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.
Saffron: You just had a better hand of cards this time. Mal: It ain't a hand of cards. It's called a life.
'Trash'
Buffista Movies 5: Development Hell
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
Polter-Cow - Jul 08, 2006 7:47:07 pm PDT #2815 of 10001
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
sumi - Jul 08, 2006 7:59:14 pm PDT #2816 of 10001
Art Crawl!!!
Volans - Jul 08, 2006 8:00:57 pm PDT #2817 of 10001
move out and draw fire
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.
DebetEsse - Jul 08, 2006 8:03:53 pm PDT #2818 of 10001
Woe to the fucking wicked.
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
DavidS - Jul 08, 2006 9:12:28 pm PDT #2819 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
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.
Strega - Jul 08, 2006 10:22:09 pm PDT #2820 of 10001
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.
Sean K - Jul 08, 2006 11:13:05 pm PDT #2821 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
I saw Supes and liked it. One of my main thoughts about the climax was "That's a lot of water displacement, man."
Matt the Bruins fan - Jul 09, 2006 6:36:34 am PDT #2822 of 10001
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
I guess he'll just fly around the earth really fast when he feels better and undo any tsunami damage .
Scrappy - Jul 09, 2006 9:02:59 am PDT #2823 of 10001
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Had Meryl Streep Fest last night. We went to Prairie Home Companion and Devil Wears Prada. I enjoyed parts of PHC, but it felt like there was no movie there. It didn't have the usual Altman genius with a messy sprawl of characters who all belong in the same world and also define that world. Here the characters never coalesced and it felt as if they were in different movies.
Liked Prada. Streep was a perfect evil boss. The fashon stuff was fun, although the plot was awfully. predictable. Still, fun. And could Anne Hathaway be more beautiful? I don't think so. And may I add that Adrian Grenier has the most adorable little smile ever.
sumi - Jul 09, 2006 10:08:31 am PDT #2824 of 10001
Art Crawl!!!
I really want to see The Devil Wears Prada.
Meanwhile question for the Pirate watching folks:
So I just got into this discussion about Norrington and his behavior. She feels like they totally reamed his character that in the first movie he was motivated by honor and therefore everything he did in the second movie was out of character. My feeling is that yeah - he was motivated by honor and he made that decision to let Jack and Will go but by doing so he committed treason and disgraced himself in society's eyes -- therefore it was understandable to me that he would have wound up where he was in the second movie. Also, I thought that he had to stay away from the authorities to avoid the gallows. She thought that he was safe because he resigned his commission. I also think that having been outside of society, living rough -- he finds he doesn't like it and is prepared to do what he feels he must to get back. Obviously, he can't go all the way back -- but he can get back enough that he has a job of sorts.
What do you guys think?