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May. 29th, 2007 08:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ebonlockFirst and foremost congrats to Aelf and team for another delightfully clever, well put together, and gorgeous group costume this year, click to see Baycon's latest Best in Show winners!
Second, long but lovely weekend with scads of socializing and getting shit done, even managed a couple of loads of laundry and washing my car (finally!), so I felt very productive. Even made time to swing into work and take care of some of the customer support that had stacked up over the weekend. Go me!
And last night I finally got to see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End which surprised me a lot with how much I enjoyed it. I hadn't expected much as I'd liked (not loved) the first and found the second tedious but the third actually gave me a story wherein each character had an important part to play and it wasn't just the "Witty Jack" show. And, ok, I admit freely that I'm such a Geoffrey Rush fan that I'd happily watch him read the phonebook for nearly 3 hours...especially if he did it in character. So getting a lot more Captain Barbossa made me ecstatic.
I'm not sure who was responsible for the filming of the first fight sequence in Shanghai, but whoever it was needs to be pummeled and sent to Hong Kong for a few months to learn how one films fight sequences. The camera was pulled in so tight most of the time that you couldn't make out any of what was going on. You'd see a flash of color and then the camera was pointing somewhere else. It was really sloppy work and not a terribly auspicious way to start the film.
Chow Yun Fat was hideously underused in the film, which made me rather sad as well. It didn't help that he seemed to have little to no idea what his character's motivations were or have a genuine understanding for and love of pirates in general. Instead of being threatening he came off as bemused most of the time, which was weird 'cause I've seen him do seriously threatening in "Curse of the Golden Flower". He was more a plot device than a character which seemed a shame given the caliber of actor chosen to play him.
Barbossa pretty much stole the film in every single scene he was in, I figure Depp stole it from Rush in the first go round and he was determined not to be undermined in this one. I liked that he gave the viewer a bit more than the script offered in terms of the character's motivations and his own delightfully skewed sense of honor. His actions made sense from start to finish and the story line was surprisingly poignant.
Jack was...well, Jack, and I liked the fact that it was rather tough to tell that he'd actually lost his mind. I mean he kind of always acts a bit mental so nobody really even noticed. He got all the best lines, of course, and this time around his plots also seemed (for him at least) logical. He swung wildly between extreme guile and reckless good fortune, when one of the naval officers wonders aloud how much Jack actually plans and how much he simply makes shit up as he goes along the audience responded with delight. The character embodies panache.
Will and Elizabeth were their usual plodding selves, their only breakaway scene was realy the amazing wedding sequence where they're hitched by Barbossa while all are engaged in a desperate battle between the crews of the Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman. I did like their finale, with Will becoming the new captain of the Dutchman when Davy Jones is finally dispatched. And I must admit I'd never found Orlando Bloom terribly enticing, but once he put that scarf on his head I changed my mind.
The ensemble cast was strong and used quite nicely throughout, and even the monkey Jack was a delight. But the nicest thing about the film was how it beautifully handled about six different running plots simultaneously with double, triple and more crosses going on at any given time. And then it wrapped up each plotline with a nice tidy little bow at the end. Masterful, just masterful. I came away from the movie both content with where the story had gone and secretly hoping there'd be another. Only in the next one no more Will and Elizabeth, their story was told and ended. However I'd watch a few dozen more of the movies with Captain Jack and Barbossa one upping each other in their constant quest for immortality.
Second, long but lovely weekend with scads of socializing and getting shit done, even managed a couple of loads of laundry and washing my car (finally!), so I felt very productive. Even made time to swing into work and take care of some of the customer support that had stacked up over the weekend. Go me!
And last night I finally got to see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End which surprised me a lot with how much I enjoyed it. I hadn't expected much as I'd liked (not loved) the first and found the second tedious but the third actually gave me a story wherein each character had an important part to play and it wasn't just the "Witty Jack" show. And, ok, I admit freely that I'm such a Geoffrey Rush fan that I'd happily watch him read the phonebook for nearly 3 hours...especially if he did it in character. So getting a lot more Captain Barbossa made me ecstatic.
I'm not sure who was responsible for the filming of the first fight sequence in Shanghai, but whoever it was needs to be pummeled and sent to Hong Kong for a few months to learn how one films fight sequences. The camera was pulled in so tight most of the time that you couldn't make out any of what was going on. You'd see a flash of color and then the camera was pointing somewhere else. It was really sloppy work and not a terribly auspicious way to start the film.
Chow Yun Fat was hideously underused in the film, which made me rather sad as well. It didn't help that he seemed to have little to no idea what his character's motivations were or have a genuine understanding for and love of pirates in general. Instead of being threatening he came off as bemused most of the time, which was weird 'cause I've seen him do seriously threatening in "Curse of the Golden Flower". He was more a plot device than a character which seemed a shame given the caliber of actor chosen to play him.
Barbossa pretty much stole the film in every single scene he was in, I figure Depp stole it from Rush in the first go round and he was determined not to be undermined in this one. I liked that he gave the viewer a bit more than the script offered in terms of the character's motivations and his own delightfully skewed sense of honor. His actions made sense from start to finish and the story line was surprisingly poignant.
Jack was...well, Jack, and I liked the fact that it was rather tough to tell that he'd actually lost his mind. I mean he kind of always acts a bit mental so nobody really even noticed. He got all the best lines, of course, and this time around his plots also seemed (for him at least) logical. He swung wildly between extreme guile and reckless good fortune, when one of the naval officers wonders aloud how much Jack actually plans and how much he simply makes shit up as he goes along the audience responded with delight. The character embodies panache.
Will and Elizabeth were their usual plodding selves, their only breakaway scene was realy the amazing wedding sequence where they're hitched by Barbossa while all are engaged in a desperate battle between the crews of the Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman. I did like their finale, with Will becoming the new captain of the Dutchman when Davy Jones is finally dispatched. And I must admit I'd never found Orlando Bloom terribly enticing, but once he put that scarf on his head I changed my mind.
The ensemble cast was strong and used quite nicely throughout, and even the monkey Jack was a delight. But the nicest thing about the film was how it beautifully handled about six different running plots simultaneously with double, triple and more crosses going on at any given time. And then it wrapped up each plotline with a nice tidy little bow at the end. Masterful, just masterful. I came away from the movie both content with where the story had gone and secretly hoping there'd be another. Only in the next one no more Will and Elizabeth, their story was told and ended. However I'd watch a few dozen more of the movies with Captain Jack and Barbossa one upping each other in their constant quest for immortality.
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Date: 2007-05-29 11:28 pm (UTC)And I'm thinking: Me needs drawing of Captain Turner in the headscarf 'cause I totally squeed at that!!!!
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