So, did you see Pirates this weekend? No? Well, somebody did. A whole lot of somebodies. We're sorry, we thought about going, but that nearly 168-minute running time just scared us off. We all too painfully remember that double glute cramp at the end of the last sequel, thank you very much. Johnny Depp is funny as a pirate drag queen; we get it. What we don't get is how this weekend we managed to sit through five hours of film - with only a 10-minute intermission - and were enthralled in a way no Spider-Man, Shrek or Pirates installment has ever approached. We went to a double feature of The Conversation and Chinatown at what we like to call the "Donnie Darko theater." How was it? Mindblowingly fantastic, if you must know. We forgot that Gene Hackman and Jack Nicholson were both already balding so badly three decades ago. We're balding a bit right now, so that made us feel better, but what struck us so much about these two films (both of which we'd seen before) was the patience involved all around. Both unfold at a slow pace, with scenes that seem to come to life organically, rather than at the exact point the three-act structure demands.
Robert Towne's Chinatown script is often cited as the medium's greatest and every screenplay how-to book fawns all over it, but it's no bullshit. Towne's biting dialogue, slow character reveals, and devastating climax are unparalleled. And that other movie, The Conversation? One of Francis Ford Coppola's greatest achievements - and it was only the second-best film he made in 1974. The other? Something called The Godfather Part II. Just some things to keep in mind this weekend while you're choosing what to see. We suggest Knocked Up. Written and directed by Judd "Genius" Apatow (Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, The 40 Year-Old Virgin), it simply cannot fail.
Third 'Pirates' sacks Memorial Day record [Box Office Mojo]
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