<b>MOVIE OF THE WEEK:</b> <i>Pirates of the Caribbean </i>is a reckless, relentless romp from start to finish. It doesn’t even feel like two and a quarter hours long. Buckle your swash, shiver your timbers, and set sail, advises Shaun de Waal.

<b>CDs of the week:</b>
<i>Various:</i> Exile on Blues Street; Blues on Blonde on Blonde

The blues, in one way or another, underlie an awful lot of popular music, so it’s no surprise that someone has thought of doing blues versions of the songs of The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan — both draw meaningfully and powerfully on that tradition, writes Shaun de Waal.

<b>MOVIE OF THE WEEK:</b> DreamWorks’s new animated adventure, <i>Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas</i> is very well done — as far as I could tell in the appalling conditions of one of the big cinemas at Hyde Park Nu Metro. The film was out of focus throughout, it was too dim, and the sound was too soft, observed Shaun de Waal.

<b>MOVIE OF THE WEEK:</b> I usually steer clear of making the kind of comment one often hears about a good movie from Australia, New Zealand or the Third World. It goes like this: "Now that’s the kind of film we should be making in South Africa." Usually, writes Shaun de Waal.

<b>Movie of the week: </b> John Cusack’s strongest asset is his face, which always seems to convey a kind of melancholy wit, writes Shaun de Waal. And Cusack’s style perfectly suits his latest character in <i>Max</i>.

<b>Movie of the week: </b> Director François Ozon has taken a creaky old country house mystery in the Agatha Christie mould and reworked it with the cream of French female acting talent, writes Shaun de Waal.

<b>Movie of the week</b><br>

<i>Whale Rider</i> is a good movie, not a <i>great one</i>, lacking complexity and depth but delivering a sensitive and insightful portrayal of modern day Maori life, writes Shaun de Waal.