A little cheesy, a little epic, a whole lotta fun!

I have been anticipating the sequel to Pirates since the day I saw Curse of the Black Pearl for the first time in theaters. And this movie did not disappoint.

As always, Johnny Depp gave a fabulous performance as Captain Jack Sparrow. However it was Orlando Bloom’s performance that I was most impressed by. Will Turner is a man now, grown from the boy he was in the first film. And this is reflected in how he performs. Aside from the Lord of the Rings movies, I haven’t been that impressed by his acting chops. And he’s made some similarly epic movies; Troy, Kingdom of Heaven, etc. But his acting as Will Turner in this movie impressed me just as much as his Legolas role, and for me, that’s saying something. I believe he’s trying to forge his way through Hollywood as more than the “pretty boy”, and if he keeps performing like this, he’ll soon be making movies as off-the-wall as his co-star Depp. Bring it on, I say!

Elizabeth Swan was also more grown up, more into her “own” in this movie. I enjoyed watching how much the characters had grown since the last movie.

And of course, Capt. Sparrow is notorious for getting himself in trouble. We finally see the Black Pearl as the ship it was first meant to be, merely a pirate ship, not a “ghost” ship, and that was great. Even the cute little monkey from the first movie makes an appearance, much to Sparrow’s dismay. Instead of being a member of the crew, the monkey “Jack” is more of an annoying nuisance. But it works well for comic relief.

Davy Jones was amazing, I must say. Not only did the actor do a fine job, but the CGI was top-notch. You actually believe he’s got tentacles on his face! And each member of his crew are covered in barnacles, clams, and all sorts of nasty sea creatures. Some even resemble hammer-head sharks and hermit crabs! The imagination put in to Davy Jones’s crew wasn’t lost on me. I loved looking at each one of them. It was amazing.

And the Kraken. Wow. That thing was just too cool! Davy can summon the thing at his whim, and many a ship is lost to it. The way Captain Sparrow and Will Turner battle the thing is just too cool, as they did something that I would have never thought of, but would seem so very obvious. I will not spoil that for you.

For those of you who’ve ridden the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at one of the many Disney theme parks will recognize an element from the ride in the movie. I was laughing at it because it was just too cool, pointing at the screen going “Look at that!”

Unfortunately the friend I was sitting next to had never been on the ride. Dang it. My elation at seeing it was deflated. But still awesome, nonetheless. I’ll not spoil that either. I’ll leave that for you to figure out for yourself. All I’ll say is, think of the Blue Bayou.

The end of the movie HEAVILY sets up the third, Pirates III: At World’s End. And I can’t WAIT for that one, either! There’s a surprise at the ending that I totally wasn’t expecting, but probably made the entire movie worth it. And word of advice, stay until the end of the credits. I heard there was something at the end, and there is. Unfortunately, my friends left before the end and so they missed it. Their loss. One last chuckle.

All in all, even with some of it’s cheesy situations (the natives on the island) this movie was fun with a capital F. If you liked the first Pirates movie, you’ll love this one as well. I’d highly recommend anyone to go see it, but if you’re going this weekend, better Fandango your tickets. Our theater was sold out, as was the shows before it.

Or you can wait a few weeks. But seriously, how can you put off Captain Jack Sparrow? He’s a pirate after my own heart.

~~Becka

As you may or may not know, today is the release date of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST. And DH has graciously offered to watch the kids so I can go see it tonight with our friends. Why would he do such a kind and unselfish act? Because he’s a good, wonderful, loving man who thinks of my needs before his own.

That, and he saw SUPERMAN RETURNS before I did.

It’s only fair that I get to see Pirates before he does! LOL But I’m excited! Don’t get me wrong, I love Orlando Bloom as much as the next guy (or gal), and even gave the heroine in my book IN YOUR ARMS his last name “Lissa Bloom”. Yup, I’m a fanboy. Or girl.

But in my heart of hearts, my love and devotion belong solely to Johnny Depp. He’s pretty much sexy in anything he does, and even before he was “Captain Jack Sparrow”, I loved his movies. And let’s face it, Pirates wouldn’t be Pirates without his familiar swagger.

So bring on Orli and Johnny, and I’ll be back sometime this weekend with a review of this super-cool, highly anticipated sequel to one of my very favorite movies.

~~Becka

Instead of hiring our friend to paint Steamboat Willie on our girls’ bathroom, DH hooked up a projector and projected the image on the wall and painted it himself! I was VERY impressed with how it turned out. It’s soooo totally awesome.

First, he traced the lines with a Sharpie. Then, he used some fine detail brushes and some black paint to carefully paint over the Sharpie lines using his template picture as a guide.

It’s just too cool for words! Check it out!

Steamboat Willie Pics!

Awesome!

~~Becka

Where was I when this “law” was passed? Who accepted this as “common knowledge” the moment a baby is born? Whose “bright idea” was it to belittle the groanings of an ill mommy?

Because they deserve to be shot.

I have been sick for a few days now, that much is obvious. It’s moving on from spinning head to head cold. Joy of joys. But does this mean I can rest? Does this mean I get to vege on the couch while gnarly little germs ravish my immune system?

Hell no!

DH has a four day weekend due to July 4th. Whenever he’s off for an extended period of time, he gets this wacky idea in his head that he must “do” something, be “productive”. And ever since we bought our house a year ago, that means home improvement.

I’ve never been one to love change. I like things just they way they are, thank you very much. Granted, our house is like a bajillion years old, and as such, needs a few coats of paint here and there in various rooms. However, it would seem as if home improvement trumps my couch fantasies. Bugger.

I must admit, we worked on our bathroom downstairs and it is leaps and bounds better than it was before. And regardless of my snuffly nose and my semi-spinning head, I was able to suck it up and cut in my paint with the best of them.

How did I do this? Because I’m a woman, of course.

What Mr. Deserves To Be Shot doesn’t tell you is this. Yes, it’s a “rule” that mommies aren’t allowed to get sick. However, there is a clause to that rule, that states “Sick mommies are troopers.”

Because let’s face it, ladies. If our husbands had snuffly noses or felt like they were on a Merry-Go-Round from hell, you better believe their ass would be growing roots on that damned couch. I highly doubt if my DH had felt today the malady that plagues me, we would not have made the “home improvement” run to Lowe’s.

Perhaps, however, I am part of the problem. Since we women are such troopers when we get sick, our menfolk simply cannot gauge exactly how sick we are. We get up, we do dishes, laundry, take care of the kids, Hey, she must be feeling GREAT! they think. **shakes head**

No, we do all this because if we didn’t do it, it wouldn’t get done. And if it DID get done by some miraculous intervention, it would be done wrong. LOL

Don’t get me wrong, my DH is a good man. He takes care of me when I’m down-and-out sick. The walking pneumonia I had last Christmas or the severe Labyrinthitis I had a couple of years ago (yes, it REALLY is a medical term. I can hear you laughing, you know). However, it would seem as if men breathe a sigh of relief whenever their wives are back to 100% (or at least 50% pretending to be 100%). Why is that? Because women are the backbone of a family. Hands down, period, case closed, the end.

The men can bring home as much damn bacon as they want, but when mommy ain’t happy, ain’t NOBODY happy.

Learned that one from Oprah.

Now that I’ve ended my rant, I thought I would entertain you with pictures from my new and improved bathroom royale. Please note that even though the room is painted, it is still bare. We are planning on putting a print of (or having our friend paint) Steamboat Willie on the wall with a few little pics of him. The kids love Mickey and Disney, and since the black & white checkered floor was there already, it wasn’t too much of a stretch to think of the black and white themed room. This room was a HIDEOUS yellow before. Now, it’s a 1,000,000,000 times better than before. Enjoy my husband’s Flickr pics:

Before & After Bathroom Pics

~~Becka

To sum up in one word the entire movie of Superman Returns:

WOW.

Two words:

FREAKIN’ WOW.

Many were the groanings and misgivings of avid Superman fans, myself and my DH included when, years ago, they announced the making of a new Superman movie. Who could possibly replace the noble and sexy Christopher Reeve?

Thank the Superman gods that it was NOT Nick Cage. Yes, there was a collaberation a few years back that had Tim Burton of Beetlejuice fame and Nicolas Cage as Supe. I believe every Superman fan on the planet breathed a sigh of relief when THAT fell through.

This movie, Superman Returns picks up where Superman II left off. It is a sequel of sorts, as if the third and fourth movies were never made. A wise move, in my opinion. Never did like the Richard Pryor (Supe III) one or the nuclear warheads one (Supe IV). And I don’t think the public at large did either.

So the new movie opens with Superman returning to earth five years after he left, to find out if anything of his homeplanet of Krypton still existed. Of course after five years, much has changed. Lois has a son, AND a fiance, and Lex Luthor has his “get out of jail free” card.

First of all, Brandon Routh as Supe is not only noble and sexy, but he seems to CHANNEL the spirit of Chris Reeve at times. Listening to him talk is sometimes creepy at how WELL he paid homage to an icon. Obviously, he did that on purpose, and that only helped to suspend the audience’s disbelief that this Clark Kent/Supe was played by a different actor. Close your eyes, and you don’t have a clue that it’s not Chris Reeve on screen.

Kevin Spacey is WONDERFUL in his role as Lex. Let me just start by saying I love Kevin Spacey. He is such an awesome actor and commands the audience’s attention. He was the perfect fit for the diabolical Lex, and in fact, makes him more sinister than Gene Hackman’s “comical” take on the character.

Kate Bosworth as Lois is a breath of fresh air, because, let’s face it. Margot Kidder isn’t exactly a “looker”, and Lois is supposed to be a good-looking woman. Her performance was good and I enjoyed watching her grow throughout the movie from being completely “over” Supe, to falling in love with him all over again.

And let’s not forget the opening credits or the score. KUDOS to the movie makers for keeping the original John Williams score, as it wouldn’t be a Superman movie without the “Duh Duh Duh Bum Ba Da Da Bum De De Bah!!!” (like my rendition? ) Ahem. Moving on.

And YES!! They kept the cheesy blue floating letters at the beginning! However, overlaying it with some awesome special effects while flying through space was a NICE touch. Keeps the audience from being bored while watching these blue letters fly at you. LOL

This is a wonderful flick, and I highly recommend it for anyone to watch, even those who might be on the fence about it. This film will NOT ruin your Superman fantasies of yesteryear, but rather, re-ignite your excitement for sequels to come.

Bryan Singer (the director) has breathed new life into the Superman franchise, and I’m happy to say that this is one Supe fan who is anxiously waiting to see what they do next.

GO SEE IT NOW! Why are you still here reading my blog??

~~Becka