Pirates of the Caribbean

Pirates 3 was, unfortunately, one of the not-so-great movies I've seen this year. Great acting yes, but the actors are working with a crappy script and an even worse plot. Jack Sparrow's character has been further distorted from his original personality. And now he's apparently **SPOILER** schizophrenic. Most of the effects were pretty good, but at some points I wondered how they could have come out with such low-grade effects when their budget was so huge. The characters spend most of the movie following a side plot. A SIDE PLOT. and then by the last 30 minutes they get back on track. It had a pretty good ending, but the plot has so many holes it's like...well, just go ask a ninja. Keith Richards was great, Chow Yun-Fat totally sold out, Knightley, Bloom, and Rush are great but, as usual, overpowered by Depp. Go see it because you have to finish out the trilogy, but don't expect anything that will change your life or blow your mind. As one reviewer put it "I wanted to like it, but..." Read the full review at IMDb.com.

Conclusion: It's entertaining if you can try to forget about the plot holes, etc., so go see it.

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of action/adventure violence and some frightening images.

Trivia:

• Captain Barbossa can be seen wearing an Eagle Scout ring in several sequences. This ring signifies that some one in Boy Scouts has earned the highest rank known as Eagle.
• They started filming without a finished script.

1-18-08

J.J. Abrams, the producer of the hit tv show, Lost, is producing a movie, due out 1-18-08 that has generated a huge amount of hype. Those who went to see Transformers may have seen the trailer for this mysterious film which is, as of yet, untitled. The preview featured a home video camera filming a going away party, when suddenly the party is interrupted by an earthquake, or perhaps an explosion. The party-goers run out onto the street. The camera is shaky, people are screaming, running everywhere. Someone screams "I saw it, it's huge!" A fireball comes out of the sky and hits the New York street. It is the Statue of Liberty's head. "1-18-08" flashes on the screen and the trailer is over.

The film reflects Abrams previous projects, like Lost, which has also fueled the most amount of speculation over a tv show. Ever. No title has been given for the film, just a date at the end, 1-18-08. Fans are calling the film "Cloverfield". Abrams is famous for his closed-mouth projects. Actors don't know what part they're auditioning for, they don't even get to read the script. Fans will be kept waiting in breathless anticipation until the day the movie comes out. Two different names for the film, "Monstrous" and "Wreck" were been leaked from the inside, and Abrams promptly changed the title. Abrams has also begun a website: http://www.1-18-08.com/. Fansites have sprung up like crazy, but this is the only official site. Some have speculated that the film is yet another Godzilla movie, but this is impossible since Paramount (who is distributing Cloverfield) doesn't own the rights to Godzilla.

The general storyline seems to be about people trying to survive a monster attack in New York City. The cast has not been officially released, but little-known actors and actresses have been spotted in the trailer. $30 Million is the estimated budget, and it was filmed on location in New York City. Those are really the only official facts known right now and even those are iffy. I look forward to seeing this movie and seeing if my predictions are right.

Either way, I hope Cloverfield can live up to the hype it started. Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloverfield for more information about the movie.