down the dusty road

“You know, for having such a bleak outlook on pirates you are well on your way to becoming one: sprung a man from jail, commandeered a ship of the fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga, and you’re completely obsessed with treasure.” - Captain Jack Sparrow on Will Turner 

His father is undead, trapped into an eternity of service aboard the Flying Dutchman. His betrothed wife is living under sentence of death. His closest friend is a lying pirate, and he is a blacksmith.

He is alone on this continent, sent to America by his mother. He has had a hard life at the bottom of a harsh social structure. He commandeered a ship of the King’s navy, and sailed as a bucchaneer aboard the terrifying Black Pearl. He seeks only to live as a good man.

Will Turner has a path before him that is both terrifying and thrilling. He watched his friend Captain Jack Sparrow walk into the grip of the Kracken, and before that he watched his fiance kiss said Sparrow. Where does her heart lie? He is tortured and in agony.

His father swore his life to the cruel Davy Jones to save his son, but Will swore to undo that fate. He was left by his father, abondoned in England, but he vowed to rise above his father’s legacy and not leave him bound forever.

Jack, though a liar and a self-centred pirate, though he may be stealing the heart of the woman he loves, is still Will’s closest friend. It was Jack that saved him from Barbossa’s evil hand, it was Jack that helped him save his true love. Jack has been there, and Jack is not unloyal. But now Jack is lost.

His true love, Elizabeth, is a woman of passion. She truly loves Will, or does she? She seems attracted to the rogue called Sparrow, and has kissed him. What does that mean? She lied to Will once before, about his origin. Is she lying now? He cannot be sure.

“For too long I’ve been parched of thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I’ve been starving to death and haven’t died. I feel nothing. Not the wind on my face nor the spray of the sea. Nor the warmth of a woman’s flesh.” – Captain Barbossa

“Not just the Spanish Main, luv. The entire ocean. The entire wo’ld. Wherever we want to go, we’ll go. That’s what a ship is, you know. It’s not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that’s what a ship needs but what a ship is… what the Black Pearl really is… is freedom.”

“One word love; curiosity. You long for freedom. You long to do what you want to do because you want it. To act on selfish impulse. You want to see what it’s like. One day you wont be able to resist.” – Captain Jack Sparrow

“Let no joyful voice be heard! Let no man look up at the sky with hope! And let this day be cursed by we who ready to wake… the Kraken!”

“Do you fear death? Do you fear that dark abyss? All your deeds laid bare? All your sins punished? I can offer you an escape…” - Davy Jones

“My story? My story is the same as yours just one chapter behind. I chased a man across the seven seas. The pursuit cost me my crew, my commission, and my life.” - former Commodore Norrington

The world already seems less bright, and Will Turner is unsure of his place in it. 

“Are ye willing to sail to de ends of de Earth and beyond to fetch back wicked Jack?” – Tia Dalma

This questions haunts the soul of young William as he agrees to a final voyage and hopeless quest….

…the journey and battle of Will Turner through the Curse of the Black Pearl and the adventure of the Dead Man’s Chest to the final culmination At World’s End, along with the legends told of the Pirates of the Caribbean has captured the imaginations of many….

 

“Pop quiz, hotshot. There’s a bomb on a bus. Once the bus goes 50 miles an hour, the bomb is armed. If it drops below 50, it blows up. What do you do? What do you do?”

The hotshot referred to is Jack. He’s a cop with the LAPD. Some idiot (the originator of the above quote) is looking for a large payoff. He gets a large payoff, just not the one he was looking for. The movie is Speed.

Keanu Reeves plays Jack, the cop. The premise of the movie is this: an ex-Atlanta bomb squad cop gets screwed over by the force, and he wants payback. So he plants bombs on an elevator, and tries to hold the people inside ransom.

Enter Jack, exit people, foil bad guy. Happy ending except that the psycho ex-cop blows up a city bus, and then threatens to do it again. Thus our movie and the above riddle.

I was pleasantly surprised with tight action, funny lines, good writing, and drama. Keanu Reeves actually acted very well, though I was haunted by images of the Neo he was to be.

The only thing that bothered me was the fact that they decided to do something really dumb. I am supposed to believe that a city bus going 70mph can jump a fifty foot gap of highway? No. No. NO. Not possible. A sports car on a steep incline and 180mph maybe, but a bus? No way.

But that is really my only complaint, unless my dad should see it and find something wrong with the elevator scenes.

So go rent it, its a good flick.

Speed, ladies and gentlemen.

You always knew it was a bad idea to take the bus….

 

I lied. No review of Cars, at least not yet. And I just bought and watched Dead Man’s Chest. Curses on WOL for not allowing me to see that one in the theator.

Life continues very well, no complaints. Soon I will get to spend time with Zach, my long-lost brother. And after that a flurry of friends and activity culminating in a flight to see my brother and the actual Christmas holiday. How fun.

And beyond that, my return to my chosen prison of learning.

 

So there is a short update of me life.

So, I have been having a fabulous time here at the Pfaff’s. I watch cool movies, hang out, spend quality time, talk with friends, and sleep in.

 Heaven. Ish.

 

Yesterday we went to this massive flea market, and I bought some cool black beanies for snow camp, a new Chris Rice CD, and a few other things. All discount, all overstock or whatever. It was nice to walk around and just see what people had out. One or two things that looked intersting, but not a whole lot.

We have also had opportunity to visit the oldest jail (that was) in continued use in America, that was really neat to see. They had the cells reworked to show you how the jail would have looked from the 1700′s on up in every century. They had even preserved some grafiti on the walls, and had all sorts of neat historical info about people and times of the jail.

I have also gotten into watching these CSI shows. Its too bad crime scene investigations aren’t really as interesting as they make it appear, but it does make for some good drama, and the writing isn’t half bad. Also have seen frequent episodes of House, and dude, that is a cool show.

As far as the movies go, I have seen, new to me, Deep Blue Sea, Inside Man, The Sentinel, Mission: Impossible 3. So I will give a mini-synopsis and opinion of each.

 First, last night I caught Deep Blue Sea. The movie stars Samuel L. Jackson, LL Cool J, and Thomas Jane, among other people (obviously). Samuel L. plays the richest man in the world that is behind all of this, LL Cool J plays a cook, and Thomas Jane plays a hard-butt “shark wrangler”.

The story is this, Jackson’s character has payed for some scientists to come up with a cure for Alzheimers. (One of the scientists is played by the actor from Hunt for Red October that plays Captain Tupolov, though he looks much older). The cure is not progressing as Jackson would like, so he goes to this facility out in the Pacific(?) to moniter the next stage of testing. The gig is that shark’s brain fluid, if properly enhanced can be the basis for this cure. But, the doctors have genetically altered these sharks and they have become smarter and more vicious. A storm comes up, and the sharks get loose. As the underwater facility floods, the sharks attack, and from then on it is a horror film of “who gets eaten next?”.

I give this movie 2 stars out of 5 because I was on the edge of my seat. The digital effects were obvious, and the characters acted quite stuipidly. A helicopter crashes at one point and the resulting explosion rivals Hiroshima. The sharks move unrealistically (ie, in ways sharks can’t move, like swimming backwards), and the plot was full of holes. The best actor was LL Cool J, who as a religious ghetto cook was really funny and entertaining. I was quite happy he did not get eaten.

Memorable Quotes:

(Upon LL Cool J climbing into oven in half flooded kitchen to escape shark): “So I appreciate the irony, Lord! Cook dies in his own oven!”

(Upon the survivors preparing to swim to surface): “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil. For thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Because I carry a big stick and I’m the meanest [guy] in the valley! Two sharks down, Lord! One demon fish to go! Can I get an Amen?”

 Before that I saw Inside Man, with Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, and directed by Spike Lee. Denzel played a detective/negotiator, Jodie Foster played a manipulative/not nice exec. The deal was some guys take over a bank, presumably to rob it, but don’t actually appear to be robbing it. Things start not making sense, and eventually the police go to send a strike force in, but all the robbers and hostages come out, dressed the same, and no one admits to being a robber. Cold case with no actual crimes commited right? Not exactly.

I give this one 4 out of 5 stars. The idea was really good, the movie was excellently shot, and though Denzel’s character seemed a little one-sided, He acted splendidly. The ending was unexpected, and the writing was amazing. It was one of those movies that kept you guessing as to what was really going on, though in retrospect, it gave you all the pieces you needed to put it together.

Also of note was the Sentinel. This one starred Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland. They both played Secret Service Agents.

The plot was this: Douglas is having an affair with the first lady, and fails a polygraph, sparking the rest of the service believing he is behind a plot to assassinate the president. Sutherland hunts him down when he goes on the run.

This movie gets 3 out of 5 starts. Sutherland does a great job, though echoes of Jack Bauer are everywhere. (the movie came out in 2K6). The plot was unbelievable in parts, though the locations were great and cinematically it was good. Mostly I just couldn’t buy the affair with the first lady, and the ending was lame. Douglas is cleared, but resigns and nobody says anything about the affair, though the whole Secret Service knows. Not exactly lame, but close.

Now, Mission: Impossible 3 was the surprise. I expected a worse version of 2, but got a dark mirror of 1 instead. Tom Cruise of course plays Ethan Hunt, and the only returning support is Ving Rhames as Luthor.

Hunt is now retired and about to be married, and is training agents for IMF, and not in the field. But, an important mission comes up, and he is reactivated. Working with Luthor is like old times, and the banter is friendly. The mission goes awry, and Hunt gets married before taking off to save the world. He does so, but I can’t say any more, it would ruin the movie.

I give this one 4 out of 5 stars. A very excellent film, with memories and homages to the first one, but stand alone very nicely. Very well written, though one or two things seem just a little improbable. This movie shows Hunt with emotion, and someone to live for, and that adds an excellent dynamic. Cruise actually acts well, and the movie is about Hunt and the story, not Cruise (ala Mission 1, not 2). I was sucked in by this film and not allowed to breathe until it was all over.

 

So there ya go. I have a review of Cars coming up soon. Stay tuned.