Without Bloom and Knightley, Pirates of the Caribbean still rules!
Showing posts with label Penelope Cruz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Penelope Cruz. Show all posts
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Review - On Stranger Tides
Whoa. It’s the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie already? Wow.
The first Pirates of the Caribbean movie was phenomenal. The Curse of the Black Pearl propelled its three stars to superstardom. Okay, okay, Johnny Depp has always been a superstar but his performance as Captain Jack Sparrow actually earned him his first Oscar nomination and solidified his career. Orlando Bloom was already famous as Legolas from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but this movie proved he could be a swashbuckling hero without the pointy ears. Keira Knightley went on to earn an Oscar nomination for her work in Pride and Prejudice.
So yes, it was a phenomenal movie. The right amount of humor, the right amount of action, the right amount of romance.
You would think that there’s no more storylines and that they would leave the series alone right? No. At World’s End left it open-ended.
Fast forward to this year. On Stranger Tides opens. I was first turned off by it because I thought the other two Pirates of the Caribbean movies were not as good as the first one. And then I read Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom were not coming back. Not really a good sign.
Penelope Cruz was then cast as the female lead. Guess they really haven’t had a Spanish influence on Pirates of the Caribbean yet. I like Penelope Cruz. She was the single best thing about Nine. I love musicals but there was no saving that. Okay, maybe Marion Cotillard was good as well.
Anyway, I saw the trailer. But it did not really excite me still. But it is a Pirates of the Caribbean movie and it is Johnny Depp… so I went to watch it anyway.
On Stranger Tides starts with Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) attempting to rescue one of his crew. Then he hears a rumor about him recruiting people to go to the Fountain of Youth. Which peaked his interest because he was not the one recruiting. Turns out, it was Angelica (Penelope Cruz) who was recruiting in his name/disguise. Angelica wants to go to the Fountain of Youth to help her father, the infamous Black Beard, who is dying. Hot on their trails is Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), who has a score to settle with Black Beard… and the Spanish fleet, who are also seeking out the legendary fountain.
So there you have it. This movie is about the adventure to go find the Fountain of Youth. And what an adventure it is. Seriously. I thought the movie might have lost its magic and/or spark but I was wrong. It still got it. Johnny Depp did not phone in his performance and Penelope Cruz is a fine addition to the series.
However, the movie did get off to a slow start. Like the first few minutes for example. It’s classic Jack Sparrow. Has a ‘been there, done that’ vibe. But as soon as they get off sailing the high seas, then the movie starts to take on top form. I’m talking about zombies and mermaids and ghost ships.
Is this movie any better than the first three movies? It is definitely in a class of its own. In a good way. Nothing can touch the first movie though. Not even the second and third movie. But this one comes quite close to equaling the amount of thrills from the first movie. I guess the second movie suffered greatly because the ending was a set-up for the third movie and that turned off most people. Just like the second Matrix movie… felt like an unfinished movie...
But I am not saying they were bad movies… just not as good…
So I guess if there were a fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, then I’ll go watch it and it will probably be good as well. Or they could pull a Fast & Furious and have the next movie with Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom… but Johnny Depp/Jack Sparrow is essentially the movie so not sure if it would work…
The first Pirates of the Caribbean movie was phenomenal. The Curse of the Black Pearl propelled its three stars to superstardom. Okay, okay, Johnny Depp has always been a superstar but his performance as Captain Jack Sparrow actually earned him his first Oscar nomination and solidified his career. Orlando Bloom was already famous as Legolas from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but this movie proved he could be a swashbuckling hero without the pointy ears. Keira Knightley went on to earn an Oscar nomination for her work in Pride and Prejudice.
So yes, it was a phenomenal movie. The right amount of humor, the right amount of action, the right amount of romance.
You would think that there’s no more storylines and that they would leave the series alone right? No. At World’s End left it open-ended.
Fast forward to this year. On Stranger Tides opens. I was first turned off by it because I thought the other two Pirates of the Caribbean movies were not as good as the first one. And then I read Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom were not coming back. Not really a good sign.
Penelope Cruz was then cast as the female lead. Guess they really haven’t had a Spanish influence on Pirates of the Caribbean yet. I like Penelope Cruz. She was the single best thing about Nine. I love musicals but there was no saving that. Okay, maybe Marion Cotillard was good as well.
Anyway, I saw the trailer. But it did not really excite me still. But it is a Pirates of the Caribbean movie and it is Johnny Depp… so I went to watch it anyway.
On Stranger Tides starts with Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) attempting to rescue one of his crew. Then he hears a rumor about him recruiting people to go to the Fountain of Youth. Which peaked his interest because he was not the one recruiting. Turns out, it was Angelica (Penelope Cruz) who was recruiting in his name/disguise. Angelica wants to go to the Fountain of Youth to help her father, the infamous Black Beard, who is dying. Hot on their trails is Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), who has a score to settle with Black Beard… and the Spanish fleet, who are also seeking out the legendary fountain.
So there you have it. This movie is about the adventure to go find the Fountain of Youth. And what an adventure it is. Seriously. I thought the movie might have lost its magic and/or spark but I was wrong. It still got it. Johnny Depp did not phone in his performance and Penelope Cruz is a fine addition to the series.
However, the movie did get off to a slow start. Like the first few minutes for example. It’s classic Jack Sparrow. Has a ‘been there, done that’ vibe. But as soon as they get off sailing the high seas, then the movie starts to take on top form. I’m talking about zombies and mermaids and ghost ships.
Is this movie any better than the first three movies? It is definitely in a class of its own. In a good way. Nothing can touch the first movie though. Not even the second and third movie. But this one comes quite close to equaling the amount of thrills from the first movie. I guess the second movie suffered greatly because the ending was a set-up for the third movie and that turned off most people. Just like the second Matrix movie… felt like an unfinished movie...
But I am not saying they were bad movies… just not as good…
So I guess if there were a fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, then I’ll go watch it and it will probably be good as well. Or they could pull a Fast & Furious and have the next movie with Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom… but Johnny Depp/Jack Sparrow is essentially the movie so not sure if it would work…
Monday, March 21, 2011
Disney Releases Second 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Trailer - Video
Disney has just released a second trailer of our good friend Jack Sparrow and his cronies in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”While there is still a lot of mystery and intrigue surrounding this version of Pirates 4 the trailer does give us a look into how strange the “Stranger Tides” will be, and how good of a pirate Johnny Depp can be.
For example, Jack’s ship “The Pearl”, has taken on a life and conscience of its own. Not only does it fight against Jack’s crew – but also will be fighting Jack himself.
Jack’s love interest is the key to finding the fountain of youth and Penélope Cruz sure does now how to look spectacular. It also appears she is the key to fighting and winning against Blackbeard.
Another bit if news is that famed Rolling Stone member Keith Richards will again appears as Jack Sparrow’s father and may already have found the fountain of youth and consumed some of its magical powers.
If anybody could use it…… it’s Keith Richards.
Due in theaters in May 2011, it looks like Disney has another hit on their hands.
Watch trailer for “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”
Friday, February 25, 2011
Trailer - On Stranger Tides
The fourth Pirates of the Caribbean... no longer featuring Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom... Penelope Cruz is in this one instead...
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Ninebreakers
Nine is a Rob Marshall musical based on a Broadway musical.
It tells the story of Guido Contini, an Italian director whose facing a midlife crisis and writer's block. He needs to come up with a script for a movie that's shooting in a couple of weeks but he got nothing.
So he turns to the women in his life for inspiration: his mother, his wife, his mistress and his muse. Other women who have a hand in his life include his colleague, a journalist and a hooker from his childhood.
The truly standout performances came from:
Marion Cotillard as Luisa Contini, the long suffering wife ...
and Penelope Cruz as the mistress... 
This movie opens tomorrow... I've seen it on DVD already coz I love vampires. And the cast intrigued me. Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill.
The movie itself is not that bad. The pacing is a bit slow and there's no real danger posed from either the vampire camp or the human camp. Not even from the Primals. So you don't really have a sense of who's the bad guy. Of course we can tell vampires are bad but in a world where vampires are outliving humans, vampires are now the humans yes?
It tells the story of Guido Contini, an Italian director whose facing a midlife crisis and writer's block. He needs to come up with a script for a movie that's shooting in a couple of weeks but he got nothing.
So he turns to the women in his life for inspiration: his mother, his wife, his mistress and his muse. Other women who have a hand in his life include his colleague, a journalist and a hooker from his childhood.
The truly standout performances came from:
Marion Cotillard as Luisa Contini, the long suffering wife ...
and Penelope Cruz as the mistress...Kate Hudson has the most fun song sequence in the entire movie...
Basically, Nine is in the vein of Chicago but somehow it's a lot darker, maybe because of its somber storyline? It is not that bad... definitely watchable but I got this sneaky feeling that Nine is better than it actually is mostly because of the supporting performances by Marion Cotillard and Penelope Cruz and Kate Hudson's sequence...
This movie opens tomorrow... I've seen it on DVD already coz I love vampires. And the cast intrigued me. Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill.
Daybreakers is about the world being overrun by vampires and there's only a handful of humans left. The vampires need human blood to survive so they are hunting humans and also trying to come up with a blood substitute.
Meanwhile, the commoners are getting hungrier and had to resort to feeding on their own blood, which resulted in the mutation of the vampires into some sort of primal vampire, complete with bat-like limbs.
The premise is interesting but the movie failed to utilize on it. If only the remaining vampires and humans have to band together to defeat the primal vampires, then it's probably gonna be better....
The movie itself is not that bad. The pacing is a bit slow and there's no real danger posed from either the vampire camp or the human camp. Not even from the Primals. So you don't really have a sense of who's the bad guy. Of course we can tell vampires are bad but in a world where vampires are outliving humans, vampires are now the humans yes?
Anyway, the acting's decent. And the introduction of vampirism cure is neat. But then again, they never follow through with it. Maybe in Daybreakers 2?
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