Instructables is having a DIY halloween costume contest.

Here are some of my favorites:

The Iron Man led light reactor

Airplane pilot Gremlin from Gremlins II

And the ‘How to make a Mignola-esque werewolf mask’ article. But if you ask me, it might be easier to just buy a werewolf costume.

And if you’re short on time, but not on cash this Halloween. Here are some neat-o movie themed Halloween costumes you can buy online:

Batman costumes from The Dark Knight. I predict there will be tons of Jokers wreaking havoc this Halloween.

Return of the Jedi Princess Leia slave costumes seem to never go out of style…

Speed Racer may have tanked at the box office, but I’m sure a few diehard fans of the cartoon will dress up as a Trixie, Racer X, or Speed since the movie revived the nostalgia.

I hate to be a film purist, but replacing Terence Howard in Iron Man 2 with Don Cheadle is a mistake. Why? Because the original film is still going to be vivid in the audience’s memory, so everytime Cheadle pops up, I’m just gonna be yearning for Howard. Sorry Don, but them’s the brakes. Get some more money for Terence, trust me it’ll be worth it.

Think about it though. Anytime there was a major casting change in a sequel, it only worked when people forgot all about the first actor because a) they wanted to because the first actor sucked (i.e. Batman Begins and Katie Holmes) or b) the replacement actor was forced upon us because the first actor died (i.e. the recent Harry Potter sequels where Michael Gambon subbed for Richard Harris).

Cinematic incarnations of Albus Dumbledore

That’s basically it. Otherwise, the sequel feels cheapened somehow. Find tons of geek chatter on the casting switch at /Film and Pajiba.

Despite the lukewarm reviews, Prince Caspian was first place at the box office with 56 million. I’ve decided to wait it out and see it at the discount theater.

Iron Man still cleaning up at second place with 31 million, while Speed Racer came in fourth place with only 7.6 million, proving it’s not destined to win the summer box office race.

(source: “Lazy Monday”)

Whispers on the internet from foreigners (lucky enough to see it early) say Iron Man doesn’t actually suck. As long as it’s not as bad as Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, I’ll be okay.

Hopefully Robert Downey Jr’s charisma renders the flick virtually critic proof. Most comic book based movies haven’t turned out so well, so I’m not 100% convinced by this internet buzz. Usually, these movies (and rumors) are just fan boy fodder and at best turn out to be guilty pleasure action movies. If Iron Man does well, it may break the comic book curse.

Guess that would be great news from Marvel who plan to release tons of comic book movies in the future.

Earlier: Robert “Iron Man” Downey Jr.

Trailer Check for Iron Man:

in theaters on May 2nd

I wasn’t entirely sold on the idea of Robert Downey Jr in a superhero movie. But the trailer suggests that maybe he didn’t really have to do too many stunts. There are a bunch of scenes with an entirely cgi-ed Iron Man. Kinda reminds of how Nic Cage got off lightly with the CGI enflamed Ghost Rider character. We’ll see if the final Iron Man can match the realistic movements of other superhero films like with the lifelike Spider Man from Spiderman 2.

My biggest peeve with the trailer is the return of Gwyneth Paltrow as the damsel in distress. But hey, to each their own. They’ve got my dollar already with the very presence of Downey Jr.