Back in August, we got the pretty unexpected news that there was suddenly a possibility that the high-budget, high-profile film adaptation of The Lone Ranger, helmed by Gore Verbinski and top-lined by Armie Hammer and none other than Johnny Depp, might be scrapped by Disney on account of its budget.

Rumours then began circulating that Disney were thinking of removing Verbinski from the equation and going ahead with the project with a new director, but at the start of the month, Depp did what I really think he deserves a fair bit of credit for. He stood by Verbinski, saying that he wouldn’t make the film without him in the director’s chair.

With that ultimatum in place, Disney really only had two options. Keep Verbinski and work on cutting the budget down to a figure they could accept, or scrap the project entirely. And, as you can imagine, they’ve made the right choice.

News now comes from Deadline that Disney have all but resolved their problems, with an official announcement saying so expected next week, and production for the movie will soon be back on track, with the studio eyeing January/February next year for the start of production.

The film was originally scheduled for a 21st December, 2012 release, at least in the States, and it’s not yet known whether or not the late start will affect that release date, so it’s possible we won’t be seeing the finished product until early 2013 at the earliest. However, given that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is coming out on 14th December next year, followed quickly by Brad Pitt’s World War Z and Judd Apatow’s This Is Forty on the 21st, and then Tarantino’s Django Unchained on 25th, in my eyes, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if the release date was pushed back until January 2013.

Disney clearly already has concerns about whether or not the film will find an audience, given its Western nature, following up from the not-so-solid performance of Cowboys & Aliens at this summer’s box office. So if a late production means a late release that would stop it from being up against some other incredibly big films, then so be it.

Either way, it’s terrific news that the project seems to have had its issues resolved in the past month and a half. A Jerry Bruckheimer-produced, Verbinski-directed, and Depp-starring film is a damn solid combination. And with production set to get underway early next year, it should only be a matter of months before we start seeing photos of Johnny Depp on the set as Tonto, The Lone Ranger’s sidekick.

It’s time to return to the high seas with the world’s favourite pirate as Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides hits stores exclusively on Disney 3D Blu-ray, Double Play & DVD NOW!

The fourth instalment of the phenomenal series has already taken over $1 Billion at the worldwide box office and once again delivers thrills, adventure, humour, action and excitement by the keg load.

Johnny Depp is back as the iconic Captain Jack Sparrow in a tale of truth, betrayal, youth….and mermaids! Crossing hearts (and swords) with Depp on this fantastic new voyage is Hollywood beauty Penelope Cruz, Oscar™ winner Geoffrey Rush – reprising his role as the legendary Barbossa – and British acting legend Ian McShane as the most feared pirate of them all; Blackbeard.

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Directed by Rob Marshall, Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides was shot entirely in Disney Digital 3D™, taking audiences into Jack Sparrow’s world in a way never experienced before. Now they can immerse themselves from the comfort of their own home as the film comes to Disney 3D Blu-ray with a whole host of extras including Bloopers of the Caribbean and Lego® Pirates of the Caribbean Shorts.

Filled with eye-popping battle scenes, mystery, all-out wit, and complete with a bounty of bonus features, this is one thrilling journey fans won’t want to end.

DVD Bonus Features

• Bloopers of the Caribbean
• Lego® Pirates of the Caribbean Shorts
• Learn How To Take Your Favourite Movies on the Go
• Discover Blu-ray 3D™ With Timon & Pumbaa

Blu-ray Bonus Features

• Bloopers of the Caribbean
• Lego® Pirates of the Caribbean Shorts
• Audio Commentary by Director Rob Marshall and Executive Producer John DeLuca
• Discover Blu-ray 3D™ With Timon & Pumbaa
• Learn How To Take Your Favourite Movies on the Go

To be in with a chance of winning one of three Blu-Ray (Double Play) copies of the film answer the following question using the form below:

Who stars as Blackbeard in Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides?

1. Ian McShane
2. Keith Richards
3. Russell Brand

Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides is available NOW on Disney 3D Blu-ray, Double Play & DVD.

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close September 26th at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No cash alternative is available

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

It seems the pattern is NOT full Ghostrider! I was six when Top Gun came out back in 1986 (my age spoiler right there) and unfortunately for me, neither my mum nor dad saw fit to take me along to my local cinema in Sutton to watch one of the all time classic Simpson / Bruckheimer productions! The movie stars Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt, Tim Robbins (if you can spot him before he was famous!), Michael Ironside and a little semi-cameo from Meg Ryan.

Earlier today at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam, the announcement was made equipped with some footage already converted into 3d that the movie will be getting a the 3D treatment (courtesy of Legend3D) and a theatrical re-release! The audience were treated to the aerial flight sequence clip with Danger Zone playing out at volume 11!

I am finding it hard to contain my excitement!! To be honest, I’m, not that bothered about seeing it in 3d although that will be a nice touch, but watching it completely remastered for 21st Century cinemas will be fantastic and I cannot wait!

What do we think of this news? Is it worth re-releasing and what do you think about the conversion from 2D to 3D? Tell us in the comments section below.

And just so you all know, you can be my wingmen (women!) anytime!

Here’s the original trailer from 1986.

To celebrate the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides on DVD and Blu-ray today, Disney Home Entertainment have given us this new exclusive clip from the movie. You can click here to order your copy.

The fourth movie in the ‘Pirates’ series titled Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides stars Johnny Depp​, Ian McShane, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Kevin McNally, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Sam Claflin, Stephen Graham, Yuki Matsuzaki and Gemma War, is directed by Rob Marshall.

In this clip, we get to see what happens if you find yourself up against a rather attractive mermaid! Just make sure you’re careful and they’re not all they appear!

Synopsis: Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Rob Marshall, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” captures the fun, adventure and humor that ignited the hit franchise–this time in Disney Digital 3D(TM). Johnny Depp returns to his iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow in an action-packed adventure. Crossing paths with the enigmatic Angelica (Penelope Cruz), he’s not sure if it’s love–or if she’s a ruthless con artist who’s using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the “Queen Anne’s Revenge,” the ship of the legendary pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn’t know whom to fear more: Blackbeard or Angelica, with whom he shares a mysterious past. The international cast includes franchise vets Geoffrey Rush as the vengeful Captain Hector Barbossa and Kevin R. McNally as Captain Jack’s longtime comrade Joshamee Gibbs​, plus Sam Claflin as a stalwart missionary and Astrid Berges-Frisbey as a mysterious mermaid.

As late as May this year, all things seemed to be running smoothly for Disney’s The Lone Ranger project, with the announcement that Armie Hammer (The Social Network) had been cast as the eponymous Lone Ranger, opposite Johnny Depp as Tonto.

But a few weeks ago, it was unexpectedly announced that the project is now facing some serious and increasingly public problems, with Disney looking to scale back the nine-figure budget director Gore Verbinski wants for the film.

At the D23 Expo a little more than a week later, Disney Chairman, Rich Ross, then made comments that suggested there was the possibility that they would look to make the film with a different director, with the implication being to everyone else that they’d find someone to make it who’d fall rank-’n’-file and stick to Disney’s budget.

Now, however, Deadline report that Depp has said that he’s not going to make the film without Verbinski directing, which puts the pressure on Disney to accept the reductions in budget Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer are making. They’ve reportedly cut down about $60m. from the original $275m. budget, which is a bit short of Disney’s $200m. proposed plan, but less than their $220m. maximum, so hopefully there’ll be good news to come for the project in the near future, perhaps with a little more trimming down of the budget.

There will undoubtedly be many who think it ridiculous that a project like this, set in the American Old West, would need such an enormous budget, and thus be critical of Verbinski for being stubborn. Personally, I think Verbinski deserves some serious slack, remembering that he has a history of making very successful films, both critically and financially, the last four of which have all starred Depp. It’s not necessarily about a certain figure, it’s about the creative vision that he has for the film, and he clearly wants to maintain that vision rather than be concerned with profit margins.

He helmed the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, all for Disney, and all of them did incredibly well at the box office, no less than trebling their nine-figure budgets. His last film, Rango, took almost $250m. at the box office, and is likely to be a strong contender for Best Animated Film at next year’s Academy Awards.

Since three of his last four films have had the same Verbinski-Depp-Bruckheimer trifecta, and all have done so well critically and commercially, I’m a little surprised to see Disney pushing quite so hard to cut the budget, going as far as to vaguely threaten to replace Verbinski.

I’ve always been a fan of actors, directors, and writers that often collaborate together, and Depp is certainly one such actor that likes to work with the same people as often as he can, doing a lot of acting for both Tim Burton and Verbinski. As such, I think his stance, standing by Verbinski as director, is a great one. Depp has earned himself some considerable clout over his brilliant acting career, and that deserved weight can be used to make a stand like this, in favour of the little guy over the corporation.

Granted, Verbinski isn’t quite a ‘little guy’, given what he must have been earning from his films in recent years, but he is in comparison to Disney. I’d be the first to admit that I’m probably reading too much into this, but it’s always good to hear stories of people standing up for what they believe in, and it sounds like this is one such story. Albeit, with a film rather an issue like human rights being at stake, and the matter of contention being a multi-million-dollar budget. But when you put it like that, it doesn’t sound quite so nice.

Any way you look at it, I think Disney would be foolish to turn this project down, because I can’t see it being anything but a huge success. The film was originally planned for a 21^st December, 2012 release, and the troubles it’s been going through may push that back slightly (I personally hope that its release is pushed back a little, because it would currently be going up against the first instalment of The Hobbit, due out on 14^th December next year), but hopefully it will still be going ahead and won’t be delayed by much. More news as and when we get it.

One of the biggest shocks to rumble through the film industry in recent weeks was the news that Disney’s The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the titular hero, had been put on hold due to budget concerns. The story has taken an interesting new turn, however, with comments made by Disney chairman Rich Ross at the recent D23 Expo indicating that he still wants the film to go ahead – but maybe without director Gore Verbinski.

The main issue with the production, which was due to go before cameras in October ahead of its release in December 2012, was that the projected budget was around $275 million while Disney wanted it closer to $200 million. Since the production was halted, producer Jerry Bruckheimer has been working with Verbinski to trim some of the script’s more elaborate action sequences, several of which were rumoured to be supernatural in nature.

Although Bruckheimer, Verbinski and Depp enjoyed considerable success with the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films for Disney, the studio has gotten cold feet over the fact that as a western, The Lone Ranger falls into a genre that typically doesn’t appeal to worldwide audiences; to make matters worse, the most recent film of this type, Cowboys and Aliens, has under-performed not only internationally but also at the U.S. box office.

Discussions are apparently underway to consider additional ways of reducing the budget, including deferring the salaries of the producer, director and star should the film begin moving forward again, although Ross’ comments have led to speculation that he’d also consider replacing Verbinski with another director. Of course, that then leads to the question of whether Depp would be interested in making The Lone Ranger without his frequent collaborator…

(via Deadline)

You can’t help but commend the person who had the creative mind to think this political statement up. Yes it’s technically vandalism and no, we don’t agree with it but you can’t deny this is pure genius!

I’m sure if you live in the UK (and likely also the US), you will have noticed the huge billboard banners advertising the latest Jerry Bruckheimer / Disney movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides but I’m sure (unless you live in North London), you won’t have seen a poster like this one! The original banner (see below) shows Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow wielding a couple of smoking guns but in this instance, dr.d  has used some artistic licence to deface the banner with comical effect replacing Captain Jack with our Prime Minster himself, head of the Conservative Party, David Cameron equipped with some rather amusing one liners.

As you’ll see on the image, the various slogans have been changed to others such as ‘The Jolly Robber’, ‘Pirates of the Coalition’, ‘X Marks the Rot’ and ‘Dead Leg Clegg’. The person responsible for it appears to be a chap named dr.d (no, not Nick Clegg!) who has done this sort of thing before. His/her website can be found here.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides hits UK cinemas today, 18th May. Check out our review here.

Click the image(s) below to enlarge.

As a big fan of the first movie I was (like most) disappointed with the sequels which followed to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and I do confess I went to this fourth instalment not expecting  great things. For this I am grateful, because I was actually relatively pleasantly surprised. The run-time on this movie is rather epic at a whopping 136 minutes and the shuffling in the seats around me suggested I wasn’t the only one who found that!

I was intrigued at what they might do with the character of Jack Sparrow, who after all is the main attraction to such a film only because he is played by the excellent Johnny Depp. Depp carried the film all the way through, and with a somewhat limited script did almost as convincing a job as in ‘The Curse of the Black Pearl’. The return of Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa was a let-down; it is difficult not to compare after such an incredible performance from Rush in the King’s Speech (see review here) making us wonder why he went back to the franchise at all. His character development was poor from the previous films and he was not believable in his new role as Captain of the Guard in the British Navy. The addition of the beautiful Penelope Cruz as Angelica held both positive and negative points for me. It seemed her character was trying too hard to fit a preconceived ‘mould’ and the only way they came up with to develop her character was to ensure she ticked the ‘sex appeal’ box: a bit lame and too sexy for a kid’s film.

If the target audience is supposed to be teenagers or kids, this film is far too confusing and as I mentioned above, far too long! However it is not as confusing as it’s predecessor, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, which let’s be honest, was so bad that my brand new copy is still in its cellophane wrapper years later. One watch was too many.

Blink and you miss the few cameos in the film; they added interesting little anecdotes but were not hugely necessary to the storyline, nor really the opening London sequence. There were a few throw-backs to the other films, such as a fight sequence with Cruz reminiscent of Captain Sparrow and Mr Turner’s epic battle in The Curse of the Black pearl; similarly the dreaded Island was used again as a ‘drop off spot’ for not Sparrow, but Angelica this time. The return of Kevin McNally as Sparrow’s first mate, Gibbs was intrinsic to the storyline I guess, although not a hugely outstanding performance. The use of large and rather ugly pig was reminiscent of finding Gibb in the pigsty in #1, a little joyous moment perhaps for those loyal fans. Hans Zimmer did a great job with the original score of the movie but this latest instalment fails to offer anything new for us; however I really like the original Score so was not complaining!

On the whole if you don’t take this film too seriously I give it a 2.5 out of 5. It was entertaining and fun, and a scene to watch out for is the Mermaid sequence which is rather spectacular with stunts, live effects and amazing CG work.  New character Astrid Berges-Frisbey was superb I thought, believable and sensitive to the storyline. The relatively attractive Sam Claflin as Philip over played the role of the clergyman a little too much, he came over as just a bit annoying and soppy.

Overall the production design was amazing, the ships were very cool but really, it was such a shame that this chance to reboot the franchise wasn’t capitalised with a better story as unfortunately I found it rather laborious from beginning to end!

A little tip – Do stay until the credits have ended ; it is just about worth the wait (after such a long period sitting in your movie seat) for a little surprise with a possible pointer to POTC5!

**½~~ (2.5/5)

Disney have released this new clip from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides which hits UK cinemas 18th May. The fourth movie in the series titled Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides stars Johnny Depp, Ian McShane, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Kevin McNally, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Sam Claflin, Stephen Graham, Yuki Matsuzaki and Gemma War, is directed by Rob Marshall.

In this clip, we get to find out more about Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and Angelica (Penelope Cruz).

Synopsis: Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Rob Marshall, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” captures the fun, adventure and humor that ignited the hit franchise–this time in Disney Digital 3D(TM). Johnny Depp returns to his iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow in an action-packed adventure. Crossing paths with the enigmatic Angelica (Penelope Cruz), he’s not sure if it’s love–or if she’s a ruthless con artist who’s using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the “Queen Anne’s Revenge,” the ship of the legendary pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn’t know whom to fear more: Blackbeard or Angelica, with whom he shares a mysterious past. The international cast includes franchise vets Geoffrey Rush as the vengeful Captain Hector Barbossa and Kevin R. McNally as Captain Jack’s longtime comrade Joshamee Gibbs, plus Sam Claflin as a stalwart missionary and Astrid Berges-Frisbey as a mysterious mermaid.

Here it is people, the one you’ve all been waiting for! While Ben is on the red carpet at the European Premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in London, we have our premiere report from the world premiere of the movie which took place earlier in the week courtesy of our friends at Upbeat.

They got to speak to Director Rob Marshall, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and all main cast including Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane, Geoffrey Rush and Kevin McNally.

Check out the video below for the interviews and keep your eyes peeled for coverage from the European Premiere tomorrow.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is released in the UK 18th May.

I had no idea until Brendon from Bleeding Cool told me yesterday that Kermit the Frog is 56 years old! He celebrated his birthday yesterday and then I come home from watching Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides to find this video showing Kermit the Frog interviewing the stars of the movie and it’s a right laugh!

You’ll have to wait until next week for our review of Pirates of the Caribbean 4 but if you want a laugh, check out this video of Kermit interviewing the likes of Jerry Bruckheimer, Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Keith Richards, Penelope Cruz, director Rob Marshall and many more celebrities at the World Premiere in Disney Land.

The fourth installment of the Disney/Bruckheimer Pirates of the Caribbean is days away from its Cannes debut and we are under strict embargo not to divulge our opinion of the film so we’re bringing you something a little more unusual.

The Legoisation (which should be a word) of popular franchises has the power to breathe new life into otherwise poor properties – is there any doubt at all that the Star Wars prequels video game series would have been gladly ignored had they not been rendered in stunning Leg-o-vision?

While this is not an official video MTV have created their own stop motion video celebrating Captain Jack Sparrow and his merry crew and it’s a true labour of love and well worth a look.

Ahoy!

Disney / Jerry Bruckheimer have released the first clip from the fourth instalment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. I’m seeing the movie on Monday and you could come along too by entering out competition to win tickets to a preview screening here. The clip is called Palace escape and does what it says on the tin! Scroll down to check it out.

Synopsis: Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Rob Marshall, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” captures the fun, adventure and humor that ignited the hit franchise–this time in Disney Digital 3D(TM). Johnny Depp returns to his iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow in an action-packed adventure. Crossing paths with the enigmatic Angelica (Penelope Cruz), he’s not sure if it’s love–or if she’s a ruthless con artist who’s using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the “Queen Anne’s Revenge,” the ship of the legendary pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn’t know whom to fear more: Blackbeard or Angelica, with whom he shares a mysterious past. The international cast includes franchise vets Geoffrey Rush as the vengeful Captain Hector Barbossa and Kevin R. McNally as Captain Jack’s longtime comrade Joshamee Gibbs, plus Sam Claflin as a stalwart missionary and Astrid Berges-Frisbey as a mysterious mermaid.

The fourth movie in the series titled Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides stars Johnny Depp, Ian McShane, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Kevin McNally, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Sam Claflin, Stephen Graham, Yuki Matsuzaki and Gemma War, is directed by Rob Marshall and is set to be with us May 18th.

Source: Yahoo

To celebrate the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Disney have been kind enough to give us two pairs of tickets to give away to you, our awesome readers! You could get to see the movie much earlier than anyone else by simply scrolling down and answering the simple question below.

The screening will take place in central London at a West End Venue on 9th May. Doors open at 17.30 with the movie starting 18.30. You can only enter this competition if you are able to make it to London that day to attend.

Synopsis: Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Rob Marshall, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” captures the fun, adventure and humor that ignited the hit franchise–this time in Disney Digital 3D(TM). Johnny Depp returns to his iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow in an action-packed adventure. Crossing paths with the enigmatic Angelica (Penelope Cruz), he’s not sure if it’s love–or if she’s a ruthless con artist who’s using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the “Queen Anne’s Revenge,” the ship of the legendary pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn’t know whom to fear more: Blackbeard or Angelica, with whom he shares a mysterious past. The international cast includes franchise vets Geoffrey Rush as the vengeful Captain Hector Barbossa and Kevin R. McNally as Captain Jack’s longtime comrade Joshamee Gibbs, plus Sam Claflin as a stalwart missionary and Astrid Berges-Frisbey as a mysterious mermaid.

The fourth movie in the series titled Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides stars Johnny Depp, Ian McShane, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Kevin McNally, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Sam Claflin, Stephen Graham, Yuki Matsuzaki and Gemma War, is directed by Rob Marshall and is set to be with us May 18th.

Answer the following question using the form below to enter:

Who plays Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• You may only enter this competition if you are able to attend the screening on 9th May
• The prize does not include travel costs, you must get to London using your own organised transport
• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 5th May 12.00 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

Poster courtesy of LoveFilm

UPDATE: We have heard that this story is in fact incorrect and we have been given information direct from Disney / Jerry Bruckheuimer Films confirming Depp’s involvement in The Lone Ranger. Sorry for worrying any Depp fans out there necessarily!

Mark this one down as rumour for the moment…

We’re hearing from sources close to the next Jerry Bruckheimer/Disney project The Lone Ranger that Johnny Depp, who was was originally cast as Tonto in the movie, will no longer be taking part due to an unspecified scheduling conflict.

After doing some digging, a couple of future projects Depp is attached to could be candidates for the conflict. Pirates of the Caribbean director Rob Marshall is said to be in talks to direct Depp in The Thin Man remake for Warner Bros which THR reported last month, but no further details have been announced and we understand that the script is still being written. Depp was also rumoured to be appearing in Kathryn Bigelow’s Triple Frontier, which Bigelow and her screenwriter Marc Boal were reported to have been seeking finance for, in order to shoot in Autumn of this year, so if Depp has signed on and the financing is in place the conflict would certainly exist.

The Lone Ranger would reunite Depp with director Gore Verbinski, who worked with Bruckheimer & Disney on the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies and Tonto is a role Depp has been linked to the role since late 2008 so there’s a good chance that any scheduling conflicts may possibly be worked out to accommodate the actor. Choosing to do the fourth Pirates film may have pushed The Lone Ranger back so another postponement may be on the cards.

As we said, we’ve not had anything official through but we’ll obviously keep you posted if/when when get more information.

Some readers may be familiar with a show on the UK’s BBC Radio 5Live station on a Saturday morning, by the name of Fighting Talk. It is a sports quiz and involves a final tie-break round called “Defend the Indefensible”. Such is my cue for what I hope will become a regular-ish series of attempts to sing the (relative) praises of the much maligned of the film world, be it particular actors, directors, films or trends. Hoping not to have bitten off more than I can chew, I will start with the King of Mayhem himself, Michael Bay.

It is well known that Bay started off his career in music videos, before progressing to a feature director of a relatively long line of Simpson/Bruckheimer (eventually just Bruckheimer) high-concept productions. By the time Transformers: Dark of the Moon hits our screens this summer (in *yawn* 3D), Bay will have racked up 9 feature credits as director. The question is, at least for the purposes of this article, are any of them any good? The films we are talking about here are Bad Boys (x 2), Transformers (x 3), The Rock, Armageddon, The Island and Pearl Harbor. Is there anything commendable among that selection, perhaps anything commendable about Bay’s style and approach in general? Is he a wrongly-maligned man, or a sun-set obsessed hack?

Undoubtedly there is a certain wilful superficiality to many of Bay’s films. As the above clip compilation shows, there is a disproportionate amount of orange-tinged sunset in his films that has become a running joke rather than a commendable trademark. Ridiculous levels of explosions, car crashes and demolition of buildings/landmarks/cities seem to have become his stock-in-trade and as Roland Emmerich has found lately, there is nowhere you can really go once you have started in that direction, other than louder, bigger, more. But am I arguing myself into a corner here? Am I building too strong a case against my own premise? Well, no. If you will indulge me for a few minutes, I will try to show that Bay is actually highly adept at playing to his strengths and that his detractors not withstanding, he gives many what they want and better than almost anyone out there.

Consider that sequence of films listed above. Clearly they are a bombastic bunch, possessing none of the subtlety of, say, The Bourne Ultimatum, Inception or X-Men 2 (to list a few recent examples of effects or stunt/action heavy, but critically lauded films). But is that not the point? Bay has never made any pretensions at subtlety, it simply is not what he is aiming for, nor is it what his target audience want or expect. We may wish that his target audience were a little more discerning, but they are what they are and he gives them what they want. Explosions. Absurd action. High concepts. Big set pieces. Giant alient robots that turn into giant trucks, tanks, helicopters and stereos. It is surely not his fault that millions of cinema goers like that sort of thing and actively seek it out. Indeed it is to his credit that he gives people what they want with so much style, polish and bombast.

Any old hack can direct an action scene, but that doesn’t necessarily result in a coherent end product. Consider McG’s work on the Charlie’s Angels films, or Stephen Sommers stumbles with The Mummy Returns and GI Joe. Plenty of money spent, plenty of bang for your buck, but much more limited commercial success. And let’s consider that commercial success. It is so easy to get snooty about box office success in and of itself, as if a film ought to be massively uncommercial in order to preserve its non-mainstream, trendy credentials. But who really wants to make a film that makes no money? Ideally of course we want a marrying of commercial success and artistic merit (on which point we return to the above examples of Bourne, Nolan and Singer’s superior X-Men sequel), but clearly we’re not going to get that every time. What we must not do however, is savage Bay for no other reason than because his films are successful at the box office without subscribing to our personal definition of artistic quality. Although his budgets have been creeping up of late to nigh-on unserviceable levels (in terms of the ability of the film to break even without making a billion dollars at the box office), he has manged to bring in highly profitable films (with perhaps the exception of Bad Boys 2 and The Island) that have done exactly what they say on the tin.

I also firmly believe that Bay deserves significant credit for his candor and self-awareness. He has openly admitted that he messed up with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, delivering a film that suffered from some extremely poor elements (giant swinging wrecking ball testicles on a Constructicon anyone?) even though it made $100m+ more than the first film at the worldwide box office. Bay could have hidden behind the figures but instead acknowledged the film’s shortcomings, recognised the debt he owes to the film-going public and promised to deliver something better next time around. We will get to see how he fares in a few short weeks. In 3D.

This advert for fibre-optic broadband also showcases Bay’s significant sense of self-effacement. He recognises how he is perceived and is willing to send himself up (although no doubt his fee from Verizon has helped salve his wounded ego). Not everyone is prepared to do that. So many directors and actors take themselves so seriously. Why so serious? Where’s the sense of fun? Of course I cannot point to a single one of his films and say that it was my favourite film of the year in question. Of course he is not laden with “proper” awards for his many years of hard work. But I have watched Armageddon more times than I have seen The Godfather and if I fancy sitting down to watch a film of an evening, I can guarantee my thoughts will turn to Bay before they turn to the French New Wave, or Italian neo-realism, or Eisenstein.

You see, it’s not always about the inherent artistic quality of a film. Sometimes it is a matter of pure, visceral enjoyment. Of switching off and savouring the destruction of an entire city, for no other reason than because the SFX exist to be able to do it. There is enough space in the world of films for all of it and Bay should be applauded for working his niche tirelessly and delivering something satisfying that is often exactly what I am looking for. So come on, stick The Rock in your DVD player, sit back and let’s put a smile on that face.

*****

So what do you think? Have I made my case? Is Bay pardoned? Does he remain guilty as charged for crimes against cinema? Comment below. Please also let me know if there is anyone else, or any particular films that you think need defending. Spiderman 3? X-Men: Origins: Wolverine? Just don’t ask me to defend Blade:Trinity. Everyone has their limits.

Here’s a rather photoshop-tastic poster for the fourth instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides which gives us Johnny Depp (Captain Jack Sparrow) who gets all the attention.

The fourth movie in the series titled Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides stars Johnny Depp, Ian McShane, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Kevin McNally, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Sam Claflin, Stephen Graham, Yuki Matsuzaki and Gemma War, is directed by Rob Marshall and is set to be with us May 18th.

This new poster comes as news hits that Pirates of the Caribbean will play at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Thanks to Rope of Silicon, we get to see the final poster for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides which shows all the main big names united together. All of these images I think we’ve seen in their own posters which you can see here.

The fourth movie in the series titled Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides stars Johnny Depp, Ian McShane, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Kevin McNally, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Sam Claflin, Stephen Graham, Yuki Matsuzaki and Gemma War, is directed by Rob Marshall and is set to be with us May 18th.

Love this little featurette which has been debuted by LoveFilm. It’s for Disney’s new movie which is also produced by action legend Jerry Bruckheimer, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. This new featurettes gives us a little look at how the production crew and Captain Jack Sparrow himself (Johnny Depp) arrive at work! It looks like a lot of fun was had during the making of this movie and now we just need to see it in it’s finished state.

The fourth movie in the series titled Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides stars Johnny Depp, Ian McShane, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Kevin McNally, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Sam Claflin, Stephen Graham, Yuki Matsuzaki and Gemma War, is directed by Rob Marshall and is set to be with us May 18th.

We’re not short of material for Jezza B’s latest Pirates of the Caribbean film, but as we drift closer to those Stranger Tides there’s a neat little video out which goes back in time to where Daddy Disney laid out his grand masterplan for total world domination (in terms of zombie pirates at least).

Returning player Geoffrey Rush leads us from the earliest incarnation of the ride, which provided the source material for the bloated sea faring saga, right up give us a glimpse of Pirates of the Caribbean 21. That’s where the bit with a helicopter comes in. Possibly.

It has got some brief swipes of behind the scenes shots and it’s all in the good cause of making people excited for another sequel.

Well people, excited yet?

ComingSoon did so.