[AerostarMonk]

I still believe that the comparisons to both Indiana Jones and Star Wars are some of the most ludicrous overstatments of modern cinema. I even find them fun, and I'm as cynical as they come. But the hype for them really kills the fun for me on second viewings. To me, it seems like the people of the 00's are trying to hard to assign a franchise to the Great Pantheon because all the others failed to deliver the goods. I remove LOTR from the Great Pantheon because it's nowhere near as accessible as Jones or Wars or even the recent Pirates.

I dunno, one thing that also bothers me about Pirates is that despite the fun it lacks the heart of many blockbusters. The sad thing is Verbinski is fully capable of heart. See The Weather Man, with Nicolas Cage, which is way more than the American Beauty rip-off it's purported to be.

To me it just seems like the franchise is Sommers' Mummy series with better actors, more money and longer running time. The Mummy had all the hallmarks of Pirates though it failed to produce the same love. Which is sorta confusing to me.

Anyway, I'm starting to tire of the whole franchise movie disease that keeps on spreading about. It would be really nice to see a movie again that just tries to convey the magic of cinema rather than try to spawn a sequel. All the best movies that ended up having sequels put the magic first. At least before this decade.

As for Roger Rabbit, there are rumors spreading around about the possible revitalization of the characters. Zemeckis is now back in with Disney, although he's working on other projects. Though certain insiders say he's open to the possibility of more Roger Rabbit in the future. Oh, I hope so. If only to hear Bob Hoskins attempt an American accent once more. There are only two funnier, Mark Addy trying to be a Chicagoan in Still Standing, a cancelled CBS sitcom, and Jude Law's pathetic attempt to be a Clevelander in I Heart Huckabees.

Makes Hoffman's slipping Etonian accent in Hook seem great by comparison.