With no more curses, dead men’s chests, or world endings to speak of, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) continues to dedicate himself to the cause of locating the legendary Fountain of Youth. Unfortunately, an attempt to rescue his old friend Gibbs (Kevin McNally) puts him at odds with the English crown now being advised by a privateer named Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). It seems that the Spanish are keen on finding the fountain first, and worse yet, someone pretending to be Jack Sparrow is recruiting their own crew to find it as well. When an old flame (Penélope Cruz) turns up in the middle of it all, it isn’t long before Jack finds himself unconscious and shanghaied aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, commanded by the pirate that all pirates fear, Blackbeard (Ian McShane).

With the fortune that the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has made to date, a fourth film was inevitable. As another chance to visit our favorite characters again and see what they’ve been up to (other than the happy ending of the original three), On Stranger Tides bursts at the seams with plot, almost to the point of collapsing in on its own weight. Ian McShane’s Blackbeard is, sadly, wasted (as is much of that plotline except as a catalyst to put Jack at odds with Cruz’s character), but the remaining focus on Sparrow and Barbossa continues not only the tale of their rivalry but also why (and how well) they ever worked together to begin with.

While fans of the Pirates franchise met Sparrow and Barbossa years after their falling out, the two seemed as though they could never have been anything but rivals. On Stranger Tides challenges that notion, a grand subplot interrupting a perfectly entertaining masterplot (and this is where the problems come in). Depp and Rush are so in tune with their characters at this point that they could probably take a request from the audience and burst into an impromptu scene, but by the time the film ends, the perfect balance between these pirate rivals is struck at last to something resembling an accord, but time will tell.

An issue with all of the Pirates films has been a missing sense of where they actually are at any time, and this film is the worst by far (are they in Cuba? Florida? Another island? Tell us… show us! The Caribbean isn’t that big). Formally introducing the Spanish into the mix gives the series many places it can go. While the main plot is overshadowed by subplot, the production as a whole appears to have been designed both to reboot the franchise without Gore Verbinski and providing new waters to explore. Many of the new characters are welcome additions, including a zombie seer, a kind-hearted clergyman, truly monstrous mermaids, and the Queen Anne’s Revenge herself (or maybe it’s just Blackbeard’s sword…hmm). Until the inevitable part five, here’s wishing both captains fair winds and following seas.

(a three skull recommendation out of four)

Nazis from the Dark Side of the Moon. Enjoy the invasion!

• There were 11 nominations for Hugo (more technical noms) and 10 for The Artist (more for acting noms). Both are up for Best Picture and Director.
• Warhorse and Moneyball took 6 nominations each, while The Decsendents and The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo took 5 nominations each.
• Pixar does NOT have a movie up for Animation Feature Film this year while DreamWorks has been nominated for two: Kung Fu Panda 2 and Puss in Boots.
• The Muppets are likely a shoo-in for Original Song with “Man or Muppet.”
• The producers for The Tree of Life are “to be determined.” Are they in hiding someplace? They SHOULD be.

The carnage all happens on Sunday, February 26th, 2012 on ABC (and then we get on with our lives).

The time: Memorial Day weekend. The place: West “By God” Virginia. The setup: a group of pretty, well-dressed college students taking a well-deserved break (from what? Like a couple of weeks of school, tops?) pass an old pickup truck with two of Darwin’s finest local specimens, one of which stares unblinking at the young adults as they pass. At a gas station just up the road (and an obligatory stop for alcohol), the students encounter the coveralled hillbillies yet again and fear the worst. Faster than you can say redneck rampage, the point of view is flipped to the pair of good ol’ boys named Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) who just want to fix up their dilapidated mountain cabin and enjoy a bit of rest and relaxation. Unfortunately, the preppy college kids convince themselves of Tucker and Dale’s obvious ill intentions and attempt to murder the mountain men back first.

This wonderful horror-comedy seemed to pop up out of nowhere (off a shelf it’s been siting on is more likely), but it’s obvious why this film didn’t get a wide theatrical release before being sent to DVD land: the fan base who would appreciate this is very specific. By taking all the traditional slasher/city mouse tropes and giving it a good twist, the end result is enough accidental deaths to fill an installment of Final Destination but without all that doom and gloom stuff. This is a misunderstanding of epic levels fueled by egos influenced by watching too many of very same kind of movies. It’s a far-fetched but bloody fun film that doesn’t talk down to its target audience so much as it celebrates fans of the genre.

The pedigree of the cast is enviable. Tyler Labine has a natural humor and charm about him; nice to see him getting a leading role for once instead of playing someone else’s back-up. Speaking of second bananas, everyone’s go-to unbalanced-yet-entertaining supporting character actor, Alan Tudyk, is (as always) at the top of his game (when is he going to get a lead?) “30 Rock” alumni Katrina Bowden convincingly allies herself with our heroes (thanks to a clever back story that ingratiates herself to someone dressed like a farm hand), while horror genre alumni Jesse Moss (who isn’t playing someone named “Jason” this time) goes off the deep edge rallying his fellow would-be victims to take the upper hand against a couple of perceived no-good hill folk.

With the comedy elements cranked up, a total party kill is kind of out of the question, and its also against trope to see so many of the actual would-be killers getting killed in spite of them being the aggressors (did that make any sense? Never mind). If you’re the kind of horror fan that likes your set-’em-up, knock-’em-down slasher flick mixed up with a bit of humor and appreciates some truly entertaining deaths, you’re going to love this. Two words: wood chipper.

(a three and a half skull recommendation out of four)

In Norway, a group of Volda University students begin to investigate the mysterious appearance of dead bears turning up at odd locations. Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), Johanna (Johanna Mørck), and their cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen), pick up the trail of a hunter (Otto Jespersen) who they believe might be a poacher. Following the mysterious man out into the woods, they quickly discover that the man actually works for the Norwegian government. His job is to herd, kill, and prevent knowledge of the existence of something thought only to be fantasy: trolls.

The “found footage” genre has grown by leaps and bounds, from art house horror like The Blair Witch Project to mainstream in-theater theme park rides like Cloverfield and (as of this writing) the Paranormal Activity trilogy. The trick is to come up with an excuse to keep filming when anyone in their right minds would abandon the camera and run for their lives, but it’s a cheap option for Independent horror and creates a realistic atmosphere that adds suspense by putting the audience in the middle of the action. Trollhunter (“Trolljegeren” in its native language) combines found footage with Jurassic Park-quality effects to tell an almost heartbreaking story amidst a horrific situation. It’s clever, well thought out, and brilliantly sucks you in.

Someone took a lot of care to build up a plausible production design. From troll species types to hunting techniques to a government cover-up scheme, the more you learn, the more sense it makes. There’s even a twist in the last act that imparts a bit of real-world medical fact into the mythological, creating an ultimate truth that is just too much fun not to want to believe. The research must have been meticulous to dig up every legend about trolls (what they eat, when they’re active, what provokes them) before weaving them into the plot, even a few I wasn’t aware of (or might have been made up since it fit). It’s a horror story that comes with a typical horror ending (hey, how else do you think someone “found the footage?”), but at the same time it’s a drama about a man stuck in a thankless job who’s come to relate to the very things he’s been hired to dispose of.

As a foreign film, it’s all subtitled, something off-putting to many viewers, but it’s worth it (seriously, not everything needs to be dubbed into American English, folks). This is one of those rare gems that people look for but rarely find due to limited releases and a lack of marketing funds. Fortunately, the annual pursuit of yearly awards in cinematic achievement allows a spotlight to be shown on films such as these, and this one is well worth the troll hunt to find.

(four skull recommendation out of four)