~ Sitting, waiting, wishing.

My first review in this LJ!  I managed to see Pirates last night with my brother. What follows is merely my personal thoughts/opinion about the film. Hopefully, this will be followed by a few more of reviews on movies, tv shows, anime, books, etc. that I've seen, and occasionally add some graphics I made (icons and wallpapers).

I saw  it...
- when: 23 May 2007
- where: Theater
- why: I've seen the previous 2 films and wanted to see what happens next. I simply am charmed by the character Capt. Jack Sparrow (awesome Johnny Depp performance) .



Synopsis:  Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) are  allied with Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) in a desperate quest to free Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) from his mind-bending trap in Davy Jones' locker, while the terrifying ghost ship, The Flying Dutchman and Davy Jones, under the control of the East India Trading Company, wreaks havoc across the Seven Seas. Navigating through treachery, betrayal and wild waters, they must forge their way to exotic Singapore and confront the cunning Chinese Pirate Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat). Now headed beyond the very ends of the earth, each must ultimately choose a side in a final, titanic battle, as not only their lives and fortunes, but the entire future of the freedom-loving Pirate way, hangs in the balance. 
(from http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808713062/details)

*** Warning: May contain spoilers ***

Thoughts / Review:  This is one of the most anticipated movies of the year; the third installment of the Piarates series. The story picks up where the 2nd film left off. Capt. Jack Sparrow is trapped in Davy Jones Locker (according to wiki, one of the writers stated that Davy Jones' Locker is not death per se, but spending an eternity with the thing you hate or are afraid of most). Will, Elizabeth, Capt. Barbossa and the rest of the Black Pearl Crew set off to Singapore to meet Sao Feng to ask for help (a ship, a map and some extra crew) in saving Capt. Jack from the Locker to bring him back to this world. Each has their own reasons for saving Capt. Jack prompting him to ask  "Did no one come to save me just because they missed me?"

Genre: Action/adventure. adaptation, sequel.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of adventure violence, including frightening images.
Running time: 2 hrs and 45 mins.

I saw  it...
- when: 18 Nov 2005 (copied this review from one of my past word docs)
- where: Theater
- why: After months, even years, of anticpation for the adaptation of my favorite book in the Harry Potter series, I finally saw Goblet of Fire last Friday... 



Synopsis:  Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) must contend with being mysteriously selected to compete in the prestigious Triwizard Tournament, a thrilling international competition that pits him against older and more experienced students from Hogwarts and two rival European wizarding schools. Meanwhile, supporters of Harry's nemesis, the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), send a shockwave of fear throughout the wizard community when their Dark Mark scorches the sky at the Quidditch World Cup, signaling Voldemort's return to power. But for Harry, this is not the only harrowing news causing him anxiety…he still has yet to find a date for Hogwarts' Yule Ball dance.
(from http://www.tribute.ca/movies/Harry+Potter+and+the+Goblet+of+Fire/9201)

*** Warning: May contain spoilers. ***

Thoughts / Review:
1. I liked the 4th much, much better than the 3rd one. I liked Cuaron's technical style in PoA but I just thought that he tinkered/changed the story a bit more than I expected. But hey, styles and adaptation ideas differ, right? as imagination varies from one person to another. So no big deal.

With GoF, I think the changes were quite minimal and I liked the continuity between the scenes and also this story with the past films. I still contend that it should have been made as long as the LoTR films, 3-4 hrs rather than 2.5! hehe. Too many scenes were condensed and deleted. I would've loved to have seen bits of the 1st task done by Krum, Fleur, and Cedric.

Genre: Action/adventure, science fiction/fantasy, adaptation, sequel
MPAA rating: PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images
Running time: 2 hrs. 30 mins.