Extrapolating on 'Dead Man's Chest'

I just read a review from Sci-Fi Weekly that summarizes how I felt about this second installment of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest:

...[A]s in the first film, Depp's mincing Jack Sparrow is the chief attraction in this sequel film, but he is overshadowed by a plot that is packed with so many twists and turns it makes a viewer seasick. This is not helped by the fact that the movie is the second installment in a proposed trilogy of films and necessarily requires a lot of setup for payoffs that won't come until the last movie. Who is Lord Beckett? What does the East India Trading Company need with Jack Sparrow's compass? Why is Jack Sparrow suddenly the chief of cannibals? What's the deal with that big jar of dirt?

Dead Man's Chest also suffers from the inclination of sequels to take what worked in the original movie and just add more of it. There are more visual effects, more sword fighting, more pirates, more ships, more cannibals, more villains. Too much more. Like Depp, the otherwise charming Knightley and Bloom are overwhelmed by the spectacle and byzantine story.

In particular, a sequence in which Depp must elude cannibals simply goes on and on and on far longer than it should, with very little bearing on the actual story arc. It features a few of the film's key action sequences, including a three-way sword fight on a rolling mill wheel (!), which, one suspects, is the reason the sequence was allowed to run as long as it does.

The film also contains its stabs at humor. But, again, where the first movie's humor came naturally, the jokes and pratfalls in the sequel feel forced. That's especially true of the recurring and painfully unfunny Laurel-and-Hardy routine between Pintel (Lee Arenberg) and Ragetti (Mackenzie Crook), whose wooden-eye jokes were exhausted in the first movie. ...

The reviewer continues on about how Davey Jones' crew were over-the-top and caroon-like. I disagree with him. The makeup/effects used were actually quite cool, and well suited for the type of crew Davey Jones should and would employ. I also dug the Kraken. Although I am curious where within Davey Jones' ship it's actually kept.

And all action sequences and visual effects alone were ver-ver entertaining.

Update: Just found out that the Kraken doesn't live within Davey Jones' boat. Buggah! Ok.. ok.. so perhaps I was the only one who thought so. Cut me some slack.. I was up way past my bedtime and feeling hazy.

48 hours and 2Tbsp of Pepto later

I'm a mess. It's been 2 days since I've had a solid nights sleep. And it took a miracle for me not to pass out while driving to work today.

Sunday night my head was reeling with chatter after seeing 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'. (I give it 6.5, on a scale from 1-10, where 10 was 'The Curse of the Black Pearl'. As I usually feel in movie trilogies, the 2nd one is usually the most drawn out and least entertaining. Although 'Dead Man's Chest' was still enjoyable, there were scenes that could have been shortened, or cut, and some plot choices that could have been done without.) I digress. Getting home 45 minutes later than expected, due to the extra 20 minutes of pre-movie commercials, I didn't have time to wind down and consequently, could not fall to sleep. That's fine.. been there, done that. I can get through a work day on one night of fitful sleeping. After work, I remain low-key and pass out early. Or so i led myself to believe...

I was in bed by 8p, out by 8:15p. 3 hours later I'm awake sweating my booty off. WTF?!?! I get up to see that someone left the thermostat on 'hold' and it was a balmy 70 degrees. Normally I'd love it warm, but when it comes to sleeping, I need the temp to be at most 64 degrees. Thermostat was taken off 'hold' and 1.5 hours later the house had cooled off enough for my body to be comfortable to sleep.

1 hour later I'm awake...

This time it's my stomach. Gooooood morning Mr. Toilet!!

20 minutes later I'm attempting to fall asleep as deeply and quickly as possible. Except a certain unnamed human has taken to a new habit: snoring. Why? When? What the bloody hell for?!?!? Didn't I have enough character building on Saturday? (see previous post). All that I want is a good night's sleep so I can function at work. Where's that wicked witch and her poppies when you really need it.

The on-again, off-again snore-fest took place for the remaining 4 hours of my precious sleep time.

Finally waking up to the combination of a persistant alarm and stomach, I'm back in the bathroom. Oh yeah, my body is not doing well. At some point I managed to calm myself down and compare last night's sleep to Sunday night's sleep. 4 hours vs 2 hours. I'm making progress. Maybe tonight I'll get 6 hours. *eyes glimmer with hope*

*grumble.. grumble...grrrrr*

Character Building

It's the best way to describe yesterday's events:

• 5am: woke up with a paranoid jolt from some crazy-butted dream that eludes me. it's a feeling i haven't had in a LONG time. go back to bed put-out.
• 7am: woke up with a 'holy cripes!' jolt. this time thinking i slept way past my alarm, when in reality i slept in for about a minute.
• 9:15 - 9:35am: ended up lost in Rockville looking for 'Details Details Details'. in the process took about 4 u-turns and got cut-off by 3 SUV's. my need for a bathroom also starts to intensify.
• 12:40p: ended up stepping in dog dung at the dog park.
• 1:50p: decided to take a run. halfway through, oblivious to all life, something landed on my lip. I swatted at it, felt pain and pulled out a stinger. F*K! Commence swelling.
• 1:55 - 4:30p: couldn't smile or move my lips much. thought a lot about my abilities as a ventriloquist.
• 6p: having full mobile range of my lips, decided to call for take-out:

  Me: "I'd like to get a gyro with a greek salad."
  Her: "Anything else."
  Me: {thinks}..."ooo yeah... May I get some garlic bread with the salad?"
  Her: "You want garlic bread instead of the gyro?"
  Me: "No. I'd like the gyro and salad, but was wondering if I could get garlic bread too."
  Her: {pause} ... "Garlic bread comes with small salads."
  Me: "Ok.. well could I just get a piece of bread with my order"
  Her: "I don't understand"
  Me: "Hmmm.. I just ordered a gyro with a greek salad. I'd like both items. In addition to these, I wanted to know if i could get a piece of garlic bread with my salad."
  Her: "And also have the gyro with the salad?"
  Me: "Yes."
  Her: {pause} ... "No. The bread doesn't come with it. You can order some for $3.50."
  Me: "Nevermind. " {internally i'm screaming like a banshee!}