#14: We'll Wriggle Out Of This Somehow

(Lost in La Mancha, 2002, Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe)

Watching Lost in La Mancha made me realize that this project is probably going to involve me learning a lot of new things about myself. So far I've learned that it took me about 5 years too long to see Boogie Nights, that watching Babe will always make me cry and momentarily question my love of bacon, and that nothing will ever dim my love for Mean Girls. My most recent learning moment came with the viewing of this film, and it boils down to this: I'm not really fond of documentaries.

This is the first documentary from The List that I've watched, and I made an active point to choose one that had subject matter I was interested in. I'm generally not especially fascinated by all of the gritty details about how the film industry cranks out its product, but Lost in La Mancha had a few things going for it. First of all, it's about the failed production of an adaptation of The Man of La Mancha directed by Terry Gilliam. I have a thing for catastrophes and fiascoes, and the production of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (the title of the adaptation) is exactly that. I don't know why, but I like when things crash and burn, and I really like it when I can watch and try to understand what made everything come tumbling down. Secondly, Johnny Depp was cast to be the star of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, and I'll use any excuse I can to watch Johnny Depp. Finally, even though I've only seen one of his films in its entirety, I find Terry Gilliam to be a pretty fascinating guy. His films are quirky and off the wall, and also deal with subjects like dystopia and sanity, which is pretty much right up my alley. But despite all of those factors, I found Lost in La Mancha to be kind of a snooze.

I honestly don't know why I didn't really like Lost in La Mancha. Maybe it was just too sad watching Terry Gilliam's dream of his film being made fall apart in his hands. He was plagued with problems ranging from lack of funding to an all-to-restrictive schedule to crazy weather. Nothing went right for the guy. And he was clearly doing everything he could to try to save it, and it just didn't happen. My usual enjoyment of watching a catastrophe in action dimmed quite a bit when I was forced to see the faces of the people that it was directly affecting. I wasn't just hearing about a ship that sank over a hundred years ago, or a volcano that erupted and destroyed a whole city two thousand years ago. I was seeing a real, living, breathing person watching their dreams crashing down around them as it happened. Suddenly it wasn't so fun.

Of course, in the end, I can't feel to0 bad for Terry Gilliam. He's already announced that he's making another attempt at The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, and it's hard to feel that bad for a guy who fights that hard for something he wants to do. For Gilliam, Lost in La Mancha will most likely just be something that he looks back on as a very large speed bump on his road to making a movie. And if The Man Who Killed Don Quixote ever gets made, I can see it and at least find some satisfaction in knowing that I understand a little more about how it came into being.

#11: We Named the Monkey Jack.

This is the first of the now solo posts by snuffleHUFFagus, previously the "Car" half of CarJack. The project is continuing, just in a somewhat shortened format. I hope everyone still enjoys reading my misadventures through the Guardian's list of 1000 Films to See Before You Die.

(Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Gore Verbinski, 2003)

There's really not much to be said about Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (or, if you like, POTC:TCOTBP). It can be said that this film and its sequels are responsible for the pirate craze that kind of took over popular culture in the last 7 years. It can also be said that never has making a movie based on a Disneyland ride been such a good idea. Really, there are innumerable things that can be said about this movie. So why am I so short on things to say about it?

It's fitting that this is the first film that will be written about solely by me, becuase it is also the first film I ever owned on DVD. This is due to no specific personal connection to the film, but more because of the fact that my family first bought a DVD player around the same time that the first POTC came out on DVD. So, whether I like it or not, it's kind of special for me. It's also one of a handful of movies that I've seen so many times that I can recite the lines along with the actors. I've seen this move A LOT. I think it has something to do with Johnny Depp (just a guess). And even after an insane number of viewings, I don't really have anything bad to say about it. It's just a really well-made film. And I think it takes a lot of heat because it's based on a ride and it's not exactly serious subject matter. So let's take a second and analyze one aspect of the film: the cast.

We'll start with some of the more minor players. Governor Swann is played by Jonathan Price, whose previous credits include Brazil, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and various roles on stage. Oh, and he played Juan Peron in Evita, a role which required not only some serious acting skills, but also respectable singing ability. Then there's Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa who's won the "Triple Crown of Acting:" an Emmy, a Tony, and an Oscar. When Keira Knightley played Elizabeth Swann she was only 17, an age at which I was mostly concerned with why boys didn't like me or what color dress I was going to wear to prom. When Orlando Bloom played Will Turner he was still working on The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the final installment of which went on to win 11 Academy Awards (it won in every category it was nominated in). And then there's Johnny Depp, whose role as Captain Jack Sparrow earned him an Academy Award nomination. Keep in mind that this film was based on a theme park ride.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that Pirates of the Caribbean is not just an entertaining film, it's a genuinely good film. It's got a great cast, an incredible soundtrack, and stunning cinematography and sets. It's extremely well made and well-written. And I'm kind of just rambling because anyone who reads this has probably seen the film and already knows for themselves that it's pretty awesome. So, to conclude, I'd just like to take a moment to forget about what Pirates of the Caribbean is based on and just appreciate it for the film that it is.