caribbean

SAN FRANCISCO--Disney spent the last couple of decades making mermaids into friendly, lovely creatures bursting with curiosity and love (see "The Little Mermaid" and "Splash"). It took about a year's work from the visual-effects pros at Industrial Light and Magic to return the fair ladies of the sea to their classical, bloodthirsty ways.

To show off the effects studio's work on the billion-dollar-grossing "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" as it arrives on Blu-ray next month, ILM's Ben Snow (visual-effects supervisor) and Aaron McBride (art director) sat down with reporters at George Lucas' Presidio compound here earlier this month to discuss the challenges of creating mermaids beautiful enough to lure Johnny Depp to water and ferocious enough to devour him.

"Classically, mermaids were beautiful but deadly creatures," Snow said. "We were excited to bring them back to that tradition. But the challenge was developing creative concepts that preserved their beauty while making them scary again." … Read more

Netflix announced today that it had launched its movie-streaming service outside of North America.

The service launched in Brazil today and is expected to be made available in 43 countries in Latin America, Mexico, and the Caribbean over the next week, Netflix said in a blog posting. The company said it has spent the past couple of months studying how Latin Americans think about movies and TV shows, as well as testing its delivery method.

"We've been testing and figuring out the right Internet architecture to make sure the quality and speed of the Netflix streaming experience is … Read more

If you asked the average moviegoer to name George Lucas' biggest influence on the film industry, they'd probably say "Star Wars." But while there's no arguing with the massive cultural and artistic impact of that film and its five sequels, a better answer might well be Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic.

To be sure, "Star Wars" and ILM are not unrelated--Lucas started ILM to create the visual effects for his groundbreaking movie. But the visual effects house has gone on to do a great deal more, and today is probably responsible for the look … Read more

The Disney Company is always so good at accessing one's inner child. The hope, the joy, the glory of absolute love, family goodness, and everything that sails in it.

So I am thrown a little off course when I hear that Disney may have falsely accused an 11-year-old boy of hacking the Pirates of the Caribbean video game and disabled his account.

The account I have read comes from the boy's dad, Brian Guy. Guy is a manager of MySQL's hardy pirates at Sun Microsystems. He also has a blog, which was positively fulminating with frustration Tuesday, … Read more

I've spent much time this week thinking about Jack Sparrow, pirate of the Caribbean.

Channeling his inner Keith Richards, Sparrow is a good pirate. Ugly and drunk, but good.

The Swedish pirates from the Bay are supposed to be good pirates too. You know, the ones who, according to a local court, channel Richards, Mick Jagger, and a whole host of other musical acts in a not quite legal fashion.

But the whole concept of piracy is rather current and vexing. Think of those other fresh-faced pirates, the ones in Somalia. The ones who captured Indians, Filipinos, and Egyptians … Read more

Jeff, Justin and Wilson start the show off right today with a SNL Christopher Walken reference. Always a great way to start the day. Getting into actual stories, we chat about ways to actually sleep. Tip #1: Sleep when you are tired. iTunes launches an indie music store. Gore Verbinski decides to make a video game based on Clue. And yes, people stalk their exes online.

Jeff, Justin, and Wilson start the show off right today with a SNL Christopher Walken reference. Always a great way to start the day. Getting into actual stories, we chat about ways to actually sleep. Tip No. 1: Sleep when you are tired. iTunes launches an indie music store. Gore Verbinski decides to make a video game based on "Clue." And yes, people stalk their exes online.

As you probably have heard by now, it's Oscar nominations day, and Hollywood is all a-buzz.

But up here in the Bay Area, there are some pretty happy people as well.

That's because the folks at Lucasfilm divisions Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound were honored with a total of six nominations Tuesday.

ILM was nominated for its visual effects work on both Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

ILM's John Knoll and Hal Hickel, who were nominated for their work on both of the two previous Pirates films, and who won … Read more

Portable DVD players seem to come in all shapes and sizes these days--and sometimes in pairs. Yes, the Disney dual-screen Mobile DVD player has arrived at our New York offices, along with one of Disney's new Pix Max digital cameras, which sports a "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme.

The idea behind the dual-screen DVD player ($180) is that two backseat riders can watch the same movie at the same time, with neither person having to deal with the perils of off-axis viewing. Both screens feature a 7-inch LCD display that straps onto the back of a headrest; … Read more