Well Pirates fans, Tuesday’s screening of the new Pirates film came and went and I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that On Stranger Tides was just awesome! Sure it has its flaws and somethings they could have done without, but it returned to the elements that made the first Pirates film so successful and beloved. The bad news is that becasue of my enjoying and applauding those similar elements in this movie I’ve become a hypocrite for liking what I loathed in last time in At World’s End. But for those of you worried about the future of the Pirates franchise (this is…
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FourScore Match-Up #10: "Evolution of the PIXAR Score"
The Pixar catalog has grown by leaps and bounds in the past 25 years. While they have won countless millions of hearts in all age ranges, Pixar has come from being a cutsey little animation company (started by John Lasseter, Ed Catmull and Steve Jobs) making commercials to an animation powerhouse. They are gifted story telllers who give such life and depth to inanimate objects like toys, cars and robots. Like anything, with growth comes change and progress. That said, most should have noticed both their stories and musical scores taking a more adult approach. Starting with Randy Newman’s light and airy themes, the soundtracks to the films in Pixar’s resume have blossomed to…
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Off the Shelf…'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'
Boy was this a bloated piece of barnacle run off. Now I’m not going to try and hide the fact that I just did not like this film. While it was the biggest adventure thus far, it just tripped over its own convoluted sea legs and the result was an exposition/character heavy film that was as pointless as it was boring. Whew, glad I got that out. Now as someone who can usually see both sides to a film and is usually a bit more fair than is necessary, I’ll admit there were some interesting bits but I think you’d agree with me when I say I feel At World’s…
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Off the Shelf…'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'
Picking up realtively right after the high of the The Curse of the Black Pearl film, Dead Man’s Chest is everything you’d expect in a sequel. But what Dead Man’s Chest does very well is provide interesting back story and character development. Specifically we find out more about how Jack became Captain as well as the story behind old Bootstrap Bill and Davy Jones’ Locker. Expanding on the wild elements of the first film The Curse of the Black Pearl, namely the Aztec curse, and as Barbossa was one tough act to follow we get not one but three new heavies. It’s yo ho all the way through this epic…
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Off the Shelf…'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'
Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides comes out this Friday, May 20th so to get ready I revisited the previous three films this past weekend. Huzzah, man was that a good time (except for the last one which is kind of crappy). Disney re-released their trilogy on Blu Ray back in March and I can honestly say that adventures on the high seas have never looked this good which made it all the more enjoyable! So who would have seriously thought than a static amusement park ride would serve as inspiration for such a thrilling and fun-filled film? Well this is Disney we’re talking about and they have the…
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Groovers & Mobsters Present: “The Buddy Flick”
In this installment of Groovers & Mobsters, we’re going to look at the “Buddy” element in modern films. It’s taken many forms over the years and come in a variety of iterations but today we’ll evaluate this absolute classic cinematic formula. It’s proven time and again to be a winner and, most of the time, makes for one very funny outing…especially if the characters aren’t having a good time. Traditionally a “buddy flick” (or even a “road trip movie“) focuses on a two-man team who has either been willingly or unwillingly paired together because of some mutual plot device. What follows is a series of misadventures befalling the leads as they continually bump heads (either…
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For the Kids: CARS 2 Characters Come to Dallas!!
Hello World, Marc Here: Here’s something for all you auto buffs out there…well those of you prefer the Pixar brand of vehicle that is. For all you kiddos (and parents) who are in the Dallas area, NorthPark Mall will be hosting an all day long Cars 2 themed event. Here’s some brief specifics about the happenings: Wednesday, June 1, 2011 at NorthPark Center Come see four-time Piston Cup Champion Lightning McQueen and best friend Mater along with the very savvy British spy Finn McMissile! Take part in a variety of Cars 2- themed activities and fun including a video kiosk, e-photo opportunities, games, inflatable obstacle course, giveaways and much more! Click…
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Sean Bean and Aaron Eckhart Cast In 1 of 2 Different 'Pan' Films
Second star to the right and straight on…to a crime scene? Yes that’s what one of two revisionist takes on the J.M. Barrie’s characters (both tenatively titled Pan) might give us. Sean Bean (Goldeneye) and Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) have both been cast in 1 of 2 planned and very different takes on the Peter Pan legend. The first gives us a deeper look at “the boy who never grew up” and we’ll essentially get an origin story. Why is that interesting? Well that’s because in this story, the characters have been rewritten to reveal that Hook and Pan are in fact brothers! Not sure Barrie would like that but…
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Ohhh, Look…Kermit's Coverage From 'Pirates of the Caribbean 4' Premiere
Disney’s got a really cute idea for the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 4’ Premiere. It’s called Kermit-Cam and basically it’s our favorite frog interviewing several stars from the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film. Yeah, that about sums it up…have a look! Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End seemed to fall prey to the “trilogy curse” (not to mention the “too big to fail” mentality) and that was pretty disappointing. Well, with this being the start of an all new (supposed) trilogy, On Stranger Tides looks to return to the magic that made The Curse of the Black Pearl so successful. Here’s hoping Rob Marshall can capture Gore Verbinski’s…
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Sweet Trailer…'Real Steel'
Now this is what a “rock em, sock em” bot flick should look like!! From Dreamworks Pictures comes the incredible true story…no wait wrong pugilist movie…comes the simply awesome (read: popcorn) looking film Real Steel. I think the Autobots might have just found a new recruit in Atom:P Courtesy of Yahoo! Movies, check out the trailer and let me know what you think. Robots, comics and sci-fi are all the rage these days and The Wolverine himself must be loving the spin he’s in since he can pretty much rock a movie in all three genres. Here’s hoping this turns out better than X-Men Origins…yikes was that just terrible. Real…
