I discussed the pronunciation changes in The Last Airbender with the most avid Avatar fan I know yesterday. Shyamalan claims it's being done in the name of 'authenticity' - and perhaps it is. Still, we thought it'd be preferable to keep the original pronunciations out of respect to the source material.

On the other hand, we agreed it was better to find out this far in advance. If we'd gone into the cinema unaware of this, the 'wrong' pronunciations would likely have proved a major distraction to our enjoyment of the film.

The name changes smack of ego gone wild. Imagine if Peter Jackson had decided he didn't like the way Sindarin and Quenya was pronounced. He'd probably be living under a fake name right now. I fail to see how he can claim 'authenticity' as a reason to change names with the awful casting. And he's proceeded to decide that Firebending doesn't make sense to him and changed it up. Gone are the days when Firebenders' power is derived on the sun. Now they have to have a handy bonfire nearby or they can't firebend. How they could have been a threat to the other nations with that handicap, I don't know. I wonder if he's going to eliminate the Waterbenders drawing power from the cycles of the moon too?

I actually don't mind the fire thing. At first I did, but not really any more. I mean, it makes sense to me. Only master waterbenders can pull water out of the air, and even Katara rarely did it, if she did it at all. So it makes sense that only master firebenders can pull fire out of the air. I would prefer it to be like it was in the show, but I don't really mind, you know?
Shyamalan said he changed Iroh's name because the actor asked him why it was pronounced like it was. What he doesn't seem to realize is that people who know how the names should be pronounced in real life aren't really going to care all that much (at least I don't think they will). The fans, the people who this movie is probably mainly made for, are the people who are going to care, and the fans are going to get mad. I honestly think he's just hurting himself through this. I do agree though, I'm glad I found out early. I would've been going "Soakuh? Huh?" It would have been quite confusing.

Yes, the name thing just really irks me. We had three seasons of hearing the names one way and he expects everyone to just accept the fact he's completely changed the pronunciations? And from my reading of the article, it sounds as if he's changing them to Indian/Arab ways of pronouncing them, which baffles me.

Actually 'Soakah' is the Arabic word for sugar. Hehe. Though I suppose Iroh is pretty sweet. =)

Is anyone excited about the release of Toy Story 3? There really aren't that many movies coming out in the near future (in Oz, anyway) so I'm kind of getting excited for this one. I have no idea if it will be a tacky sequel, or a great hit.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet or not, but there has been talk about another Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I don't think its confirmed yet but it is highly possible. From what I've heard the film will be mainly about Jack Sparrow and the rest of the original cast will not be in the film.

I'm still excited and will definitely go see it. What do you guys think?

Yep Rawkr. I heard about the new POTC: On Stranger Tides.
It was going to film in my town actually in the US until they had found someplace else to shoot in England.
They are planing to film either next month or in June.

Also welcome to Narniaweb!

Awesome! Glad to have some confirmation. Thanks for welcoming me as well. Hopefully it'll be a good film.

I'm very excited for it. While Orlando and Keira won't be back, Geoffrey Rush will be returning as Barbosa. Ian McShane has been cast as Blackbeard, and Penelope Cruz will be playing the female lead. Still no word on some of the minor characters.

I don't love PotC movies but I like to watch them every once in a while. I'll probably see the 4th when it's out on DVD.

SM: I have to say I'm a bit wary about Toy Story 3. I watched the trailer and it looks...different, from the other two. I don't know if I"ll see it in theatres or not.

Btw RawKr, welcome to NarniaWeb! I love your av and sig btw

i think POTC will be good. I'm still trying to shake the fact that Penelope Cruz is the lead female. Never had I thought she would do a movie like this. But I honestly cant wait.
I'm also glad Will and Elizabeth are not returning because their story should have ended in the first.

^do you mean in the first movie? Yes I was very upset that

Spoiler

they didn't get married until the third movie . But I liked having their characters there. I'll probably miss them a bit in the fourth

Just rumors, so you have to take them with a very large grain of salt, but supposedly the front runners to play Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the upcoming reboot are Logan Lerman of Percy Jackson fame and Josh Hutcherson. Not sure how I feel about either of these choices, and wouldn't be surprised if they pick someone completely different.

Eh, not sure I care who they cast. The movie as a whole is going to have to be fantastic for it to make up for them rebooting the franchise. Still irked over that decision.

bkey: wow really? That's kind of suprising. At least to me. So when is this reboot coming out? Maybe I'll watch it if Logan Lerman is in it .