A seemingly never-ending line of dirt-encrusted men, women and at least one child prepare to be hanged in the gallows, all to appease Lord Beckett (Tom Hollander) and his war on the pirates. As they march endlessly towards their doom, a cryer announces that item after item is suspended. No longer can people gather, demonstrate or even have lawyers. Instead, they can just die.
Then, a young lad, clutching a piece of eight, begins to softly sing. The song is gradually picked up by each of the others in line behind him, until it seems that everyone is singing the haunting song. This seems to do nothing more than infuriate Beckett.
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Adventure on July 8th, 2006 by Chad Everett
The second installment of the Pirates franchise clocks in just a few minutes longer than the first movie, but in some ways it seems quite a bit longer. Perhaps we’ve become used to Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp, in the role he was born to play), or perhaps it just went on too long. One thing is sure, and that’s that the visuals are superb.
From the opening sounds of the lonely pirate singing, you are whisked off to a world of adventure with Captain Jack. Unfortunately it gets a bit bogged down after that. There’s an adventure on an island which, while fun, could probably be dropped in its entirety without affecting the rest of the movie one bit. The movie then drags for a while before another fun bit that goes on and on and on. And then it goes on some more.
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Drama on June 21st, 2006 by Chad Everett
Remember, remember, the 5th of November…
On November 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament with several barrels of gunpowder, intent on leveling the building in a statement of rebellion. Some 400 years later, a terrorist has taken on a Fawkesian mask and assumed his role as speaker of the people in an attempt to remake the government.
Meanwhile, Natalie Portman has escaped a potentially damaging past of parents who were rabble-rousers and now glides through her own life, but one night she comes into contact with the self-labeled V, who rescues her from those who would do her in and delivers a lovely alliterative verse in the process.
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