Do you remember how fun G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra was? I mean despite the fact that it was a little light on plot and a little heavy on action, it really was a fun film. Had I been reviewing and rating films in 2009 I think I would have given that film about 3.5 stars.

Unfortunately I must inform you that this film comes nowhere close to that. This film is unfortunately very much like the video game Dwayne Johnson and Channing Tatum were playing in one of the very early scenes of the film.

With almost little or no fanfare, very early in the film, one of the primary characters from…

Stephanie Meyer has enjoyed an immense amount of success with the Twilight saga in both book form, and film form. But before writing the final book in the Twilight saga, she took a break and wrote The Host. I have not read the book (which I cannot say about the Twilight series), but my wife has and she says there is much to recommend it over the Twilight saga. But it still does have some flaws.

Joe read the novel and finds it to be better than Twilight novels as well. And I’m with Joe. Given what I know from the film, I would rather spend time in the universe of The Host. But such is not…

This evening, I will rejoin Joe on the podcast after my absence last week. Clark and Joe did a great job of taking up the slack for me but I will be glad to dive back in and talk movies and stuff with Joe.

The subjects today will be The Host and G.I. Joe: Retaliation. I’m planning on giving Joe a good skewering, but we should have plenty of good stuff to talk about for Host believe it or not. I think the film is being unfairly panned because of Stephanie Meyer and the connection to the Twilight saga, which in turn is thought more poorly of than perhaps is necessary.

But in any event…

Is it May 3 yet? Because I’m ready to see this film. In this Featurette Robert Downey Jr. thinks its the most emotionally satisfying of the three.

I’m still wondering if we’re going to see a beloved character die. I won’t say which, and I hope not. We’ll find out in less than a month!

And some TV Spots.

From District 9 director Neill Blomkamp comes a new sci-fi thriller, Elysium. I can’t tell a whole lot about the plot yet, but I’m not convinced I am going to like the ultimate message of the film about equality, taking from the haves to give to the have nots, etc. But maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about yet. And it does look to be at least an entertaining science fiction film.

This film will be in theaters on August 9.

Set in the year 2159, where the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth, a man takes on a mission…

This trailer may be made of of footage we’ve largely already seen, but who of us doesn’t love a good trailer? And who’s not dying to know what Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan have in store for us with a Superman reboot?

The whole thing with the music is still bugging me. I don’t think we’ve yet heard what it’s going to sound like. And for those who don’t know, those opening notes with the voicing are a direct lift from Hans Zimmer’s Gladiator score. I hope it doesn’t sound anything like that because it would be completely wrong.

Straight from Krypton, Man of Steel flies into theaters…

Man, Universal is releasing a steady stream of these featurettes for Oblivion. They’ve been focusing on Tom Cruise, using practical effects of CG when possible, the beauty of the film and the scenery, the director Joseph Kosinski and more.

The two I have here today focus on filming on the mountain peak, Earl’s Peak, and filming on set at the New York Public Library with Tom Cruise doing most of his own stunts.

I really love the look of the work they’re doing here and I’m looking forward more and more to this film. I know I’m setting myself up for disappointment, but maybe it will live…

Atlantis writer Joseph Mallozi recently took to his blog and revealed some details about where the show would have gone in a hypothetical sixth season. He explains that, as the fifth season was wrapping up, the writers were unsure whether the show would continue with another season, or perhaps a standalone movie, or (as the case proved to be) not at all. To hedge their bets, they decided to pen a two-part season opener that could also be repurposed as a direct-to-DVD movie (to be titled Stargate: Extinction). Sadly, neither saw the light of day.

Mallozi reveals that the movie/premiere…

Leaders of Kansas’ Westboro Baptist Church, notorious for picketing at the funerals of soldiers and gay teenagers, have revealed that they plan to picket the funeral of late movie critic Roger Ebert on Monday.

In its news release, the group calls Ebert a “f-g enabler” and complains that he used his Twitter “to mock the faithful servants of God at Westboro Baptist Church.”

I’ve just about had enough of these Westboro guys. If I may speak as a Christian for a moment, they bring shame on the name of Christ and make our job that much harder. Yes Ebert was an atheist and it’s sad. And yes,…