Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

     I know it's been a while since I started this blog but I hope you can forgive me. Today on this yucky rainy Tuesday I'm curled up on the couch with one of my favorite movies. I first saw Pirates in the theater on a date when I was sixteen. I can't believe this movie is already a decade old! I mean it's already in fifth grade. They grow up so fast! I digress...
     Black Pearl is the first in a franchise that started off with a bang worthy of Queen Elizabeth's diamond jubilee fireworks parade on the Thames and ended in a sad fizzle like a barely-lit birthday candle. The first film presented audiences with a swashbuckling fantasy and it's producers immediately realized it's money-making potential. Of the four, Black Pearl is by far the best and should have remained a stand-alone film. Once Disney tacked on the subsequent sequels it was all downhill from there.
     From the first glimpse of the film it's easy to see how much money went into this project, and everything meshes wonderfully. The costumes and makeup/hair design are incredible, albeit terribly stylized. Period films seem to be difficult for Hollywood because too much historical accuracy can drive potential viewers away while too little can equally alienate people. In reality pirates were murderers, thieves and cutthroats who generally devoted every aspect of their day to day existence to survival. They didn't wear big feathered hats and walk around with cute little monkeys and chatty parrots on their shoulders. But they were making a movie, not a documentary, so I appreciate the creative license that was taken.
     The casting of this film was absolutely perfect. The main cast brings a wonderful element of old Hollywood, Erroll Flynn essence and the secondary cast backs them up with an eclectic mixture of characters, adding a touch of realism. I can't put my finger on which character is my favorite because they each make me want to watch the entire movie focusing only on his/her individual performance. Also, the film just wouldn't be the same were even one missing.
     I could go on forever about the amazing sets, the stunning on-location vistas and ohmigosh they got a REAL pirate ship! If I could change anything I'd add the two deleted scenes between Jack and Elizabeth on their deserted island. A big chunk of Jack's personality and motivation is lost when those two scenes aren't included. The movie makes him seem silly but the deleted bits show him as a real person, a man with more going on than meets the eye. There's another scene between them that I would've liked in the completed film that's also on the DVD extras: on the ship later when Jack tells her they're “peas in a pod." But maybe Disney thought it portrayed their heroine as more cutthroat pirate than damsel in distress. I think it makes her more realistic and I like her better that way.
     I love the look Elizabeth gives Jack in the end when he tells her "It would never have worked between us darling." That one little expression leaves the door wide open for interpretation. What happened between them that we didn't see? Is there something juicy that we missed?  But it's left to us to speculate on. The other DVD extras are fantastic, giving us a glimpse into the film-making process. The movie turned out really well and I applaude Disney's effort.  All in all Black Pearl is a great summer blockbuster that both adults and kids can enjoy. It's a good choice for date night, movie night, family night and fits well on my movie shelf.

The Bounty Hunter

     For my first film I know I could've gone with something more dramatic to grab my potential reader's attention, maybe a classic horror flick or one of those epic trilogies that are collecting dust on the bookshelf. But I had a craving for a light rom-com (romantic comedy) so I grabbed Andy Tennant's 2010 The Bounty Hunter.
     What really drew me to buy this movie in the first place, to be quite honest, was the picture on the cover. I know you cant judge a book by its cover but when I saw that Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler were in this movie I just couldn't resist. I absolutely adore Jennifer Aniston, especially since I finally stopped seeing her as one of my beloved Friends. She's a great comedic actress and fits well into the role of Nicole Hurley, an ambitious reporter who's traffic ticket snowballs into a bench warrant when she skips her bail hearing to chase down a lead on a new story. While I wouldn't have necessarily chosen Gerard Butler as her ex-cop turned bounty hunter ex-husband, he did a relatively good job. Personally I missed his extremely thick Scottish accent and there's something about him, maybe his ripped, buff physique that makes me want to petition Hollywood to only have him in shirtless roles. His accent still seeps through at times but its forgivable and boy are his eyes incredibly blue!
     Rounding out the cast are Siobhan Fallon Hogan as the bail bonds secretary (yes the woman from the beginning of the first MIB), Jason Sudeikis as Nicole's office stalker Stewart and my personal favorite, the one and only Christine Baranski. I was also excited to see Cathy Moriarty in this flick as well. You may remember her as the husky-voiced Carrigan Crittenden from Casper.
    This film has an almost over-abundance of sarcastic, witty dialogue to the point that it precariously balances on the tip-top of the fence between okay and too much. Almost every word spoken is purely in the interest of advancing the confusing plot that steamrolls the romantic and the comedy aspects of the film. The soundtrack is great though and tossing in the Bee Gees was a nice touch. Aniston's boobs look fantastic in the little black dress they have her wearing for almost the entire movie and Butler has a charming, good-boy quality that makes his performance less annoying. Halfway through the movie the plot snags like a sweater on a nail and ends up shredded. The final act isn't so much a conclusion as an abrupt ending. I think that you could give the script to two writers and have them embellish each plot line into two separate movies.
     All in all, if you can forgive it it's shortcomings, this isn't a terrible movie. I would probably watch it again when I'm in the mood for something silly with an interesting collection of actors that unexpectedly fit well together. I certainly don't foresee it being one of my must-see favorites but for a delivery pizza kinda date night, it's alright.

3/5 stars

Welcome to the show!

Hi everybody thanks for visiting my blog! I've always wanted to be a writer and this is my first entry. I'm one of those people who make goals, push them to the back of the top shelf and forget about them. But not this time!! This blog is going to combine two of my favorite things: movies and writing. I don't exactly know how many movies we have but I am going to review each and every one of them and post a detailed critique on my blog. I hope to have one out every few days. Stay tuned to my site for new entries and possibly new blogs later on. Thanks again! Much love!! :)