Funnily, the first movie bothered me because I grew near a (the?) Port Royal which was a hotbed of piracy--the pirate capital of the world, and one of the richest cities in the Americas. So it was jarring to see their Port Royal, peaceful, and with dramatic cliff coastlines.

I just watched a History Channel special on Port Royal, and it was jarring to hear them call it that, because it was not the city of the movie at all.

Agreeing with Betsy's whitefont.

Talking with a friend and remembering one of the best parts of the movie: "The Man on the Flying Trapeze" done in the style of the film score. So awesome.

As I'm always a couple of weeks behind, this weekend I saw Supes. I wanted to see the Devil Wears Prada, but it was sold out (whereas Superman is still playing on FIVE screens at the local Loews. Because they're not showing POTC I guess.)

Went back and read the whitefont. Mostly, I'm with ita - this wasn't my movie. I didn't think it was bad, by any means, and there were a few moments I pretty much loved, mostly inside-jokey stuff like the "It's a bird." "It's a plane." "No, look, it's..." moment. And I liked that he rescued Lois in a space-plane disaster, for comic history's sake. Parker Posey was great. And I actually really liked Kate Bosworth, but she's so completely my type, physically, that my brain may be on "want!" mode more than evaluation mode in that judgment.

Bad things: the Plan was painfully dumb, the angst scenes and action scenes were generally too long and laid on too heavily, and I don't like the idea of a Superman Baby at all. I came out feeling kind of "So?" about it. And my butt hurt, but I blame myself arriving too late to sit far enough back for that.

Reviewer: Frankly, this movie made my ass hurt. I really shouldn't have had the chance to think that so frequently...it was a little slow, too.Ha.

I really like this post off my flist about POTC 2 and various themes and motifs and what worked and didn't in the movie.

Lots of people wanted to see the Space Monkeys.

Reminded me of the escalation that happened in LoTR from the cave troll fight (perfect!) to Legolas taking down the Olyphaunt (animated overkill).

OK, I still can't read the whitefont on POTC2 (although The Flick Filosopher spoiled me for some stuff, damn her eyes), but this statement I can wholeheartedly agree with.

Remember when Legolas did that split-second "wait, how did he get up on that horse?" freaky Elf thing? That was kinda nifty.

Stupid boys with their "wouldn't it be cool if we did this?" t kicks oliphaunt

From P-Cow's link:

Keys! - organ keys, Gov.'s shackles, Eliz in jail

When Will was poking around Davy Jones' tentacles with the quill and stick, someone behind me whispered, "Watch the keys!" I couldn't figure out why the person had pluralized the key around Jones' neck until the tentacles hit the organ, and then I went "OH A MOTIF!"

So, keys and locks. Jones' key and chest, obviously. The organ keys on the Flying Dutchman. Elizabeth, Will, and Governer Swann in alternating shackles and jail cells. Each unlocked with keys -- Elizabeth doesn't break out of jail, Gov. Swann unlocks her door. The dog swimming with the jail keys. Elizabeth shackling Jack to the Black Pearl, which I think may be the one time in the movie that something is locked and not opened via key. Tia the Voodoo Woman unlocks Jack the Monkey's cage. I'm sure there's more.

I'm thinking the theme is freedom.

I'm thinking the theme is freedom.

For those who don't want to register, another bit from the BOM interview:

Box Office Mojo: What is the meaning of the series?

Ted Elliott: It's a study of what is a pirate. How free can you really be? What are those trade-offs? Jack kind of represents the ultimate free man—he really has no obligations to anybody, and, obviously, if you make an obligation to somebody, you're limiting your own freedom. But, if you're not willing to limit your own freedom, you can't have those relationships. If you look at Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest from that point of view, you kind of see what really leads to Jack's ultimate fate and why Elizabeth does what she does.