Yo ho yo ho a Pirates Life for Me! The New Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Trailer!

Well here it is. The trailer for the eagerly anticipated Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which opens on May 25th in the United States.

Since I couldn't upload it directly to the blog you can watch it here.

As you all remember, Dead Man's Chest, the second movie in the franchise, was a huge hit last summer. It made $423 million at the US box office alone and another $642 million worldwide, combined to a total of approximately $1 billion last summer. Needless to say it ran away with the competition at the box office even though it wasn't a critics favorite since it got bad reviews all around.

When I went to see the first movie I really went in with low expectations but in the end I was surprised at how much I liked The Curse of the Black Pearl. I thought it was funny, very charming, it had a great story, and was just a blast to watch. Fast forward to last summer, when Dead Man's Chest opened. That time I really wasn't expecting anything and I have to say that I did enjoy it. There were many problems with the film: the convoluted plot, it was 30 minutes too long, at the end I got tired of too many special effects, and Jack Sparrow wasn't as funny or interesting as in the first. But nevertheless I enjoyed it. I especially liked the ending where they brought back my favorite character from the first film.

Hopefully At World's End will be more like The Curse of the Black Pearl and less like Dead Man's Chest. The trailer promises more of the pirates stuff, I hope this time they can tighten the plot a little bit more, and come to a satisfying conclusion.

But.... if At World's End makes the same amount of money or more than Dead Man's Chest did, then don't expect these pesky pirates to go away anytime soon. Disney is going to continue to milk this franchise until they can. Hopefully not to many movies or these pirates run the risk of overstaying their welcome.

Confirmed: Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Dark Knight

About a month ago I posted this concerning the rumor that Emily Blunt might replace Katie Homes in the new Batman film, The Dark Knight.

Well, as it turns out the role won't go to Blunt. According to Variety, Maggie Gyllenhaal will be Holme's replacement. She will play the character of Rachel Dawes who is Bruce Wayne's childhood friend and now lover.

The film is set to open in the summer of 2008 and the cast also includes some of the players from Batman Begins like Christian Bale reprising the role of Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, and Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon. The new faces are Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart who will play The Joker and Two Face respectively.

I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with this news. I think Gyllenhaal is a terrific actress and hopefully her casting is an indication that the Rachel Dawes character will have more depth to it and plays a more important role in the story than just being Wayne's love interest.

The Remains of the Day (52 Films in 25 Weeks)

Mr. Stevens: "In my philosophy, Mr. Benn, a man cannot call himself well-contented until he has done all he can to be of service to his employer. Of course, this assumes that one's employer is a superior person, not only in rank, or wealth, but in moral stature."

*There could be some mild spoilers*

So I finally watched my third film on the list: The Remains of the Day. I loved it.

The Story: Mr. Stevens has always served as a butler under Lord Darlington. His existence is shaken up when the new housekeeper, Miss Kenton, arrives at Darlington Hall. The two of them have clearly fallen in love, although neither of them will acknowledge it. The film is told through a series of flashbacks in which Mr. Stevens remembers what his life was like living in Darlington Hall.

Commentary: As Mr. Stevens, Anthony Hopkins is a revelation. It was heartbreaking to see this man repress all his feelings in favor of servitude. His blind devotion to his master prevented him from living, from mourning his father, from realizing that history was being written at Darlington Hall, from loving, etc. Mr. Stevens lived like this because at that time he thought he was serving a good master who was worth it, so it was even more heartbreaking to see Mr. Stevens realize that all the sacrifices he made were for nothing. But at least he had this revelation and decided to make things up with his loved one, Miss Kenton. Hopkins performance is very measured and he conveys Steven's inner feelings with just his eyes and the expression of his face. Even though he doesn't show any emotions you know that he is suffering deep inside.

Emma Thompson is fantastic as Miss Kenton. She brings a wit and an intelligence to the characters that is characteristic of her. Besides, she has great chemistry with Hopkins.

Overall the movie is great, very subtle. It makes me want to check out the other Ivory film: Howard's End.

A-

Premiere Magazine (1987-2006)

I am deeply saddened to announce that the wonderful Premiere magazine will cease to exist in a matter of a month. The April issue will be the last one to hit newstands.

Both Advertising Age and Variety have picked up this news and they basically agree on one thing. As technology continues to advance, consumers nowadays want to get their news faster and easier. So, they go over to internet sites like Defamar or Movie City News to get all the film industry scoop, with the benefit that these sites are updated hourly and daily. Both websites say that Premiere's content was becoming stable due to the fact that readers were already aware of the industry news by the time the magazine hits newsstands.

They both go on to say that the magazine's pages declined from 25% to 27% compared to last year and that Hachette Filipacchi, the editorial, tried to sell Premiere.

I am really sad by this news since I think Premiere is one of the best movie magazines, if not the best, and I've been reading it every month for 6 years now. Premiere's content was not becoming stale. They still had pretty good damn articles that gave you great insight on the industry and the actors. I especially liked Tom Roston's column Notes from the Dream Factory, the reviews by critic Glenn Kenny, and the Women in Hollywood issue.

From now on Premiere will exist only as a website, which will not be the same. I will miss the magazine enormously.

RIP Premiere Magazine (1987-2006)