Monday, May 15, 2017

Setting Sail for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest


Hey there everybody! Did you enjoy your Mother's Day weekend? Assuming I have some mums reading my blog I hope you had a nice day. After last week's Comic Week I think I'll be making today's blog a little more subtle. I'll also be giving the comic discussions a break for a while too for those sick of that.

Movie spoilers possibly lie ahead so tread lightly!

So arrrgg ye mateys! We've setting sail once again on our Pirates of the Caribbean movie trip! Last time we joined Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) as he made port (Though he prefers Rum) at Port Royal in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of The Black Pearl. With Captain Barbosaa gone Jack now faces a new enemy though not an enemy unknown in the 2006 released Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. This particular movie is part 1 of a two movie story arc involving Davy Jones (Bill Nighly), a ghostly pirate part Man, Octopus and Lobster. 

© Disney Enterprises, Inc., All rights reserved.

Assigned to ferry the souls who died at sea to the after life he has abused his power, forced the souls he captures to serve a board his ship, the Flying Dutchman and now plans to conquer the ocean that betrayed him.

While the first movie was more so a self contained story this movie launches Pirates into a storyline that, while Davy Jones isn't involved anymore, has continuing elements from this two parter. 

Photo by Peter Mountain - © Disney Enterprises, Inc., All rights reserved.

Similar to the movie and the later movies though Jack and crew (Accompanied by some new crew ages such as a wasted washed up Norrington and Elizabeth Swan.) are once again after a treasure, this treasure being none other then the dead man's chest.

Photo by Peter Mountain - © Disney Enterprises, Inc., All rights reserved.

A chest that holds none other then Davy Jone's heart. Anyone who stabs the heart must take control of the Flying Dutchman and become it's eternal Captain. Of course immortality peeks our Swashbuckling Pirate's curiosity and after a startling encounter with Bootstrap Bill Turner (Will's Father.) he sets off with Gibbs (Kevin McNally) not too far behind to seek the key to this chest.

Photo by Peter Mountain - © Disney Enterprises, Inc., All rights reserved.

Our other protagonists Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) and William Turner (Orlando Bloom) back in Port Royal are to be married but soon are interrupted and sentenced to death by Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company who basically serves as the 2nd antagonist of this plot line. Apparently freeing Jack Sparrow in the ending of the first movie has gotten these two into some hot water. (Ha, water puns, get it?) 

Photo by Peter Mountain - © Disney Enterprises, Inc., All rights reserved.

Lord Beckett (Tom Hollander) however strikes a deal with William Turner and in exchange for him and Elizabeth going free Will is to seek out Jack and bring back the man and his magic compass, which played a small part in the previous movie. This compass might seem broken to the unaware sailor but actually points towards your deepest desire... Man I wish I had a compass like that.

Photo by Peter Mountain - © Disney Enterprises, Inc., All rights reserved.

So begins the journey of these Pirates in what leads into an ocean wide war between the living and the undead. I absolutely love the first movie this and it's follow up titled At World's End are just as action packed, humorous and a great adventure movie. I will admit Barbosa still wins me over when it comes to Pirate antagonists but Davy Jones proves to be an interesting villain as he sets out to settle his debt with none other then Jack Sparrow. Johnny Depp brings just as much witty and humorous energy to the Jack Sparrow actually I would say his performance in this and the following movie outshines his performance in the first movie, which Is saying something.

Photo by Peter Mountain - © Disney Enterprises, Inc., All rights reserved.

My favorite scene in this movie has to be the island of the cannibals scene, which actually takes place earlier on in the flick. In his search for the key Jack ends up being captured on a island full of, well cannibals. These natives view Jack as their god and plan on releasing him from his human body... By burning him alive. Well Will, in attempt to find Jack appears on this island only to get caught up with the rest of the Black Pearl's crew. Also THE MOORING LINE! No idea why that line gets stuck in your head but it does.

Photo by Peter Mountain - © Disney Enterprises, Inc., All rights reserved.

Dead Man's Chest takes it's soundtrack up a notch and proves to be just as suspenseful and thrilling as the movie itself which is proven the moment the film starts. Hans Zimmer takes the lead on this and the next to movie's soundtrack. He only composed one song on the first movie but with The Dark Knight series, Inception and Gladiator under his belt Hans Zimmer is an amazing composer. No offense to Klaus Badelt (Who composed the first Pirates movie.) but Hans Zimmer knows how to make a thrilling soundtrack. Sadly he does not have any part in the new Dead Men Tell No Tales film score by the looks of it so I'm unsure as to what to expect in that movie regarding soundtrack.

Finally I want to point out that this movie uses a lot more CGI. I mean octopus men are not easy to come by so a computer was obviously needed to turn Bill Nighly into the mean Davy Jones. Bill also had to stand inside a bucket in a green suit with dots for a couple a scenes, bet that's a memory he won't forget. While the CGI falters slightly at some small points it really brought the movie to life and was pretty awesome for 2006. I'm interested to see what the new movie brings to the CGI table.

While most of you have probably seen this movie already you can get this movie on iTunes for $17.99 HD and $9.99 SD. Would have been cool to get some sort of bundle of all four movies but iTunes and to my knowledge everywhere else only offers these movies individually. If you've not seen this movie in a while or at all it's an awesome, thrilling action adventure pirate movie that doesn't forget how to have fun with itself. The actors play their characters wholeheartedly even though Johnny Depp tends to outshine.


In anticipation for the upcoming Dead Men No Tales, which releases this upcoming May the 26th I'll be discussing the 3rd and 4th movies in this franchise so be sure to come back when I do!

Speaking of the new movies they recently announced and revealed a cameo appearance in this movie... Pirates of the Caribbean is no stranger to bringing in cameos of famous music artists such as Keith Richards as Captain Teague in the movie I just discussed. Well in Dead Men Tell No Tales another famous music artist is making an appearance as a fellow pirate, take a look below.


Yes Sir Paul McCartney himself is dressing up as a Pirate! It'll be pretty awesome to see how his role plays out and his character definitely looks interesting with those playing cards and all. Don't forget Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales releases in theaters on May 26th which is only two weeks away.

Aside from watching movies I've been busy on the artistic side of life. You know I have to say I wish I started this whole art thing years ago because I might have a bit more confidence about this by now. I've been redesigning characters from my story Dream Eclipse in attempt to build my art style. While I'm a writer at heart and I want to write novels one day I'm also an avid comic book fan and it would be a dream (Haha... Dream puns) to turn Dream Eclipse into a comic/graphic novel, especially how it's plot line seems to fit the comic format to a key. My long time writing passion mixed with my new interest in art could be a great fit for Graphic Novels so I want to pursue that. I started this art thing back in March and obviously I could of given it up by now but it's sticking with me. I've had some frustrations regarding the drawing of my character faces but I think I'm getting my art style at least to a point where I like it. I need to start working on more poses and placing these characters in environments too.

I've also been diving into the world of watercolor. It's been a big interest of my more artistic Sister and Mother for years so after taking it for a test dive I've found it to be an enjoyable medium as well. While I'm not sure I'm using watercolor the way most people do I am trying to learn techniques. Maybe I'm developing my own style I don't know. If you've been keeping up with my Instagram I redesigned Aeris in a more realistic less big eyed style to fit my current style and now I'm taking this sketch a step further and turning it into a watercolor painting.


She's far from done but i'm happy with how it's looking so far.


While I don't usually show off my practice sheets I'm also currently practicing trees in watercolor using a couple of techniques from Mum and an awesome water colorist/illustrator named Steve Mitchell. He runs a Youtube channel by the name of The Mind of Watercolor and he has some very informative Watercolor tutorials while having a personality and has been very easy to follow. I recommend anyone wanting to get more into Watercolor to check him out! He also has a cool skeleton head co-host who pipes in from time to time. (What? Watch you'll find out what I'm on about.)

That's about it for now I'll keep you guys posted on what's what in my artistic journey.

Of course I haven't forgotten about knitting and you'll be seeing more of my work very soon again but until then it's time to keep up tradition with these blogs and feature a free knitting pattern! After traveling the seven seas and plundering for treasure I've come across the ultimate prize... this is "Pirate Bootie" by Patricia Lillie.


Unlike patterns i've shared before this pattern actually has two objects inside. A beanie and a pair of, well, booties. Most patterns I've shared so far have been for older folks but this pattern is geared towards toddlers of size 6-9 mos. I believe you could increase the size of this pattern as it's a fair isle chart but this would make a great gift for your younger siblings, daughter, son or any Pirate loving kid. For the hat you'll need    US Size 3 (3.25 MM) DPNS set of 4 or 5 and for the Booties a US 3 (3.25) set of Circular needles as well as some sport weight yarn. You can read more and download the pattern on Ravelry and Patricia's website.

Before I leave I have an announcement regarding Pokemon Sun and Moon. I've not talked much about Video Games the past couple of weeks but Pokemon Sun and Moon currently have an awesome event happening. Two codes are currently available to allow you to download mega stones not available in game. These Mega Stones are for Pidgeot, Mawile, Beedrill Heracross, Houndoom, Steelix, Mewtwo X, Mewtwo Y, Audino and Medicham. You can get these mega stones by going into mystery gift and entering the codes individually. These codes are M2DESCENT, INTIMIDATE and AZUL. I read that the AZUL code wasn't going to work until May 16th but it worked for me so go ahead and enter it!

I apologize for not discussing Video Games and Pokemon more often but I may have some more coming in the new future... Like end of this week future.

That's a wrap folks!

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