R2D2... The One With Geek-Outs And Freak-Outs.

Been holding back for about a week on this, though I'm glad I did for a few reasons (new or updated news, for instance). Anywho, here's some random thoughts for ya.


- After nearly 4 years of waiting, Vin Diesel finally announced that a new Riddick movie should be underway soon, as David Twohy has just finished working on the script (or is at least putting the finishing touches on it). It's about freakin' time! Chronicles wasn't a great as Pitch Black, but Riddick was still fun in it. And it left the ending on such a cliffhanger, I was starting to get pissed that they didn't seem to be making another one. But Vin loves the character so much that I guess he'd fund the project, which is awesome.

- In interesting news, the characters of Mundungus Fletcher and Bill Weasley have been cast for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The movies are already rather behind on introducing these characters, as they were introduced much earlier in the books (well, Order of the Phoenix for Dung and even earlier for Bill). I'm wondering how they're gonna do it, because Dung's relevance to book 7 is reliant on already knowing what kind of person he is; Bill's purpose, on the other hand, starts way back in Goblet of Fire, though it isn't brought up until Half-Blood Prince when the Fleur relationship is brought up. Similarly, they're also bringing Dobby back, which is awesome, even though they've cut him out of every movie except the one he's introduced in--the second, Chamber of Secrets. So I'm excited for all of this, but at the same time curious how they're gonna pull it off well.

- Next, I wanted to discuss Dragonball fans. I know I discussed fandoms in my last R2D2, but this one is striking me as odd. Maybe it's just been too long since these people have watched Dragonball, but... okay, let me set this up first. A few clips from the upcoming movie were released, and a lot of fans are swayed into liking it more now, because it is somewhat reminiscent of the show. On the other hand, there are fans who are complaining because a lot of stuff is either really cheesy or too hyper-real. To this I say to those critics: Were you actually fans of Dragonball? And I'm talking about Dragonball, not Dragonball Z. Dragonball was incredibly cheesy, childish, and over-the-top for the majority of the time. So this is really a really good adaptation of the feel of the show. But these fans seem to keep confusing Dragonball with Dragonball Z (which was much more serious)... and this is most obvious when they complain about there being no Vegeta and whatnot. These must be the same fans who complained that Speed Racer was too cheesy and bright, even though the show it was based on was exactly the same.

- I just read some casting information on the live action Avatar: The Last Airbender movie. Apparently, Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel is playing Prince Zuko. That's an interesting casting choice, I think. I know he'll have the sympathetic side to Zuko down, but I'm wondering how well he can do the anger. He hinted at it in Slumdog, but not a whole bunch. However, I think he has the charisma to play the character very well.

- So Mickey Rourke and Scarlett Johansson are gonna be in Iron Man 2. I just hope that Johansson's performance is nothing like it was in last year's The Spirit. Otherwise, thumbs up.

- My last bit of news discussion is on the director of the third Twilight movie, Eclipse. I had a long paragraph typed out on the announcement of the director, but I just read moments before I was going to publish the post that it was actually false. The rumor was that Spanish visionary director Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage/El Orfanato) was going to lower his standards and direct the film. It was mostly a rant, but as it's not true, I guess I don't have to go there. So instead, let me just give a 'hooray!' that this is not true (he should focus on better material).