Prada Wearing Pirates?

If only!

While I now badly want NECA's exclusive Cap't Jack Sparrow action figure, with Cannibal face paint, at this weekend's San Diego Comic-Con, the recent sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean left me somewhat wanting.

Don’t get me wrong, Dead Man’s Chest was a fun flick, but it had that Back to the Future 2 (minus the hover boards and multiple Michael J’s) feel, suffering awfully from “middle movie syndrome.” With too many plot contrivances leading to too many unresolved questions, the movie asked nothing more of it’s audience than to suspend belief and get ready to buy a ticket for the third (and final?) movie of the series (when it’s finally released next summer, some 6 months late). However, all that said, the one thing that really bugged me was that other than the hammer-headed chap, I couldn’t tell one of Davy Jones’ seabound goons from another.

My other weekend flick, The Devil Wears Prada, was, on the other hand, probably the best movie I've seen all year. And if Meryl doesn't get an Oscar nod for this one, there's something very wrong in Hollywood. The film not only made me laugh quite heartily, but got me thinking about things like the time I almost moved to New York; my lack of career direction; why isn't my accent as pretentiously English as first assisant Emily; and just why don't I find Adrian Grenier at all attractive (Entourage taped again at Spago this week by the way)?

The other question posed by my movie going experiences was thus: Did I prefer the reserved seating environment of the Arclight theaters, or the normal queuing and seat grabbing efforts one must put forth at The Grove? As great as it is to show up only minutes before showtime and to be then shown to your seats, I've never once been to a sold out screening at Arclight. I've queued many times on opening nights at The Grove (the busiest theater in the US), rushed into the auditorium, fought for seats, and then basked in the people watching while someone else goes for (automated) popcorn and diet coke.

Ultimately for me the enthusiasm of a sold out crowd at The Grove wins out everytime (whether I have to stand in line for an hour or not)!!!