THIS JUST IN: It's officially G.I. D'OH!

Ok, so we all expected G.I. JOE: The Rise Of Cobra to be bad. Even in the best-case scenario, awesomely bad. But this story from Geek Tyrant tells me that not even Christopher Eccleston will be able to save this one.

The story goes that director Stephen Sommers was kicked off the project after a test-audience gave it the lowest score for a Paramount movie ever. A "fixer" editor, Stuart Baird, has been brought in to edit the film into something "releasable." Given all the hype so far, I can't imagine Joe won't be released. But poor Baird has to make something good out of somebody else's dreck. That can't be a fun assignment.

@ThePeterPixie and I will be talking about this more in depth on the show, for sure.

Update: GT posted a response from producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura here.

Shia LeBouf Is As Clueless as Megan Fox

Man, these Transformers stars sure love to talk nonsense. There must be a contest.

@ThePeterPixie already told you the story about Megan Fox's arrogant statements regarding Wonder Woman. Now it's Shia LeBouf coming down with diarrhea of the mouth. Y'see, LeBouf felt the need to put to rest any rumors he'd be playing Yorick Brown in a film adaptation of Y: The Last Man, a very-well executed and well-received book by Brian K. Vaughan.

Yorick, put simply, is the last man on Earth, the only male survivor - on the human side; his monkey, Ampersand, also survives - of a plague that otherwise leaves the Earth inhabited completely by women. It's an easy "franchise" if you don't bugger it up.

So anyway, LeBouf was asked about the role - again, I presume - and this is what he said, according to SuperHero Hype:

"You take Sam and you put a monkey on his shoulder," said LaBeouf [...]. "I don't know if it's that big a differential. It seems like he's the ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation again."

You mean besides a story that touches on issues of gender, race, and privilege besides sci-fi and action/adventure? Right. I'm sure the star of a classic like Eagle Eye is qualified to be the arbiter of taste here. Look, if LeBouf wants to avoid getting into another series of films and do a more varied assortment of roles, that's one thing. But statements like this just make him look ... well, as vapid as his "leading lady." And if I didn't have to watch Revenge Of The Fallen for the sake of the show, I wouldn't have to. This instance doesn't make me reconsider that stance.

-- ES

Last night, on the show ...

Again, apologies for posting the preview so late last night, but like we said, we had a loaded show, including:

* A look at Marvel Comics' price increases, what they could mean for both consumers and retailers - and the star writer who got proven wrong on the internet over one increase.
* @ThePeterPixie talked more about his impressions of Firefly
* El Secreto gave us an analysis of the debut of Grant Morrison's Batman & Robin - and the difference between the new Batman and the new Captain America

And much more! So if you missed the show, just click on the handy-dandy player below!

A LOADED show tonight!

This week, we are LOADED with conflict! El Secreto v. Batman & Robin! Peter Pixie v. Joss Whedon! Marvel v. Your wallet! and more! Plus your comments and questions, live at 11pm EST (8pm PST)!

Firefly and I part 2

So I spent my Sunday watching the rest of the series Firefly. I must say that starting on the second disc I really found stories I enjoyed. Since I watched 10 hours of television today, I do not see my going though each story and telling you what they were about and what I liked and disliked about each episode.

Instead I offer an overview of the series. The real show stopper was Saffron. She really played the same kind of character Claudia Black had in Stargate: SG1 at the end of it's run.

The show downer: River. I found her character to be a true waste of time in the series. The final episode of the series was really all about her and she wasn't really in it. Jubal Early in the last episode was a great character. None of the characters were awful to watch (Glau not withstanding). Wash was fun to watch and even got his moment in the episode where he and Mal get captured by the Russian mafioso.

Over all the series was entertaining. Not AMAZING as fans often put it to me. It was, at best, fun to watch in parts. BEST LINE IN THE SERIES: 'Why'd you order a dead guy?'

Best episode over all was the Hospital heist. I think it truly allowed everyone to shine. Except that the Sheppard was not on that episode. We also never really learn the history of why this Sheppard knows so much about things he really shouldn't.

I would say that the Book (the Sheppard) was the most under-used character on the show.

Another thing that annoys me: Where are the OTHER Asians? Obviously, Chinese is used as easily as English, so they must have had some kind of affect on the human race. But not a one of them on the ship, not a one of them in charge of any place they visit... Frankly it's confusing.

In the end... do I recommend the show?

Like I said in part 1 of my Firefly blogs: Watch the pilot. If you enjoy it, stick around for the series. Get through the first disc and you will be OK.
If you watch the pilot and you don't like it go back to the better version of this - it was called Babylon 5.

Firefly and I part 1

As promised, I have begun to watch Joss Whedon's Firefly series. For those of you who are not familiar with this series, don't feel bad. It was only on for one season and even then it didn't get a full run of taped episodes.

However, since it was aired in in 2002, it has spawned a major motion picture called Serenity, a couple of comic books and a role playing game. Oh, and here are some awards it has received:

* Emmy Award: Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series, 2003
* Visual Effects Society: Best visual effects in a television series, 2003 (episode "Serenity")
* Saturn Award: Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award, Male, 2003 (Nathan Fillion)
* Saturn Award: Saturn Award for Best DVD Release (television), 2004
* SyFy Genre Awards: Best Actor/Television Nathan Fillion, 2006[73]
* SyFy Genre Awards: Best Supporting Actor/Television Adam Baldwin, 2006
* SyFy Genre Awards: Best Special Guest/Television Christina Hendricks for "Trash", 2006
* SyFy Genre Awards: Best Episode/Television "Trash", 2006
* SyFy Genre Awards: Best Series/Television, 2006


Since I was given the challenge to watch all of them in order, I wanted to track my progress and thoughts here for you readers. If you haven't seen it, this will give you some insight into the show I had no interest in watching. If you have seen it, it will give you some insight into why I haven't watched it up to this point in it's entirety.

Serenity part 1 and 2 (Pilot Episodes)

What I'm not going to do is break down plot points and story lines. What I am going to do is give my thoughts on it.

Overall, the pilot was engaging. I will say that I had attempted to watch the pilot before on SyFy channel, but it was the first hour of two. It did not grab me then.

This time, I was able to feel the character development and the emotional interest within each character. Overall, there are too many characters on board this show and if anything could kill it, that is one thing I would put my money on. Why? because I still dont recall all the names of the characters after 4 episodes. If I dont have a vested interest in anyone they could put an ongoing storyline on, why do I care over all?

However, having said that, I do LIKE all the characters on this show. Each is interesting and all have their moments. Except Summer Glau's character. I should point out at this point I have seen the movie Serenity, and I STILL don't care about her character.

My recommendation is to watch the pilot. If you find there is interest in these people for you, then the next couple will be watchable. If not, then don't bother. Character development for all of them doesn't come in the next two episodes as much as needed and you wont care enough after the next two to move forward.

This is of interest because 'The Train Job' which is episode 2, was made to BE the Pilot by FOX stating the original pilot was not suitable.

THE TRAIN JOB (episode 2)
The Firefly gang gets rustled up into stealing - for some never disclosed reason - medical supplies from a mining community from a speed train for a Russian mafioso and they feel bad about it when the discover what they've done and make it right. I'm sure this is how TV Guide read when they talked about what this episode is about. This is a straight out of history OLD WESTERN story. Where in the bad guy is established to be the bad guy but we never see him again in the story.

IF THIS WAS THE FIRST EPISODE, I WOULDN'T WATCH A SECOND. This is because I don't enjoy cowboys, six shooters, and train robbery stories. I just do not care.

I presume this is a 'gonna get back to the bad guy later' kinda thing which brings me to a point about Joss Whedon. His style is great for mini-series and novels. See, in a mini-series, you have to show them in order or they just don't make sense.

In a TV Series, one should be able to watch them in a general way and still find them enjoyable. The complaint 'they didn't show them in order' means a couple of things:

1. If the series needed to be shown in order then me catching in at episode 6 would leave me (as it did when I tried to watch in on SyFy) confused and with no emotional investment.

2. Knowing how Network TV treats it's series, doomed to be disappointed.

And I bet money people watched this back in 2002 and went 'what?' A space western. thanks. but no thanks.

Finally, we come to the Bushwhacked (episode 3).

I saw this, it was the opening of Star Wars episode 4 ('Where are the plans - they must be aboard this ship.') following a space version of 'Das Boot.'

Where the episode starts out and how it finishes seems to me like 2 different stories. Glau's annoying character hears the screams of the dead... Maybe. Or maybe they were the thoughts in the Crazy Man's head. IDK. in the end, I didn't care.

This could have been a first episode as each of the crew members are interrogated by the Darth Va- Alliance officer. This gave us some insight as to how each character fits into the whole Serenity crew.

OVERALL - So far, I would say the Pilot was pretty good. Episodes 2 and 3 not so much really. It's not BAD television, for sure. It's just not AWESOME OMG GOTTA WATCH EVERY WEEK TALK ABOUT IT EVERY DAY TIL THEN television.

Maybe tomorrow, if I have time to watch them, I will post about the next 4 episodes.

last night, on HOUR 42 ...

If you missed last night's episode, here's some of the stuff the boys talked about:


* No Joss? No problem! El Secreto offered up a plan for a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot.
* The firing of Dwayne McDuffie and why it makes DC Comics less trustworthy
* Speaking of the Whedonverse, Peter Pixie announced he's going to give one of Joss' shows a try!
* A classy gesture honoring Superman at the upcoming Screaming Tiki Con in Cleveland next month

All that and a lot more, so just click on the handy-dandy player tomorrow and check out HOUR 42!