Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the following movie picks, the sixth season of 24 is now on DVD if you wish to relive that particular experience.

Superbad
This Apatow-produced comedy is bawdy, fun and hilarious. Jonah Hill and Michael Cera star as best buddies facing the end of their senior year at high school. For one fateful night they team up with the goofy yet supremely confident Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) — who obtains a fake ID that says his name is simply McLovin — to party, get girls and generally live it up before graduation. The boys find themselves having crazy funny and bizarre misadventures, all with a raunchy tone a la American Pie (but much funnier).

The special features for this film sound like a ton of fun, from the gag reel to the cast audition footage (clips from the auditions of Michael Cera, Jonah Hill and Christopher Mintz-Plasse) to something called "Michael's Voicemails from Jonah."

Another recommended new title if you read more

The Chinese government has edited out many of Chow Yun-Fat's scenes from this summer's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End for the "vilifying and defacing [of] the Chinese." Deciding the scenes were bolstering age-old demonizing stereotypes, censors "sliced Chow's screen time down to about 10 minutes."

Though I'm not sure editing out the scenes that include Chow Yun-Fat is helpful, I must say I can easily understand the anger surrounding the depiction of the Chinese in the movie as utterly cruel and conniving, something I also took issue with upon watching the movie. It perplexes me that filmmakers are still able to portray Asians in this way. To me, it is another example of Hollywood portraying Asian characters as one-dimensional stereotypes, such as Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's or Sixteen Candles' Long Duk Dong, roles that are now largely considered embarrassingly offensive.

And yes, I know other characters are also portrayed as villainous or cruel (I realize not just the Asian characters are pirates), but the point is not to be equal-opportunity with making other characters in the movie villainous, but rather that filmmakers don't seem to be evolving in their sensitivity to the issue.

I do, however, feel sorry for audiences in China because apparently this cut-up version makes the movie even more confusing that it originally was!

Ocean and his cohorts robbed the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie out of their No. 1 spot at the box office. Ocean's Thirteen took in an impressive $37 million its opening weekend while Pirates followed behind in second place with $21 million. Knocked Up showed a strong second weekend coming in just barely behind Pirates with $20 million.

Animated family flicks Surf's Up and Shrek the Third took 4th and 5th places, while the gory torture-fest that is Hostel: Part II straggled after them, bringing in just $8.7 million. Well, sure, I'd rather see a surfing penguin than torture-tainment any day. This weekend the Fantastic Four will try their hand at taking the top slot from Ocean's Thirteen.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Though suffering a huge dip in sales (earning $43 million this weekend, down from $139 million the previous weekend), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End easily took the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend, though Judd Apatow's latest baby Knocked Up came in second place with a respectable $29 million. The budget for Knocked Up, by the way, was approximately $30 million, so I'd say they're off to a great start.

Shrek the Third held steady at No. 3, bringing in nearly as much as Knocked Up did. Curiously, Spider-Man 3 took the 5th place spot after the Kevin Costner thriller Mr. Brooks, so it looks like ol' Spidey is losing some steam. This Friday we'll see whether thirteen Vegas rollers can swindle Captain Jack Sparrow out of his box office place of honor.

According to a press released issued by Walt Disney Studios, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End raked in over $401 million in box office sales worldwide over its first six days. This gross actually surpasses Spider-Man 3's six-day record of $382 million. The press release continues:

Commenting on the announcement, [president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Marketing and Distribution Mark] Zoradi said, “We knew that audiences all over the world were excited to see Johnny Depp and the rest of the fantastic Pirates cast in this latest adventure, but this record-setting response at the global box office has been nothing short of incredible. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End now has the distinction of having the biggest opening in movie history, and we’re extremely proud of that achievement."

Sneaky Pirates! Opening the Thursday night before a long weekend ensures that the "first six days" consist of mostly weekend days, when people are itching to go see a fun summertime movie. Not only that, but Pirates also screened in more theaters than any other movie, ever (4,362 theaters to be exact). I'm not saying it's not impressive — it is! — but it certainly seems like there was a little bit of clever scheming going on, no?

Opening Thursday night on Memorial Day weekend has certainly paid off for the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie, bringing its overall opening weekend sales to $126.5 million in the U.S. and $205.5 million internationally. This marks the biggest four-day Memorial Day weekend opener ever after last year's X-Men: The Last Stand.

The top three at the box office this weekend were each third installments in beloved series: Coming in at No. 2 was Shrek the Third with $51.3 million, while Spider-Man 3 brought in $13.7 million at the third spot. New thriller Bug was in fourth place with just over $3 million, and Georgia Rule straggled behind in the fifth spot with a little less than $2 million.

Thanks to ComingSoon, I got ahold of some new photos from the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, including this one above that just makes me chuckle. It looks to be just as gritty, salty and eyeliner-y as ever. What's more, AOL's Moviephone has four new clips from the movie that you can watch after the jump, each of which runs less than a minute and is sure to whet your appetite for the movie which opens on May 25. Then again, anything featuring a cute little monkey in a pirate outfit has me hooked.

To see the clips and a gallery of pictures, read more

When I went to see 300 this weekend, I was shocked to find crowds of fans dressed as pirates lined up to see the trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. I know these movies make a lot of money, but I had no idea the franchise had such a rabid following as to inspired costumed pilgrimages on a Sunday afternoon.

The final installment of Disney's trilogy hits theaters May 25, and unlike last year's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, this movie appears to have a plot. Will (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) team up with Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) to liberate our beloved Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and travel to Singapore to confront a scary Chinese pirate played by Chow Yun-Fat.

Judging from the trailer, this movie looks to be at least as good as the first Pirates, if not better. I know you guys are psyched about it too. To watch, read more