Pirates of the Caribbean Part 3: Journey to the End of the World or the end of my wallet.

Johnny Depp plays his usual fantastic Jack Sparrow and I couldn’t wait for the pirate version of Ken Watanabe. What happened? A mythical goddess pops out of nowhere and fades into the see taking an extra half hour to cover all the story lines in a movie that was way too long. Without even a hint of this in the second movie, it was a lead anchor on the an incredible action movie.

Years ago we complained when movies were too long, now they are too long and no one says anything. A sequel doesn’t have to be longer than the movie before it, just good (hopefully better) and in itself a contained movie. No one wants to be disappointed so the studio throws in everything it can, but when that is just a Chinese buffet where we eat too much a lunch we are not in for a five star meal.

Knightly becoming a pirate queen in a twist of fate bought about by Sparrow was perfect, the multiple Jack Sparrow crew was great, the final whirlpool battle was fantastic. Why oh why couldn’t they have made this 20 years ago and cut anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and made us walk out going “WOW”. This phenomenon is also seen in Spiderman 3.

Would I recommend seeing this movie? If you liked the first two yes, but try to catch a matinee and save some money, or wait until the DVD comes out and watch it on a big screen TV and decide when you want to have an intermission.

David Chase - You got us....

Sopranos Series Finale

One word…WHAT. Okay so David Chase thinks he is an artiste but still needs/wants to leave the future open for a movie or miniseries back on HBO…so you don’t have to destroy your fans. We know you like the open ended ideas – see the Russian, Adriana, Carlo flipping, fine, but you could have tried to appease us.

No matter what happened, your original 13 episodes became 8 seasons and though the quality had an up and down feel, we were on a journey together. You had a year and a half to make a short season and give us a sense of closure but one last joke was left. How many people thought their Tivo, DVR, VCR, cable box died on them?

I loved 95% of the last episode. The problem is the 5% that wasn’t up to par, was horrible and drags down the rest. This 5% included AJ turning a 180 from a depressed man ready to fight a war after losing his car to laughing and eating chips with his girlfriend, the out of nowhere introduction of the FBI’s agents mistress, and the infamous last scene. Yes we are talking about it but not in a good way.

The last 3 episodes of the series could have made every negative review and thought fade, but all Chase did was make us wonder why nothing happened at the end. If David Chase comes out and says the “black” was Tony being shot and he is dead and no movie is ever made, then my thought may change, but a single gun shot sound could have made the ending relevant in a way we haven’t seen in forever. However, a lead character dying hurts syndication and we know both David Chase and James Gandolfini have never made money like this.

To be continued…

NBC Comedies

The Office - Go Ryan

You knew there would be a twist and Michael Scott returned as you would expect - with a horrible imitation of Arnold Schwarzenegger. "I'll be back...I am back...I am going nowhere" There is good and bad in that for all. And now we know why Ryan doesn't get coffee anymore. Too bad he is such a bad salesman. The biggest disappointment will be Dwight's.

As far as Jim and Pam go, he seems free. Did he just up and leave NY without letting Karen know. If so I can't wait for the season opener. He probably could have had the job as we know he has shown he is a great salesman and corporate wanted him to move up before. The best show on tv? If not, it has to be close.

Scrubs - to get married or not

No one can tell me that this shouldn't be the last season. From the beginning NBC has moved this off the wall comedy around and now that they are finally leaving it alone the cost is going up as most of the actors have been on the show from the beginning. Even the guest appearances have gone up in quality and we know that costs money.

Will Kim and JD have the baby - will it be healthy. What is the deal with Elliot? All comedies, and even dramas, built around unrequited sexual chemistry usually fail when the relationship is consummated. Can we go another season like this? I hope we get a conclusion and then move on. The characters have all grown and need to "get a life".

My perfect ending - Ted moves out of his Mom's house.

Heroes meets Shogun

Time for the Shogun DVD to be looked at, I didn't even know Masi Oka was in it. Awesome ending. Sylar alive but hurt, Matt and DL shot - no Lindeman to save them, too bad Peter (who is alive) hadn't met Lindeman. What is Angela Petrelli's power? Tell me already. From interviews we get a sense the Petrellis have lived, but everything else is in the open.

The cockroach on the manhole harkens back to the beginning of the season and we know Sylar will be back, but did he crawl away or get taken. At least Peter lives (he can heal) but we have the feeling from interviews that Nathan lives too. Did he throw Peter, gain more powers, get a shield of some sort?

All the heroes powers grew over the last few episodes, and George Takei shows he is more involved than before (in the flashbacks), and the next "volume" is called Generations. Will we find out about all the parents and the company, we are seeing some of it in the graphic novels on NBC.com which is something I recommend following all summer. Right now we are learning about the Haitian and the fact his dad had power.

The finale did everything it was supposed to: brought all the heroes together, showed the explosion, saved NYC (I live close so Yeah.), and set up next years plans. Unlike some other shows there is really no questions/theories floating around (See LOST), but we have a few.

Will Uluru show up?
What does the eclipse have to do with the show? Is it a red herring?
What is Angela Petrelli's power?

I can live with that. Can you? Give me your comments.