Plundered to Death

Well, we went and saw Pirates of the Caribean: On Stranger Tides.

Did I like it? Yes. Did I love it? No.

I’d not been too crazy about more “Pirates” movies to begin with, to be honest. But the fact is that I love Jack Sparrow to pieces [of eight]. He’s one of the best characters to come along in quite some time, in my opinion.  I figured if they’re going to send more of him our way, then I’d welcome it.

But the truth is my apprehension proved correct. All the time I’d been watching the movie I’d been wondering why I’d been there. Again, it’s not that the movie is bad in the least. Just that enough is enough. It felt nearly forced. I mean, I’d not been entirely keen on the last two. It’s also true that I didn’t dislike nor like them. It felt forced then. So to go on and give us yet another tale... well, I just couldn’t be excited about it.

And the general consensus is that they’ll be bringing two more films. I think I’m going to wait until home video for those.

For the record, I did not see it in 3-D. I had sort of wanted to, just to give it that extra edge since the first three movies had not been. But then, there’s these two factors: When 3-D is post production [a la not filmed/shot in 3-D] it shows. Second, some of the people I went with don’t like 3-D at all. I thought perhaps if I loved the movie I’d go check it out again with the enhancement. But sadly, that’s not going to happen.

It has some great F/X and such I’ll give it that.  The mermaids are very cool!  Although I had to roll my eyes at an aspect of them (hint: teeth) but that's just my personal bias - yet it didn't swim right with Bart either, who adores mermaids.

I’d just not been “on board” - and I had desired to be.

Let this, then, serve as a reminder that it’s entirely possible to push a story too far. Sequels must be done when and only when the story is worth telling for sure. And no, that is not a slam against Tim Powers, whose book they plundered to create this movie. Admittedly I have not read his book, but I’m pretty confident that it has its own flair, not mucked up by the nearly-not-quite-rehashed characters in the Disney movies. For it’s a fine story, to be fair. But coupled with MORE of the SAME, well, it ceases to be a treasure.

A Little Lesson on Teach

Just had to share:

On this day in history -

1718 English pirate, Edward Teach (a.k.a. "Blackbeard"), was killed during a battle off the coast of North Carolina, near Ocracoke Island. British soldiers cornered him aboard his ship and killed him. He was shot and stabbed more than 25 times.

One of the most infamous pirates to be sure.  And yes, he's mentioned in Sir J.M. Barrie's masterpiece.  We learn that Captain Hook had been Blackbeard's bo'sun.  For the record, a reference to his ship is one of the hints to Hook in my book Peter Pan: Betwixt-and-Between.

Blackbeard is also going to appear alongside everybody's current favorite buccaneer in the upcoming installment of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Worth the Pryce

Just a little shout out about excellent actor Jonathan Pryce. He's currently playing the role of Captain Hook in Peter Pan the Show, which is the touring production of the new adaptation that began in London as Peter Pan at Kensington Gardens. (You might recall Bart and I went to London to see the historical stage show.) While I would not have thought of Mr. Pryce right off the bat to play Barrie's fearsome pirate lord with a claw, he's certainly got the talent and the power to do it. Especially given the presentation of Hook in this production.

Jonathan Pryce is always great in films and plays in two I especially like: The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.* He's in lots more worth seeing as well. And I am currently enjoying his singing. Yes, really. He played Guido in a concert performance of Nine, and you can bet that Bart has it. (I rather like "Guido's Song.")

So HOORAY for Mr. Pryce as the infamous Captain Hook, break a leg, sir!

Two side notes:

#1 My niece and nephew went to see Peter Pan the Show in San Francisco, where the touring of the U.S. began. The general consensus is that they liked it. However, I found it rather satisfying that they, too, were annoyed at the visible puppeteers (for Nana and other creatures.) Nice to know kids do have discriminating tastes. For as I mentioned in my review, although there is a time and place for the operators to be seen without ruining the 'magic' on stage (such as Chicago's Redmoon Theatre Company), it just seems to kill the mood in a showing of Peter Pan.

#2 I'd gone to Peter and Wendy to search for a fun description of Peter's first nemesis... and discovered an interesting bit of trivia instead. I'll let you in on it tomorrow.

* Yes, he also plays Governor Weatherby Swann in other PotC films. But let's face it, the first one is so far the best.

Digging for More...

I suppose I should have seen this coming.
I really should have…
…but I didn’t.

Another movie adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island is on the way.
If you’re not already aware, Treasure Island is one of my favorite books. In my opinion, it’s one of the best books ever.

It’s not only a cherished favorite of mine, but Stevenson had been friends with Barrie. I’m sure I’ve mentioned that the stories of Peter Pan and Treasure Island are connected, on purpose. I even have my character Jeremy Strache adore the book in my novel What If It’s a Trick Question?

I’ll admit that the prospect of a Treasure Island done with the flair and caliber of Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl is tempting. But do we really need another adaptation of it? That’s what some said about Hogan’s Peter Pan film. However, there’s a big difference. Before Hogan, no Pan film (other than silent) existed. According to Wikipedia, there are over 50 movie versions of Treasure Island. So why do it again? So that we CAN get the savvy treatment it might deserve? Okay, maybe…

…but then why do they have to go and say they want Long John Silver to be “hipper” and what does that even mean?

Disney already tried a “hip” version of Stevenson’s classic. It didn’t quite work. I can’t say I disliked Treasure Planet, but I certainly did not consider it good. Much to enjoy in it, sure, but overall they didn’t capture the essence of the book for me. Not by a longshot. They spent too much focus re-inventing it into a space theme. But I will say I loved their Jim Hawkins, which is saying a lot, since I love that young man to pieces.

Thus, I’m a little worried about this one… it will probably turn out to be an overt bastardization like the recent movie of Sherlock Holmes.

Oh well…

Videos to Let Your Imagination Soar...

Both of these videos impressed me. Thanks to Celly222 and dangerawesome for taking the time to create them. One is a music video about a generator of much speculation - the mysterious crop circles. The other - a well done blending of two perfect films. Bravo!

Ask And Ye Shall Receive...

I got to matching Billy Joel's "Captain Jack" with Captain Jack Sparrow of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean series. Naturally I wanted to have a music video using clips from the movies. I knew I could do it. I have the means, but I cowered in the face of the amount of work and time that would be involved. I have completed projects such as this many times before. But my desire to see it did not outweigh my unwillingness to do it. Then I realized that it probably had already been done. To YouTube! Voila. Several, in fact. This is the first one I went to and I enjoyed it very much. CJMylentz, Thank You and Bravo! Drink up me hearties, yo ho!

A little fun with characters...

This is a little bit of wishful thinking I had using PhotoShop. Another one of Disney's triumphs happened to be Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. (I did like the sequels, but certainly not nearly as much and had some 'issues' with them, but nothing major.) I do so love the character of Captain Jack Sparrow and couldn't help myself from pitting him against Peter Pan. Like I said, it's just a bit of fun. I'm not suggesting that this pairing should or could happen. But's only natural to think about it. Pirates, Pan...you know... ;)