The weather was very uncooperative for the Memorial Day parade in downtown Nashua on Monday. It felt more like late fall than late spring with the under 60-degree temperature. Folks bundled up along Main Street. Overcast skies ruled the day, but thankfully the rains held off until the parade ended. It included a lot of red vehicles and attire.
The dreary weather was a possible factor in the absence of some groups. Those that did participate were applauded by parade watchers, including ourselves.
The movie part of our weekend was spent watching the first four fantasy swashbuckler Pirates of the Caribbean films. We saw the first release Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) in a theater and purchased the next 3 release for home viewing: Dead Man’s Chest (2006), At World’s End (2007) and On Stranger Tides (2011).
The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) - The film's plot follows eccentric pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) as they rescue Turner's love, kidnapped Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) from the cursed crew of the Black Pearl, captained by Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). Jack seeks revenge on Barbossa, who stranded him on an island and stole his ship along with 882 pieces of cursed Aztec gold, and named himself the ship's captain.
This initial outing was also the first film from Walt Disney Pictures to be rated PG-13 by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). Previous releases were rated G or PG. After its box-office bonanza, the same crew and cast signed on for two sequels to be shot back-to-back. Sequels filming began in February 2005. Dead Man's Chest finish filming in March 2006; At World's End was completed in January 2007.
Dead Man's Chest (2006) — Taking up where the previous film ended, Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company arrests Will and Elizabeth for helping Captain Jack Sparrow. In a bid to find the Dead Man's Chest, containing the heart of villainous Davy Jones. Beckett offers clemency if Will agrees to search for Jack's compass, which would give Beckett control of the seas. Jack wants the chest to escape from an unpaid debt with Jones, who made Jack captain of the Black Pearl for 13 years in exchange for 100 years of service aboard Jones' ship, the Flying Dutchman.
At World's End (2007) — Lord Beckett gains power over Davy Jones and, with the help of the Flying Dutchman, starts executing his plans to extinguish piracy. As one of nine pirate lords, Jack is needed in order to summon an ancient goddess with the power to defeat Beckett's forces. To stand against the East India Trading Co., Will, Elizabeth, Barbossa, and the crew of the Black Pearl set out to rescue Captain Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones' Locker.
On Stranger Tides (2011) — Captain Jack Sparrow is seeking the fabled Fountain of Youth and crosses paths with Angelica, a former lover who forces him aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, captained by her father, the infamous pirate Blackbeard. They are both also seeking the fountain. Angelica wants to save her father's soul. Blackbeard hopes to escape a prophecy of his demise at the hands of a one-legged man. Joining the hunt is Jack's former first mate and pirate captain Barbossa, now a privateer in King George II's Navy, and now a one-legged man. Jack, Angelica, and Blackbeard are in a race against the Spanish who seek to destroy the fountain.
Special effects were done by Industrial Light and Magic, the motion picture video effects powerhouse founded by George Lucas (Star Wars). We were so awed by these effects that we overlooked many of the more violent scenes in the films (there were quite a few).
The best films, in most critics opinions (including ourselves) are in the first directed by Gore Verbinski, American film producer, director, and screenwriter. By comparison, the 4th film directed by Rob Marshall, American film and theater director, was a bit of a let-down. Verbinski was unavailable and reportedly uninterested in another Pirates film. We're looking forward to see how the current film, co-directed by Norwegian film directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg will compare to the earlier four films.
Special effects were done by Industrial Light and Magic, the motion picture video effects powerhouse founded by George Lucas (Star Wars). We were so awed by these effects that we overlooked many of the more violent scenes in the films (there were quite a few).
The best films, in most critics opinions (including ourselves) are in the first directed by Gore Verbinski, American film producer, director, and screenwriter. By comparison, the 4th film directed by Rob Marshall, American film and theater director, was a bit of a let-down. Verbinski was unavailable and reportedly uninterested in another Pirates film. We're looking forward to see how the current film, co-directed by Norwegian film directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg will compare to the earlier four films.
Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) — Ghost Spanish Royal Navy soldiers led by Jack Sparrow's former nemesis, Armando Salazar, escape from the Devil's Triangle. They plan to kill every pirate at sea, including Jack. To survive, Jack seeks the legendary Trident of Poseidon, a powerful artifact whose owner can control the seas.
Movie trailers have claimed this film is "the final adventure" leading many to believe that Disney is laying the groundwork for this film to be the last in the series. But, it may not be so as, as this "final" ruled the 3-day Memorial Day box office tallying over $62 million in U.S. sales alone. Projections are that the worldwide weekend box office receipts could exceed $275 million.
Overall, we enjoyed our movie marathon. As with any film series, like Star Wars, Harry Potter or Indiana Jones, you need to watch the films sequentially or you won't know what's going on.
How about you— have you seen the "Pirates" series or watched a similar "marathon" (including binge watching Netflix series) ?
8 comments:
we have never watched these but we both love a movie marathon and have done that several times. we had a Lethal weapon marathon a few months ago...
I forgot our favorite of all marathons last year.. all 9 of the Jesse Stone Hallmark movies played back to back for a few days and we DVR all of them and watched all 9 over a few days and we also watched a whole season of Harry Bosch 3 weeks ago, back to back in 2 nights
Such a shame about the weather but at least it wasn't cancelled altogether.
This is one of my favorite movie series. The first time I saw the first one I kept saying, "I know him." Captain Jack reminded me of someone but I could not place who. Then I read that Johnny Depp based his character on Keith Richards and I cried out, "That's him!" Anyway I have not yet seen the movie because I had out of town guests. I will see it one day this week.
Even with the downcast weather, quite a parade.
Yes, I've seen all five of the movies- the fourth was a bit of a let down. The fifth I saw on the weekend and featured a review of it in my writer's blog yesterday.
Great that the parade did go off. My hubby is not one for parades. I miss them cause I would go when my grandkids were little. We do movie marathons too. Mostly in the winter as you know what our winters are like. Never watched any of the pirate films with Johnny Depp. We will have to check them out. We did the Game of thrones this last winter because our kids gave them to us over the last few holidays. We had never watched them as we don't have HBO. It took forever to view them and now I don't remember much about them, lol.... Hugs, LJ
I've seen a couple of the Pirate movies, but not all of them. Glad you enjoyed the parade in spite of the weather. Looks like a fun day!
We have never been movie fans, probably on the grounds that our cinemas don't have comfortable seating! It is about forty-plus years since I went to a movie theatre.
Thank goodness the weather didn't stop the parade.
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