Random Thoughts 3/23/11

Talk to your cats.

• The next Narnia film is moving forward but it's not the one you expected.  You'd think they would next produce The Silver Chair, utilizing the cast from Dawn Treader while they're still young.  Unexpectedly, Walden Media is looking to next begin writing a script for The Magician's Nephew, the "prequel" of the series that tells the story of Narnia's creation.  But without a script, the movie is at least two years away.  Which means The Silver Chair cannot be made with the current cast, who in 5-6 years will be young adults and too old for the roles.  Unless all the parts are recast, that means The Final Battle won't be made either.  So, you've almost certainly seen the last of the current cast and this may be a death blow to the series as a whole.
• Hollywood hasn't had a new idea in years so this was inevitable.  They are remaking The Thin Man.  Why?  William Powell and Myrna Loy were fantastic in the originals.  Do we need to mess with this?  The only intriguing part is that Johnny Depp is on board to star in and produce the movie.  And Depp can play a somewhat-inebriated hero as well as anyone.
• Chad Ochocinco (née Johnson?) is in Kansas City today with an ESPN crew to try out for our soccer team, Sporting Kansas City.
• For helicopter nuts out there, the Marines have announced the first deployment to Afghanistan of the AH-1Z Viper, the latest evolution of the Vietnam-era AH-1 Cobra helicopter gunship.  The four-bladed Viper, or Zulu Cobra, is now on par with the latest Army AH-64D Apaches.
• I know that KU can lose its next game.  It happens all the time and 67 of the 68 teams in the NCAA tournament are going to lose sooner than what they wanted to.  But please, KU, there's no good reason not to go to the Final Four or even the Championship game.  The road has been paved for you!
• If basketball coach Mike Anderson is leaving Missouri and going to Arkansas, wouldn't it be funny if Arkansas joined the Big 12-ish and Anderson still had to play Kansas every year?  Anderson is 1-10 against Kansas during his time at Mizzou.  If this is true, what does Missouri do now?
• After such a good first round and a half, my bracket is now mostly dead.  Not entirely dead–I still have Duke, Kansas, and Ohio State in the final four–but mostly dead.  Thanks for nothing, Pitt.  Way to go, Purdue.  Go fly a kite, Syracuse.