JJ and his amazing friend Elizabeth have not seen Man Of Steel, yet, (well as of the recording anyway, they have as of this posting…it’s like time travel!) but that does not stop them from analyzing what makes ol’ Supes tick. They even touch on a debate at least a decade in the making-feel free to join in. Then the pair move in to one of JJ’s favorite segments “What awesome books has Elizabeth read lately?” Warren Ellis is highly recommended, some stereotypical white people books…not so much.

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Winds of change. It’s not just a move by Wade Barrett. This past week has seen a near upheaval of change within the WWE. So many turns, people don’t know their heels from their faces. I thought it an opportune time to do a report of where we are right now.

- Daniel Bryan is carrying the company.

Who would have seen that coming? D-Bry has been stealing the show for a couple months now but WWE have not been subtle with how much they’re relying on him. Every week on both RAW and Smackdown the amount of focus and match time he has been getting has been unparalleled.

The crowd reaction has been insane too. I can’t remember a wrestler getting as big a pop as him since CM Punk dropped his pipe-bomb three years ago and even then it wasn’t as unanimous as the love for Bryan is. He’s got every arena in the palm of his hands and JBL is almost masturbating on mic during his matches.

It’s all incredibly deserved success and I hope it continues. With his match being called short on RAW I think it shows just how valuable the heads backstage think he is. They were more willing to cut a big match short and protect Bryan than risk injuring him. Daniel was clearly happy to carry on and I believe Randy has the experience to be able to look after him out there but backstage panicked and I think that speaks volumes.

It seems we’re all extremely glad he’s OK.

- Returns, Returns, Returns

There had been so many injuries of late, it allowed a lot of the younger talent to get some longer air-time. However, WWE still doesn’t trust (or like) some of its talent enough to give them any matches at all. I’m looking at you, Ryder. It seems they feel they need some bigger, more established names so I’m sure they were thrilled to welcome back Punk, Christian and Mark Henry from injury.

Mark particularly impressed me with his wonderful retirement fake-out. I didn’t know he had those acting chops in him! Pork chops, sure… Anyway, I jumped off my couch when he slammed Cena. Henry is one of my favourite heels and I wasn’t aware that he has never held the WWE title. I don’t think he’ll be able to pry it away from Cena right now but I can’t wait to see him fight for it.

Rob Van Dam is back in the frame too. Much like Punk, we will have to pay to see his return. I wasn’t particularly impressed with his work in TNA so hopefully he isn’t over-the-hill yet. I wonder if he’ll team up with anyone. It wouldn’t hurt to let Heyman manage him but I’d be surprised if they make RVD a heel on his comeback. These are just random thoughts on my behalf, folks.

- Good or bad?

Ok, so here are three major heel/face turns that I can gauge from the past week.

1) Punk is now a face.
2) Ziggler is now a face.
3) Del Rio is now a heel.

Of course, these things happen all the time, but those three particularly pleased me as they were crucial to moving the company forward.

Both Punk and Ziggler were too popular to continue as heels. If someone is going to be the bad guy, half the crowd cheering you on is a problem. This allows for bigger crowd reactions now as they utilize two of their best talents in a more sensible vein.

Del Rio never worked as a face. He was always best as a smug bad guy. Even when he smiles he looks evil. He’s much more enjoyable when he’s cheating than when he’s desperately trying to win over a crowd with terrible promos. I couldn’t be happier about the change.

- Do you believe in The Shield yet?

Much like Daniel Bryan, The Shield have been making the lives of the show writers a hell of a lot easier.

Don’t know what to do with a top wrestler? Feud him with The Shield.
Need a main event? 6 man tag match with 3 random wrestlers against The Shield.
Don’t know how to end a match? Send in The Shield.

They’re the Swiss army knives of the WWE. The bonus is they’re killing it in the ring. Amazing match after amazing match. It hasn’t hurt that D-Bry has been in most of those matches with them, but make no mistake, these guys can carry it on their own too. They’ve been a massive highlight this year, and while we’re only half way through 2013, its theirs as long as the writers don’t mess it up.

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As I recently said to Mars Needs’ own Elizabeth, LEGO has taken on this weird form of parody in recent times, with all the LEGO games and what-not, that I really enjoy and this movie builds on that in a massive way.

The first thing I really have to address is the animation. HO-LEE-BALLS, that is some crackin’ CGI. Not only is it pretty but the animators have obviously gone above and beyond to make the characters, surroundings and textures look like LEGO. It’s so good, it looks like stop-motion at times and that goes a long way to add a real-world feel to it. The LEGO games have characters bend and flex in a way that minifigures cannot but here they move how a minifigure does with only slight gestures added in to give them more emotion, it’s really astonishing! The production and casting is also star-studded, with directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21 Jump Street, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) and Chris McKay (Robot Chicken), the animators Animal Logic (Happy Feet, 300) and an all-star cast which we will get into but first, go check out the trailer already!

Block-Head

Immediately, we’re introduced to Emmet (Chris Pratt, who will be Star-Lord in Marvel’s Guardians of The Galaxy) He’s an average minifigure; not a superhero, brave knight or cowboy, just an average construction worker minifigure who is believed to be a Master Buidler by the old mystic, Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman!). He’s a bumbler but very likable right from the get-go.

♫~She’s a BRICK… House!~♫

I had to work The Commodores in somewhere and this movie obliged with the “tough female” lead, Lucy (Voiced by Elizabeth Banks). I really like her design and hope there’ll be some tie-in minifigures you can get of the characters.

World Building

In a surprising move, this isn’t just a world filled with generic LEGO people but a world inhabited by minifigures from throughout LEGO history. DC Superheroes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Minifigure Collection, Space, Castle, and dozens of others are present in many of the scenes. I’ll be surprised if any Marvel Superheroes make an appearance though considering this is a Warner Bros. flick.

Guest-starring Batman!
Yup, Batman (Voiced by Arrested Development‘s Will Arnett) joins our motley crew as they try to stop Mr Business (Will Ferrel) and Bad Cop (Liam Neeson) from destroying the universe by gluing the world together. I swear I’m not making that up!

It’s no shock that I’m excited for this movie. It’s funny, charming, well produced and chock-full character and I hope it does well at the box office. You can expected to see a fully assembled The LEGO Movie in theatres Febuary 2014

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This is the official press release from the Licensing International Expo:

Saban Brands announced today that it will launch Saban’s Power Rangers Super Megaforce, the newest season of Power Rangers, in 2014 on Nickelodeon. Power Rangers, one of the top rated and longest running boys live-action series in television history, offers SUPER MEGA action, excitement, humor and entertainment, while maintaining core themes of friendship, teamwork, fitness and helping others.

“As Saban Brands and Power Rangers celebrate the 20^th Anniversary of the iconic franchise this year, it is more apparent than ever that the show has a strong connection to fans of all ages and backgrounds,” said Elie Dekel, President of Saban Brands. “We are happy to continue our partnership with Nickelodeon and we look forward to entertaining our fans with more action-packed, SUPER MEGA adventures in 2014 with Power Rangers Super Megaforce.”

The upcoming season of Power Rangers Super Megaforce focuses on the Rangers’ mission to defeat a massive alien army Armada that was sent to conquer Earth. To face this threat, Gosei, a supernatural guardian who has protected Earth for centuries, gives the Rangers special morphers and keys, which allow them to morph into Super Megaforce Rangers. The Rangers also have an added special ability to morph into any team of Power Rangers from the past. These super-sized adventures can only mean one thing: the all-new Power Rangers Super Megaforce has arrived!

But you’re not interested in promotional spin, you want to know who these Legends are that I referred to! The tale of returning Rangers has been one long debacle but Saban settled on 13 Legends to return for the Anniversary! They’re an interesting bunch with some interesting surprises.

What do you guys think? Have you been following Super Megaforce during production? What do you make of the returning Legends and the adaptation of a much beloved Sentai series? Let me know in the comments below!

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Lord Dickbag
Heeeyyyyy, it’s THIS GUY.… You know the one. The one from the book! Fine, I admit it, I know something in the region of Eff and All about Middle Earth and it’s inhabitants. I’ve never read any of the books! This guy looks pretty evil though! Look at him, with his eyebrows… Insidious. Lord Elrond was a pretty cool guy in the last one so I have to assume that this guy will be an immense dickbag.

My Old Balls
Damn, Thorin is looking old as balls. He’s all greying and shit, I’m guessing this is going for more of a realistic timeframe for the quest than the week it seemed to take in LoTR. Some of the other dwarves look noticeably older too or at least more haggard.

“With special guest appearance!”
Legolas? Was Legolas in The Hobbit? I don’t think he was, I remember someone telling me Legolas and Gimli were going to make appearances in the movies, despite not being in the book. He seems a little more blood-thirsty in this one and less the jokester we know. He’s got weird eyes too, yo!

Dem ears, gurl!
Legolas’s partner in archery, Tauriel seems to kick all kinds of ass. That’s pretty much all I have to say about her. Apart from she’s really pretty~

A Barrel of Laughs
That is the best joke I could make for this article.

Duck Tales
Woo-Hoo! (Okay, that was kinda funny)

Smauglock
Benedict Cumberbatch finally makes a full appearance as Smaug and damn, he’s a big’un! I honestly didn’t expect the dragon to be THAT big. It’ll be fun to see more of him in action when the movie hits.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is due in theatres 13th December 2013. I cannot wait!

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With the big E3 presentations done and dusted, now seems like an opportune time to explain why it is that I’ve forsaken the pixelated path of video games and wandered into the analogue forests of table top gaming (spoiler: It’s not because I trod in dog poo.)

It all began with Public Domain games. You browsed a catalogue of games you’d never heard of, threw a few quid at the most likely ones, then obsessively waited by the letterbox until a packet of 3.5″ floppy discs poked through and hit you smartly on the bridge of your nose. This was amateur night: indie games circa 1995 and while the technology has changed, this is still where the most exciting, creative or downright weird stuff seems to appear. With the bigger game studios acting all conservative, perhaps showing a little ankle once in a while, indie games are still unafraid to perform nude cartwheels, then discuss it with you afterwards – perhaps over a cup of tea.

The problem I have with modern mainstream video games is simply that – for the most part – they bore me stupid. In a virtual realm with infinite possibilities to create anything you want – even a 50ft, solid gold, eagle-winged kneecap – worlds are being created that are largely unimaginative. Board games are bursting with new ideas, even when a theme is well-worn (such as the ever present pop-geek trinity of space/fantasy/zombies) a game can surprise you with its ideas or the angle it’s coming from. There are games which de-construct how a game is supposed to work, redefining playing spaces, rules or goals. There are video games which are so dizzyingly great that they’ll blow my tiny mind. Games that work outside the formula and deliver something to really think about – like the black-humoured brain-bend of Portal - but they remain very much in the minority. In short, board games are to me what mainstream video games just aren’t any more; interesting, unusual and FUN.

You know, FUN? Like Audit: The Tax Game? Ok, bad example…

Board gaming for me is about that buzz of discovering something new and – even better – being able to then share it with a whole bunch of people, preferably in a pub. It’s about the interactions, be it physically moving the game bits around, or that satisfyingly tactile rattle of a dice roll. It’s about sharing time with friends in the same room, or even psychological interactions as you suss out your opponents, or successfully bluff your way to victory. Playing board games is creative; stories unwind, people laugh or curse their luck (or their fellow players) and people – friends or strangers – play together and that’s something priceless. Well, until someone loses and gets all sulky.

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JJ and his amazing friend Jason are here to give you the entertainments. Well, one of us has entertainments, and the other warns you of horrid ones. If you come away from one thing this week it is that you should read Jason’s new strip THE DUNCE CORNER. There is also some stuff about a certain crappy flick with a flaming skeleton and perhaps a little rant about a company who has no personal responsibility. But all that is secondary. Dunce Corner. Look at it. Live it. Love it. Do it now.

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Hello and welcome back to DOOM!’s exploration of the Comic Book film genre hosted by Aaron Poole and JJ Hawkins. This month we begin our second year here at TDIOD as we look at Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy. Well, people, this one is interesting as it is a good movie. Yep. Not much to say other than that it is a really good movie.

So how are you?

Good, good.

How’s that local sports team, and the weather where you live?

Yeah, been a lot of that lately.

Hellboy. Really good movie.

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Anywho (no pun intended. Unless you chuckled, then yes, completely intended), here’s my take on alternative actors to play the soon-to-be twelfth incarnation of Doctor Who!

Bruce Campbell

Sonic boomstick and chainsaw, anyone? ANYONE?! His companion went bad so he had to lop off her wris—what? Children’s show? Oh. Gotcha. Hmmf!

Maranda Hart

No one can fall over or break the fourth wall better than this lady.

Bill Bailey

He’s very funny, and quirky. Plus, he thinks Babylon 5 is a big pile of sh—-awshank redemption.

Dawn French

LOVES puddles, has charm. Could produce some nicely delivered one-liners.

Keith Lemon

Has a celebrity friend called Holly Willa-boobies. Imagine that as a companion’s name. And no, I shan’t photoshop her. Perv.

Simon Pegg & Nick Frost

Fried gold? Bow ties, fezzes and… cornettos?

Who else?

Do you have any other alternative suggestions? Send them in, to our Bookface page, tweet us or myself – if we chuckle-fart, even a little –  we’ll be sure to post them up!

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