Color me surprised: the critics ain't thinking Oscar for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the sequel to the blockbuster  based on a Disney World ride.  (The success of the first Pirates subsequently inspired a revamp of said ride to better reflect the film--a depressing yet unprecendented Mobius strip of Hollywood commercial synergy!)  The New York Times' A.O. Scott calls it "a glistening, sushi-grade chunk of franchise entertainment" and suggests the filmmakers pretty bully audiences into enjoying themselves. "It's about fun. You're there to have fun. Fun for the family. Fun for the kids. Fun for everyone. So shut up and have fun."  'Pirates of the Caribbean': Eat My Jetsam, Davy Jones

 Anyway, I certainly might end up shelling out to see this slimy, cartoony, Deppy piece o' fluff myself.  First of all, it's summer! I'm not in a Lars von Trier frame of mine when the weather's hot.  Bring on the explosions, implausible plots, gauzy closeups and Hallmarky dialogue.  Secondly, I LOVE PIRATES (even the totally fake, Keith Richards-y ones).  The swashbuckling! The hardtack! The salty air! The life of crime and watery mobility! The colonial expanse of the universe! The shipwrecks! The swords, wooden legs, hooks...And I know I'm not alone.  QPBers have long taken a shine to books (fiction and non fiction alike) about pirates, too: THE PIRATE COAST, THE PIRATE WARS, KINGSTON BY STARLIGHT are just a few recent examples. So why do YOU love these eye-patched villains of the high seas? And please, please share any pirate jokes, too. They're argh-uably my favorite genre of cheesy-corny jokes.