"Mermaid waters, that be our path"

If you could not already tell from the name of my blog, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is probably my favorite movie. I am not saying that it is the best movie I have ever seen, just that it is my favorite. No matter how many times they play it on the USA Network, I watch it every single time. I cannot help it, I love Captain Jack Sparrow. That being said, the second and third movies, while I will also watch them whenever they are on TV and find them quite enjoyable, were not nearly as good as the first one. 

This fourth movie was not as bad as the reviews have made it out to be, but not quite as good as the first. I found it very entertaining and if you enjoy the first three then I think you will like this one as well. The plot was definitely less complicated than in two and three. My only real complaint is that it was not quite as funny as the first three. 

"You have suffered enough, And warred with yourself, It's time that you won"

I tend to have very eclectic taste in music. I pretty much enjoy everything, but there are of course exceptions to the rule. Growing up, my dad listened to oldies and my mom listened to classical music and show tunes. As a matter of principle, I disliked everything to which my older brother listened. I did not really start paying attention to popular music until middle school and even then it was only because I had to in order to be part of the conversation among my friends. Even now, I do not often listen to the radio and actually get most of my music from TV shows. (I know, you are shocked!) Every once in a while, but not nearly as often, I discover new music in movies.

"Does this face look like it's been to the Fountain of Youth?"

This weekend brings us the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean saga, On Stranger Tides, starring Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush and Ian McShane.

When we last saw Captain Jack Sparrow, he was stranded in Tortuga without his beloved ship, the Black Pearl, after having been again left by Captain Barbossa. Luckily, he had taken Barbossa's map, found a small boat and was on his way to find the Fountain of Youth.

In Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Jack has a run-in with a former flame, played by Penelope Cruz, and he is not sure if she is looking for love or using him to find the Fountain. Along with Cruz's Angelica, he must go up against the infamous Blackbeard, played by Ian McShane, who is looking for the Fountain as well. We also welcome back familiar characters Captains Teague and Barbossa, Mr. Gibbs and, from the first film, Lieutenant Gillette.

Summer Movie Preview

I have received my most favorite Entertainment Weekly edition of the year: the Summer Movie Preview. There are a ton of potentially awesome movies coming out this summer and, like I did in the Fall, I will now give you my list of the ones I am most looking forward to seeing.

May:
 6 - THOR (Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins)
    - Something Borrowed (Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, Colin Egglesfield, John Krasinski)
13 - Bridesmaids (Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Jon Hamm)
20 - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane)
26 - The Hangover Part II (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong)



Depending on reviews, other May possibilities include: Kung Fu Panda 2, Priest and Midnight in Paris.


June:
10 - Super 8 (Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Noah Emmerich)
17 - Green Lantern (Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Tim Robbins)
24 - Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (documentary)



Other June possibilities include:  Bad Teacher, Cars 2, Mr. Popper's Penguins and X-Men: First Class.


July:
8 - The Ledge (Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson, Charlie Hunnam, Terrence Howard, Christopher Gorham) 
15 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint)
22 - Captain America: The First Avenger (Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones)
29 - Crazy, Stupid, Love (Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore)





Other July possibilities include: Cowboys & Aliens, One Day, The Smurfs, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Larry Crowne, Friends With Benefits and Horrible Bosses.

August:


12 - The Help (Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Sissy Spacek, Cicely Tyson, Allison Janney, Bryce Dallas Howard)

Other August possibilities include: Our Idiot Brother, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Change-Up.


What movies are you most excited about?!  Please share them with me in the comments section!
xoxo
c

The Way We Were...

...the first movie I ever got from Netflix.

If you have not already figured it out, I watch a significant amount of television and movies. The amount tends to go up even more in the summer because my other activities go down (ie. church commitments-which are numerous). I catch up on shows I didn't have time to watch and are now on DVD or movies I missed in the theater. However, my obsession really did not start until college. I watched a lot of TV in high school and went to the movies, but never really paid much attention to specific actors or directors. This started to happen about Sophomore year of college.

Sophomore year is a phenomenon I was not prepared for and was not aware happened to most people until a couple years later. You make this great group of friends Freshman year, most of whom live on your hall or are in your classes. You see them constantly and do not have to make too much effort to find someone to hang out with. Then Sophomore year comes and everyone moves all over campus, and even on a small campus like Elon, the other side of campus seems like a world away. It is at this point when you figure out who your real friends are and who are friends of convenience - unfortunately for me, there were more of the latter. It also didn't help that three of my close friends transferred schools that year. Needless to say, I needed to find something else to occupy my time. I mean, I clearly wasn't going to study more :o)

I went to visit my brother in Jackson, Wyoming during winter break that year and one of his friends had Netflix. I thought it was brilliant, I could choose movies from my dorm room and they would be in my mailbox within two days. I am not trying to be an ad for Netflix (although, I do highly recommend it) but for me at that time it was just what I needed. It was a way for me to get my mind off of things and I was going through several movies a week. It also gave me something to look forward to doing and I was getting mail on a regular basis, which is key for any college student.

The obsession has continued mostly because I like to lose myself in these make believe worlds. It sometimes make me feel better to imagine that I could have been a pirate in another life, or a passenger on a Firefly, or a teen detective, or a vampire slayer who falls in love with the vampire with a soul, or found my one true love as a teenager and lost him because my parents didn't think he was good enough for me but find each other later in life to spend eternity together :o)

It is now goal of mine to see every single movie on my Netflix queue before I die. I still have over 200 on the list...I'm trying to get down to 150 before I add anymore...it's not going so well, but I'll keep you updated.

I swear I'm not as big of a loser as I sound...a dork, maybe...but not a loser :o)

xoxo
c