THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS DIVA

We temporarily suspend the SBS themed blog for this posting while Susan laments on "Storytelling in Movies"

I went to 20,000 Leagues under the Sea yesterday.  Truly.  I mean the movie was called Pirates of the Caribbean..but the plot had major parts of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.  The Octopus was the "Beasty".... and Davy Jones somehow had an organ on board his ship just like the Captain Nemo character in the Leagues movie. 

It's nice that a Disney movie stole from...well.. a Disney movie...but the plot for the new Pirates just doesn't seem storyworthy to be earning $300 and someodd million at the boxoffice and then some.

Now while the technical wizardy of the movie can't be disputed... Industrial Light and Magic is hands down the best digital wizard master in the business, the story felt flat.  I mean it was really cool to see the front part of the Pirates ride in the movie... you know where you load on the boads and the fireflies are moving around and you drift slowly by the swamp buildings until it's time to drop down the ramp and join the "Pirates", but the fact is that so much of the story line felt like a rip off of a Jules Verne storyline felt a little strange. 

I think I'm getting old.  Movies are remakes these days.... TV shows are too much reality show based that the fine art of telling a story is seemingly being lost today. 

...and I wonder if some of this isn't due to too much technology.  Watch an old movie from years past and they 'talked' and set up things much more than they do now.  These days, if you don't have action and stunts in the first few moments you are doomed.

Technically these movies are exquisite... however when it comes to telling a story, they are falling flat.  And storytelling isn't something that can be replaced with technology can it?  Imagination can't be coded.  It comes from humans and the brains we have... and can't be replicated can it?

Some things I don't like in the story:  I don't buy it that Elizabeth would chain Johnny Depp to the ship.  Just doesn't seem like something she would do.  And if she did... do we really want either Orlando or Johnny to stay in love with her?  And can someone find a tube of Crest toothpaste for these folks?  I mean I know there's scurvy and all that...but how come Orlando and Keira have good teeth and Tia Dalma (Voodoo Lady) looks like a BIC ball point pen blew up in her mouth or something?

... oh and one more thing... in the era that Pirates roamed the seas (which was a very short period of time), weddings would not have been performed outdoors when a church was nearby.  Martha Stewart's perfect outdoor wedding that got rained out... just seemed a tad out of place.

...so maybe the answer is... a bit of reading, eh?

P.S.  I did buy tickets online via Fandango.com as the geek that I am....

P.S.S.... we always stay for the full credits to count the number of Accountants used in the film (a lot this time)... you'll want to stay for the very very end to see...well.. just trust me... sit through the credits...there's something at the end.