Sunday, July 28, 2013

You'd Best Start Believin' in Ghost Stories...

As I mentioned in my Lone Ranger review, I saw a movie on my birthday ten years ago with the same star, director, and writing team as that one. It was a movie I didn't think would go anywhere, but it ended up becoming one of my favorites of all time.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl is ten years old this month.



I wasn't the only one with little faith. When everyone heard that Disney would be making a movie based on one of its theme park rides, everyone on the planet rolled their eyes.

The first hint I got that it might be good is when I heard Johnny Depp's name attached, followed by Geoffrey Rush. I was a fan of Rush in "Mystery Men" and a few other oddities I saw him in, and of course Depp has been one of my favorite actors for a while because Edward Scissorhands was me at 13 (more on that another time).

The film, of course, was a brilliant action-adventure flick that made a ton of money and spawned three sequels (and counting) that the public slowly grew sick of, but I didn't care.

Jack Sparrow is one of the great characters of our time, and I'd watch him in anything.

The rest of the movie looked beautiful, it was funny, it was thrilling, it was just fun. I always have a lot of fun watching it and its sequels.

Because this is one of my favorite franchises of all time, I will be giving the sequels their due on their respective anniversaries. Suffice to say, unlike most, I actually think they improved as time went on. This one will always be a great introduction, and the most visceral.

There's really not a whole lot more I can say about it. Go see it if you haven't already.

But why is the rum gone?!

6 comments:

  1. I am really happy for Pirate' 10th anniversary. This franchise is easily one of my favorites next to Star Wars. Why is the *always* rum gone?

    Also...

    WHY HASN'T THIS COME TO DISNEY CHANNEL YET?!?!?!? Seriously they can air all those other theme park-based movies on that channel but not THIS one?! Is it because of the PG-13 rating or what?

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    1. Probably the rating. Although it bothers me what they do and don't find acceptable on TV these days.

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    2. Well at least All Pirate Movies air on ABC family from time to time. We can at least watch them on a Disney-owned network. How long do you think it will take for Star Wars and Indiana Jones to get there?

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    3. Whenever the Spike contract is up, I imagine.

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    4. As of now the first three Pirates are airing on Disney XD. Disney is right, dreams DO come true!

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  2. I remember when my parents took my sister and I to a drive-in movie one night to see "Finding Nemo". Unfortunately, they told us, it was the second film of the show and we'd have to sit through some movie based on a ride. What luck.

    Man, were we in for a shock.


    I may not be *that* fond of the franchise itself (though I quite like World's End) and I harbor a great deal of resentment for what it ended up doing to the Disneyland ride (and more importantly the WDW version, which was almost criminal), but *man* the first film is amazing. One of the great unexpected joys of my childhood.

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