Thursday, February 28, 2013

"Soneome make a note of that Man's Bravery"

How much do you know about Theodore Groves?  You actually probably know a lot more about him than you think you do.  He's a very minor character but he actually appears in all of the movies.  He's a member of the British Royal Navy and serves first under Commodore Norrington, the under Beckett, and then under Barbossa.  He's one of the few characters who are actually in all for or the movies.  A lot of the dialogue that you remember between Jack Sparrow and Navy members, Norrington and Navy members, and almost any one and Navy members involve him.  He actually has some of the most classic lines of the series.  For example, when Jack and Will first work together to take the Interceptor out of the bay, they land on the boat called the Dauntless.  However, through quite a bit of genius scheming, they find themselves upon the Interceptor, an even better boat.  Pretty impressive if I do soay so myself.  
Out of anger, Norrington commands them to open fire on the ship.  Norrington: "Set topsails and clear up this mess."   Groves: "With the wind at quarter astern, we won't catch them."  Norrington: "I don't need to catch them, just get them in range of the long nines."  But Groves still doesn't understand why he would have them open fire on their own ship.  Norrington: "I'd rather see her at the bottom of the ocean, than in the hands of a pirate."  Pretty spiteful words coming out of the commodores mouth, but Groves is still obligated to obey them.  However, Jack is too quick for them and disables the rudder chain so the ship can't turn around.  Seems like that man just thinks of everything.  Earlier, Norrington had remarked after seeing Jack "trying" to set sail on the Dauntless that "That is without doubt the worst pirate I have ever seen.
Ironically enough, in the end it was actually Norrington who got tricked at Jack who sailed away happy.  Upon realizing what was happening, Groves just chuckles and says: "That's got to be the best pirate I've ever seen."  Norrington: "So it would seem."  Norrington definitely isn't about to let Jack and Will get away with this.  Now, to be fully honest, I'm not actually all that sure if Groves was in the second movie but seeing as he was in all the others, I guess you could assume that he was also in Dead Man's Chest but there wasn't much Navy action going on then and he had no real lines so I suppose I could be wrong.  Either way, he was in At Worlds End with quite a few other significant lines that you will probably know when you read them.  Jack does another one of his super genius yet impromptu escapes where he thinks of just about EVERYTHING.  
After a meeting with his long time enemy, Jack needs a quick and easy way to get off of the Endeavor and onto his own ship.  He uses a cannon to blast him off one ship and onto another.  "And that was without even a single drop of rum." Beckett, like Norrington, isn't ready to let him get away that easily.  Beckett: "Signal the Dutchman to track down Sao Feng. We follow the Pearl. How soon can we have the ship ready to pursue?"  Then the entire mast of his ship just goes crashing down, as if on cue.  Beckett just bows his head in disappointment.  He should have seen that coming.  Groves: "Do you think he plans it all out, or just makes it up as he goes along?"  It's funny because pretty much the whole audience is wondering the same question: how does Jack manage to do everything so crazily yet so perfectly?  Beckett is just so upset about the ship yet Groves is analizing Jack's actions.  
Groves stays on the Endeavor until it is sunk by the Pearl and the Dutchman at the end of the movie, killing Beckett.  As they are being attacked, it's Groves who is desperately screaming at Beckett for orders.  Groves: "Orders?! Orders, sir?!"  Becket just stares of blankly until finally telling them to abandon ship.  He must have made it out just in the nick of time because Groves is back in On Stranger Times.  This time, he takes orders from Barbossa.  He's Barbossa's right hand man and always seems to be around him asking for orders.  He takes Gibbs away, he defends the men who are potentially dying from a mermaid attack, and he keeps his job until his death.  He unties Barbossa when he's tied up to a palm tree at the Spanish camps and always is questioning where the captain is going, perhaps still suspicious of his old pirating ways.  
He is eventually shot at the Battle for the Fountain of Youth.  His final words came as he held up the Union Jack claiming the Fountain for England.  "This land is hereby forever claimed in the glorious name of His Majesty, King George—"  Then he is shot by the Spaniard and of course we never hear about him again.  He gets a few second of glory after his death though.  Spaniard: "Someone make a note of that man's bravery."  It's funny how someone who is actually in so many scenes can go by unnoticed.  Regardless, I still really appreciate his character for truly understanding the craziness that is Captain Jack Sparrow.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

"The lies I told you were not lies."

Remember how sometimes we call Elizabeth Swann Lizzie?  Or Philip Swift, P. Swift?  Well I just came up with a really good nickname for Angelica: Angie!  Now, I know that it's not exactly a new name and I didn't just make it up, but I've been wondering why I haven't tried calling her that before.  So, this post will be all about Angie.  She's apparently the daughter of the infamous pirate, Blackbeard, but there seems to be some speculation about this.  She tells Jack who her father is but does so in a sneaky way, making it seem like it's not really true: just a hoax to get what she wants.  
But later she tells Jack that she wasn't really lying, just trying to make it seem like she was lying so he wouldn't think she was telling the truth and therefor wouldn't really know the truth.  Now, which is actually true is up to debate, but since she was willing to give her life for her Edward Teach at the Fountain of Youth, she probably did have some deeper connection to him than just a lie, or she was ready to go to the grave lying for a man she didn't really know.  When Jack tries to tell Blackbeard that he doesn't think Angelica is really his daughter, 
 Blackbeard just gets super angry so Jack backs off.  Jack has no idea about her father when he first meets her, in fact that was probably the last person he thought her father could be.  Originally Jack meets her in a convent.  Just don't even ask why he was there: it'll break your heart.  However, she was there because she was preparing to become a nun.  Think of that: the daughter of one of the most infamous pirates ever known becoming a nun.  Yeah, she must have had the same thought and got cold feet.  Of course, Jack influenced her decision a bit when she fell in love with him.  But we all know that Jack doesn't get tied down away from the sea easily and certainly not for every long.  So he leaves her in the end to do what he loves, resulting in some rather bitter feelings of hers towards him.
 She seems to get even on this when she pretends to be him, shoots him with a sleeping dart, drags in unconscious body onto her supposed daddy's ship, lies to him (kinda) about her family tree, and then forces him into labor.  We all know that Jack prefers to be in charge, not take orders from zombie quartermasters and female first mates.  First he threatens her to come to her senses and tell him what's really going on.  That's when she tells him about Blackbeard being her "father" and how they can sail to the Fountain of Youth together still.  Jack's still not a big fan of all this so he talks to Blackbeard himself about it first.  When things don't really go over well with the captain, he returns to the first mate, this time using seduction to get what he wants.  But then he realizes that while the Fountain of Youth gives life to some people, it takes away the deaths of others: one must live while the other dies.  Clearly, he and Angelica can't go there together, bathe themselves in riches and eternal life and live happily ever after together because one of them would have to die. 
Not to mention Angie is still caught up in her mission to save her father from the foreseen murder at the hands of a one-legged man.  She plans on instead using the one-legged man as the life to be lost at the Fountain to save her father.  Jack seems to be on board with this plan, except that since he's Jack he also has about fifty other alternative motives and alliances to get what he wants.  He also sprouts up this plan with Barbossa, the one-legged man, to get him to the Fountain also, setting the stage for this epic match.  In the end, Angelica is the one who gets to drink from the magical waters because Jack tricked her into it and no one else can because the Spanish completely destroyed the place.  
 All that for nothing, but at least they disposed of Blackbeard.  Of course, that's not so great for Angie since that seemed to be the whole reason she set sail for the Fountain in the first place.  She was also hoping to convert him along the way, which didn't really happen either.  Things only really go downhill for her when Jack somehow transports the two of them in a little long boat to some speck of land in the middle of no where (surrounded by very beautiful and peaceful water though.)This time she tries to seduce him into doing what she wants, resulting to perhaps more lies and even violence (pulls out a pistol). 
But keeping with the theme of the day, it doesn't work for her and Jack just leaves to keep on with his pirating life.  Yo ho yo ho!  Things take an interesting turn though when she finds his voodoo doll.  Wonder what she will do with it?  Hopefully the next movie will tell us!

"Well done, sailor."

Keeping with our theme (as in one post so far) of discussing the poll and potential characters that could appear in the future Pirates of the Caribbean 5 movie (which is only 870 more days away, no longer over 900!), we will be talking about Philip Swift.  Speaking of Swift, did everyone see her in the Emmys?   Because I didn't.  Awkward.  I'm more of a movie person than music, as you can see, otherwise perhaps this would be called Snippets of Harry Styles instead.  Okay, sorry.  Getting off topic.  Anyways, Philip Swift stand out in the movies as someone who actually has moral standards.  I suppose in some ways Elizabeth and Will have a good moral center (or at least Elizabeth thinks she does), but they do make many actions out of selfish ambition, even if it is for the other.  Philip on the other hand, is consistent about his very meaning.  Though he is a missionary, he does not preach all the time. 
 Rather, he waits for others to come to him.  Towards the beginning of the movie and the voyage to the Fountain of Youth, Philip is finally let down from his perching placed tied to the top of the mast on a hope that having a missionary present would save Blackbeards soul Scrum:"A missionary is the story. What I heard, was he got captured in a raid. The rest on the ship got killed, but not him. First Mate wouldn't let it happen, on account his premier standing with the Lord."   He's not bitter or angry, even though he has somewhat of a right to be after how they treated him.  He doesn't try to scream at any one to repent.  In fact, it's Blackbeard and Angelica who bring up religion as they can't tell if Blackbeard has a heart or not, as if that were even a question: he clearly doesn't.  The cleric simply shares that he believes that even someone as cruel as Blackbeard can still receive salvation.  Pretty bold and generous if you ask me.  
He doesn't tell everyone on the voyage that the Fountain will do them no good in gaining eternal life, but allows the Spaniard to do that later.  However, that doesn't stop Jack from coming up to him asking about going to heaven, or as he put it "the place where all the goody-goodies go".  Philip seizes this as the opportunity to tell Jack about converting, which he doesn't seem so fond on.  So I suppose you're wondering, "Well, if he doesn't do anything how do you even know that he has a moral compass?"  Well, as he's talking to Jack, he's interrupted by the realization that Syrena the mermaid is suffocating in her coffin. He reaches out and steals the sword of a zombified quartermaster, an then desperately shoves the sword through the crack and opens it for her, saving her life.  
That's some guts right there.  His genuine generosity towards the mermaid continues when her coffin is dropped all together and she is forced to walk, despite the fact that she has never done so in her whole life.  Being the wonderful gentleman he is, Philip clothes her and carries her himself, despite the murderous threats from Blackbeard.  I'm sure Harry Styles would do the exact same thing! Clearly Phillip formed an attraction to Syrena while on their journey but unfortunately he has one strike against him, while the crew of the Queen Anne's Revenge was trying (and failing) to capture mermaids Phillip was half drowning while trying to get to shore. When Jack blew up the lighthouse some debris trapped Syrena right by Phillip and he tried to rescue her but Blackbeard's crew was ready with nets and quickly captured her. Syrena wasn't very pleased with the pirates at that point, especially Phillip thanks to Blackbeards praise of Phillip after the nets were thrown "Well done, sailor, well done."  
But after he successfully saved her from the coffin the tides of love turned in Swifts favor. Well the mermaid loved him, everyone else....not so much. In fact Blackbeard sensed the love connection and decided to use it against Syrena by threatening Phillip's life so he could gain the last piece to the Fountain of Life puzzle: a single tear. "You care for her...you fancy her. Do not deny what is clear to my eyes. Question is...does she fancy you? By God, she does. We are in luck! Bring forth a tear...or witness the death of this poor soul." After Phillip was proclaimed dead Syrena still didn't  give them what they wanted, and they promptly tied her up and left her to die. But miracle of miracles Phillip is actually alive! When Phillip woke from his poisoned dart induced slumber he ran to free Syrena and she cried happy tears which were promptly gathered by a crew member  and she was once again left to die and Phillip was forced to continue on the journey. But Phillip tried one last time to assure Syrena of his love and maybe even free her before leaving her to bake in the sun: "Syrena, on my word, I had no part in this! Let her go. You don't need her now." As soon as the whole fountain of youth thing was done 
Phillip sneaked away from the group and returned to his love, he untied her and was given a gift many pirates dream about...A mermaid's kiss. Now we aren't sure if He survived that kiss or not so you'll have to keep a weather eye on the horizon for our friend the missionary in the next PotC movie.

Monday, February 25, 2013

"I'll Watch Your Back"

Hello all!  I hope you have all voted in our newest poll asking who you would like to see back in the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie!  You may have realized that I did not list Gibbs in the available votes, so my apologies if you wanted to vote for him but were unable to, I can only list so many options.  So, in order to make it up to Joshamee Gibbs, who I really do love and hope to see back in the next film, this post is dedicated to him and his roll in the second movie, The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.  Gibbs, Jack's first mate on board the Black Pearl is loyal to his captain always.  At the very beginning of the movie, he waits patiently keeping eye over the ship (singing and drinking a bit creepily though) until Jack returns, rowing in a coffin.  Gibbs is always there for Jack, ready to save him in whatever crazy circumstance that ever comes up, which is not to say that Jack couldn't find a way out himself, but you know what I mean.  Gibbs is always ready to sacrifice for Jack.  
When Jack returns in such an odd fashion, he informs the crew that he has the thing they have all been waiting for: a drawing of a key.  Yeah, somewhat of a let down.  Gibbs just calmly let's Jack know that the whole crew in fact is let down.  After the manly perils they had to sail to finally get there, they hoped that their Captain would go after something with a bit more value, than just a piece of cloth with a sketch of a key on it, even if it does cause creepy music to be played.  Even so, Gibbs commands the crew to set sail in search of the key, even when nothing really makes sense and Jack is just telling Gibbs that he is the crazy one.  But as usual, Gibbs just plays along and gives out the orders.  Now, things only get stranger after Jack has a short visit from Bootstrap Bill, telling him that he owes his soul to Davy Jones.  Jack, totally freaked out, screams at Gibbs to get their butts to land as soon as possible, with virtually no explanation.  When Gibbs tries to stop just to catch Jack's fallen hat, Jack protests and insists that they keep moving, which of course Gibbs agrees to.  Jack's direction ends them up in an island of cannibals, which usually isn't your desired destination.  
Gibbs gets thrown into some creepy cages made by the bones of other crew members while Jack gets declared king, but Gibbs is never jealous or bitter.  In fact, he is optimistic and wants to do everything humanly possible to save Jack before the Pelegostals eat him.  They manage to escape the island just in the knick of time.  From there on, Jack orders Gibbs to sail up river to Tia Dalma's shack.  You can just tell that the creepy obeah woman and her strange hut isn't all that appealing to Gibbs, yet he goes a long with it anyway, explaining to Will what's going on along the way.  After some run-ins with Tia Dalma and Davy Jones, Gibbs, Jack, and the rest of the crew sail to Tortugo so that Gibbs can help Jack collect souls to sell to Davy Jones in return for his freedom.  And when I say help, I mean do all the work.  Gibbs sits at the desk and takes recruits while Jack sits there in the back ground playing around.  
That is until Norrington shows up and starts a bar fight.  During this time, Gibbs and Jack manage to get out of it as Jack walks around in search for a new hat.  Gibbs also catches on very easily to what Jack is saying, which is understandable because they've been friends for over a decade.  Jack starts asking Elizabeth questions about Beckett, and Gibbs knows exactly where he's going with it.  Gibbs helps Jack crack codes and plans stuff out with him.  He executes Jack's orders, even when he isn't able to figure Jack completely out, because he knows that while Jack may be a bit crazy, he sure does know what he's doing when it comes to pirating.  But every pirate captain needs an almost as crazy first mate!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

"Justice? Hardly."

Remember that classic bar fight that takes place in The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest where pretty much everyone is htrowing stuff and sswinging their swords, including James Norrington and Elizabeth Swann.  Then afterwards, Elizabeth agrees to set sail with jack Sparrow on the Pearl to find the chest with the heart of Davy Jones which is suppose to somehow save Will?  Well, besides getting the ball rolling, the scene also gives some handy information to the antagonist of the movie: Cutler Beckett.  You see, Mr. Mercer is still working for Beckett and they've got spies everywhere.  One of which sees Elizabeth (badly disguised as a man in the bar) and reports this back to Beckett in his EITC office of Port Royal.  Beckett plays around with his sword as a man paints a map on his wall.  Beckett: "There's something to knowing the exact shape of the world and one's place in it.  Don't you agree?"  Words of wisdom from Lord Beckett.  
Governor Swann just stand there, with no wig, his hands bound by shackles and two Royal guards next to him. Swann: "I assure you, these are not necessary."  Beckett: "I had you brought here  because I thought ou'd be interest in the whereabouts of your daughter."  He strangely points his sword in Swann's direction, as if there would even be a need to defend himself.  Swann: "You have news of her?"  Mercer: 'Most recently seen on Tortuga, and left in the company of a known pirate, Jack Sparrow, and other fugitive from justice."  At the sound of the name 'Jack Sparrow', the governor just looks upward in frustration and despair: just the news he DIDN'T want to hear.  But atleast she's still a live.  Swann: "'Justice?'  Hardly."  What a slap in the face to the government he belongs to.  They just ignore his insults.  Beckett: "Including the previous ownder of this sword, I believe."  
Beckett finally decides it's time to stop playing around with large pointy objects and puts away JAMES NORRINGTON'S sword.  Beckett: "Our ships are in pursuit.  Justice will be dispensed by cannonade and cutlass, and all manner of remorseless pieces of metal.  I personally find it distasteful to even contemplate the horror facing all those on board."  Hmmm.  Then maybe you just shouldn't do it then?  There he goes again, bullying the people with less power than him. He's trying to totally feak out the governor over what he is going to do the Black Pearl which now has his only daughter on it.  Swann gets the message.  Swann: "What do you want from me?"  Beckett has his whole plan thought out.  Beckett: "Your authority as governor, your influence in London, and your loyalty to the East India Trading Company."  So pretty much everything except the life of your daughter.  
Not so nice of a bargain he offered to Jack Sparrow in our previous post.  Governor Swann grows a back bone in this scene, finally standing up for something.  Swann: "To you, you mean."  Beckett just stares at him and then creepily walks closer.  Beckett: "Shall I remove these shackles?"  Well, he already asked you to so I suppose that would be the right thing to do.  There was no good reason to arrest him in the first place but we all know what a greedy person Beckett is.  Swann things these over for a few seconds before deciding.  He holds out his shackled hands: "Do what you can for my daughter."  Beckett gives a sly triumphant smile.  He now has the government of Port Royal on his side, giving him wide discretion over his pirate hunting quest.  Some other many begins to unlock the chains roughly.  Beckett: "So you see, Mercer, every man has a price he will willingly accept.  Even for what he hoped never to sell."  The governor never wanted to pretty much sell his freedom and power away, but he had to inorder to secure Elizabeth's safety.  Never should have done it in the first place, because the E.I.T.C. never caught up to Elizabeth until into the second movie, where she was able to sneakily work things out and sail off onto Sao Fengs ship.  In the end, Beckett and the governor both die yet she gets to live.  Beckett indirectly kills the governor, and Elizabeth indirectly kills Beckett, so all's fair in love and war?  

Friday, February 22, 2013

"Reason's got nothing to do with it."

While Jack gets most of the hillarious lins of the serieis, all of his silly expressions were made on purpose, since he is pretty much the most outrageous characeter.  How many of you have just bursted out laughing at his lines or faces?  I know I can't be the only one.  How many of you are also aware that I love to poke fun of Elizabeth?  Well, the funny thing about her and Will is that they don't always mean to make these faces, but somehow they always do.  I've seen the movies so many times and have gone through countless photos from them.  I've pulled together a few of the most hillarious, imprompt expressions of theirs that I've ever seen.  In no particular order, here they are:
In The Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Elizabeth is not shy with her expressions around Barbossa apparently.  In fact, she attempts to kill him by shoving a butter knife into his chest.  Ew.  What's even grosser is that then he pulls it out of his torso and it's dripping with blood (which to be quite honest is rather fake looking).  This just totally freaks out Elizabeth, but she hasn't really seen much of the pirating world yet.  The gore and her expressions only get worse from here!
As we just discussed, Jack is a bit loony.  Will's trying to get to the bottom of his bizaireness by asking Gibbs what happened when Jack was marooned on the island alone.  After hearing that Jack went three days with no food or drink, Will thinks he's come down to it.  Will: "So that's the reason for all the . . ."  Gibbs: "Reason's got nothing to do with it."  Will pretends to be crazy old Jack again, but even like that Will can't nearly capture the amazingness of Captain Jack Sparrow.
Isn't this rather convinient? There's a picture of both lovers looking equally as funny from The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.  Will really needs to comb his hair and is in utter shock.  Elizabeth on the other hand just looks like she's going to throw up. If I am correct, they are trying to figure out what to do about the fact that Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman are out to get them.  Not good.
As I also stated earlier, Elizabeth is not good at masking her disgust for certain actions.  As the kraken attacks his own ship, The Black Pearl, Jack hops in a row boat and tries to make an easy escape, which flat out annoys Elizabeth.  Luck for her, Jack's compass helps him find what he really wants most, and that's to help save his friends and the Pearl, so he comes back.  This look was really in vain.
Not only is she bold with her expressions, but also her words.  This picture from The Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End captures both of these!  She angrily yells at Sao Feng when they first meet.  Elizabeth: "You are Saob Feng, the pirate lord of Singapore.  You command in an age of piracy where bold captains sailr free waters.  Where waves aren't measured in feet, butas increments of fear, and those who pass the test become legend.  Would you have that erea come to an end on your watch?  The mos tnotorious pirates from around the world are uniting against our common enemy, and yet you sit here cowering in your bathwater!"  Elizabeth says it how it is.  Now, if you want to check out more photos from the movies, follow us on instagram and twitter @snippetsofjack.  We've got a ton!  And if you have some that you havne'ts een up on this website, hashtag us and we'll be sure to check it out, or comment the link to it, or email us at parsley.parsnip@gmail.com  We would love to see them!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

"To Finding Zerzura"

When we last left off with Ayisha, she was working at the Dalton farm outside Calabar with her body guard, Tarek.  However, during this time Cutler Beckett is out for power, and money along the way  He plans on finding the secret island of Zerzura, where Ayisha is princess.  Beckett gets his new agent, Ian Mercer, to do some of the dirty work for him.  Remember how Ayisha took off her jewelry when seh was captured?  
Well Mercer and Beckett find this jewelry and recognize it from the legends of Zerzura.  Mercer searches to find who was in that same group captured with the jewelry, which leads him to find Ayisha. Tarek's past wasn't discovered but Piye's was so Ayisha is reunited with him once Beckett pays a fortune for Ayisha.  She's extremely good at keeping her identity though.  She hardly ever speaks and doesn't let anything on.  Mercer and Beckett turn to Piye for information.  But this doesn't really go as planned.  Mercer: "I'd barely started on him, The pain wasn't that much.  No sign of an apoplexy, no clutching of his chest or anything of the sort.  I've handled dozens of interrogations Mr. Beckett, but I've never seen anything quite like it.  The old savage just closed his eyes . . . and stopped.  Like a clock."  What really happened was that Piye, instead of betraying his people, prayed to Apedemak, the guardian of his country to let him die then first.  After that, Beckett and Mercer were way too scared to try anything like that on Ayisha in fear that she might do the same and their only chance at Kerma would be gone.  
So Beckett comes up with a better idea.  INstead of threatening her into giving him the information that he wants, he plans on persuading her into it.  Except neither Beckett nor Mercer are very attractive, friendly, or likable, so there's not hope there.  Conveniently, Beckett has become rather close with an EXTREMELY charming, hot, and manipulative sailor, and you can guess who that is: Captain Jack Sparrow.  
So Beckett comes begging Jack for his help: "Jack, we've run out of options with this woman. I fear I am not, and Mercer certainly is not charming. But you are, Jack. You have charm in spades. People like you, when you exert yourself to be likeable. Women like you. I want you to charm this woman into telling us where Kerma is."  Of course, there is money involved.  
Beckett offers Jack part of the treasure they plan to find in the Labyrinth of Zerzura, thirty percent to be exact.  Then they toast of course.  "To finding Zerzura."  "To Finding Zerzura."  Beckett and Jack are actually teaming up on something!  Even though Jack is still skeptical on this whole collaborating with Beckett thing.  Now, they want all this took seem real.  Jack informs Beckett that to gain Ayisha's trust, he must meet here independently of Beckett so that it seems like he's her savior, rescuer, deliverer of freedom.  Then, he will convince her to run away to freedom with him, where he will drop her off at Kerma and get the secret bearings, which he may or may not give to Beckett, depending on the mood.  Jack starts too plot out the whole adventure with him and this next woman.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

"Every man worth his salt. And crazy to boot."

If you look up above this text on the screen, you'll see that here on this awesome website, we are devoted to Captain Jack Sparrow, but we are also devoted to his "totally awesome crew".  So, here we are, a post totally about Jack Sparrow's Crew, at least in the context of the people who man the Black Pearl under Jack's command during the movie series.  We all know, that of course, the original crew mutinied him and served under Barbossa and some still serve under Jack, but that's not the point.  We will be discussing the crew that he picked up from Tortuga with Will and Gibbs in Curse of the Black Pearl.   
 So there is Cotton, who Jack addresses first, standing on the dock of.  Jack: "You sailor!  Do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death.  MR. COTTON!  Answer man!"  Of course, being mute and not having a tongue makes it rather difficult for him to answer.  Probably not a good start for Cotton, but he does prove himself as he stays on the crew for the rest of the series, always loyal to Jack. 
And then he meets Anamaria next, who of course slaps him.  Will: "I suppose you didn't deserve that one either."  Jack: "No, that one I deserved."  She then rants on about how he stole her ship and how she needs it back.  Jack then promises her another ship.  She must have eventually gotten that ship because we don't see her on the crew past the first movie.  Jack's crew also includes some other interesting characters like Joshamee Gibbs; his extremely loyal first mate.  
Gibbs sticks with Jack through out all the of his crazy escapades and leads the crew with a calm and steady hand. Plus his mutton chops rock! Also included in Jack's crew is Will Turner. 
Will only teamed up with Jack to rescue his damsel in distress Elizabeth Swann but he quickly became a vital part of the crew.  When the crew had been gathered and introduced Jack, they all look ok to Jack i guess! Gibbs has high expectations of them :"Feast your eyes, Captain. All of them, faithful hands before the mast. Every man worth his salt. And crazy to boot." Well lets hope they pack their courage and fortitude, Cause they're gonna need it to last a voyage with Jack...During this voyage after surviving storms and their pirating duties of looting ship and who knows what else (to Jack's great pleasure) they catch up to Jack's rightful ship currently captained by Hector Barbossa The Black Pearl.  Jack and Will head in to Isla de Muerta leaving Gibbs in commanded with one order: "Keep to the Code"  When Will returned from his little jaunt on the island with Jack accompanied not by Jack but by Elizabeth Swann; Gibbs was forced to follow Jack orders but pirate fans that is a story for another time....

Saturday, February 9, 2013

"Why Thank Ye Jack"


It seems as though most of our posts in one way or the other involve Jack the Monkey.  Well this one is no exception.  But this time we are going to talk about the "actor" who plays him, actually more like actress because the monkey is a girl, acting as a guy.  I don't know if you've ever really thought about it much, but that monkey dose A LOT of things throughout the series.  I beleive he is played by different monkeys throughout the series, but this post will be mainly pertaining to Curse of the Black Pearl.  Jack was played by actually two capuchin monkeys, according to IMBD, one was a female named Tara and the other a male named Levi.  When you think about it, Jack is actually quite the villian, carrying out all of Barbossa's taks and keeping an eye out for any threats to his master's saftey. Ursula Brauner was the animal trainer for the movie.  
Geoffrey Rush (Barbossa):  "The monkey is actually the smartest person in the film I think because he never looses sight of the gold.  Everyone else has human frailty, trial, and jealousy, but the monkey knows we have to get each and every last medallion back into that case."  That's rather true, because the monkey is always pointing out helpful stuff that Barbossa or his crew are too dumb to notice.   Apparently, monkeys always want to feel safe, which I supppose is dificult sitting on the sholder of a man who is always sreaming or sword fighting.   
That's the reason for Jack's constant head motions, he's looking around for any sign of danger.  So they had to make it every clear to the monkeys that Rush wasn't out to get hikm or boss him around.  Rush insisted that the monkey stand on his left sholder (right to the audience) because he beleived that the audience always looks at the screen from left ot right, kinda like a book.  
Rush wanted to make sure the cute yet evil little monkey did not steal his spotlight, especially when he was in scenes with Keira Knightley (Elizabeth) otherwise he thought he would go completely unoticed!  Poor guy.  Haha, it's like the monkey is his costar, because he kinda is.  Johnny Depp: "I like his work very much.  It's, ah, you know he's kinda a runegate."  Now, kinda like a child, the monkey can't sit still very long.  The trainer said that when they have the monkey run around and grab stuff for them, it's actually easier, but making him sit on Barbossa's sholder for a few mnutes as he rambles on is difficult, because they don't want a spazzing monkey to distract from Barbossa's usually creepy or cruel words.  Somehow spraying a bit of water on his miniature vest would keep him occupied for the time being.  The monkies were rather smart.  For example, when we first find out that the monkey's name is Jack (after Captain Jack Sparrow of course), Barbossa thanks the monkey, who coincidentally smiles, as if he understand.  How cute yet evil and vicious.



Wednesday, February 6, 2013

"You have to be lost to find a place that can't be found"

I don't know about you all, but I am so tried of winter! Snow is gross and being cold is even worse! So I thought it would be fun to do a post about one of my favorite scenes from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's end. While Jack is chilling on his ship in Davy Jones' locker his crew captained by Hector Barbossa are out in the middle of the ocean half frozen to death trying to find him, Sailing on the ship they borrowed from Sao Feng. The crew apparently had no idea what they were getting into, But Barbossa did:"For certain, you have to be lost to find a place as can’t be found. Elseways, everyone would know where it was." Unfortunatly for the crew being lost isn't the most enjoyable experience. Ha just wait for what comes at the end of there little journey!
Tia Dalma who was also along for the ride, tried to explain to he crew that Jack had been taken to a place no one would want to go:"Jack Sparrow is taken, body and soul, to a place not of death, but punishment. The worst fate a person can bring upon himself...stretching on forever. That's what awaits at Davy Jones' Locker." Sounds like a real fun place eh? You can always trust Davy Jones to show a guy a good time! Getting to the locker is simple enough, just fly down a 57830837620 (just a guess! :) ) waterfall and you're there. Getting out is the hard part! 
 While Will poors over the charts he bartered from Sao Feng another story for another post) Barbossa and Gibbs try to explain the rather odd myth to Pintel (my personal favorite half of the silly pirates) Pintel: "Ever gazed upon the green flash, Master Gibbs?"Gibbs: "I reckon I seen my fair share. Happens on rare occasion. The last glimpse of sunset, a green flash shoots up into the sky. Some go their whole lives without ever seeing it. Some claim to have seen it who ain't. And some say—"Barbossa:"It signals when a soul comes back to this world from the dead."   Well it sounds like a great Instagram photo opportunity to me! The crew still doesn't know where exactly they're heading yet,but '
 Elizabeth is grumpy as usual anyways. She and Will share a less then touching moment which causes poor Will to believe she is in love with Jack, which honestly isn't his fault she did kiss him!  Soon after the couples little tiff the boat starts really rolling and the crew begins to realize whats about to happen, and Elizabeth's bossy side comes out.  
 She orders the crew to turn the ship around, but they are wayyyy  to close to the drop to turn around now, and the ship plummets over the waterfall. Hopefully it was the right waterfall.....