Back before I found myself writing scripts, if a friend dissected the plot of a movie that I enjoyed, I would reply, “But, it’s a movie.” While I have since cast a more critical eye on screen stories, I still delight in movies which entertain without offering much substance. Yet, sometimes now, I still have to remind myself that it’s just a movie and that if it entertains, it doesn’t have to make perfect sense.
To be sure, I find the better movies are those which entertain us and remind us of those things which matter most or whose very stories — or elements of the stories — spur us to serious thought and conversation. Those are the types of screenplay ideas which most readily come to my mind, those which I have written and still strive to write.
Last night I saw a movie which, to quote a friend who saw it before I, had “plot holes you could drive a truck through,” found myself thoroughly entertained. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest will certainly not rank with Star Wars as a movie which entertains and enlightens, but it certainly did entertain. In many ways, it was like its inspiration — a theme park ride. While theme park rides don’t provide much spiritual sustenance, they tend to be a lot of fun.
I saw the flick last night with a straight friend from my Arlington Republican days. And fortunately, after the flick, we had enough catching up today that we didn’t talk too much about the movie, except to say that we enjoyed it despite its story flaws. After seeing War of the Worlds last summer with another friend, we went to dinner and started talking about the flick. And while I had enjoyed the film, the conversation caused me to focus on its flaws. I guess we appreciate some movies more if we just enjoy them — and don’t think too much about them after.
Speaking of War of the Worlds. I saw it the other night on TV and I found it very disturbing. What put me off was not the aliens, but the children. Tom Cruise’s two kids were revolting. I was rooting for the mother ships to suck both of them up and turn them into bloody fertilizer. It was a seriously offputting image of what I fear too many American families are like today.
I think a few of the problems with Pirates is that is the 2nd in a trilogy. The middle movie is usually the weakest.
I think a few of the problems with Pirates is that is the 2nd in a trilogy. The middle movie is usually the weakest.
Unless you are talking about Empire Strikes Back-which is still my favorite of the first trilogy.
My feeling the whole time I watched it (and I saw it twice-once to prescreen it before I took my kids to see it the second time) was that the main purpose of this movie was to set up the third. I also admit I didn’t find the villain(s) in this movie as interesting as Barbosa was in the 1st flick.
But it is pretty easy to tell what the conflicts are going to be for the characters in the next film-they set that up pretty clearly.
#3 just me — July 27, 2006 @ 8:13 pm – July 27, 2006
Unless you are talking about Empire Strikes Back-which is still my favorite of the first trilogy.
AFAIC, it was the best of all six Star Wars movies.
The last three, the “prequels,” were largely embarrassing.
On Tom Snooze’s War of the Worlds, we concluded that it was intended to be a comedy. The last half of the movie primarily consisted of Tom Snooze running around carrying the shreaking Dakota Fanning. It was hilarious. Thank goodness we just rented the DVD instead of wasting money on theatre tickets.
And apparently Snooze had never heard of WCField’s famous aphorism about adults playing against dogs or children.
I despised the WoW remake. It’s a celebration of cowardice. Tom Cruise is a coward. Everything he does is cowardly.
The last three, the “prequels,” were largely embarrassing.
Raj I think this may the first time I have agreed with you.
I never bothered to see the WoW movie-and I can’t say I have any desire to see it.
I am not sure Pirates would have gone so well the first go around had Depp not been so good at Jack Sparrow-he created a unique and interesting character.
I watched Mr and Mrs Smith on DVD for about the fifth time last night. Despite the odd pacing, it’s really an under-appreciated gem. I guess, the only way to pull-off combining a high-tech spy movie action thriller with a domestic comedy is to go quirky, and the movie succeeds at this amazingly well. The dialog is well done, conveying the verbal sparring, the competitive drive, and the tension between Branjolina. Keeping the antagonist completely nameless and faceless was a brilliant directoral choice, it lets you focus on the romantic strife between the two main characters without distraction while keeping the action level high. The choices of music were especially quirky, (Air Supply during the car chase, for example). The skillful way the director weaves bits and pieces of mundane suburbia into the action sequences. It’s not as deep as Groundhog Day, but it is a movie I am appreciating more and more.
#4
The last three, the “prequels,” were largely embarrassing.
True. I just saw them about 6 months ago and, to me, it raised further questions. There were some loose ends between III & IV. However, I’d been dying to know since I was little how Vader wound up with the respirator.
Another thing was that with all the up play of Darth Maul and his merchandise, it sucked to see that he wasn’t even in 5 minutes of the movie.
As far as WotW, I thought the effects were pretty cool. It would have really blown chimp without surround sound.
I still have a fondness for the sound effects of the original movie though.
Peeewwww! Peeeeewwww!
Regarding War of the Worlds, I read the book (typical British SciFi of the time, in other words boring for a 15 year old), I’ve heard the Orson Wells’s Mercury Theater recording more times that I can count, and I saw the 1953 version starring Gene Barry. As well as the Tom Snooze version.
Tom wasn’t to blame for the fiasco–the scriptwriters and the director were. AFAIC, the best movie version is the 1953 version, despite its somewhat hokey ending–and it’s available in color. The best version overall was the Orson Wells version on radio, but only for the fact that, while you were listening to it, you had to close your eyes and imagine what he was telling you.
And that last is the reason that I prefer books to movies–you actually have to use you imagination to describe to you what the book or audio is telling you.
Back on topic –we saw Pirates-Dead Man’s with a group of friends. The likes/dislikes of the movie broke down by sexual orientation… those of us who were gay liked the movie because of JohnnieDepp’s apt portrait of a gay pirate… hopelessly lying, hopelessly confused… later, wanting everything in the world to be subordinate to his desires… still later, being around lots of strong womyn but as a psuedo-female, not a male… and still later, wanting others to sacrafice all for his momentary amusement. In our group, we’ve all either known or dated gay pirates like that.
The str8s in the crowd thought the special effects were not convincing or special… that JohnnieDepp was a painful exercise and should have been killed in the first scene… and the best redeeming element in the film was the dog on the island… and the best acting too. One of the women in the group offered that JohnnieDepp couldn’t have been less attractive if he tried… she mused “Who is he trying to attract?” Silly girl.
BTW, rightwingprof, I though WOT was a cowardly, debased film too. I understand why it appealed to liberals so much.
I loathe most CGI “special” effects. They look like video games.
One of the women in the group offered that JohnnieDepp couldn’t have been less attractive if he tried… she mused “Who is he trying to attract?” Silly girl.
I don’t know, I am straight, but then I don’t look for Depp to be attractive, because other than his eyes, I just don’t think he is all that hot. I do think he is a very good actor, and I like the way he does Sparrow.
I think overall the biggest weakness was that the villains weren’t all that interesting. I would almost have rather skipped the Davey Jones guy, and had a less ghostly fight between Sparrow and the East INdia Company guy-Davy Jones to me just wasn’t a good villain, and the other guy had good potential, but you didn’t see enough of him.
Vera refuses to watch movies based on amusement park rides.
What’s next: “The Teacups – The final Crack” or “Tilt-A-Whirl: Out of Bounds!”
Bad enough Vera has to dodge the new King of Multi-Media – Al Gore.
Apparently, Al Gore skipped the amusement park rides and started with a slide show turned into a movie based on a book – based on a theory.
No doubt, next up is “An Inconvenient Truth – The Musical!”
As if inventing the Internet and losing the 2000 presidential election weren’t enough, now Al from the Audio-Visual club is confidently predicting a worldwide cataclysm with the melting of the polar ice caps sometime in the next few hundred years. As if Vera doesn’t have more immediate concerns; like where to fill up her 1931 Duesenberg with extra leaded gasoline in this day and age.
Sorry, but Vera can’t take global warming too seriously when it takes a constantly running pool heater to keep her pool water at a chilly 68 degrees. Ricardo, Vera’s common law pool boy, has to provide extra encouragement just to get Vera in past her knees.
Speaking of a “Lady in the Water”, Vera thought Ester Williams came out of retirement with a new film.
Sadly, it’s some piece of dreck based on a children’s story.
As if basing films on amusement park rides weren’t bad enough.
//Ricardo – more gin for Vera!
Churro Stand – The Movie!
There’s finally something where raj and I are in agreement. One of my fondest childhood memories is lying on the living room floor listening to “Jack Armstrong”, “The Green Hornet”, “Amos and Andy”, “Fibber McGee and Molly”, etc.. on the radio and using my imagination to “picture” what was happening. (I often wonder if those experiences are why today I read one or two novels a week.)
I’ll never forget the kick-in-the-gut disappointment years later when I learned that the old geezer doing TV commercials for classical music tapes had been the voice of my hero “Jack Armstrong, All American Boy”.
#16 Trace Phelps — July 28, 2006 @ 8:45 pm – July 28, 2006
I often wonder if those experiences are why today I read one or two novels a week.
Probably. I don’t do a lot of fiction now. If I did, I would prefer science fiction, but I got away from that in the 1970s after it became more than a bit boring. But I recall full well reading novels like Dune, Stranger in a Strange Land, For Whom The Bell Tolls and many others of various genres when I was a child, using a flashlight under my covers–believing that I would fool my parents (silly me!)–and imagining what they were telling me.
I also remembering having solved more than a few calculus problems after turning the light out and visualizing what the problems were telling me, getting up and writing down the solution.
I really do believe that what is being put on more than a few DVDs of movies–how the movies were made–is a disservice to the viewer. That came home to me when we rented the DVD of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a wonderful movie that had amazing visual effects, in many cases a cross between flying and dancing. We made the mistake of watching the “how they made the movie” segment on the “extra features.” That was interesting given my engineering background, but it did take a bit of the magic out of the movie.
Regarding the Pirates movie, haven’t seen it or its predecessor. As far as I’m concerned, Johnny Depp is a very good actor. We’ve seen him in a number of movies. My favorite was What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. That movie made Leonardo DiCaprio a star, but I preferred Depp’s Gilbert Grape characterization.
I think you rocked in Pirates of the Carribean,but the again I love you in all your movies.Your one HOT man.I wish one day to meet you but it is very difficult to do so when your draw disability.If you could set me up to meet you and OR your family that would be great.Wish I could met you or get a signed picture of you that would be so AWESOME!!!! Thanks..