Archive for May, 2007
19 items.
Studios attempting to steer clear of the Spider-Man 3 juggernaut (which dropped 60% in it’s second week, but was the fifth film in history to cross the $200 million mark in 9 days) didn’t release many new films of interest this weekend, but of the new offerings, 28 Weeks Later came in second with $10 million. Not to bad. It’s been getting good reviews to boot.
I was kind of at a loss for the sketch I should do for today’s post. At first I tried my hand at drawing a crazed person diseased with the rage virus running at you. It didn’t turn out too well. Then I remembered the excellent marketing campaign 28 Weeks Later came up with in advance of the movie. Those great posters about “maintaining the quarantine” that they slapped up to make your local googleplex look like a totalitarian state. Excellent, eye-catching design. Almost like propaganda. Anyway, I remembered those and decided to try my hand at drawing some dude in a gas mask.
I’ve always found gas masks scary. Obviously they imply an unsafe environment where the air is unclean. That by itself is pretty frightening. But then you get those cloudy lenses, the protruding breathing apparatus and then deep, shallow gasps of filtered air. You think about those elements and it was no wonder Darth Vader scared the crap out of people before he was Hayden Christensen.
Kind of at a loss for words today, so I’ll wrap things up early. Two bits of news, though. The contest for Dreamgirls and Diggers is currently over with. I received my give away copies in the mail last week and sent them out on Saturday. So hopefully the winners will be receiving those soon. No new contests in the immediate future, but hopefully that turns around soon. Keep your eyes and ears peeled.
Oh, and speaking of keeping your ears peeled, be sure to tune into The Triple Feature talkcast tonight over at Talkshoe at 9:00 PM CST. Tonight it’ll be just me and Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex. Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies won’t be able to make it. We’ll probably be talking about 28 Weeks Later, but since I didn’t see it, a lot of tonight’s show is on Gordon’s shoulders. If you want to make our job easier by calling in and participating, that would be great!
One last thing before I forget. This one is for the local fans. Well, local if you’re from Iowa.
I will be at the I-Con Comic Book Convention at the 4-H Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds this Saturday, May 19 from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. This will be my first convention appearance of the year and I’m really looking forward to it. I went to I-Con for the first time last year and the event organizers really put on a good show. From what I’ve heard, it’ll be even bigger this year. So I hope to see you there!
Going to conventions gets me psyched and it’ll be interesting to see how many people locally will recognize me now that my comic has been regionally syndicated in Juice. I’m willing to bet it’ll be up to four people as opposed to three people last year. I made a slew of free buttons for the show, but I still need to print up fliers that I can give to people and entice them to check out the site. Now that I know what you guys think are some of the best strips, I have a good sample to choose from.
Wizard World Chicago in August will be my next convention and my hope is to have Theater Hopper: Year Three available by then. I’ve started doing the layout and I’ll probably have that done this week. After that, it’s writing and proofing. It’s always a lot of work, but a lot of fun.
I’m kind of holding my breath, though. I don’t know if I’ll actually end up producing the book this year and if I do, it’ll be a small print run. To be perfectly honest, I still have a bunch of copies of Year One and Year Two that I want to get out of the door before going to Chicago. They’re $15 a piece, in full-color and loaded down with content. Almost 200 pages each. If you guys want to help me move a little inventory, that would be great. Buy both books together and save five bucks. Bundle a book with a shirt and save, too. Or, help me think bigger. Does anyone have suggestions as to who I could sell a large quantity of books to? I’ve sold a few to local comic shops, but sending the books through Diamond Distribution to get them into stores outside of Iowa wouldn’t be profitable for me. I need to make some one-on-one sales.
Any suggestions?
Talk to you soon!
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Haven’t seen Charlie in a while, have we? Man, I need to update her hairstyle.
Shrek the Third comes out this weekend and I’m in this weird position where I don’t want to see it… but I kind of do.
I can’t explain myself. I saw both Shrek and Shrek 2 and never really enjoyed them. I find them too arch and winking. In fact, I think Cami and I once rented the first Shrek movie when it first came out on DVD and couldn’t bother to complete it. We were just kind of like “Ehhh… kind of funny the first time. Not in the least bit funny the second time.” I don’t even remember what Shrek 2 was all about.
With their abundance of flatulence jokes, they are most certainly for kids. But the producers work very hard to throw in jokes for adults and, for me, it make for an uneven affar. I’m a bit of an animation purist. I don’t mean to imply that the medium is strictly for children. But if that’s your primary audience, take Gold Five’s advice and “Stay on target!” Too much of the adult stuff and it dilutes things. Part of the reason I got to animated movies is because I like to feel like I’m being transported to a time in my life when things weren’t so damn complicated. I mean, every now an again Pixar will toss in an adult joke in their movies. But I feel they’re typically more organic. The Shrek movies make it feel like a formula = “fart joke x fart joke / sex joke = box office”
This is an entirely subjective reaction, of course. But I believe there are more concrete reasons to hate the Shrek franchise. The over-abundance of marketing tie-in’s for one. I addressed it back when Shrek 2 was in theaters and it’s no less true now. You can’t go to the grocery store without looking at that freckled green ogre’s mug slapped all over the place. What I especially hate are those poorly dubbed commercials on TV right now where Shrek and Donkey are interacting with the M&M guys or buying a Happy Meal at McDonalds and the voices are SO CLEARLY not Mike Meyers and Eddie Murphy.
Look, I know they’re big stars whose vocal “talents” these companys probably can’t afford. But there should be someone at Dreamworks that says “If you’re going to use Shrek characters in your spots, then we recommend these two voice-approximate doubles.” You see these commercials and it’s like they’re not even using the same impersonators. It’s really annoying.
More than anything, I’m annoyed that due to the success of the Shrek franchise, (and this is something Gordon and I talked about in Monday’s Triple Feature talkcast) Mike Meyer hasn’t taken a creative leap in over half a decade. A cursory glance at his listing over at IMDB reflect only two starring roles since the first Shrek hit theaters in 2001 – Austin Powers in Goldmember and The Cat in the Hat. I’ll give him a pass on Goldmember because (even though he was plagiarizing himself in the first two movies) there was some original invention going on there. The less said about The Cat and The Hat, the better. Beyond that, only a few cameo roles unbecoming of one of Hollywood’s highest paid actors.
I completely understand how money has probably insulated Meyers from doing anything out of the box. I can see the appeal of rolling out of bed, doing a few hours of voice over work in a studio, avoiding the makeup chair and the chaos of a full-blown movie set. But speaking as a fan of Meyers ability to insert catchphrases into the lexicon with lazer-like precision, I’m amazed that he’s not taking the opportunity to do something more.
Maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to judge. He could have turned out like Eddie Murphy and starred in crap like The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Daddy Day Care an Norbit post-Shrek. Maybe THAT’S the bigger wasted opportunity!
Despite all of the reasons NOT to see Shrek the Third, I’m morbidly curious to see what it’s like. I didn’t want to see Shrek 2 when it came out, but Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots made the movie for me. He’s the most memorable thing in it and I still chuck when I think of how he delivered his introduction – “PUSSSSSS!… (in boots!)” Excellent.
To that end, I think I may have been won over by the casting. In one of the movie’s subplots, Cameron Diaz as Fiona leads a band of other princesses to defend the land of Far Far Away and she has Amy Sedaris, Cheri Oteri, Amy Poehler and Mya Rudolph behind her. Throw in John Krasinski from The Office, Seth Rogen from The 40 Year-Old Virigin, Ian McShane from Deadwood and you have my attention. Stunt casting – 60% of the time, it works every time. They’ve done studies, you know!
So what’s your opinion out there in the intertubes? Are you excited for Shrek the Third or do you think it will be more of the same? Have you ordered all your Shrek merchandise yet and will you be wearing it to the theater on Friday/? Are you like me and suckered by high-profile voice casting or do you think it cheapens animation by distracting you from the artisanship of an animator’s craft?
Leave your comments below and I’ll catch up with you!
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May18
I did something a little different with today’s sketch. I did a quick coloring job because I wasn’t sure if it was being communicated clearly in black and white that Tom wasn’t wearing any pants. Maybe I should have left it in black in white. The thought of Tom naked makes me want to rip out my eyes and bury them. What does that say when the character is based on me? I’ve got to LIVE with this body!
In case you’re wondering exactly why Tom would not be wearing any pants, please refer to this image of Puss in Boots from the forthcoming Shrek the Third. As you’ll see, he continues the long tradition of anthropomorphic characters who stubbornly do not wear trousers. You can thank Donald Duck and Porky Pig before you, Puss. Welcome to the club.
At any rate, if you’re going to wear an AUTHENTIC Puss in Boots costume, prepare to go pantsless. That’s COMMITMENT, people!
You know, now that I kind of study the picture a little bit, he seems pretty happy about the no-pants situation. It must be very liberating.
I don’t have much more for you this evening. Cami has been sick this week, so I’ve been on full-time Henry duty in the evenings. This, coupled with the fact that we’re getting up earlier to take Henry to day care in the mornings has left me pretty much wiped out. Sorry, but it’s starting to catch up with me. I need to get some sleep.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
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May21
Considering the amount of controversy and vitriol my first review generated two weeks ago, it’s fitting to follow up with a movie that most of the free world has yet to see. Considering it was released in theaters, on DVD and as part of HDNet movies all on the same day, it’s not as though the studio didn’t try.
The movie is Diggers, a small ensemble piece that’s been making the film festival rounds and is really worth your time if you have a chance to pick it up.
The movie centers around four friends (Paul Rudd, Ken Marino, Ron Eldard and Josh Hamilton) scraping to get by in 1976 Long Island. Like their fathers and their fathers before them, they’re clam diggers. The external conflict comes from a large conglomerate that is restricting the waters where the best catches can be made, muscling out the small-time fishermen. In an act of self-preservation, some in the community sell out. Our four protagonists, however, stay true to their small-town way of life.
On paper, this probably doesn’t sound like much to get excited over. But Diggers does an exceptional job of creating a very particular sense of time and place. The bars are dimly lit and gritty, the fishermen’s boats cobbled together out of what looks like scrap lumber. Everyone carries the deshevled look of blue collar wear and tear. Although everyone is economically depressed, fed up with government and big business, wrestling with personal problems and deep emotional loss – you never really get the sense that these people are upset about it because of the relationships they’ve forged and their shared identity as a community.
I know, I know. This sounds lofty in contrast to the coming tidal wave of big blockbusters, but I encourage you to check this film out. Paul Rudd – undervalued in nearly every movie he’s in – turns in a stellar performance as Hunt. Having recently lost his father, Paul struggles to find direction in the face of impending change. A “silent flirtation” with a city girl on vacation (Lauren Ambrose) and his passing interest in photography might offer a way out. In this respect, the screenplay falters because it isn’t anything you haven’t seen in a dozen other movies. But what Diggers accomplishes revolves less around the decision Hunt makes regarding his future and more around how the singular event of his fathers death ripples through the lives of the people around him.
As the only father in the group, Ken Marino delivers a hilarious and complex portrait of responsibility as someone emotionally tethered to his integrity but equally combustive when dealing with his kids. The stress of his home life and financial situation leads him to swear in front his kids and have yelling matches with his wife (Sarah Paulson). But just as quick as he is with his temper, he is as quick to squash his kids using those same swears around him and every cross word with his wife is met with a loving smile. Swallowing his pride in the face of a new baby on the way, he applies for a job with the the looming conglomerate and it’s heart-wrenching to watch.
Marino’s script is all the more surprising when you consider he was once a member of the MTV sketch comedy group The State. Going into the movie with that knowledge might color your perspective. While there are funny moments, make no mistake – this is not a comedy. Again, a surprise considering this guy was on TV a few years ago as Louie – the guy who “wants to dip his balls” into things.
Ron Eldard is fine as the town him-bo who shacks up with Hunt’s sister (Maura Tierney) looking for a partner to quell her grief. Josh Hamilton turns in an acceptable performance as the resident philosophical pot grower that serves mostly a comedic purpose when paired against the high-strung Marino. Their characters add dimension, but not much weight. Ambrose sticks out like a sore thumb, but mostly due to the script’s contrivance to use her as an avatar of Hunt’s self-discovery. Her supportive critique of his photography was an eye-roller. Of course the lazy dreamer with no ambition could really “do something” with his photography. Naturally every big city Manhattanite knows everything about what makes a successful art career.
These grievances aside, Diggers is a quite, intimate movie that doesn’t presume to be anything more than it is. A portrait of small-town life on the East coast in the mid-1970’s. It tells its story at it’s own pace and makes few exceptions. The characterizations are warm and familiar while representing a sub-strata of life most of us aren’t close to. While the coming-of-age aspects of the film are at times rote, this film is a perfect counterbalance to the buffet of major studio sequels currently filling up screens.Take a lazy Saturday afternoon and curl up with this one. You won’t regret it.
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C’mon guys. You can’t deny it. Davy Jones is totally hot for Captain Jack Sparrow. Why do you think he let him go all those times? It’s because he wants him to come back to him. A classic tale of unanswered love.
Think about it. What does Sparrow spend more of second movie looking for? Davy Jones’s treasure. And what’s in Davy Jones’s treasure chest? His still-beating heart! Davy Jones is one of the most unintentional emo movie villains of the last 5 years? Don’t believe me? You should totally check out his MySpace page. It’s full of bad poetry and blog posts about how “the world doesn’t understand him.” His lists Evanescence as his favorite band.
Loser.
Do you guys like today’s comic? I had a lot of fun working on it. Although, I must admit, getting the costuming details right on Sparrow and Jones was difficult. Can’t forget that nodule hanging off Jones’s face! I think I might have gone a little overboard with the eyeliner on Sparrow, but I like the way the barnacles turned out on Jones. It was a treat to figure it out.
Like most of the free world, I’m planning on seeing Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End this weekend. We have a babysitter lined up. We’re going.
I don’t think Cami is entirely over the moon about it. When we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, we showed up a little late and had to sit in the front row. You guys know how long that movie is. That’s a long time to be staring up Orlando Bloom’s nostrils. By the end of it, we had such cricks in our necks, we were miserable. To add insult to injury, Cami was pregnant with Henry at the time. So whenever one of Davy Jones’s slimy crew members slithered into a shot, she wanted to blow chunks like she just ate at Long John Silver’s.
Switching gears for a second, something I didn’t get to talk about in Monday’s blog due to my Diggers review was Shrek the Third’s $122 million dollar weekend. Interestingly enough, it ranks third as the film with the best opening weekend behind Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.
Call me cynical, but is anyone else afraid that we’re entering into a future where ever few years there will be a new Spider-Man, Shrek or Pirates movie? Consider that between these three movies alone, nearly HALF A BILLION dollars was made in a three day time period. Ignore the complete theatrical run. Ignore the DVD sales. HALF A BILLION for three movies in three days. Insane. I don’t think Hollywood can turn their back on that kind of money. These characters will have longer lives than Freddy Krueger and Jason Vorhees combined!
Something else I neglected to mention because of my review on Monday was the recent installment of The Triple Feature talkcast. I know it’s too late to participate in this week’s show, but you can always download a copy from TalkShoe. This week we talked about Shrek the Third, At World’s End, Diggers and another small movie called Waitress. Joe was back from his vacation tanned, rested and ready to go. We were back up to full strength and it felt good. I really like doing these shows with Joe and Gordon. I look forward to it every week.
Hey, if you’re interested in getting a reminder sent to you VIA e-mail when new show times are posted, send me an e-mail and I can add your contact information through our listing at TalkShoe. For some reason, you can’t input it yourself, but I can manage contacts in my account settings. I just thought I would put the offer out there if anyone was interested. I get a lot of e-mails from people saying, “Darn, I missed the show!” This would be just an extra reminder.
If you’re not interested, just by a monthly calendar and write down “The Triple Feature – 9:00 PM CST” every Monday for the rest of the year!
Speaking of the variety of e-mails I get from you guys, I received quite a few in my mailbox this week regarding a certain t-shirt design…
For those of you who are fans of the t-shirt manufacturing / artist community Threadless, you may have noticed a new shirt design that was announced by the company that shares a certain thematic similarity to some shirts I’ve been selling on the site for a while.
The shirt is called “Spoilt” and it was designed by Oliver Moss. Here’s the design:
As you can see, the shirt spoils the various plot twists of a number of different movies in a manner similar to a couple of shirts I’ve been selling from Theater Hopper for the last few years:
It was interesting to read some of the e-mails that people sent. A lot of you were outraged and labeled Moss a theif. I appreciate your support, as backwards as that sounds. It was actually very comforting to know that I had a lot of people out there watching my back. But here’s the scoop and I’m putting it out there to hopefully put things to rest.
Oliver Moss is not a thief and it’s unfair to label him as such.
I knew about Oliver’s design back when the shirt was still going through the voting phase. I’ll admit that it freaked me out because I actually thought Oliver did a really good job with it and (being somewhat familiar with what the Threadless audience looks for in a design from prior business relationships with them) I knew it was going to be a hit. Someone pointed out at the time the similarities between Oliver’s concept and my own and Oliver defended himself by stating that the similarities were never intentional and that the concept stemmed from a forum post he made over at Yay Hooray almost two years ago. Oliver and I even exchanged e-mails over it and he again expressed no ill intent. I believe him. Moss has more than a few designs that have been sold through Threadless and other clothing vendors. He’s not stupid. I don’t think he would intentionally expose himself to these kind of indictments.
I know the web comic community just fought a round with the plagiarism boogeyman after the whole Todd Goldman incident, but my attitude regarding the similarities between my shirts and Moss’s shirt is this: It was a coincidence. It happens. In fact, it happens a lot in web comics where people covering similar genres come to the same conclusions on jokes. Usually it’s not intentional. Just great minds thinking alike.
Obviously Moss’s design is visually different, so he has no worries there. And, in regard to the number of similar movies “spoiled” in our designs, the fact of the matter is there just aren’t that many well-known movies with twists in their plots to expose. So, again, another happy accident.
If anything, I think Oliver and Threadless probably have more to fear from LucasFilm for Moss’s rendering of Darth Vader’s helmet. If R. Stevens was sent a cease and desist letter for the pixelated R2-D2 he tried to put on a shirt and sell, I can’t imagine how long Threadless is going to skare by before the Lawyers from the Dahgobah system catch wind of this…
PERSONAL THOUGHTS: I’ve been on a weird emotional roller coaster regarding these events. When I found out that Threadless had moved forward producing the shirt, my heart sank. I figured that this was the end for Spoiler I and Spoiler II because if I tried to continue selling them, I feared people would look at them and say “You stole this from Threadless!’
Sure, I have the date stamps of when my design was created and the PayPal receipts for the first batch of sales to prove that I got there first. But I didn’t imagine that having much sway in the court of public opinion. Moss’s design is flashier. Mine is plain. Threadless is a HUGE online entity that most savvy web surfers are at least peripherally aware of. Theater Hopper is a mid-sized web comic that’s be silently chugging along for a few years. I felt the distinct feeling of obsolescence. Was this the universe sending me a sign? Should I stop producing the Spoiler shirts? Should I do something different? Should I get out of web comics altogether? It really sent me for a loop.
Then, things got worse. Voters made the post about Moss’s design the second most popular story on Dugg. Then BoingBoing picked it up. I was almost… angry. It didn’t help that Threadless’s prize for winning designs is $2,000 which would have come in REALLY handy for me right now after being slammed hard for taxes I owe. I felt my hands were tied. There really wasn’t anything I could say to defend myself without coming off like a hater and – really – it’s not like I was the first guy in the world to think of spoiling movies and putting it on a t-shirt.
But then things started to turn. The story showed up on You Thought We Wouldn’t Notice (soon to be deleted). Although it was overly harsh and their editors didn’t do any fact checking (the reason for the deletion), people were aware of what I had been doing and there was some validation in that. Then the BoingBoing article was revised to include a link to Theater Hopper in reference to my original designs.
And then the flood came.
Traffic from BoingBoing was overwhelming the server. I couldn’t access the site through most of the day. This is always a good problem to have and it was very exciting. Several people were coming to the site that might not have otherwise. On top of that, some of them were even buying the Spoiler I and II shirts! Amazing!
And then I realized something profound. “So what?”
This shirt thing is so much bigger than me and so far beyond my control. I’m happy with the recognition that I have. I cherish all of the e-mails of support that were sent to me and thankful to those who stood up for me on the Threadless and Dugg comments board even when they didn’t have to. I’m thankful for the free market that let’s people decide what shirt they would rather have and some people decided to take advantage of it and back the little guy. Ultimately, I’m impressed that there are opportunities for BOTH Moss and myself to carve out a niche for ourselves artistically and that there are people out there who will support it.
For those of you who are new to Theater Hopper – welcome. For those of you who continue to support the site – sincere thanks.
This has been another interesting chapter in the history of this site. I never could have predicted it.
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May25
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I think Bill Nighy’s performance as Davy Jones is probably one of the most indellible character creations in the last 10 years. By far one of the most interesting screen villians we’ve had in a long time. Part of that is due to the arresting visual design, but my affinity is moreso for Nighy’s brilliant vocal affectations and tics. He makes Jones menacing but unique and it’s a treat to watch him cut loose.
Although I’m aware that the movie suffers an “everything AND the kitchen sink” mentality, Nighy and Jones is the big reason I’m excited about Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Early reviews are split down the middle. Most critics complaining about the film’s wanderlust and overall length. It’s not as though these complaints will keep people from the theater. Personally, I’m not paying much attention to it. The complaint that a movie is “too long” has never made sense to me. Anyone who has watched a movie before 1950 knows most of them were 2 and a half hours plus. Producers wanted to give you your money’s worth. Now that ticket prices are upwards of $10.00, why wouldn’t you want more entertainment for your dollar.
I mean, I understand if you think a movie blows, being forced to sit there for an extended period is no fun. But believe it – SOMEONE out there is going to be really into it and appreciate the greater length. The only movie I can think of where they should have dropped the curtain early was A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. The minute you think the movie is over, walk out of the room. Seriously. You’ll thank me for it. That version is a MUCH better film.
But I digress. Big blockbusters that are all about the visuals? If you’re complaining it’s too long, your atttention span is too short. I think we all know that Spider-Man 3 didn’t make it on my all-time favorites list. But it was also an exceptionally long movie and it didn’t bother me. My complaints were about characterization and my close affinity for the characters. But the visuals never dissapointed. This will likely be the mentality I carry into At World’s End and I think it’s a prudent one.
Do you guys like today’s sketch? It’s kind of a departure for me. I found a great reference photo to work from and actually kind of surprised myself with this one. It was one of those times where you just kind of nestle into the pocket and you don’t want to stop drawing because you’re afraid you’ll ruin it if you come back to it later. That’s a good feeling.
Not much news to report. The site is still suffering a bit from all the Threadless controversy. I’ve been monitoring the referral links and the places people are coming to the site from are more far flung than I originally imagined. I think it’s great! Welcome everyone! Things will probably be back to normal in a week or so.
All this t-shirt hullaballo has really gotten me thinking about new t-shirt designs. I’ve had a bunch of ideas for a while, but can’t seem to get motivated about any of them. I think I had a mental barrier because I kind of had my sights on producing the Theater Hopper Year: Three book. I think I’m taking that off the table for now. I jumped through a lot of hoops to get Year One and Year Two off the ground last summer. I think I’m going to take a break from that and concentrate on t-shirt designs. I think if I can zero in on a few good ideas, it might actually help my push the remaining copies of the books that I have – which is probably a greater priority than taking up more real estate in my closet with a new book.
I have an idea for a Spider-Man 3 shirt that I don’t think will get me in trouble with any copyright infringement. If I’m lucky, it won’t piss off the fans of the movie, either. It’s a little sarcastic, but it comes from a good place. The reference is obscure enough, I think people will get a kick out of it. Anyway, hopefully I’ll be able to take advantage of the holiday weekend and have some new designs for you on Monday. Fingers crossed!
Hey, why don’t you leave some feedback on the comments page. With all the site outtages, I feel like I haven’t had a chance to talk to any of you guys!
Have a great weekend!
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May28
REVIEW – PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END
May 28th, 2007 |
(4 votes, average: 6.50 out of 10)
The Golden Age of Hollywood pirate adventure movies consisted of swash-buckling, swordplay, thin mustaches and derring do. Occasionally, the hunt for buried treasure was thrown in before the hero sailed into the sunset with the girl on his arm.
In the formative years of the franchise, the first film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl did a great job of breathing new life into the genre by mixing in a dash of supernatural tonic. It’s tale of cursed Aztec gold and undead skeleton pirates made for a frolicking popcorn blockbuster.
It’s sequel, the overlong but technically superior Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest upped the ante by constructing mythology around the Pirates universe and branding an indelible mark on film history by introducing one of it’s most memorable villains in the entirely CG-created Davy Jones (performed brilliantly by Bill Nighy).
In the third (and possibly last) movie in the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, there was very little territory left to cover and the film dives deep into the metaphysical and surfaces with six kinds of weirdness. What made the originally Pirates inventive and the second compelling feels overdone in the third movie.
At the film’s onset, our merry band of sea-faring adventurers – including Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightly and Geoffrey Rush – meet with the Pirate Lord of Singapore, Sao Feng (plays with a craggy slither by Chow Yun-Fat). From him they seek an ancient map that will lead them to the the so-called “End of the World” that will literally plunge them into the barren limbo of Davy Jones’s Locker. Contained therein is the perpetually loopy Captain Jack Sparrow, whom they seek to rescue.
Nothing about Davy Jones’s Locker makes sense. Not the ego-driven hallucinations it seems to inflict on the increasingly unhinged Jack, not the fact that his ship, The Black Pearl, seems to have survived the cross-over in tact and certainly not the oddity of a million rock-shaped crustaceans that billow under the hull of the Pearl, pushing it toward water. All of this non-sense is representative of the bigger problem in At World’s End. There’s a lot of stuff in the movie that looks really cool, but all of it feels inconsequential because the film either changes the rules of it’s universe (or worse) makes it up as it goes along.
Discussing the plot of the movie will do it no service. There are so many double-crosses, hidden agendas and obscured half-truths uttered throughout that it makes it difficult to follow which characters have allegiance with another at any given point in the movie. I wasn’t bothered by that so much. I haven’t yet mistaken a Pirates of the Caribbean movie for a David Mamet film and I’m not about to start.
What bothered me most about the film is that never once did I feel that any of the characters were in any kind of danger. Geoffrey Rush’s Captain Barbossa came back to life at the end of the second film. It gives nothing away to say that Captain Jack Sparrow matches the feat when he is rescued from Davy Jone’s Locker in this movie. Screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio wrote too many loopholes of supernatural origin into the mix. Between the mystical map that leads to the Locker, to Jack’s compass that lead’s you to your heart’s desire, to the 9 pieces of 8, to the sea-goddess Calypso bound in human form to the voodoo priestess Tia Dalma, to the contents of the Dead Man’s Chest… Too often characters seem to pull these trinkets or pieces of information out of their back pocket at the last minute to make bargains or back out of sticky situations. In more capable hands, it could be clever. In this instance, it just feels tacked on.
Particularly when we’re informed that killing Davy Jones won’t end his curse, that his ship – The Flying Dutchman – will ALWAYS need a captain… It’s a set up for an emotional payoff later in the film. But it feels like a contrivance that Jones is no longer a singular scourge of the seven seas. That his is some kind of mantle passed down from cursed sailor to cursed sailor. It strips the character of a great deal of individuality and makes it less satisfying when he is finally dispatched.
That’s not to say that there aren’t a lot of things that the film gets right. The humor that is peppered throughout the film hits it’s mark and, as always, the performances from Depp, Rush and Nighy push everything forward. All three of them seem to be having a hell of a time and they’re a great deal of fun to watch. Rush, especially – who seems to have returned to his role as Barbossa having sharpened his flinty gaze and reveling in a cathartic madness that is four sheets to the wind.
Visually, the film is astonishing. The Pirates universe has always been one that is very tactile. Set design on this film is beyond compare. The Pirate stronghold of Shipwreck Cove is breathtaking. Davy Jones is an even more emotive, slobbering menace and the sight of a 30′ tall woman on the deck of The Black Pearl dissolving into a wave of crabs looks great even if it doesn’t make any sense. Anyone who goes to At World’s End expecting a feast for the eyes will not be disappointed.
The film has been taken to task for being too long, but I found it much more brisk than Dead Man’s Chest even when the film seemed to linger (as each of the scenes set within Davy Jones’s Locker.) The only time I stopped to look at my watch was during the final battle – which probably isn’t a good thing since this was the sequence that was meant to send the franchise out in a spectacular blaze of glory.
When it’s all said and done, the third installment of the Pirates franchise is serviceable as both a conclusion to the series or a potential continuation of it. They left a window open, let’s say that. Those of you who might have been frustrated by the first two films will probably have the same complaints with this one. But for those of you that like to play in the sandbox along with all the other unique characters of the series, you’ll have a good time.
For more discussion regarding At World’s End, be sure to tune in to The Triple Feature talkcast at TalkShoe tonight at 9:00 PM CST where myself, Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies and Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex will discuss our reactions of the film. If you saw the movie this weekend, call in with your opinions! We’ll be taking your calls live! See you then!
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I don’t know what was going on with me that I couldn’t figure out something more creative with the background. But, uh… HEY! Charlie has a new haircut! Look at that! WOW!
Knocked Up is in theaters this weekend, appearing in theaters at what I think is a very opportune time. It’s been almost a month since Spider-Man 3 landed in theaters and kicked off the blockbuster season. So far, we’ve survived it and it’s “threequel” brethren Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Knocked Up comes at a time when I think people are prepared to take a step away from fantasy for a while and get a little closer to real people and situations again.
Of course, Seth Rogen landing in bed with Katherine Heigl isn’t exactly realistic, but this is why we love Hollywood. They tweak reality just enough to keep us interested. I’m sure that the movie will play this disparity in physical attractiveness to it’s advantage. I expect nothing less from Judd Apatow and crew.
It pleases me to no end the Seth Rogen is stepping up into the unlikely leading man category. If you’ve watched Undeclared, you know that they guy has an affiable charm that’s fun to watch. Even when he’s being a jerk, it works. So it’ll be interesting to see how he manages when he has to filter sarcasm through his heart.
At this point I’m not going to go into my Apatow-love speech. Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, The 40 Year-Old Virgin. Either you get it by now or you don’t. I really appreciate that Apatow is using the same stable of actors and creating his own little universe. The smartest thing any director can do is bring Paul Rudd into his movies. So, needless to say, I have high hopes for Knocked Up.
Interesting factoid: Did you guys know that Knocked Up was originally written to be a sequel to The 40 Year-Old Virgin that featured the Smart Tech crew? I’m glad they came to their senses and invented a new set of characters for the actors to inhabit. The Smart Tech guys were brilliantly effective within the context of T40YOV, but that kind of misogynistic buffonery probably wouldn’t work on it’s own. You need the wholesomeness of Steve Carell’s character to balance that out.
Anyway, that’s all I have to say about that.
I wanted to tip you guys off to a new t-shirt design I’m taking pre-orders for right now: Movie Law #948.
Fans of the comic will recognize the concept of this shirt from this comic, wherein Tom discusses actor Sean Bean’s proclivity toward expiring in what seems like the majority of his movies.
Readers with good long-term memories might recall that I submitted initial designs of the shirt for feedback, but was talked out of producing the shirt when the spector of copyright infringement was brought up.
After the controversy with Threadless over the Spoiler shirts last week, a switch flipped in my head. If these guys can get away with using Darth Vader’s head in what turned out to be the most fastest-selling shirt, then li’l old me can get away with an artistic interpretation of Sean Bean’s mug. If I get a cease and desist letter, then that will be the end of it. In the meantime, screw it. People have been asking for it, the work was half way done… let’s run ‘er up the flagpole and see if she flies.
My problem with t-shirt design is that it takes very little to derail me on an idea I have because it’s such a large investment for me. I could have 50 people respond and tell me “I want that shirt!” but if one person responds and says “copyright infringement!” or “I couldn’t tell that was Sean Bean,” I quit. That’s lame. I have a bunch of great ideas. I just need to push them through.
Well, I’ve decided instead of producing Theater Hopper: Year Three this summer, I’m taking the nest egg I’ve stored up and spending it on t-shirt production that will hopefully generate interest in the store and spur book sales when people take advantage of the bundling options.
So pre-order this shirt now through June 13. Moving forward, I’ll be producing more shirts. Hopefully you like some or all of them. We can use the support.
Oh, and for the people that are curious, Movie Law #948 has a list of all the movies in which Sean Bean dies on screen (so far). If you want to see what they are, visit the page in our store and pre-order now!
Got any comments, thoughts, ideas or feedback? Leave them below!
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This has nothing to do with anything, but I wanted to share it.
On paper, the idea of replacing Darth Vader’s dialogue from Star Wars with other random lines from James Earl Jones’s career sounds inventive, but not profoundly humorous.
Then you watch the video mash-up and realize how wrong you were.
For a generation that grew up knowing James Earl Jones from his roles in movies like Conan the Barbarian, Coming to America and Field of Dreams, you forget there was a period in the 70’s where he played a lot of tough talking soul bruthahs that are played to hilarious effect here.
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