Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise

Post by **Ben** » July 9th, 2006, 5:42 pm

I second the decent widecsreen transfer of "Blackbeard's Ghost". Great movie, and Ustinov's take on the character could be Sparrow's dad, y'know...

Had the chance to see this Friday but held off. We threw the first one up on the old projector last night to get in the mood. Have to say that it seemed to drag, but hopes are up for the new one.

Seeing it Monday night!

Post by **chernabog** » July 10th, 2006, 2:56 am

Hey Spider-man is a great film! The sequel is miles better, but it's a perfect example of the comic book genre. I agree with you on Titanic though, it really doesn't deserve to be the biggest film of all time. Not that it's a terrible movie, it's just so decidedly average.

Last night I got all excited thinking about POTC 3, not only because it's sure to be amazing but also because (as JimHillMedia speculated) a brand new Disney short will feature beforehand, possibly a Mickey/Donald/Goofy one.

Next May can't come quick enough!

Post by **Ben** » July 10th, 2006, 1:23 pm

New short?

Gawd his page is such a mess of Pirates-related stuff (is he trying to get back in the Mouse's good books, me thinks?) now I can't find any mention...

He's getting a bit confused, isn't he? What was that rant against the fan boy geeks about? And then he keeps referring to Pirates III as Pirates II?

Calm down, Jim. Y'know?

Post by **chernabog** » July 10th, 2006, 1:42 pm

New short?

Yeah, t'was a while ago now though. His page is a mess and it crashes every time I'm on there. Why does he have to be so negative all the time as well? Even the greatest stories end a downbeat note

(ie, 'Disney have bought Pixar.... But it cost them 7 billion dollars and will take years to earn back')

Sorry, strayed a litte off topic there.

Post by **bawpcwpn** » July 10th, 2006, 4:53 pm

It seems to me Jim is out to get John Lasseter and Pixar. Maybe they denied his requests to tour the studio and allowed AICN that time, and denied him interviews with Pixar execs etc.

Post by **Ben** » July 10th, 2006, 7:05 pm

Well...deep breath...

BACK ON TOPIC!!

Post by **Ben** » July 10th, 2006, 7:20 pm

Just got back from POTC:DMC - my first visit to a movie theater since...I think...Ice Age 2 (can't be that long surely?)!! So...from the top...

New Disney Logo - underwhelmed.

After reading the Hollywood Reporter article on this and hearing word of mouth, I was expecting something really cool. What I got was a DreamWorks night sky 'n' clouds beginning before it turned into what could have been the opening titles of any recent edition of The Wonderful World Of Disney. I thought we were going to get some really cool new music, albeit with a nod to When You Wish Upon A Star. We basically got a weak rendition of that song, and nothing majorly new (Joel McNeely's version for Return To NeverLand knocked socks off of this "new" one). And then that font? Okay, the "Disney signature" is still in place. But as a wishy-washy, overly CGI liquid thing that looks more 1989 "Abyss" than anything we should be getting in 2006...ugh.

Needless to say...I was disappointed with a capital D. At least the old blue/white and black/orange variants had a distinctive style. This seemed like a pretty boring throwback while offering nothing new. There was nothing here that said logo, only "cheap and tired old TV opening"...

Dead Man's Chest - great fun!

Overlong, but extremely well made. I thought the effects were the best so far this year. Put it down for my vote at the Oscars.

A little less humor than the first one, and a little less Jack come to think about it, but I enjoyed it and it did everything the trailer promised.

I thought, at the end of the day, that it was better than the first. I'm impressed at how well it dovetailed into the first one and set up the next one, and glad that they got everybody back (and I mean EVERYbody

) when usually such follow-ups are happy to kick the first film in the teeth and basically do a re-boot.

Everything - except length - was spot on. I think it could have been even better with 20 or even maybe 30 minutes shaved off, and I thought the same about the first one too.

But I'm very much looking forward to Pirates III, so I guessed it did the trick!

Next up for me: Superman Returns, on Friday.

Post by **ShyViolet** » July 10th, 2006, 7:42 pm

I agree with you on Titanic though, it really doesn't deserve to be the biggest film of all time. Not that it's a terrible movie, it's just so decidedly average.

Wow....my feelings exactly.

And what was that with Leo DiCaprio not attending the Oscars because he wasn't nominated? He pretty much s****ed, if you want my opinion. ANYONE would have been better than him. (no offense to Leo fans.

)

I still haven't seen Pirates but I hope to sometime this week.

New Disney Logo - underwhelmed.

I still think they shoulda gone with something that showed their new tie with Pixar, like Mickey and a Lamp or something.

I think that they didn't exhibits that Pixar very much wants to retain its separate identity.

Post by **ShyViolet** » July 10th, 2006, 9:27 pm

(I think I'm the only girl on the planet who thinks Johnny Depp isn't hot.

LOL....

When he was a "teen idle" back in the late 80s in 21 Jump Street and Cry-Baby I had kind of a crush on him...

I got over him pretty quickly, however, (New Kids on the Block took over) but for years I always thought he was a great actor. I still do.

Orlando Bloom is cute, but it kinda seems like Legolas is the only role he did really well. Maybe because as the Elf he was SUPPOSED to be overly-pure and "bland."

Post by **Meg** » July 10th, 2006, 9:43 pm

I still think they shoulda gone with something that showed their new tie with Pixar, like Mickey and a Lamp or something.

That would be cool, but for a live-action movie?...

Post by **ShyViolet** » July 10th, 2006, 10:42 pm

Yeah but Pixar IS Disney now. I mean for Disney movies they always show the castle, whether it's animated or not.

Plus for a while Warner Bros. had Bugs Bunny introducing their logo (they stopped doing it I think) even if the film wasn't animated.

Post by **Christian** » July 11th, 2006, 2:43 am

I mean for Disney movies they always show the castle, whether it's animated or not.

Funny that the second POTC would debut the new logo since the first POTC didn't show the castle at all.

Post by **chernabog** » July 11th, 2006, 8:03 am

They can't have the Pixar logo appearing with the Disney one because they are, at the end of the day, two separate companies. They haven't merged together in any way, they simply answer to the same boss.

It would be like having the touchstone logo beside the Disney castle.

I think the reason they never had the Disney logo with the first one was because they probably thought it was hindrance to them. Adults tend to see the Disney logo and groan. Let's not also forget that Eisner was still in charge at the time.

With the sequel, Disney know's they have a hit on their hands so they can brag about the fact that it's a Disney flick.

Post by **Ben** » July 11th, 2006, 12:04 pm

Oh, I do strongly feel that we have a new logo just as we have a new boss in the hot seat at the Mouse House. There's no coinkidink about that!

But I just felt is was a let down as opposed to being something that works very well as a graphic stylization of what Disney is about. This new one seems waaaay to much glitz and gold even though it shows nothing new.

Chernabog is right in that they kept the logo off the first one so that it wouldn't put teenagers off. Now they can brag (indeed all the commericials I see scream out "Disney's Pirates...") as loud as they like.

And, yeah, doing a Disney/Pixar logo would be okay for Disney/Pixar films, but as the company's overall logo? No way. Pixar is still only another division of Disney now, whereas the castle sums up the Disney ethos in one image. Shame it just looks like the Wonder World castle that have played on TV since the Wonderful World of Color from 1962!

Post by **ShyViolet** » July 11th, 2006, 3:28 pm

Chernabog is right in that they kept the logo off the first one so that it wouldn't put teenagers off

I think that's why Ron Miller originally created the TouchStone label in the first place, when they made movies like "Splash" (the first to appear under the label.) Teenagers would hear "Disney" and groan.

That's also one of the reasons that Eisner & Co. put lots more thrill rides in the parks.