I kind of felt like I was shirking my duty not talking about Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest incredible first weekend at the box office. When you stop to think about it, the accomplishment is pretty crazy.

I mean, sure, there’s always going to be debate about box office records. What with inflation and the increased number of theaters across the American strip-mall landscape. But when you frame Pirates three day take of $132 million against Superman Returns take of $52 million (ignore the bloated numbers from the extended 4th of July "holiday weekend)… well, to paraphrase Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction – we’re not in the same ballpark, the same league or even the same sport. I mean, Superman Returns had one of the largest domestic releases ever – 4,065 screens. Now Pirates sweeps through and everyone is like "Superman, who?" Just goes to show how fickle we can be, I suppose.

I know Pirates 2 has its detractors, but I’m just glad that the numbers were better than X-Men 3’s Memorial Day weekend take of $102 million. Superman Returns was supposed to knock it off it’s throne as *the* summer blockbuster. When it didn’t, it gave validity to the Brett Ratner’s of the world at the expense of what I felt was a sincere and thoughtful adaptation of The Man of Steel. Superman Returns at least had something on it’s mind and it was being punished for it. Meanwhile, I disorganized noise-fest like X-Men 3 takes home all the cash? Not fair.

If a balls-out action/adventure movie is going to take the brass ring this summer, I would rather it be Pirates 2 than X-Men 3. That’s all I’m saying.