When You Befriend A Pirate

Tonight's marathon is all about showing the relationship between a Pirate and non Pirate. In our epic and exciting marathon, we have strong likeable characters such as Will and Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean and The Muppet gang from Muppet Treasure Island, befriending two questionable yet iconic Pirates named Captain Jack Sparrow and Captain Long John Silver. The whole point of bringing these two together in a marathon, is to show how both befriend strong moral characters like Will Turner from Pirates and Jim Hawkins from Muppet Treasure Island. The marathon shows one of the Pirates remaining a loyal friend, beating the stereotypes of Pirates in their respective time periods, and the other turns out to be a Judas essentially and betrays his shipmates. The whole theme is essentially about the befriending of someone whose labeled a criminal and outsider by society, and whether these men turn out to be as terrible as the societies surrounding them make them out to be. For tonight's thrilling and fun high seas adventure line up, we have on the following menu:

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl 2003, Pirates Of The Caribbean 2: Dead Mans Chest 2006, Muppet Treasure Island 1996, and Pirates Of The Caribbean 3: At Worlds End

      Now this is a great Pirate lineup that completes the story arc of Will, Elizabeth and Jack Sparrow with the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy, as well as showing Kermit The Frog go toe to toe with Captain Long John Silver played by the always fantastic Tim Curry.  Some may question why Pirates of the Caribbean 4 isn't present in this marathon but one of the reasons it was left out of this lineup is because while At Worlds End wrapped up everything nicely and concluded the first three films with all the characters having emotionally satisfying finishes to their character arcs, Pirates 4 makes it clear that its intentions are to start a new trilogy with just Jack Sparrow and not Will and Elizabeth. Muppet Treasure Island gives the marathon more of a complex and shows both the good and the bad of Pirates. It still remains one of the finest Muppet films ever made to this day. The Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy is one of the most successful movie franchises of all time and received critical acclaim for the most part although none of the sequels match the praise and critical acclaim that the first movie received. It can be argued that the Pirates movies alone made high seas adventures famous again in the public limelight as Depps eccentric yet amazing performance garnered him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Curse Of The Black Pearl. Originally was viewed as being a flop in the making by the filmmakers of the first film, it went onto becoming one of the biggest surprise blockbusters of 2003, putting Depp on the map as one of the worlds most bankable movie star. The character of Jack Sparrow in the movie proved to be a loyal friend to Elizabeth and Will as he not only helped to get Elizabeth back in the end, but proved his humility when his friends save him from a public execution.
      The second movie of the marathon is the much anticipated sequel to the first Pirates Of The Caribbean titled Pirates Of The Caribbean 2: Dead Mans Chest reuniting the same actors from the first movie for another adventure. This time Jack Sparrow races to retrieve the heart of Davy Jones in order to avoid enslaving himself to Jones service while his friends and foe search for the heart for ulterior motives. Dead Mans Chest broke box office records upon it's opening weekend but fell short of the first film in quality due to a messy script It remains a strong sequel due to the chemistry between the three main actors from the original film. The sequel lacks the originality and humor of the first film but shines thanks to Depps mesmerizing performance, although he lacks the unpredictability that he had in the first film. The film was nominated for four academy awards but won one for Best Visual Effects. If Curse Of The Black Pearl was the A New Hope of the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy then this can be classified as it's Empire Strikes Back. A key moment in the film that shows Sparrow as a true friend is when he returns to save Elizabeth while her ship falls under attack when he was drifting away to safety in a lifeboat. The film also ends very much in Empire Strikes Back style with the fate of Jack Sparrow being left up in the air and our heroes coming together at the end to help find him.
     The third movie of the marathon takes a departure from the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy and shows an alternate universe and storyline that focuses on the themes of pirates as well. Muppet Treasure Island with Tim Curry centers around the Muppet family going on a quest to uncover lost treasure hunt while encountering Pirates disguised as crew on their ship. Their Judas on the ship is the lead of the clan disguised as the ships cook named Long John Silver. At first pretending to be one of the loyal crew members on the ship, Silver makes his true identity known as well as his intentions of stealing the treasure map from the Muppet team and taking Kermit The Frog and Miss Piggy hostage. Muppet Treasure Island takes the Muppet genre to exciting new heights, ditching the typical routine of the Muppet films before it and putting a fun spin on the Pirate genre, especially Robert Louls Stevensons Treasure Island Pirate tale. The film is powered by hilarious commentary between the Muppets and Tim Currys commanding performance as Long John Silver. The difference between Long John Silver and Jack Sparrow is that unlike Long John who mislead people into thinking he'sa loyal friend when he actually isn't, Jack Sparrow made no effort in regards to hiding his true self from people. Sparrow is someone you either like or dislike cause while he's far from being an outstanding citizen, he proved in the end to be a friend you'd want to stand by and have your back in a situation like the first three movies show.
      The fourth and final movie of the marathon is the final chapter in the epic Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy titled At Worlds End. What can be summed up as The Return Of The Jedi of the franchise, At Worlds End concludes the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy with the return of Captain Barbossa from the first film played by Geoffrey Rush teaming up with Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, and Jack Sparrow sailing off the edge of the map and making their alliances official in one last decisive battle against Davy Jones while navigating themselves through treachery and betrayal. At Worlds End is generally considered the worst installment in the original Pirates trilogy but ends it on an emotional note in regards to seeing where all the main characters end up at the end of their respective journeys like Lord Of The Rings. The script is the weakest of the three but the chemistry between Depp, Knightley, Bloom, and Rush make this one a satisfying conclusion to perhaps the greatest sea voyage adventures of all time. The combination of the Pirates movies and Muppet Treasure Island show that Pirates can not only be terrible people but also good men if their heart allows them to be like Jack Sparrow.
     

      So what are these movies all trying to say when you put them all together as one? The message behind these film is that not all Pirates are terrible people like what Pirates Of The Caribbean preaches with Jack Sparrow. Dead Man Chest says that love and the loss of it can inspire people to do extroadinary things, and At Worlds End shows that acting together as a unified front can make a strong enough force to fight against near impossible odds. Muppet Treasure Island says that even though someone you put your trust in betrays you in the end, good will always win over evil. Never lose faith in humanity because of one person's untrustworthiness. There is a difference between Jack Sparrow and Long John Silver, One does not respect the concept of friendship and trust and the other one does and chooses to stand by his friends. That man is Captain Jack Sparrow.

 

When Troubled Couples Fight For Their Relationships

      Tonight's marathon is an exciting, thrilling, romantic and often hilarious one which centers around the theme of a troubled married couple fighting to maintain their relationship while experiencing a life or death situation. All of the relationships presented in this marathon are complicated ones with the couples either being bored of their marriage, frustrated that the other one is out fighting crime and not being there for his family, a secret agent trying to balance out two lifestyles including his family life, dishonesty between two couples who turn out to be on opposite sides of each other and are faced with having to fight the other to fulfill their duties, and a boring married couple who steal other peoples identity leading them to become targeted by the mob. Honesty is a flaw in nearly all of these relationships and through their struggles and adventures together as a couple, they emerge from their obstacles as stronger lovers than ever before. For tonight's exciting and fun marathon, we have the following movies lined up:

The Legend Of Zorro 2005, Date Night 2010, Mr and Mrs Smith 2005, Mission Impossible 3 2006, and True Lies 1994

      What a way to kill a Friday night. This one comes with all the shades of popcorn entertainment while tackling some good old fashioned relationship and family drama. There's a little something for everyone in this marathon and the action gets even more intense with each passing film. It also helps that the films all carry appealing movie stars behind them in the title leads with the genres leaning heavily towards spy and espionage. While one may argue that The Legend Of Zorro feels out of place in this marathon due to it not being a spy film, the marathon argues that it shares a family dynamic that's very similar to what is presented in the film True Lies. Both movies essentially deal with a man whose dedicated to his job profession with a thirst for action and adventure, yet he has trouble trying to maintain his personal life with his wife and kids. Both films show the constant struggle both men experience as they slowly watch the other person in the relationship drift away, and fight to get them back while battling outside forces that threaten large scales of citizens. Legend Of Zorro works as a great book ending to True Lies because the stories parallel each other nicely and have richly satisfying endings.

      The first movie of the evening is the 2005 sequel to 1997's critically acclaimed blockbuster The Mask of Zorro titled The Legend Of Zorro. Starring Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones, the story picks up from where Mask Of Zorro ended except the time frame is 10 years after the events of the first film. The audience is told that the new Zorro Alejandro has assumed the identity of the masked vigilante for a decade and has been married to Don Diego's long lost daughter Elena for the same amount of time. While they were intensely passionate for each other in the first movie and projecting endless amounts of love for each other, the sequel shows their marriage to be a deeply troubled one. Elena is frustrated that Alejandro isn't there enough for her and their child whose not a young boy compared to the final scene of Mask Of Zorro showing him as a newborn child. When Elena realizes that Alejandro broke his promise to quit being Zorro once California became a state, she throws him out of the house and files for divorce. Alejandro soon discovers that the new man that Elena 's dating has ulterior plans of his own for the future of California's pending statehood and must fight to not only protect his people but to win back the heart of the woman he fell hard for in the first movie. Legend Of Zorro never reaches the heights of The Mask Of Zorro in terms of quality, but it serves as a fairly strong extension of an impressive concept of a new Zorro tasking up the mantle when the old one passes on. This one is more family oriented than the first movie but it works here given the constant struggle Alejandro experiences in regards to trying to get his family back. If The Mask Of Zorro was The Mummy, then Legend Of Zorro is The Mummy Returns meaning it has more of the family dynamic with a faster and more accelerated pace whereas the first focused on the action, adventure, and romance. Bottom line, Legend Of Zorro is an underrated sequel that deserved more praise than the critical bashing and poor box office reception it received upon it's release in 2005.     

      The second movie of the marathon is 2010's romantic comedy titled Date Night starring Steve Carrell and Tina Fey. Feeling more like a parallel to True Lies than Legend Of Zorro, the story takes place in New York City with a boring married couple accepting the reservations of two missing people at a restaurant which turns their ordinary date night into the fight of their lives as a case of mistaken identity delivers them a night of thrills and a sense of danger. Through their experiences of running and hiding from the henchmen who chase them, the two share many hilarious moments together but also get the spark put back into their relationship through the action, making them realize what made their marriage so special in the first place. Date Night was a box office hit upon it's release, and sells the idea that if a married couple is experiencing boredom then the proper solution is to have them go on an adventure for one night to make them remember why they fell in love. A moment of pure sentimentality is when Steve Carrell's character tells Tina Fey that he would do their entire relationship over again if he was given the choice. Mark Wahlberg, Common, Mila Kunis, and James Franco all make hilarious surprise cameos in this movie.

      The third movie of the marathon is the 2005 box office hit titled Mr And Mrs Smith starring Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Vince Vaughn. The story centers around a bored married couple like Date Night except the twist here is that they both are spies on opposite sides who are assigned to eliminate the other person. When they discover the truth behind each other's identity, they begin plotting the other persons demise while beginning to learn more about the other person than they ever realized during their previous years of marriage. Mr and Mrs Smith works because of the strength of it's two leads who propelled the film to box office and pop culture sensation upon it's release. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt make strong leads who convincingly sell the idea that they are in shock to learn about the other persons identity and that their marriage has been nothing but dishonesty and lies. Their attempts to assassinate the other person are often hilarious to witness, with their love scenes becoming deeply passionate due to their remarkable chemistry. It also makes it a relevant relationship considering the two are not married together in real life thanks to this film. The writing behind the film isn't as good as True Lies but it contains just as many explosions and levels of excitement.

      The fourth movie of the marathon is the much underappreciated yet thrilling third entry in the Mission Impossible series titled Mission Impossible lll. Starring Tom Cruise, Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Monaghan, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, the story centers around Cruise's character Ethan Hunt finally settling down and marrying his fiancé whose a hospital nurse named Julia. However, his short term happiness ends when the new villain he's tracking, a sadistic arms dealer, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman threatens the life of his wife in order to get Ethan to tell him the location of a power nuclear device called The Rabbits foot. When Ethan and Julia are both captured by Hoffman, they must fight together to get out of their predicament and learn to be more truthful towards each other. Mission Impossible lll is easily the best of the first three Mission Impossible films because it delivers on everything ranging from it's impressive action and set pieces to it's fast pacing and strong performances from both Cruise and Hoffman. JJ Abrams first major Hollywood directed film has a strong punch to it in regards to being a thrilling popcorn flick, and shows Ethan Hunt as being more human and vulnerable compared to the first two movies. It even has a bridge action sequence that completely parallels the one in True Lies.

      The fifth and final movie of the marathon is James Cameron's 1994 blockbuster titled True Lies starring Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, and Eliza Dushku. Generally considered one of Arnold Schwarzeneggar's and Jamie Lee Curtis best films as well as one of the greatest action movies ever made, True Lies centers around a Schwarzeneggar's character Harrry Tasker living two separate lives. The first life is him appearing to be a boring computer salesman to his wife Helen Tasker, and the other is him being an international spy whose the best at what he does with his sidekick Gib played by Tom Arnold working at his side. Harry's marriage appears to be boring on the outside and takes a comedic turn when Harry discovers that Helen has been flirting with a man named Simon who tells her that he's a spy himself. Harry soon discovers that the man in question is really just a sleazy used car salesman whose trying to seduce his wife without her knowing. Harry attempts to bring his wife into his crazy world of spy ring but his plans are complicated when an international terrorist he's chasing kidnaps both him and his wife, making them fight for their lives as well as preventing the terrorists threats to nuke the United States. Although generally considered one of James Cameron's worst movies and is pointed out as being a backwards move in a career that's defined by technological breakthroughs in filmmaking such as Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2 Judgment Day, Titanic, and Avatar, True Lies continues to be regarded as one of the finest action movies of the 1990's as well as a film that placed Arnold and Jamie Lee Curtis at the peak of their careers with both receiving acclaim for their performances in the film. One can make the argument that if it wasn't for True Lies than perhaps Date Night, Mission Impossible lll, and Mr And Mrs Smith wouldn't exist as they borrow many elements from Cameron's work.

       So what is the message behind this marathon when you put all of the films together as one. The message is that sometimes when couples face the hardest of times and are placed in life and death situations, they can remember what's important and what they love about each other. True Couples will never stop fighting to be together, and honesty is essential towards having a healthy marriage. If you have a thirst for adventure or live the life of a secret spy then you probably should share that with your significant other as they may understand and want to share that world with you. Date Night says that if your marriage is feeling boring at times, then you should try to be daring and do something out of the ordinary to spice things up as long as it doesn't put you in a life or death situation. Legend Of Zorro makes it clear that fighting isn't the best answer but it's what gets results. Mr And Mrs Smith says that honesty is what keeps marriages together and to not lie about each others secrets. No job should ever come between the person that you want to spend the rest of your life with. True Lies and Legend Of Zorro say that if a man truly loves and cares about his family, then he will never stop fighting for them. Sometimes...all you need is love.

       

Our characters for this evening:

When Disaster Strikes

Tonight's marathon feels perfect given the current change in the weather. The whole theme is centered around the buildup of natural disasters which get bigger and progressively worse with each story. Beginning with the emergence of killer tornadoes and evolving into ice ages, and the Mayans prediction that the world would end in a catastrophic apocalypse in 2012, the stories all come together to form what is unquestionably a thrill ride of a marathon. Drawing from some of the most iconic and biggest natural disaster movies of all time, the full wrath of mother nature is experienced in this thrilling lineup. We have the following movies on the menu for this evening:

Twister 1996, The Perfect Storm 2000, San Andreas 2015, The Day After Tomorrow 2004, and 2012 2009

      One of the most appealing things regarding this marathon is it essentially has everything that you look for in regards to going to the movies. These movies carry plenty of action, characters that you care about and root for, great special effects, great cinematography, strong music, an appealing cast, and large scale disaster themes. All of these movies have gone onto become big blockbusters regardless of whether they achieved critical acclaim or not. Making a disaster film is a bit of a challenge for the filmmakers behind such a genre because you have to create likeable characters that you ultimately want to survive throughout the disasters in each movie. All the destruction scenes in the films are essentially pointless if you don't have characters and subplots that you care about and drive the action. It takes a certain skilled filmmaker to create a thrilling film like The Perfect Storm or The Day After Tomorrow. For this marathon, our filmmakers are Twister's Jan De Bont, director of Speed, The Perfect Storm's Wolfgang Peterson who helmed Air Force One and Troy, and 2012 and Day After Tomorrow's Roland Emmerich who helmed Independence Day, Godzilla, and The Patriot. These guys specialize in creating appealing action movies that reach a wide number of audiences across the world. Roland Emmerich's career has been centered around creating large-scale disaster films that gave audiences rollercoaster rides that translated into being more than just a typical disaster movie but rather an event.

      The first disaster movie of the evening is director Jan De Bont's Twister starring Bill Paxton, and Helen Hunt. Nominated for two academy awards including Best Sound and Best Visual Effects, the spectacle centers around two advanced storm chasers named Bill and Jo Harding who are in the process of filing for divorce. They are forced to join together to create an advanced weather alert system through putting themselves in front of extremely violent tornadoes. What helps to drive the motivations of the characters is Helen Hunt's character Jo being shown as a little girl who witnesses her father being killed by a tornado in the opening scene of the movie, giving the audience an explanation for her motives in regards to chasing after tornadoes. The two main characters clearly are fighting their feelings towards each other but put their love aside to get their new revolutionary measuring device into the tornadoes in hopes of giving people more warning about the arrival of them. Twister was the first major Hollywood film to tackle the issue of tornados and showing them in a visually stunning way. The concept of chasing tornadoes gave the filmmakers a lot of promise to work with, along with creating characters that you can connect with. It can be said that Twister works because of the presence of the tornadoes themselves more than its human characters but the same can also be said with any other disaster movies.

      The second movie of the evening is Wolfgang Petersons 2000 blockbuster titled The Perfect Storm starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Diane Lane. Based on true events in which six fishermen went toe to toe against three hurricanes that formed into one giant storm in October 1991, the film covers the fishermens previous return to their home after coming up short on finding fish and making the decision to return to the ocean in hopes of making a huge comeback. Complications arise when the ice machine on the ship breaks and the fisherman are faced with having to let their giant catch spoil or choose to ride through one of mother natures most powerful storms. Little do they know that the storm puts them in mortal danger once they realize the full potential of the disaster at hand, and their quest soon turns into a battle for dear life. The Perfect Storm is a thrilling ride which it's success relies more on it's second half when the storm hits compared to the first half which sets up the characters. The film never received praise for it's characterization or drama but is remembered as the film it is today because of it's thrilling set pieces. It remains one of the definitive natural disaster movies of all time.

      The third movie of the marathon is the 2015 blockbuster titled San Andreas starring Dwayne Johnson and Paul Giamatti. The story centers around the aftermath of a massive earthquake in California where a rescue-chopper pilot makes a dangerous journey with his ex-wife across the state in order to rescue their daughter. Much like the previous two films in the marathon, the star of San Andreas is the thrilling disaster sequences with character development being slightly overshadowed. Dwayne Johnson makes an appealing lead as the rescue-chopper pilot with a real dilemma that the audience can get behind. The whole subplot of divorce and family unity goes back to the relationship between Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton in Twister. Having an appealing cast to go with the special effects goes a long way to help with the lack of characterization and depth that disaster films often get criticized for. Whereas San Andreas lacks true character and story depth, it is saved by its spectacular action sequences and the strong performances from it's cast.

      The fourth movie of the marathon is the 2004 Roland Emmerich blockbuster titled The Day After Tomorrow starring Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Emmy Rossum, the story centers around a paleoclimatologist named Jack Hall, whose forced to make a daring trip across America to reach his son. His son and his love interest played by both Gyllenhaal and Rossum are trapped in New York City in the cross-hairs of a swift international storm that plunges the Earth into a new Ice Age. The Day After Tomorrow is more noble than San Andreas and 2012 in regards to it's message concerning Global Warming. Emmerich uses the basic fundamentals of making a popcorn summer blockbuster but also adds what feels like an underlying message regarding the potential dangers of global warming. Of all the disaster films in this lineup, Day After Tomorrow is one of the best because of the serious tone it tries to present.

      The fifth and final movie of the marathon is 2012 starring John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oliver Platt, and Danny Glover. The story centers around a divorced frustrated writer who struggles to keep his family alive after a series of global catastrophes threaten to wipe out all of mankind. Drawing from all the formulas of a disaster film such as creating human characters with conflict like Cusack still in love with his wife and trying to remain relevant in his families life, Ejiofor trying to warn the President about the dangers that are arising, and the President coping with the realization that the world is going to come to an end, 2012 feels very much like a disaster movie because it gives us tons of side characters to follow and play the guessing game of whose going to live and die by the end of the film. Emmerich is a master of creating these types of films because he understands how to work a story like this and what the audience is expecting. The honest truth is that disaster films are going to place more emphasis on the special effects rather than it's characters because the audience is paying the ticket for the spectacle. Emmerich knows this yet he still takes time to create plausible people that you can get behind and gives you the politics that would arise during such a disaster. Critically panned upon it's release, 2012 is a film that grows on the viewer as time goes on once you accept it as unrealistic popcorn entertainment. It is essentially the perfect movie to cap off an evening of pure excitement.
 
      So what are these movies all trying to say when you put them all together in one marathon? The marathon says that natural disasters cannot be controlled and are going to happen whether we like it or not. It is important that when they do happen, that we are ready and that people come together like Emmerich shows in films such as Day After Tomorrow and 2012. Sometimes couples that split and are considering divorced are not truly over each other, not if the love they had before was real. Twister teaches you that in order to withstand nature, you have to understand nature. The moral behind The Perfect Storm is that you should never give up on something without a giving it a fight and that money is never worth risking your life over given the conditions the fishermen endured. San Andreas says that a man will do everything it takes to make sure his family is safe in a disaster such as what the film presents. The Day After Tomorrow advises the audience to not underestimate the effects global warming can have on society, and to take the necessary steps to prevent it. 2012s message is that if the world is going to come to an end then it's best that everyone comes together and fight to survive as best as they can to ensure that there is a generation after this one. Disaster movies are created to bring audiences of different backgrounds together just like the scenarios in the movie, and they should be appreciated for doing just that and drawing an audience out of reality and giving them the ultimate rollercoaster ride for two and a half hours.

Our characters for this evening: