hot rum toddies

[freckles_and_doubt]

... now the drink of choice for (a) my cold, currently also being enjoyed by stv and the Evil Landlord, (b) the wall-to-wall diet of pirates in the last few days, and (c) stv. We have flattened an entire bottle of Spiced Gold since Tuesday.

I think my response to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is perfectly summed up by my experience of a small near-incident upon leaving the theatre: distracted by the particularly nice Johnny Depp shot on the poster ...



... I nearly walked into one of those big, metal, bolt-studded pillars the Waterfront cinema carelessly leaves lying around all over the place. The films actually have a stellar cast, Orli's approximately 2-degree range notwithstanding, but really they're about Jack Sparrow, who has to be quite one of the most compelling and endearing collections of mannerisms and foibles ever to grace the Hollywood screen, particularly given the packaging in a pleasingly lean form with high cheekbones. Apparently fired to new heights by this inalienable fact, the film's scriptwriters clearly asked themselves, "What makes people watch these films?" and, receiving the simple answer "Johnny Depp", set out to give us more of him. Multiple copies. All over the screen, being endearingly mad. The mind truly boggles at the thought of the Jack/Jack slash, or even the Jack/Jack/Jack/Jack/Jack slash, that will certainly result.


Things I Liked About The Film:

• Overall, its pace, sweep and general sense of adventure and fun, nicely balanced with dark bits. The opening sequence with the hangings, while gratuitously over-the-top, was very effective.
• The very surreal sequences in World's End itself - some amazing visuals.
• The crabs.
• The doomed love between the giant sea goddess with a Jamaican accent and the immortal underwater pirate captain with an octopus on his head. It was surprisingly real.
• Orli trying to be dark and angsty. You want to pat him on the head and feed him cookies, or something.
• Davy Jones playing the organ with his tentacles. This charmed me in the second film, and hasn't stopped any.
• The completely bizarre and fanciful things Jack Sparrow does with language. I'm so an English geek.
• Poor old Commander Norrington's redemption-by-death. I do like Norrington.
• The mid-battle proposal and marriage ceremony. Endearingly silly. Also, I have to add, the incredibly Errol-Flynnish flourish Will Turner gives to grabbing his lady and kissing her thereafter. Iconic.
• Johnny Depp, plus supporting cast, flying around on the end of a rope to considerable slapstick effect. Yay slapstick.

Things I Didn't Like About The Film:

• Aspects of the scripting: while I didn't find the huge numbers of plot holes I was expecting, it was a sprawling, self-indulgent script that badly lacked elegance. Most events actually had an explanation, but the justifications felt tacked-on and over-elaborate rather than arising from inherent logic.
• Lack of sufficient feel-good narrative payoff, essential for this kind of movie. I'm not big with the doomed separation of Will and Elizabeth for ten years. They're such a pair of dopes, they deserve something more saccharine. Either that, or first_fallen is infecting me, and I'm unable to contemplate with equanimity the idea of ten years of forcible separation from Orli's torso.
• The whirlpool. Cute for about three seconds, but it went nowhere and did nothing. Cool visual effects are not an end in themselves.
• The lack of resolution of the Davy Jones/Calypso romance. I want to know what happened, dammit! I was rooting for them.
• The bit with the brain. Eeeuw.

I don't think I follow the normal critical rules when watching movies - I seem to judge them on the level of storytelling, firmly within genre. World's End is by no means a great film in absolute terms, but as a genre piece in the fluffbuckling mode, it's pretty darned effective and bloody good fun to watch. Also, pretty men. Yes, I'm shallow.

Comments

Orlipool - kinda spoilery

[first-fallen.livejournal.com]

Yay Orli! He was teh hawt, trying to be all double-crossey and tragic, yet ending up doing exactly what Jack wanted him to do. For me the movie was less about Jack* and more about Cthdavey Jones. I really liked him and was hoping for more story there, it had such potential. I'm a bit of a Bill Nighy fangirl. Also, Keith Richards was teh awesome, total scene stealer. It was completely predictable about Will becoming Davey Jones, pah. I'd like to see a director's cut, hopefully it will be darker and angstier with less of the slapstick (I loathes slapstick).

The whirlpool was one of the best bits, I think. It was just so damn cool. I want me a Flying Dutchman, barnacles and all.

* Not as awesome in this one (don't kill me, Schedule 5!). He was kinda fluffy and didn't seem to have a point beyond "driving" the "plot" (read: herding the cats). Too much of a good thing? He seemed somewhat watered down, if you'll pardon the pun.

Re: Orlipool - kinda spoilery

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, we appear to differ on several key points, notably whirlpool. Also Keith Richards, who I found to be rather arb - man can't project character worth a damn, came across as a pale imitation Johnny Depp. I agree that Jack was different this movie, but I think it was legit - he's gradually become more empathetic/less selfish, and therefore more conflicted.

The bit where the Flying Dutchman surges up out of the water is always incredibly cool.

Pretty Men

[schedule5.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm pretty shallow too. Today I made my husband buy extra food in the garage shop so that I could get a Jack Sparrow tattoo. (R20 gets you a free packet of pirate tattoos).

I haven't seen the film yet, so can't refute first_fallen's blasphemy :).

Re: Pretty Men

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

I know precisely how shallow you are in this context, I still have a Jack Sparrow poster on the back of my door courtesy of you :>. And poor first_fallen has this unaccountable Orli fixation which blinds her to the joys of Depp-worship, so we have to be very kind to her :>.