LEGO® DIMENSIONS™_20150703082142

Have you ever been playing Portal and wondered how The Doctor would do in Aperture Science? Thanks to Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment now you can find out. LEGO Dimensions announced at San Diego Comic-Con the upcoming inclusion of Doctor Who. It is the first time Doctor Who has ever been in a LEGO videogame.

The stars of the BBC America show have lent their voices to their respective characters in the game as well. Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, and Michelle Gomez have all brought their Doctor Who personas to LEGO life in Dimensions. The game is truly a mash-up of worlds. The TARDIS could pop up in Gotham City or The Doctor could ride along with Scooby and Shaggy.

As is seen in the trailer, all twelve doctors are included in Dimensions. In fact, LEGO has pulled out all the stops to please Whovians. When the Twelfth Doctor is defeated in a level, he returns as the First Doctor and then continues regenerating back up to Twelve. The TARDIS interior changes depending on which Doctor is “alive” but can also be manually chosen by the player. A jukebox inside the TARDIS allows players to select different versions of the Doctor Who theme music.

Guardians of the Galaxy is the summer blockbuster I’ve been waiting for for longer than I can remember.

The usual adjectives of effusive praise are appropriate: funny, clever, touching, and, of course, fun. While Marvel Studios has certainly found the formula for successful films, they’ve been progressively more and more serious and, worse, self-important. Guardians has the good sense to mock itself and its concept, which is likely due in large part to its star, Parks & Recreation‘s Chris Pratt, and writer/director James Gunn (Slither), and perhaps almost as large a part being that it’s relatively free of the Marvel Universe around which every other film it’s made snugly revolves. I doubt we’d see even Tony Stark using a space-rat as a make-believe microphone, especially in the first two minutes.

So Gunn and Pratt bring a delightfully refreshing sense of self deprecation to their film, Pratt playing the somewhat well-known Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord, intergalactic swashbuckler. The promotional writeups describe him as a mix of Han Solo and Marty McFly, but I think Indiana Jones may be more appropriate, since they’re both adept at getting into and out of particularly sticky situations.

This time Star-Lord has snatched an orb of potentially unimaginable power, which puts him in the sights of nearly everyone across the galaxy, from assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana) to planetary ravager Ronan (Lee Pace) to Yondu (Michael Rooker), Star-Lord’s kind-of adopted father, to genetically modified raccoon Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and his Ent-ian-ish pal Groot (Vin Diesel). After a three-way battle on the universal capital planet, the four are imprisoned and…blah, blah, blah. They team up, everyone tries to kill them, and so on.

Ben Miller is set to star as a villain in a Doctor Who episode penned by Mark Gatiss. It will be the actor’s first role on the British juggernaut, which returns later this year.

“As a committed Whovian, I cannot believe my luck in joining the Twelfth Doctor for one of his inaugural adventures,” Miller said. “My only worry is that they’ll make me leave the set when I’m not filming.”

Rumors are swirling that Miller may be playing the Sheriff of Nottingham, or some Whovian iteration of the famous baddie. Last week, Tom Riley was cast in an upcoming Doctor Who episode and many are assuming he will be playing Robin Hood. The same rumors are naming other another recently announced guest star, Ian Hallard, as playing merry man, Alan-A-Dale.

For now, BBC America has not confirmed any role for Miller, except as a “storming villain” to go against Peter Capaldi’s Doctor. Best known for being one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller, the actor was recently seen in BBC’s Death in Paradise as DI Richard Poole. Interestingly, Miller’s comedic partner, Alexander Armstrong, already had a stint on Doctor Who, appearing in the 2011 Christmas Special as Reg Arwell.

X-Files fans know “the truth is out there” and now they can find it themselves. IDW Games announced today the upcoming release of The X-Files board game.

Designed by Kevin Wilson, best known for Arkham Horror and Civilization, The X-Files board game uses material from the first three seasons of the TV show. Players team up in groups of two to five to investigate strange phenomenon and battle the “Monsters of the Week.” They will also fight against another player who controls the Cigarette Smoking Man and the Syndicate. Gallery and comic book artist menton3 provided both art direction and the box art for the game.

“To me, there’s no more exciting title than The X-Files,” Jerry Bennington, IDW Director of New Business, said. “Who wouldn’t want the chance to play as the wise cracking Fox Mulder or the incredibly intelligent Dana Scully?”

The X-Files board game, made in collaboration with Pandasaurus Games, will be available this July at the suggested retail price of $59.99.

We hope you’re enjoying Syfy’s new sci-fi horror series Helix as much as we are. We really like it. It’s good. If you haven’t had a chance to catch it yet, now is the perfect time. Why?

Well, the network is having a marathon of the first five episodes starting tomorrow night. That should get you caught up enough to watch the brand new episode airing on Friday.

Of course, we have previews for all of this to share with you right now. Check them out, as usual, after the break.

Helix airs Fridays at 10/9C on Syfy. Look for the episode 1-5 marathon at 6/5C on Thursday.

New Doctor means new clothes. The Twelfth Doctor is getting into the Whovian swing of things by choosing an outfit all his own. BBC America has released the first image of Doctor Who actor Peter Capaldi in what will likely be his signature costume.

At first glance, Calpaldi’s look is old school with a bit of modern flair. While there is no bowtie or extra long scarf or Converse shoes to stand out, the clothes do fit the man. As Capaldi said, “He’s woven the future from the cloth of the past. Simple, stark, and back to basics. No frills, no scarf, no messing, just 100 per cent Rebel Time Lord.”

Of course all Whovians know that the Doctor’s outfit usually has a story behind it but fans will have to wait until later this year to learn how and why the Twelfth Doctor picked his costume. The specifics of the outfit, according to BBC America, are: a dark blue Crombie coat with red lining, dark blue trousers, a white shirt and black Doc Marten shoes.

There’s a lack of great Sci-Fi shows on TV these days. Sure, occasionally, one comes along, but for the most part, you don’t really see them much, or if you do, they don’t seem to last very long. The new show Helix on Syfy is both great and one we hope lasts a long time.

Coming from Exec. Producer Ron Moore (of Battlestar Galactica fame) and created by Cameron Porsandeh, the debut of the show was one of the most highly rated premieres on Syfy in its history. A new episode airs tonight and we, of course, have a preview of it for you.

In this one we see how things are going for the team sent to investigate a series of bizarre and deadly incidents at a remote research station. Needless to say, things don’t go as planned. In fact, things go really, really bad.

Helix, which stars Billy Campbell, Hiroyuki Sanada, Kyra Zagorsky and Mark Ghanimé airs tonight at 10/9C on SyFy. Check out the preview after the break.

Before seeing the film, I had a study group session, and one of my buddies in our group mentioned that he had read several of the book’s in Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game series. He said the theme was empathy, and, outside of that and the hubbub surrounding Card’s controversial comments on same-sex marriage, was about the only thing I knew going into the film.

And now, having seen it, I can see bits of that theme peeking through, but ultimately director Gavin Hood (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) appears to have traded depth for spectacle.

In the semi-distant future, following an attack by an alien species known as the Formics, the countries of Earth have placed their best and brightest in the International Fleet academy, a military training ground that’s preparing for the next potential invasion.  A. E. Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) a precocious youngster with a talent for strategy, is put through a series of tests administered by Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford), a tough commander who nonetheless sees Ender as the one to ultimately lead the fleet to victory. Overcoming loneliness and antagonism from his peers, Ender continually proves himself through a gauntlet of war games, all throughout questioning the true intentions of his leaders.

Entertainment wise, Ender’s Game delivers. The various war games provide a fun parade of sequences for Hood to show how Ender outsmarts nigh-impossible odds (though, for all his apparent brilliance, Ender’s solutions do seem to rack up the casualties), particularly with one scene involving a weightless battle sphere. The cadets compete against each other to make it through the other team’s gate without getting shot by the opposing players’ tag-guns.

Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary will truly be celebrated worldwide. BBC America has announced that the special episode, “The Day of the Doctor,” will air simultaneously across the globe in at least 75 countries and spanning six continents.

“Few TV shows can still lay claim to being appointment viewing but Doctor Who takes this to another level,” Tim Davie, CEO of BBC Worldwide, said. “In its 50th Anniversary year we wanted to create a truly international event for Doctor Who fans in as many countries as possible and the simultaneous broadcast and cinema screening of the special across so many countries will make for a fitting birthday tribute to our Time Lord.”

The list of countries airing the special at the same time as the UK include the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Colombia and many more. Additional countries are expected to be added over the next month. BBC America is also set to announce soon select 3D screenings of the special episode in U.S. theaters.

Hey Oncers, it’s finally that time again. Let’s get started.

We begin with a flashback to Henry’s birth, which is emotional and painful (for viewers and for Emma). At least Jennifer Morrison has plenty of experience with this kind of thing. Emma doesn’t even want to hold baby Henry but just wait 11 years Chosen One and you’ll be falling through a magic portal on board a pirate ship to rescue your son from Peter Pan.

That’s where we pick up in present day, with the Jolly Roger splashing into Neverland waters. Meanwhile the boy in question lands in the sand with Greg and Tamara in tow. Henry tells the annoying duo that both of his moms and all of his extended family are coming to find him. Greg and Tamara are unimpressed, which makes sense since this same top notch family were unable to prevent them from easily taking the kid in the first place.

They try to phone the home office but their communicator is chock full of sand. Henry switches tactics and plants seeds of doubt regarding this mysterious “home office.” Greg doesn’t take the bait but Tamara isn’t so sure. Her suspicions are confirmed when they run into the Lost Boys, who apparently are the home office.

That’s right. The franchise that just keeps coming back whether it is through sequels or 3D rereleases, Jurassic Park has been something we haven’t been able to get away from since we saw Martin Ferrero get eaten off of a toilet by a TRex. Twenty two years following the release of the original film (and a full quarter century since the original novel’s release), Jurassic Park will be coming back, this time as Jurassic World.

On June 12th, 2015, Jurassic World will kick off the summer blockbusters that follow the release of The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Formerly known only as Jurassic Park IV, Jurassic World’s script is being penned by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver who wrote 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes while it is directed by Colin Trevorrow who directed Safety Not Guaranteed. Though the writing of the team seems to support what Jurassic World is looking for, Trevorrow has some lofty shoes to fill from Spielberg’s original Jurassic Park even though the two sequels fell on less favorable reviews and adoration.

I recently wrote about Loot Crate, the company that is supplying geeks and gamers with a box of swag every month. To find out first hand whether the subscription service lives up to the hype, I got the July crate to review.

Part of the fun of the crate is definitely the mystery. I was nearly giddy with excitement when opening it, like a kid on Christmas morning. The first thing I saw upon unboxing was Star Wars earbuds. Immediately I knew I was in for a good haul. Next came a Thor Pez dispenser and then a Sonic the Hedgehog air freshener, which has a pleasing floral scent to it.

As I progressed, the crate’s theme became clear. Whether to coincide with Geek Week on YouTube (August 4-11) or VidCon 2013 (August 1-3) or because popular web series Video Game High School (VGHS) began its second season on July 26th, this crate was perfectly themed around VGHS. Included was the entire first season of the show on DVD and a set of buttons portraying the different schools (e.g. Adventure and Discovery or Speed and Control).