In the summer of 2003, Disney released a movie based on a ride at their theme parks. It was arrived with almost no hype, and that is why “Pirates of the
This time around Jack Sparrow…sorry, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) gets a visit from octopus-faced Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) and his crew. Davy Jones raised The Black Pearl, Jack's ship, from the bottom of the ocean. Jack’s payment was to serve 100 years on Davy’s crew. Now he must find a way out of the debt and the only way out is to find the chest of Davy Jones or the Dead Man’s Chest. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightly) are set to be married when their past catches up with them. For their part in helping Jack to escape, they are arrested and sentenced to be hung. Their only way out is to find Jack and get his compass for Lord Beckett (Tom Hollander.)
The big reason many people, including yours truly, loved the first one was Johnny Depp’s performance as Capt. Jack Sparrow. Disney was hesitant at first to have Jack be played in the way Depp did, but looks like it paid off. Jack is back in full force in this movie, complete with the abnormalities that made him famous. He lies his way through most of the situations he gets into, uses others for his own benefit and makes wisecracks in even the most grave of positions. As we all know by now, Depp based Jack on Rolling Stones member Keith Richards (who will be making an appearance in the third film.) He may be based on another, but Capt. Jack Sparrow has taken on a life of his own. He makes both movies what they are. Sure the other actors are good and do a great job of making these characters interesting, but it is Jack who adds that little extra to the movies. That is a credit to Depp (who before this had never done a sequel.) He has made his career by playing different characters. He doesn’t just act, he becomes Jack Sparrow and that makes the character what he is.
Visually this was an incredible movie. One of the most amazing visual effects in the movie was Davy Jones. The actor Bill Nighy had no make up on, it was all added digitally. He wore motion sensor balls on his face so that the tentacles could be added later. The other members of the crew, who all have changed into human/sea creatures were really well done and looked awesome on the big screen.
My only problem with the movie is they tried too hard. There were a lot of moments in the first one that made it special and the surprise hit that it was. In this one, it seemed that they tried a little to hard too replicate the first. There are those same moments in this one that made the first unique, but there are a lot put in for just that reason. It was as if they decided to cram as much odd Jack into the movie as they could. One of the things that I liked about Jack was that there are times where he was torn between what is right and what he wants. There are times where we see his conscience in this one, but there could have been more. There were times where he seemed to just betray people without a second thought. He is not as torn as he was in the first.
Lots of people I know were mad at how it ended. That is because technically it didn’t end. The third; “Pirates of the
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of adventure violence, including frightening images.
Runtime: 150 min
8 out of 10
Chances are you missed what could have been one of the most original shows on television. It’s not your fault, it’s Fox’s. In 2001, Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel,) was given a chance to start another television show. It was his dream project, the one he cared more about then any of his previous works. It was “Firefly.” This show doesn’t have a simple story line that could possibly be explained in one sentence and still do it justice.
500 years in the future and Earth has been used up and the only two superpowers left are 
to unite all the planets under their rule and The War for Unification began. Those who fought the decision were called The Browncoats. They lost the war at the Battle of Serenity Valley. Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) was one of the Browncoats and after the war bought a Firefly class ship and named it after the bloodiest battle of the war; Serenity. On Mal’s crew are Zoe Washburn (Gina Torres) his first mate and fellow Browncoat, Hoban “Wash” Washburn, pilot and husband of Zoe, Kaylee Frye (Jewel Staite) the genius mechanic, and Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin) the mercenary. Also on board, renting one of Serenity’s two shuttles is a Companion (or in modern terms a hooker) named Inara (Morena Baccarin.) While in port one day they take on passengers to help get money to fuel the ship. One is a Shepard (priest) named Book (Ron Glass) and Dr. Simon Tam (Sean Maher.) It is soon discovered that Simon has a secret stowed in his luggage; his sister River (Summer Glau.) River was a part of a government sponsored school that was really a government program to create assassins (as far as we can tell.) She was experimented on and as a result became mentally unstable.
So if this show is so great, why was it canceled? I knew you would ask. That is all Fox’s fault. Fox showed the episodes out of order, including showing the intended pilot after they axed the show, and put it in the worst time slot on television, Friday night at
So I happen to be an obsessed fan, you may find this review bias, but it’s not. I can be impartial; it’s what I have to do as a critic. If I wrote that a certain director or actor made the greatest film ever when there were obvious flaws, then I would be doing my readers a great injustice. As an impartial viewer, this show is great. It has humor, action, adventure and great characters that you will love to watch. You will find something in at least one character that will make you enjoy the show, heck, maybe you’ll see a bit of yourself in all nine main characters.
Now to address the “super power” issue; the only countries in control at the time of the move to the new galaxy were
One thing that is really interesting about the show is the role of the Companion. While in our times being a “lady of the night” is frowned upon, a companion is a position of respect and class. There is a lot of tradition and ritual that comes with being or being with a companion. In fact there are some places that won’t let you dock with out a registered companion on board. Inara even helps get them out of trouble once or twice.
A basic episode of the show goes a little like this; get a job, get into trouble, get out of trouble, get paid for job. The crew is always running into trouble from the
This show is not for everyone, it is a space western. But even if you hate sci-fi, and hate westerns, give this show a chance. As a loyal fan of the show, trust me it is worth it. Rent in on Netflix, or other online movie rental places, heck, ask me to bring my box set with me the next time you see me. I’m more then happy to recruit more browncoats. The show is a different breed. It is like nothing in television today. So give it a chance, if you don’t like it, fine at least you gave it a try and that’s all I, an obsessed fan, and ask of you.
Rent
As a guy, I’m not supposed to like musicals. It’s not in our DNA. The closest we can come is “The Blues Brothers.” Even then it is by the mere fact that John Belushi is the star that we can allow ourselves to love the movie. So why then, when I took the chance, did I love “Rent?” What is it that makes this movie musical one that I enjoy watching? There must be something that sets it apart from other musicals because I hated movies like “
“Rent” is the story of a group of eight friends living in the East Village of New York. Dealing with AIDS, love, loss and struggling to pay the rent the film follows them through one year in their lives. 
The two main characters are Mark Cohen (Anthony Rapp,) a struggling film maker and Rodger Davis (Adam Pascal,) a struggling musician. As Mark tries to capture “real life” for his documentary, Rodger struggles to write a song, something he has not done since his ex-girlfriend died. On Christmas Eve, the power for the block they live on is turned off because no one has paid their rent. When their friend Benny (Taye Diggs,) who has become successful after marrying the owner of their block tells Mark and Rodger that if they get Mark’s ex-girlfriend Maureen Johnson (Idina Manzel,) to cancel her protest against them, they can live in their loft for free. This is complicated by the fact that Maureen left Mark for a lawyer named Joanne (Tracie Thomas.) Their friend Tom Collins (Jessie L. Martin,) a college professor comes to visit and falls in love with Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia,) a drag queen street musician. During the landlord-induced power outage, Rodger meets Mimi (Rosario Dawson,) a drug addicted stripper and begins to fall in love with her, but won’t admit it because they both have “baggage.”
As a cast, these are some of the best performances I have ever seen, but it is expected when most of the cast (with the exception of Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thomas,) have been playing these characters for ten years. They should know all the nuances of their characters by this point and be able to show the relationships with the other characters. The two newcomers, Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thomas, seem like they were there from the beginning. They have great connections with the original members. Of the two “newbies” I was most impressed with Rosario Dawson. I knew she could act, but she can also sing really well. I was convinced that she had her voice dubbed, but I was wrong. She has an incredible voice to go along with her acting ability. Tracie Thomas also has an amazing voice. When she sang her solo in “Seasons of Love,” I was blown away. They picked two great additions to the cast who even though are new, fit just like they were supposed to be there from the beginning.
Of the original cast I was most impressed by Jessie L. Martin (Tom Collins.) Why you ask, well because he is one of the detectives on “Law and Order.” I’m a fan of all the “Law and Order” shows and was shocked to see Detective Ed Green singing. It was also interesting to see him play a gay character with AIDS. It is the complete opposite of his “Law and Order” character. The one scene where I see this is evident is when he sings the reprise “I’ll Cover You.” I cannot say much about the circumstances with out spoiling the end, but when you see it you will understand what I feel that he alone makes it one of the most powerful scenes in the second half of the play.
I would not be doing this film justice if I did not comment on the music. Written by Jonathan Larson for the play, which was first preformed in 1996, it still holds up ten years later. You are destined to find yourself singing some of the songs after you are finished with the film. Jonathan Larson was able to write rock songs, ballads, and even a tango themed song. The music in the film/play is a credit to Larson’s ability. “Rent,” the play, was Larson’s first big hit and unfortunately he died before he could see how much his play would be loved.
So what is it about “Rent” that makes me sing along and actually enjoy a musical? It is many things. The music is actually good and very well written. The actors care so much for the material that they wanted to do it justice in the film version. The message of “No Day But Today” is something that tells the viewer to not miss out on life and to live each day to it’s fullest. Whether you are dying from AIDS or not, “life is yours to miss.”
So give the movie a try, I did and was impressed so much that I have seen in a few times since. It is amazing what can happen when you open yourself to something you would not normally watch or something you could easy write off as not “your thing.” Life is about taking chances and taking risks in everything you do; love, friends, opening you mind to new ideas. Take chances on things…even movies and you will be surprised at what you find.
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving drugs and sexuality, and for some strong language.
Runtime: 135 min
9 out of 10
Match Point
“Match Point,” directed by Woody Allen, is the story of an ex-tennis player named Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers,) who gets a job as a tennis instructor at a English club. He becomes good friends with one of his students Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode,) and Chris falls in love with Tom’s sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer,) but not before hitting on Tom’s American fiancé Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson.) Once he discovers this, he tries to put her out of his mind, but even when he ends up marrying Chloe, he still has feelings for Nola. They end up in the middle of an affair and Chris is unwilling to sacrifice everything he has gotten since marrying Chloe to be with Nola.
The film starts slow. I was worried that I may have chosen a bad movie and that all I heard was wrong. It took a while, but it picked up about twenty to thirty minutes into the film. The film grows as the relationship between Nola and Chris does and reaches its climax as their relationship does. We see his obsession pick up and as he tries to balance his marriage and his affair. As Nola becomes more obsessed and needy, he finds it harder and harder to keep his affair hidden from not only his wife, but the family as well.
I became a fan of Scarlett Johansson when I saw her in “Lost In Translation.” It was her break out movie and made her a star. She is just as good, if not better in this one. She gives the best performance of any one in the film. As the affair continues, she wants more and more of his time before she wants him to leave he wife and be only with her. Johansson shows why she is one of the best young actresses in these scenes. She made Nola an almost pathetic person and you don’t know whether to hate her for what she is doing to Chris or to pity her because of her background.
There is a theme of luck all through the film that is established in the opening scene. It is a shot of a net while two people play tennis. In a voice over Chris says, “The man who said "I'd rather be lucky than good" saw deeply into life. People are often afraid to realize how much of an impact luck plays. There are moments in a tennis match where the ball hits the top of the net, and for a split second, remains in mid-air. With a litte luck, the ball goes over, and you win. Or maybe it doesn't, and you lose”. That is that the film is about. Those little moments where you will either succeed or fail, make it or not, get away or get caught.
Rated R for some sexuality.
Runtime: 124 min
SUPERMAN RETURNS
Superman has returned and it is about time. It has been over 20 years since the “Man of Steel” graced the big screen. When we last saw him in 1983 in Superman 3, (they chose to ignore Superman 4; The Quest for Peace, and with good reason) he had traveled to the remains of his home planet of Krypton. “Superman Returns” takes place five years later and Superman (Brandon Routh) has just returned on the same ship he arrived in when he was a baby. He crashes in Smallville and spends the first few minutes with his mother Martha Kent (Eva Marie Saint) before
The man picked to wear the blue tights is Brandon Routh. He, like Christopher Reeve before him, is a relative unknown. He even looks a little like the late actor. He is able to balance the bumbling
The man who picked up the “acting slack” was Kevin Spacey. I saw in interview with him where he said that after winning the Oscar for American Beauty, he stopped working so hard. He wants to allow the younger actors he shares the screen with to have the glory. Despite this, he steals all of his scenes. He plays Lex as an evil genius with a twisted sense of humor. He makes Lex the epitome of the character you love to hate. Spacey can pull of any role he is offered and I can see no one else to play Lex Luther.
Two performances that were underused were Parker Posey and Eva Marie Saint. When you get an actress the caliber of Eva Marie Saint, it is a shame to keep her in the film for only ten minutes total. Parker Posey delivers the funniest performance as Kitty Kowalski, the dumb woman involved with Lex who is obviously only there for her looks. She always misses the point of what Lex is doing and Lex treats her as inferior. Surely there is room in a 2 hour and 34 minuets for more performances like this.
The only actor who was in the original and is returning to this is the late great Marlon Brando. He reprises his role of Jor-el, father of Kel-el/ Superman/
It may have been 20 years since we have seen the iconic “S” on screen, but this film has been in the works for about 10 years. The script has had many different writers and went through different versions. Many directors were in the running for this film and finally landed in the hands of Bryan Singer. He directed the first two X-men movies and is responsible for the wave of comic book movies. He has successfully brought back a franchise that many thought was dead and I look forward to seeing where he will take “the last son of Krypton” next.
8 out of 10
Rated PG-13 for some intense action violence.
Runtime: 154 min
