Wanna stay in this Gasparilla? Don’t feel like making the trek across the Bay? With the big weekend just around the corner, The Crow’s Nest staff put together a short list of our favorite pirate movies to get you in the swashbuckling mood (without all of the… you know…).
Graphic courtesy of Sofía García Vargas | The Crow’s Nest
By The Crow’s Nest staff
Molly’s pick: “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003)
It does not matter what mood I’m in or what kind of day I’ve had, I will never not enjoy watching “Pirates of the Caribbean”. This movie is an absolute your-mom’s-2007-Honda-Odyssey-with-the-tiny-little-TV-screen-in-the-back classic (if you know, you know.) If the DVD case was not saturated with Caprisun, did you even watch it as a child? With a star-studded cast of Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow, Orlando Bloom as Will Turner and a young Kiera Knightley in her breakout role as Elizabeth Swan, early 2000s CGI, a hilarious script and captivating fight scenes, I personally find this movie impossible to dislike.
Sofía’s pick: “Peter Pan” (2003)
The nostalgia that takes over me every time I watch this movie brings me back to my middle school days when I was crushing hard on Jeremy Sumpter. I mean, was I the only one getting lost in those light green eyes and replaying *that* kiss scene over and over, wishing it was me? If I was, please send help. In all seriousness, the execution of this movie was so exquisite that every time I watch it, I feel the thrill of the Darling’s when they meet Peter Pan, the jealousy of Tinker Bell when Wendy captures all of Peter’s attention, the hope of the Lost Boys and the terror incited by Captain Hook, played by the amazing Jason Isaacs who gives that darker twist to any of his characters (especially Lucius Malfoy).
Baron’s pick: “Treasure Planet” (2002)
In artful contrast to many other pirate films, “Treasure Planet” is an atypical sci-fi take on the novel Treasure Island (1883). The most expensive hand-animated film to date, it repaints the novel in retrofuturist colors that toe the line between fantasy and sci-fi. While the core of the plot is young adventurer Jim Hawkins’ (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the show is consistently stolen by side characters like Morph (Dane Davis) and B.E.N.-J.A.M.I.N., both of whom give me crippling gender envy. I aspire to be a shapeshifting blob motivated solely by an attitude of mischief.
Aubrey’s pick: “The Pirate Fairy” (2014)
This movie is true cinema. I swear I’m only half-joking. The Tinker Bell movies are the core of my childhood memories and “The Pirate Fairy” is no exception. Starring Mae Whitman (“Good Girls”), Tom Hiddleston and Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men”), the movie is one part “Barbie of Swan Lake,” one part “Pirates of the Caribbean” and all parts quality entertainment.
