Posts with tag The Pirates of the Caribbean
Cinematical Seven: Men We Shouldn't Love
Filed under: Fandom », Cinematical Seven »

I have a problem. As a moviegoer, I'm always attracted to charisma over deed. More times than I can count, I find myself rooting for the bad guy and hoping that they bring the bland hero down. Of course, sometimes it's a fight between hero and villain for who has the most charisma, and sometimes the film wants us to love the villain, but whatever the case, the thorn is usually a lot more fun than the hero he's stuck onto. And this means that I'm often disappointed at the end, because the bad guy almost always dies.
Still, this is what's so great about film -- you can love the baddies without the real-world consequences. We've all heard about bad-guy lust, but this way, the baddie can do his bad thing for us to enjoy, without us getting all of the negative repercussions. We get the wild eye without the body count, the ripped muscles without the steroid set-up, and the twisted humor without the reality.
However, seeing that bad guys are my kryptonite, it's hard to pick just seven. While the following is, by no means, all-encompassing, it's a list of some of my favorite baddies. Some we're told to love, and others, well, they just steal the show.
Jason Dean -- Heathers
This is probably what started it all. When my friends and I gathered around the television to watch Christian Slater's new movie, we were immediately smitten. We didn't care that J.D. had a thing for doling out his own deadly justice. By the time he said: "Alright, so maybe I am killing everyone in the school... because nobody loves me!" We were exclaiming: "We love you!" J.D. had the drawling, Jack Nicholson voice, the sexy trench, and the need to row out to the middle of a lake somewhere with a bottle of tequila, his sax, and some Bach. He was very. Very very.
Cinematical Seven: Movie-Related Candy to Hand Out to the Kids
Filed under: Action », Classics », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Family Films », George Lucas », Steven Spielberg », Johnny Depp », Movie Marketing », Cinematical Seven », Harry Potter », Remakes and Sequels », Lists »

The other day I saw The Kingdom, which features a very significant use of a Tootsie Pop. At first I thought, hey that's some good, functional product placement. Then I thought, hey now I want a Tootsie Pop. Then I thought, hey I should give out Tootsie Pops on Halloween. Then I finally thought, hey I should dress up as Jennifer Garner as "Agent Mayes" when I give out Tootsie Pops, for the added movie connection. But later I realized that nobody would get the reference. So, I thought about some other movie-related candy to hand out on Halloween, and I have paired them up with the recognizable movie character(s) they go with. Because what would be more fun when you have to stay home giving out candy than to dress up in a costume appropriate to the treat you're offering?
1. Wonka Bar
As a kid, I thought the Willy Wonka brand of candies existed prior to the release of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and that Warner Bros. had just worked with the brand as extensive product placement. In a way, the product placement thing was still the case, but actually Willy Wonka was the name of the man and company in Roald Dahl's original book. The brand was founded, by Breaker Confections, which changed its name, in sync with the making of the film in order for some cross-marketing genius. Of course, when Tim Burton's remake, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, came out, it could definitely be thought of as product placement for the well-established Willy Wonka brand, now owned by Nestlé. And around the same time as the film's release, a new kind of Wonka Bar premiered in the U.S.
It would be a great idea to dress as either the Gene Wilder version of Wonka, or the Johnny Depp version if you must, and hand out the bars to the kids. Personally, I don't like Nestlé chocolate and would prefer to give out Everlasting Gobstoppers. Plus, that candy is better related to the first movie. But I think kids these days would get the point more with the Bars.
Cinematical Seven: The Most Important Things to Happen in Film in 2006
Filed under: Executive shifts », Disney », Paramount », United Artists », Critical Thought », Celebrities and Controversy », Box Office », The Weinstein Co. », Tom Cruise », Weinstein Brothers », Peter Jackson », Obits », Cinematical Seven », Mark Cuban », Lists », Oscar Watch »

2006 was the first full year of Cinematical, and it was a very busy year for its bloggers. A lot of big news, shocking news and ongoing news kept us busy as we followed the important stories and passed the significant bits onto you. There was good news, bad news, unexpected news and unbelievable news. There were deaths, births, rebirths and remakes. There was so much going on that it takes an amazing film geek to recall everything (have you tested your memory yet?).
But what was the most important story for film in 2006? The end of the box office slump? The Weinsteins' devilish pact with Blockbuster? Peter Jackson's possibilities of directing The Hobbit? Uwe Boll boxing his critics? Sorry, but none of those affected the consciousness of cinema as much as these other stories from the past 12 months:
- Disney Buys Pixar - When 2006 began, the future of Disney's relationship with Pixar was still uncertain. There had been hint of a new deal between the two companies in the last few days of 2005, but nothing was concrete. Three weeks went by, in which time the new year came in and Pixar's stock prices went up, and then finally the first installment of news came through on January 19: Disney would buy Pixar. Three days later, we were reminded that the deal was not yet done, that it was still awaiting approval from Steve Jobs and the rest of the animation studio's board. On January 23, however, it was in the bag: Disney bought Pixar for $7.4 billion. And John Lasseter was named head of Disney animation.
The story didn't end there. Throughout 2006, the effects of the acquisition continued to be felt. First, Toy Story 3 was killed. But then it was greenlit again. Disney closed its new computer animation studio, Circle 7. Then many months went by before Disney fired a whole lot of people working in its animation departments. Finally, just a few weeks ago, the company announced they'd be trying out the ol' hand-drawn stuff again. By year's end, it felt as though Pixar was the one who owned Disney.








