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arishaSo we've started to get some Deathly Hallows: Part 2 promotional stuff at the theatre where I work, and my co-workers keep showing it to me expecting me to be excited. My only response is that I cannot bring myself to care about Harry Potter when we're getting a new Pirates movie in FIVE AND A HALF HOURS.
I feel like I haven't been posting about On Stranger Tides even half as much as I posted about At World's End before it came out, but that is simply because I have been spending all my free time playing Lego Pirates of the Caribbean. BELIEVE ME I AM STOKED.
Speaking of which, here's the rest of that entry that I intended to finish a month ago, written rather more quickly than the previous installments because apparently I am never going to finish it otherwise!
14. Tia Dalma
I'll be honest with you guys and admit that I'm still frustrated with Tia Dalma in At World's End. I'm cool with all the Calypso stuff now, but I remain frustrated that she apparently had a drastic change in mood sometime between Dead Man's Chest and At World's End that just gets sprung on the audience. She spends At World's End pretty much constantly on the verge of tears and it just irritates me because there's no real lead up to it. But let's take a moment to remember how absolutely awesome she is in Dead Man's Chest by watching this awkwardly chopped-up YouTube version of her first fantastic scene:
I was surprised when I realized that Tia Dalma only has two scenes in Dead Man's Chest; she seriously rocks them to the point where I would've guessed she had more. I can't think of anything deep to say, but her dress is awesome and her accent is awesome and her house is awesome and the way she tells the story of Davy Jones is awesome and I kind of love when a series has a character who knows everything about all the other characters and we (for a little while at least) don't know exactly how or why. I feel like Tia Dalma is probably an example of some sort of outdated ~mystic woman~ trope, but I must apologize because I love her anyway. I mean, she entertains guests in one room while Barbossa is lying dead in another (at 4:06 in the above clip is the super brief shot of the monkey sitting at Barbossa's feet, a shot I didn't even notice until someone told me it was there), what kind of awesome and crazy series is this!!!
I should clarify that I don't dislike all of her scenes in At World's End. Her first scene in that movie is pretty great - the blindfold and the blood on her cheeks and that all-knowing smile. In conclusion, Tia Dalma is awesome.
15. The Ride References
Can I just say, I really hate when reviews of the Pirates movies mention that they were based on/inspired by a theme park attraction, and mean it as an insult? I mean, I'm pretty sure Pirates of the Caribbean is considered to be one of the best attractions out there. I hardly consider it a bad thing to be inspired by something that is one of the best in its genre.
Anyway. The storyline of Curse of the Black Pearl was very closely based on the hints of story that you can find in the ride. The sequel storylines, I would say, are independent of the ride (another reason I hate when reviewers bring it up), but I really enjoy how the filmmakers continue to include references to it, even when they're as "HEY LOOK AT ME!" obvious as the audio clips in At World's End, hahaha. Probably my favourite references in the sequels are Barbossa's "It be too late to alter course" and "These be the last friendly words you hear," which I believe were both in the same line in the attraction. In a crazy twist of fate, I'm fairly certain that line isn't even in the attraction anymore, having been removed when Davy Jones replaced the voice that used to be in that scene. So by the time At World's End came out, Barbossa's words wouldn't have even been in the attraction anymore. :P This is a change that actually makes me kind of sad - I love Davy Jones' appearance in the ride but I think I like the original lines just a little bit better. So I guess I should be glad that they made it into the movies! hahaha.
16. The Dialogue
Man I am so picky about dialogue. It is very rare that I get through a book or a movie without wanting to tear apart and completely rewrite the dialogue within. Truth be told, I'm sure I could find at least a couple Pirates lines I'd like to rewrite, but there are more than enough lines that I LOVE to make up for them. I'm not exactly sure what makes me like or dislike a line of dialogue, but I would say that, in my humble opinion, the Pirates dialogue is neither too short nor too wordy, it reflects the characters saying the lines (I love all the pirate words and expressions and am always disappointed when I watch these movies dubbed and realize that they don't translate very well), and is really well-crafted and occasionally even manages to sound a bit poetic.
Some of you may remember this post, in which I listed my favourite lines from each of the first two movies. If I made these lists now they would probably be a bit different (and I am also losing my confidence that the Snow White reference is not just something I made up), eg. I am a little bit sad that I failed to include Davy Jones' awesome "I am the sea." To make this entry longer I am going to share with you my list of favourite lines from At World's End, which I started four years ago and never finished (four-year-old unfinished commentary included):
· Prisoners: "Never shall we die."
The song "Hoist the Colours" also includes the line "Never say we die," which I find more interesting from a more word-based perspective, but I like the staging of this line a lot more, so I chose it instead. I just love how the song starts with just the boy, and then grows into this big crowd singing it, and then there's dialogue over it, but at the end it goes back to the boy and you can hear his voice over all the others. It's so simple but really effective.
· Sao Feng: "It seems the only way a pirate can turn a profit anymore ... is by betraying other pirates."
I chose this line because I think it sounds cool. xD Because "betraying other pirates" is pretty well what the entire trilogy is about! Because I like the way it's delivered and I like that the camera focuses on Will for the end of it. Can I call that foreshadowing? All through CotBP and DMC, Will is, compared to the majority of the other characters, the honest one. All upstanding and straightforward and telling the truth and everything. He does have his moments of lies and betrayal, but compared to the lies and betrayals of like everyone else, Will's are hardly noticeable. So when, at the beginning of AWE, he offered Jack to Sao Feng, I was SO SHOCKED!! I was kind of scared he was going to turn into a total villain or something! So I say AWE is the movie in which Will fully becomes a lying and betraying pirate, and so I say this line is foreshadowing, because it singles Will out as the pirate betraying other pirates. xD; Yes/no/maybe?
· Barbossa: "Trust me, young Master Turner. It's not getting to the land of the dead that's the problem. It's gettin' back."
I don't feel the Barbossa love to the extent that a lot of Pirates fans seem to, but man I love his delivery of this line.
· Beckett: "This is no longer your world, Jones. The immaterial has become ... immaterial."
I LOVE THIS ENTIRE SCENE which is super easy seeing as how I think Jones and Beckett get all the best lines, and here they are delivering those AWEsome lines together. xD
· Governor Swann: "Elizabeth. Are you dead?"
Elizabeth: "No."
Governor Swann: "I think I am."
;_;
· Elizabeth: "Pretty speech from a captor. But words whispered through prison bars lose their charm."
GREAT CALLBACK OR GREATEST CALLBACK?
· Bootstrap Bill: "You know my name! You know my name!"
Elizabeth: "Yes, I know your son."
It has only just occurred to me that this scene is the answer to the question Bootstrap asks in DMC: "What more could they do to me?" I think in a way that makes this even sadder. :(
During their first exchange in this scene, Elizabeth seems to want to speak to Bootstrap about Will with caution; she doesn't want to get his hopes up too high in the event that Will can't save him. Bootstrap smashes what hope she offers when he realizes she's the reason he believes Will won't save him ("He won't pick me. I wouldn't pick me" very nearly almost made this list). When this exchange is repeated, Bootstrap has returned to his former eager hopefulness and Elizabeth doesn't try to temper that, because through the repetition of this exchange she has realized there is nothing she can do for him. I would call this the most heartwrenching part of the movie except you guys already know I think this entire movie is heartwrenching.
I also think the repetition is interesting because I imagine there are people out there who have conversations like this every day, and call me stupid but I never really realized before how much that must suck. :(
· Elizabeth: "Come with us. James, come with me."
I feel like if you're going to pick a favourite line out of this scene, it really should be Norrington's "Our destinies have been entwined" line. Or that's what everyone would expect you to pick. Or something. And I really do like that line, it's lovely, but I feel like it's Norrington voicing something that the audience has already seen. So while it's interesting to see Norrington admit it as well, it doesn't come as a complete surprise, it's not a big character moment. (This scene is definitely a big moment for Norrington; that line, not so much.)
This line of Elizabeth's I found more surprising and so a bit more interesting. After an almost consistent rejection of Norrington throughout the trilogy, here she is almost begging (as close as Elizabeth ever gets to begging) him to accompany her. I don't know if she thinks he'll be safer if he goes with the escaping prisoners, or if she wants to see him properly fighting on the side of the pirates, or if it's something else entirely, but here is my pet theory. Although you are going to hate me because it has to do with Escaflowne. xD Brief Esca recap: Dryden and Millerna marry because they have been betrothed; Dryden loves Millerna but she doesn't love him. In the penultimate episode, Dryden leaves in order to go out and try to become someone that she'll be able to love. (Or something, haha, it's been a while since I watched it at a reasonable hour of the day.) One fan site author commented (here) that, while Millerna doesn't love Dryden, maybe at that moment where he leaves her, she wishes that she did.
Is it fair to apply this idea to Elizabeth? Is it fair to say that she doesn't love Norrington, but at that moment, where she's realizing Norrington has had it rough, where she's realizing how much he's risking for her and her crew, is it fair to say that maybe she wishes she did? I'm not really sure. The situation is kind of different, haha. I've grown kind of fond of this idea but feel free to disagree with me. [2011 Sarah is not quite as fond of this theory as 2007 Sarah was. jsyk.]
Anyway, I do like the shift from the noble "Come with us" to the more vulnerable "Come with me." My least favourite part of the Japanese version of this movie is that this distinction didn't survive. I dunno, maybe it wouldn't work the same in Japanese? Well anyway, in English I think it's pretty brilliant.
· Jack: "Belay that belay that!"
· Will: "It's always belonged to you. Will you keep it safe?"
Elizabeth: "Yes. ... Yes."
And on that bittersweet note! x) I shall most likely return in the wee hours of the morning to offer yet another fangirling entry, haha.
I feel like I haven't been posting about On Stranger Tides even half as much as I posted about At World's End before it came out, but that is simply because I have been spending all my free time playing Lego Pirates of the Caribbean. BELIEVE ME I AM STOKED.
Speaking of which, here's the rest of that entry that I intended to finish a month ago, written rather more quickly than the previous installments because apparently I am never going to finish it otherwise!
14. Tia Dalma
I'll be honest with you guys and admit that I'm still frustrated with Tia Dalma in At World's End. I'm cool with all the Calypso stuff now, but I remain frustrated that she apparently had a drastic change in mood sometime between Dead Man's Chest and At World's End that just gets sprung on the audience. She spends At World's End pretty much constantly on the verge of tears and it just irritates me because there's no real lead up to it. But let's take a moment to remember how absolutely awesome she is in Dead Man's Chest by watching this awkwardly chopped-up YouTube version of her first fantastic scene:
I was surprised when I realized that Tia Dalma only has two scenes in Dead Man's Chest; she seriously rocks them to the point where I would've guessed she had more. I can't think of anything deep to say, but her dress is awesome and her accent is awesome and her house is awesome and the way she tells the story of Davy Jones is awesome and I kind of love when a series has a character who knows everything about all the other characters and we (for a little while at least) don't know exactly how or why. I feel like Tia Dalma is probably an example of some sort of outdated ~mystic woman~ trope, but I must apologize because I love her anyway. I mean, she entertains guests in one room while Barbossa is lying dead in another (at 4:06 in the above clip is the super brief shot of the monkey sitting at Barbossa's feet, a shot I didn't even notice until someone told me it was there), what kind of awesome and crazy series is this!!!
I should clarify that I don't dislike all of her scenes in At World's End. Her first scene in that movie is pretty great - the blindfold and the blood on her cheeks and that all-knowing smile. In conclusion, Tia Dalma is awesome.
15. The Ride References
Can I just say, I really hate when reviews of the Pirates movies mention that they were based on/inspired by a theme park attraction, and mean it as an insult? I mean, I'm pretty sure Pirates of the Caribbean is considered to be one of the best attractions out there. I hardly consider it a bad thing to be inspired by something that is one of the best in its genre.
Anyway. The storyline of Curse of the Black Pearl was very closely based on the hints of story that you can find in the ride. The sequel storylines, I would say, are independent of the ride (another reason I hate when reviewers bring it up), but I really enjoy how the filmmakers continue to include references to it, even when they're as "HEY LOOK AT ME!" obvious as the audio clips in At World's End, hahaha. Probably my favourite references in the sequels are Barbossa's "It be too late to alter course" and "These be the last friendly words you hear," which I believe were both in the same line in the attraction. In a crazy twist of fate, I'm fairly certain that line isn't even in the attraction anymore, having been removed when Davy Jones replaced the voice that used to be in that scene. So by the time At World's End came out, Barbossa's words wouldn't have even been in the attraction anymore. :P This is a change that actually makes me kind of sad - I love Davy Jones' appearance in the ride but I think I like the original lines just a little bit better. So I guess I should be glad that they made it into the movies! hahaha.
16. The Dialogue
Man I am so picky about dialogue. It is very rare that I get through a book or a movie without wanting to tear apart and completely rewrite the dialogue within. Truth be told, I'm sure I could find at least a couple Pirates lines I'd like to rewrite, but there are more than enough lines that I LOVE to make up for them. I'm not exactly sure what makes me like or dislike a line of dialogue, but I would say that, in my humble opinion, the Pirates dialogue is neither too short nor too wordy, it reflects the characters saying the lines (I love all the pirate words and expressions and am always disappointed when I watch these movies dubbed and realize that they don't translate very well), and is really well-crafted and occasionally even manages to sound a bit poetic.
Some of you may remember this post, in which I listed my favourite lines from each of the first two movies. If I made these lists now they would probably be a bit different (and I am also losing my confidence that the Snow White reference is not just something I made up), eg. I am a little bit sad that I failed to include Davy Jones' awesome "I am the sea." To make this entry longer I am going to share with you my list of favourite lines from At World's End, which I started four years ago and never finished (four-year-old unfinished commentary included):
· Prisoners: "Never shall we die."
The song "Hoist the Colours" also includes the line "Never say we die," which I find more interesting from a more word-based perspective, but I like the staging of this line a lot more, so I chose it instead. I just love how the song starts with just the boy, and then grows into this big crowd singing it, and then there's dialogue over it, but at the end it goes back to the boy and you can hear his voice over all the others. It's so simple but really effective.
· Sao Feng: "It seems the only way a pirate can turn a profit anymore ... is by betraying other pirates."
I chose this line because I think it sounds cool. xD Because "betraying other pirates" is pretty well what the entire trilogy is about! Because I like the way it's delivered and I like that the camera focuses on Will for the end of it. Can I call that foreshadowing? All through CotBP and DMC, Will is, compared to the majority of the other characters, the honest one. All upstanding and straightforward and telling the truth and everything. He does have his moments of lies and betrayal, but compared to the lies and betrayals of like everyone else, Will's are hardly noticeable. So when, at the beginning of AWE, he offered Jack to Sao Feng, I was SO SHOCKED!! I was kind of scared he was going to turn into a total villain or something! So I say AWE is the movie in which Will fully becomes a lying and betraying pirate, and so I say this line is foreshadowing, because it singles Will out as the pirate betraying other pirates. xD; Yes/no/maybe?
· Barbossa: "Trust me, young Master Turner. It's not getting to the land of the dead that's the problem. It's gettin' back."
I don't feel the Barbossa love to the extent that a lot of Pirates fans seem to, but man I love his delivery of this line.
· Beckett: "This is no longer your world, Jones. The immaterial has become ... immaterial."
I LOVE THIS ENTIRE SCENE which is super easy seeing as how I think Jones and Beckett get all the best lines, and here they are delivering those AWEsome lines together. xD
· Governor Swann: "Elizabeth. Are you dead?"
Elizabeth: "No."
Governor Swann: "I think I am."
;_;
· Elizabeth: "Pretty speech from a captor. But words whispered through prison bars lose their charm."
GREAT CALLBACK OR GREATEST CALLBACK?
· Bootstrap Bill: "You know my name! You know my name!"
Elizabeth: "Yes, I know your son."
It has only just occurred to me that this scene is the answer to the question Bootstrap asks in DMC: "What more could they do to me?" I think in a way that makes this even sadder. :(
During their first exchange in this scene, Elizabeth seems to want to speak to Bootstrap about Will with caution; she doesn't want to get his hopes up too high in the event that Will can't save him. Bootstrap smashes what hope she offers when he realizes she's the reason he believes Will won't save him ("He won't pick me. I wouldn't pick me" very nearly almost made this list). When this exchange is repeated, Bootstrap has returned to his former eager hopefulness and Elizabeth doesn't try to temper that, because through the repetition of this exchange she has realized there is nothing she can do for him. I would call this the most heartwrenching part of the movie except you guys already know I think this entire movie is heartwrenching.
I also think the repetition is interesting because I imagine there are people out there who have conversations like this every day, and call me stupid but I never really realized before how much that must suck. :(
· Elizabeth: "Come with us. James, come with me."
I feel like if you're going to pick a favourite line out of this scene, it really should be Norrington's "Our destinies have been entwined" line. Or that's what everyone would expect you to pick. Or something. And I really do like that line, it's lovely, but I feel like it's Norrington voicing something that the audience has already seen. So while it's interesting to see Norrington admit it as well, it doesn't come as a complete surprise, it's not a big character moment. (This scene is definitely a big moment for Norrington; that line, not so much.)
This line of Elizabeth's I found more surprising and so a bit more interesting. After an almost consistent rejection of Norrington throughout the trilogy, here she is almost begging (as close as Elizabeth ever gets to begging) him to accompany her. I don't know if she thinks he'll be safer if he goes with the escaping prisoners, or if she wants to see him properly fighting on the side of the pirates, or if it's something else entirely, but here is my pet theory. Although you are going to hate me because it has to do with Escaflowne. xD Brief Esca recap: Dryden and Millerna marry because they have been betrothed; Dryden loves Millerna but she doesn't love him. In the penultimate episode, Dryden leaves in order to go out and try to become someone that she'll be able to love. (Or something, haha, it's been a while since I watched it at a reasonable hour of the day.) One fan site author commented (here) that, while Millerna doesn't love Dryden, maybe at that moment where he leaves her, she wishes that she did.
Is it fair to apply this idea to Elizabeth? Is it fair to say that she doesn't love Norrington, but at that moment, where she's realizing Norrington has had it rough, where she's realizing how much he's risking for her and her crew, is it fair to say that maybe she wishes she did? I'm not really sure. The situation is kind of different, haha. I've grown kind of fond of this idea but feel free to disagree with me. [2011 Sarah is not quite as fond of this theory as 2007 Sarah was. jsyk.]
Anyway, I do like the shift from the noble "Come with us" to the more vulnerable "Come with me." My least favourite part of the Japanese version of this movie is that this distinction didn't survive. I dunno, maybe it wouldn't work the same in Japanese? Well anyway, in English I think it's pretty brilliant.
· Jack: "Belay that belay that!"
· Will: "It's always belonged to you. Will you keep it safe?"
Elizabeth: "Yes. ... Yes."
And on that bittersweet note! x) I shall most likely return in the wee hours of the morning to offer yet another fangirling entry, haha.