You might not know him by name, but you would definitely recognize actor Greg Ellis if you saw his face. Ellis has appeared on dozens of popular television shows such as X-Files, Nip/Tuck, Trust Me, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and season three of 24 as biological weapons dealer Michael Amador. He’s also had roles in several successful feature films including the Academy Award-winning Titanic, Beowulf, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek where the actor had the honor of being the new franchise’s first official “red shirt” (a stock character who dies soon after being introduced). But Ellis is best known for his role as Lieutenant Theodore Groves in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, including last summer’s mega-hit Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which is available now on Blu-ray and DVD.

Ellis first played Groves in the original Pirates movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and while he did not appear in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, he did return to the series for the third chapter, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. But the actor’s largest role in the series came with the most recent edition to the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. In the film, Groves is promoted to Lieutenant Commander while working with Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) aboard the H.M.S. Providence to find the Fountain of Youth. He aids Barbossa and Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) on their quest to find the Fountain and claims it for the British Empire before ultimately battling Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and the Spaniards.

I recently had a chance to speak with actor Greg Ellis about Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The actor spoke candidly with me about the film, his character’s evolution, playing sidekick to Geoffrey Rush’s Barbossa, the differences between working with the film’s director Rob Marshall and former Pirates director Gore Verbinski, his reaction the first time he saw Johnny Depp play Jack Sparrow, playing the first “red shirt” in Star Trek, and the loophole that J.J. Abrams has come up with so that Ellis can possibly appear in Star Trek 2.

As an audience, we're grown increasingly jaded regarding visual effects in our modern blockbusters.  The sheer number of blockbuster movies with show-stopping visual effects sequences has given us a shorthand, an easy and often unconscious understanding of what works and what doesn't.  The arrival of every new huge spectacular movie brings with it the expectation that the figurative bar will be raised, particularly when that would-be blockbuster is the latest installment in a franchise known for its envelope-pushing digital creations.

Such was the case for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth film in a franchise that has included undead pirates, fish-men, massive maritime battles, and even an ocean goddess.  For the first film in the series not directed by Gore Verbinski, the story saw the introduction of zombies, and more importantly, some truly memorably mermaids.  Aaron McBride has been crucial to the visual effects on all four Pirates films, serving as the art director on the first three and visual effects art director for On Stranger Tides.

In his time at Industrial Light and Magic, McBride has built up a resume that includes the likes of Minority Report, Iron Man, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.  In a roundtable interview with entertainment writers from around the world promoting tomorrow's release of Pirates of Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, McBride discussed the unique challenges and accomplishments of the sequel.  It's an interview that sheds some light on the intricacies involved in creating those visual effects that often flash by in no time at all.

Johnny Depp has been set on starring as Nick Charles – one half of the husband-and-wife investigating duo Nick and Nora Charles – in a remake of The Thin Man for roundabouts a year now.  Having proven that he and Depp are a billion dollar combination, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides helmer Rob Marshall is officially set to direct the new tale.  The movie will be based, probably quite loosely, on the novel by noir-master Dashiel Hammett, but the film has experienced some turbulence in the screenwriting department, with two writers proving to be non-starters.  Now, though, The Thin Man has a new writer in the form of Billy Ray.

The 1934 film The Thin Man, based on the novel of the same name by the inimitable noir novelist Dashiell Hammett, spawned a hugely popular franchise with five sequels starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a husband-and-wife investigatorial team known for their witty verbal repartee and also for being extremely high-functioning alcoholics.  None other than international movie star Johnny Depp has been attached to star as Nick Charles in a big budget The Thin Man remake with Rob Marshall directing, and now the project has a new screenwriter with no shortage of blockbuster bona-fides: David Koepp.

Almost a decade ago in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow was a swishingly effeminate wild-card sidekick to the squeaky-clean romantic lead played by Orlando Bloom.  As the most popular and indispensable element of the franchise, Sparrow's prominence increased in successive entries, finally just taking over as protagonist in this summer's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  With On Stranger Tides grossing over a billion dollars worldwide, the already-inevitable fifth and (probably) sixth installments are now even more inevitable.  A new rumor suggests that for the future of the series, Depp, who by now has a major creative role in the films, wants British comedian Russell Brand to play an even more swishingly effeminate sidekick for erstwhile supporting player Sparrow.

What could possibly be American enough to accompany this Fourth of July weekend's ceaseless summer revelries of barbecues, cheap domestic beer, and swimming in heavily chlorinated pools?  How about GM and Chevy cars that turn into collateral-damage-causing robots in an explode-tacular orgy of visual effects that also includes a Victoria's Secret model sweating out an alien invasion in five-inch heels?  Since Friday, Transformers: Dark of the Moon has pulled in an estimated $97.5 million, allowing it to unseat Spider-Man 2 as the record-holder for this particular holiday weekend.  Not only that, but it grabbed a few other records as well.

Since dropping the first-ever digitally animated feature film with Toy Story in 1995, Pixar Animation Studios has become a reliable purveyor of blockbusters that have been, until now, critically lauded without exception.  This weekend's Cars 2 is the first exception, and the critical pummeling it received last week was at least a partial contributor to low projections for the automotive sequel's opening weekend box office.  Despite the critical walloping, though, Cars 2 managed to outperform some lowered expectations, pulling in an estimated $68 million since Friday.  More surprisingly, the R rated comedy Bad Teacher also exceeded expectations in second place.

Since summer unofficially kicked off at the beginning of May, three superheroic adventures have graced the nation's movie houses.  Thor started things off with a $65.7 million opening weekend, and X-Men: First Class followed up with a $55.1 million debut.  Now, Green Lantern has willed his way through a major motion picture for the first time, and the Martin Campbell-directed film is on track to pull in $52.68 million since Friday.  Even with expectations lowered by a critical maligning, it's a fairly disappointing estimate for the much-hyped franchise-hopeful.

Not many directors can successfully carry the marketing of a major summer movie without recognizable stars, an identifiable source material, or even a clear concept.  Though it is only his third feature film, Super 8 was sold principally as collaboration between writer-director JJ Abrams and producer Steven Spielberg, whose early films served as inspiration for the would-be blockbuster.  The nostalgic adventure opened with an estimated $37.0 million in receipts.  This is not the huge take that would necessarily be expected from a Spielberg-Abrams joint, but it does exceed last week's less-than-stellar expectations.

The fifth entry of the theatrical X-Men franchise was the only major new release this weekend, but despite that, some box office forecasters predicted that X-Men: First Class would finish its first weekend behind last weekend's juggernaut The Hangover Part II.  Alas, the mutant prequel debuted in first place, with The Hangover Part II dropping substantially after its huge opening and Kung Fu Panda 2 also seeing its audience dwindle considerably.  First Class's estimated haul of $56 million is being interpreted as a disappointment by some, but context is crucial.