Tuesdays Top-Grossing Reviews: 2006

Year: 2006

Film: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Box Office Gross: $423,032,628

Awards: Oscar and BAFTA (Best Achievement in Visual Effects), People's Choice, Teen Choice,

Actors: Johnny Depp, Kiera Knightly, Orlando Bloom, Jack Davenport, Jonathan Pryce, Bill Nighy, Stellan Starsgaard, Tom Hollander

In the second week of this feature I watched Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the highest grossing film (in the U.S. - clarification that I'm only using U.S. highest grossing, rather than global gross). I loved the first in this series, Curse of the Black Pearl, and was really excited for both the second and third installments. However, rewatching Dead Man's Chest was a little disappointing. It's just not as much fun as the first one. We meet up with our main characters as Knightly's wedding to Bloom is destroyed and they are arrested for trying to help Depp's iconic Jack Sparrow (sorry, Captain Jack Sparrow) escape from prison. In exchange for their freedom they have to track Jack down and retrieve the compass he carries and bring it back to the Dutch East India Company who are trying to rid the seas of pirates. They find Jack, but he's trying to remove a curse put on him by Davey Jones (Nighy). He's trying to find Davey Jones' heart. This involves looking for a key to unlock the chest that holds it, then finding the chest. Meanwhile Davey Jones is trying to kill Jack with the Kraken (a mythical octopus type sea creature that can destroy ships). They chase around for quite a while and ultimately we find out Jack has been sent to hell of a sort by jumping into the mouth of the Kraken to save the other ships. The rest of them mourn his loss with the crazy sorceress lady in the marshes. And in the last seconds Captain Barbossa returns and they all swear to get Jack back At World's End. There's also a subplot where Bloom is trying to free his father, Bootstrap Bill (Skarsgaard) from servitude to Davey Jones. Confusing and distracting for most of it, but building up for the final film. There was just too much set up in this film and not enough humor and careful plot direction. I liked it, and expect it grossed the most in 2006 because the first film was so good, and this continued the characters in a respectable, if not superior, way. Definitely didn't hold up to the high standard the first one did upon rewatching.

Jane Austen Book Club

I read the book first, and hated it, so I was a little wary of seeing this movie too. The book had all kinds of details that lept out at you without warning (a rape, abuse, lesbian relationships with people you weren't aware were gay). These details made it hard to follow the lives of the 6 main characters of the book club. However, the movie, The Jane Austen Book Club totally washed over all the annoying and surprising details to create what I hoped the book was going to be. The movie starts with Jocelyn (Maria Bello) mourning the loss of her top breeding dog. Her friends decide that what she needs to get over the loss is to belong to a new book club that reads the 6 novels of Jane Austen. The concept that a monthly book club can help you get over a loss is more than a little silly, but it still works as the premise for the rest of the movie. The oft-married Bernadette (Kathy Baker) is the matriarch of the group and brings in Prudie (Emily Blunt), a disillusioned high-school french teacher who's never been to France and can't relate to her husband anymore. Jocelyn's best friend Sylvia (Amy Brenneman) and her gay daughter Allegra (Maggie Grace from Lost) also join the group. Sylvia's hot husband, Jimmy Smits, has just left her, and to cheer her up Jocelyn has invited cutie boy Grigg (Hugh Dancy - who was so cute in Ella Enchanted) to join the group. He's never read Jane Austen, but his enthusiasm for Jocelyn makes up for his lack of feminine experience. We see how the elements of each Austen work (Northanger Abby, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and Emma) are revealed in the lives of our characters. There are moments of humor, lots of girl-power drama, and friendly banter about Austen's books. If you have read a few of Austen's books (or seen the movies or Masterpiece theater versions) you'll enjoy this movie too. If not, some of the subtle references to the book will go around you. Either way, I enjoyed it very much - 4 of 5 stars.