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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Half as good as the first, but it got double the opening weekend box office. Savvy? See instead: Wordplay.
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Thanks, TL. Pirates' record-breaking weekend didn't surprise me. Superman, despite the breadth of its pop-culture presence, is still a niche market. It's a superhero movie that attracted superhero fans, their companions, and people who were just curious or felt obligated to see it. Pirates, on the other hand, is practically all-encompassing: there are Johnny Depp fans, Orlando Bloom fans, people who want to see Keira Knightley in a surf-soaked bodice, people who were captivated by the first movie, etc. It also functions as a date movie, an action movie and, well, a pirate movie (of which there are no other contenders). Superhero movies are a dime a dozen. Swashbucklers are a much rarer -- and therefore enticing -- event. It's a sign of the times. Superman is very retro. Pirates are very now.
It seems that the "Pirates" craze has only been recently reinvigorated, though.... keep in mind expensive flameouts like Cutthroat Island in the early 90s. Maybe that movie just didn't have the right amount of corny CG, the real reason people go to see movies nowadays anyway (?).
Cutthroat Island was severely lacking the self-awareness of the POTC movies. And, as we all know, self-awareness leads to grace and fun and humor. In other words, a genre that sends up and supercedes itself. [Point of order: POTC's CGI ain't corny. It's one of the few CGI-heavy films in recent memory that actually looks great (as opposed to cartoonish).]
glad to be able to say i've seen word play now, and have not seen pirates yet.
--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
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