so much rewrite can do, and if other forces are against you (e.g. donald sutherland in the buffy movie) you're just sunk. sunk, get it?
to get back to the topic, i thought it was a fun movie. not the best, but fun. johnny depp was amazing, and orlando bloom was dreamy.
i saw benny & joon recently on tv - pretty dumb movie. however, johnny depp's physical comedy scenes were spot on. a thing of beauty.
... name the stars and constellations,
count the cars and watch the seasons....
count the cars and watch the seasons....
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martinfoyle
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At the other end of the scale, the other Jerry Bruckheimer film of this summer, at least here in Ireland and the UK, Veronica Guerin, is just as good. Great performance by Cate Blanchett, horrificly real performance as the main bad guy by Gerard MacSorley, this film really delivers. The only off note is the fantasy voiceover at the end. Jerry earns much respect from me for backing a film like this.
MF --
They'll probably release "Veronica Guerin" stateside in the fall or winter. (They usually open films deemed Oscar possibilities later on in the year, so they'll still be fresh in Academy voters minds next Spring, which leads to an embaraassing last minute flurry of decent studio movies.)
Glad to hear it's good -- though I'm surprised, given it's director is Joel Schumacher...no one's favorite director, though there are some "Lost Boys" fans out there....
Which brings me to Poppet --
Surely, we need to start some separate site up for joint EC and "Buffy" (and "Angel" and "Firefly") fans. It's a bit of a similar obsession in that few of my friends share it (actually none with Buffy; most of my pals are at least passingly familiar with EC) and I tend to rattle on about it if I don't watch myself. I've been trying for converts, but my tele-prostyletizing ain't working, so, right now, you're my closest pal in my love of the world's greatest monster-oriented superhero soap opera.
Re: "Waterworld" -- gotta admit that I haven't seen it and I know some folks who deem it "alright." Still, I can say in general that I suspect you're right about Joss Whedon's invovlement. When you call in a script doctor, it won't do much good if the patient is already terminal. The best you can hope is the cinematic equivalent of morphine, perhaps a few good jokes or a couple of deletions to make the pain less long-lived. I get the impression Whedon's been in that spot a few times. (I'm also thinking of "Alien Russerection", which I haven't seen either, but I've heard plenty bad about.)
The problem is, I think, they don't call in script doctors enough when things are more or less working but there's still room for improvement. I always say that "Titanic" could have been a truly great film (rather than an acceptable, if ovelry sentimental, backlash-engendering megahit) and perhaps an even bigger hit if they had let John Sayles (who worked with James Cameron on Terminator II and the much earlier Piranha) do a pass through it.
They'll probably release "Veronica Guerin" stateside in the fall or winter. (They usually open films deemed Oscar possibilities later on in the year, so they'll still be fresh in Academy voters minds next Spring, which leads to an embaraassing last minute flurry of decent studio movies.)
Glad to hear it's good -- though I'm surprised, given it's director is Joel Schumacher...no one's favorite director, though there are some "Lost Boys" fans out there....
Which brings me to Poppet --
Surely, we need to start some separate site up for joint EC and "Buffy" (and "Angel" and "Firefly") fans. It's a bit of a similar obsession in that few of my friends share it (actually none with Buffy; most of my pals are at least passingly familiar with EC) and I tend to rattle on about it if I don't watch myself. I've been trying for converts, but my tele-prostyletizing ain't working, so, right now, you're my closest pal in my love of the world's greatest monster-oriented superhero soap opera.
Re: "Waterworld" -- gotta admit that I haven't seen it and I know some folks who deem it "alright." Still, I can say in general that I suspect you're right about Joss Whedon's invovlement. When you call in a script doctor, it won't do much good if the patient is already terminal. The best you can hope is the cinematic equivalent of morphine, perhaps a few good jokes or a couple of deletions to make the pain less long-lived. I get the impression Whedon's been in that spot a few times. (I'm also thinking of "Alien Russerection", which I haven't seen either, but I've heard plenty bad about.)
The problem is, I think, they don't call in script doctors enough when things are more or less working but there's still room for improvement. I always say that "Titanic" could have been a truly great film (rather than an acceptable, if ovelry sentimental, backlash-engendering megahit) and perhaps an even bigger hit if they had let John Sayles (who worked with James Cameron on Terminator II and the much earlier Piranha) do a pass through it.
http://www.forwardtoyesterday.com -- Where "hopelessly dated" is a compliment!
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martinfoyle
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So was I. Sure it has that rich Schumacher look, the parts of Dublin used really are not that glamourous. It's the way he lets the characters breath that make this film work so well. Phone Booth was not bad either. Also I saw Joel queueing with us mere mortals a number times at Dublin's IFC art cinema while he was making this film. A decent skin, as they say around here, its his big films that suck. I'll be avoiding his Phantom film like the plague.Glad to hear it's good -- though I'm surprised, given it's director is Joel Schumacher...no one's favorite director, though there are some "Lost Boys" fans out there....
oh no, there's room for us here. we'll convert the masses! or, keep to our own thread, with occasional spillover.bobster wrote: Surely, we need to start some separate site up for joint EC and "Buffy" (and "Angel" and "Firefly") fans....
fyi, my fav site for news about the whedonverse is http://whedonesque.com
... name the stars and constellations,
count the cars and watch the seasons....
count the cars and watch the seasons....
I wasn't particularly overwhelmed by Veronica Guerin, it was a bit 'Auld Mr Brennan...' in places (obscure Irish reference). MacSorely was great though, and the locations were kosher. Really liked PhoneBooth, really want to see Pirates... because Depp based his whole character on Keith Richards, which looks funny.
DrJ
DrJ
Tlentifini Maarhaysu