Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

By Mary Lansing

One of my very first memories of Disneyland is going on The Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. Having anticipated this ride for what felt like forever, I would watch the segment of the Buccaneers’ adventures on my Disneyland Sing-a-Long VHS (remember those?). When the big moment arrived and I was at last on the Pirate ride, guess what? I was an absolute wreck. I was scared and not happy at all. I may have only been three or four years old, but, I vividly recall vowing to my Grandma I would never go on the ride again.

Fast forward to adult Mary, and Pirates of the Caribbean is one of my favorites to hit first when I get to Disneyland. So, you can imagine how clever I thought it was back in 2003 when producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Walt Disney Pictures unveiled their newest action franchise: The Pirates of the Caribbean movies. With the inaugural The Curse of the Black Pearl, Bruckheimer and Disney didn’t look back and, here we are, on our 5th installment, The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

In his newest (and maybe, possibly, his most interesting to date) tale of mishaps, we meet up with Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in the winds of ill-fortune blowing strongly his way when deadly ghost sailors, led by the terrifying Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), escape from the Devil’s Triangle bent on killing every pirate at sea—notably Jack. Jack’s only hope of survival lies in the legendary Trident of Poseidon, but to find it he must forge an uneasy alliance with Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario), a brilliant and beautiful astronomer, and Henry (Brenton Thwaites), a headstrong young sailor in the Royal Navy. At the helm of the Dying Gull, his pitifully small and shabby ship, Captain Jack seeks not only to reverse his recent spate of ill fortune, but to save his very life from the most formidable and malicious foe he has ever faced.

We are first introduced to a young Henry, who turns out to be none other than Will Turner’s (Orlando Bloom) son with the beautiful Elizabeth (Keira Knightly). Cursed, and with no sign of the spell being broken, Will urges Henry to get far away and make his own life away from the world of Pirates, and, especially, Captain Sparrow. Fast forward nine years, and a handsome and grown Henry is convinced Jack may be his key to break the spell and free his Father from The Devil’s Triangle.

Enter Captain Salazar. Easily one of the most scary villains for Captain Sparrow yet, Salazar will stop at nothing to get his revenge on the lackluster pirate. After a rousing and heart-racing opening, we soon are reunited with everyone’s favorite good pirate in a hilarious introduction that only Depp’s Sparrow could pull off.

And, what is a Pirates of the Caribbean tale without some romance?! Enter the mysterious, gorgeous and poised Carina Smyth. Being held captive for her “witch craft”, Smyth escapes and soon finds herself knee-deep into the frolics and mis-happenings of the somewhat loony Sparrow, and his new ally, Henry. Carina turns out to have interesting tides to one of our pirates, and let’s just say there were some gasps when I screened the film!

As always, the entire cast of Pirates of the Caribbean is superb. Academy award winner Bardem creates a sinister Captain Salazar that will easily become a Disney legend for his villainous ways. Think no further than Pirates first antagonist, Captain Barbossa.

Scodelario’s Carina is fantastic as the head-strong young astronomer searching for answers to The Devil’s Triangle and stopping at nothing to make her Father proud, who is presumed to be dead. Scodelario brings to mind the recent actresses that have shined in Disney productions. Think The Force Awakens; Daisy Ridley and The BFG’s Ruby Barnhill.

And, last, but definitely not least: Johnny Depp. Although Depp has been starring as Captain Sparrow for over a decade, he treats the role with such audacity and a gregarious nature that one can only have when they truly love what they are doing. Depp’s youthful, playful characteristics make you instantly love and root for his alter-ego. It is no surprise that he has been nominated for an Academy Award for this portrayal.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is in theatres everywhere TODAY and the perfect film to catch this Memorial Day weekend!

Mary Lansing is the Editor of the popular LA lifestyle and travel blog, Along Comes Mary. When she is not keeping busy with her Social Media Managing business, you can find her out exploring all Southern California has to offer, or off on a trip! Visit her on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Meet the Cast of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

By Mary Lansing

Yo ho ho, matey! While the temperatures are beginning to rise and summertime is upon us, that can only mean one thing: some of the biggest, most awaited films of the year will be making their ways into theatres. One I have been especially excited to at last see? Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

Not only did I have the pleasure of seeing this fantastic and latest installment (More on that later this week) to the Disney franchise, I also got to head out to Beverly Hills this past weekend and hear from the cast of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. While I have been extremely lucky to not only meet some of my favorite stars, but, also discover new artists that I admire immensely. The Pirates crew is a perfect example.

The Cast and Crew on Deck (or, rather, in attendance) Included:
Javier Bardem (Captain Salazar)
Geoffrey Rush (Barbossa)
Kaya Scodelario (Carina Smyth)
Brenton Thwaites (Henry Turner)
Joachim Ronning & Espen Sandberg (Directors)
Jerry Bruckheimer (Producer)
First up, was the handsome and charming Javier Bardem. Portraying one of the most terrifying villains that Captain Jack Sparrow has had to take on yet, we were anxious to know what drew him to the role of the evil Captain Salazar. Turns out, it was his wife, actress Penelope Cruz, that introduced him to this amazing Pirate world when she portrayed Anglica, an old flame of Captain Sparrow’s, in the 4th installment back in 2011.

The villainous Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem) pursues Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) as he searches for the trident used by Poseidon ©Disney Enterprises, Inc.

“When she did it back in 2010, I was visiting the set and i was amazed,” he explained, “I have never been on a set of a movie like that before. So, it was a first time experience. I remember talking to Jerry and saying that i’d love to be apart of it. I saw the quality of the production, and what fun they looked like. He called me five years later!” When asked if he played “pirates” as a young boy in Madrid, he confessed that he loved to Star Wars and playing space ships!

Which, brought up if his children (twins with Cruz) visited their Dad, in his very dark makeup and costumes, on set?! Turns out, just on the days when he looked more “normal” for his role. When you see the film, you will understand that VERY much.

Next up were our new young loves in the movie, Kaya Scodelario and Brenton Thwaites. Much like their on-screen alter-egos, Scodelario has so much poise, and is reserved and when she speaks, it is with much sense and a very well thought out comment (Just like the films female heroine, Carina) while Thwaites brought to mind his character, Henry, with all the high school crush-like charisma and Australian meets skater boy good looks.

Offering us coffee as he took a seat (and joking he hopes it’s Irish coffee), the press was interested what it was like for these young stars to arrive on set for their first Pirates film? “For me it was really weird.” answered kaya, “I try to treat every job the same when I get on set, but, all that goes out the window for Pirates. It’s so big, and so cool. I had met Johnny (Depp) previously at a table reading but, when he came on set as jack that was it. I was a little kid again. I was more star struck seeing Jack Sparrow than Johnny Depp!”

“For me personally it was something that followed Hook”, adds Thwaites, “I still remember when I was a young boy I wanted to be Peter Pan, and Pirates was the next movie like that, with comedy, supernatural, and so I followed the franchise, saw every movie when it came out. It was such a huge part of school to mimic the actors, and do cockney accents” he chuckles.

We then got to chat with the hilarious Geoffrey Rush, who has played the beloved Barbossa for 13 years strong. Coolest tid-bit we learned about Rush? He loves fan mail,and tries to answer every piece! “I get some fan mail, and I always answer them. It may take three months. They build up and I sit down for a day and write back. Initially, it was young women in Japan, and men in Germany. I thought, what’s the attraction there? What demographic am I reaching?!” Rush could not be further from the (at once) evil Barbossa, and truly gives his all to the favorite character.

Next up, we heard from the incredible Directors of the film, Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg. Wanting to know what makes this 5th Pirates movie different than the rest, they were quick to know what makes it so unique and what they were trying to accomplish; “There’s many things. One is, we get to see how Jack Sparrow became Jack Sparrow. That was something we really wanted to explore and go back in time to see how he became the character that everyone loves. It’s a personal, strong journey and we want to have strong characters. We grew up together making films together, like 10 and 11 years old. Pirates reminds us of those kinds of films that we made.”

While Producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, shed some light on the hilarious cameo of Paul McCartney, he was quick to give the credit where it was due: “I didn’t make it happen. Johnny did. Keith wasn’t available, and Johnny has just worked with Paul and called him up, and just asked, ‘Wanna be a pirate?’ Paul said sure, they got together and worked on the scene, the costume. They had a blast shooting that together.”