Remember when Robert Downey Jr. was cast to play Tony Stark in IRON MAN, and everyone said how he was perfect for the role?

I wonder if the big screen will ever be big enough to fit Downey's Tony Stark and Benedict Cumberbatch's Stephen Strange at the same time--because the British actor who gave us a new SHERLOCK is absolutely spot-on as the egotistical Dr. Strange!

Out today on Blu-ray and DVD is Marvel Entertainment's DOCTOR STRANGE, directed by Scott Derrickson, and co-starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo, Rachel McAdams as Strange's estranged (no pun intended) girlfriend, Benedict Wong as Wong, and Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One. The film wastes no time showing us the character flaws as well as the innate genius of surgeon savant Dr. Stephen Strange before diving right into the accident that ruins his hands and sends him on a quest for the medical miracle to repair them.

The boys play their first Gameboy Color game on the show. What's the game? Pokemon, Zelda, Mario? ... No. It's Mr. Game And Watch Gallery 2!
_
Thanks for watching! Any view that we get is a shining moment for us but let us know how this episode made you feel because we are here to keep you entertained.

I have sometimes wondered to myself: Am I the only person in existence that still has a Beavis and Butt-Head “Final Word”” still in original package? I don’t know. But what I do know is that now, finally, the world of Beavis and Butt-Head is available in a comprehensive 12 DVD set that includes every season, the music videos, a collector’s edition of the movie “Beavis and Butt-Head Do America," the original un-cut short “Frog Baseball,” and a plethora of other extras that includes everything from VMA appearances, a Thanksgiving Special with Kurt Loder, the 95’96’ Butt-Bowls, the MTV 20^th Anniversary Special, a 2011 Comicon Panel featuring Mike Judge and moderator Johnny Knoxville, and  seemingly countless promos, montages and more.

“Avast, ye scurvy dogs, and heave to! Aye, you’ll hoist me treasure, or you’ll be sleepin’ in Davy Jones’ locker, argh!” Sigh…I think I’d have made a great pirate. I’m told I have a certain kind of intensity in my eyes, I don’t particularly like shaving, and I have a pet macaw. All I need is an ocean, a galleon and a time machine. Since I can probably only get my hook onto two of those three piratical requirements, I guess I’ll settle for the next best thing: pirate-centric community theatre! Hot on the heels of earning 16 nominations for NOISES OFF and ANNE FRANK at this year’s Arts For Life Awards, O’Fallon Theatre Works presents PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, running February 24 - March 5.

In Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Purloined Letter," the hero C. Auguste Dupin outwits the police when he is brought in to consult on a stolen letter being used for blackmail purposes. In the story, the police search an apartment where they know the letter to be hidden, checking the drapes and other unique hiding places that might conceal it. Dupin saves the day when he looks for the letter and finds it sitting out in the open, too obvious to be the object the police sought. The story is often pointed to as the epitome of the adage, "Hiding in plain sight."

2016 is the third year that Critical Blast has done our Best Of awards, but it's the first year that we've had a category for Best Video Game -- largely due to the inclusion of Game Jab as our partners in this (formerly) under-represented arena.

Now, normally, this is where we would tell straight up who the winner is, after telling you who all the other nominees were, as well as include a highly technical (and very scientific) pie chart, because nothing says statistical selection like a pie chart.

But the boys had a different idea. So click the play button below and setting in for the most anticipated awards show on the Internet! (Oscars, eat your heart out!) Because it's time for the...

TOP TEN VIDEO GAME OF 2016 COUNTDOWN

It seems like a long time ago that a television show was cancelled because executives didn't believe they could sell action figures to girls. Now, DC's Super Hero Girls have successfully pulled off something those execs never would've thought possible:

Winning "Action Figure Toy" of the year!

2016 was a great year for movies if you're into geek culture. Superheroes seemed to dominate, with DOCTOR STRANGE, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, BATMAN V. SUPERMAN, and SUICIDE SQUAD. Not counting the Marvel Cinematic Universe entries, Disney also gave us animated greats like ZOOTOPIA and MOANA, and Harry Potter fans got another helping of J.K.

Hullabaloo, a duo made up of Steve Denyes and Brendan Kremer, have been friends since kindergarten and have been successfully making children’s music for years. Now they have just released their 2nd greatest hits album, comprised of songs from five previous albums released from 2010 thru 2015.

Oddly, I found I was not familiar with their music prior to this release. I say 'oddly' because even though they play children’s music, they have sold over 30,000 records, so you would have thought I would have at least heard of them. Well that’s my bad, because after listening to it several times, the words that I found myself jotting down throughout listening to the songs that best sum up the music here are 'fun' and 'wholesome.'

This is the type of children’s music you don’t have to worry about whether it’s suitable or not...this is music for kids no matter how young.

For those of you excited to see Marvel's IRON FIST on Netflix on March 17th, but worried that once you binge the season there's nothing to hold you over, just breathe. There's some reading material being made available in March.

For a casual observer of Iron Fist, I've always been intrigued by the character. Having never picked up a comic book though, I've followed his legend more than the actual story. In March, Marvel is giving fans an opportunity to jump in on the ground floor with an exciting new series.

Not since M. Night Shyamalan's SIGNS has there been an alien encounter story as sedate as Denis Villeneuve's ARRIVAL. It's an apt comparison, because the audience is mislead by nonlinear storytelling, beginning before the arrival of the aliens and the film's leading lady's encounter with them.

Amy Adams plays Louis Banks, a master linguist who has helped the U.S. Army on past occassions with translations. When a dozen alien ships arrive and park themselves around the planet, the Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) brings her in to assist mathematician Ian Donnelly (JEREMY RENNER) to somehow communicate with these aliens so we can find out what they want.

In the previous episode, we ended with the arrival of Jesse Quick (VIOLETT BEANE) from Earth 2 with the message that her father, Harrison Wells (TOM CAVANAGH) had been kidnapped by Grodd and taken to Gorilla City. So now we know that Gorilla City is on Earth 2. He was invited there via a mathematical cryptogram (apparently Grodd is taking notes on how Team Flash recruits other Wellses from across the multiverse), but the team that accompanied him went missing, and all searchers found were their bones.

Continuing our series of announcements from our Best of 2016 Readers' Poll, we approach the Best Actor of 2016.

The nominees for this award included Tilda Swinton (DOCTOR STRAGE), Jesse Eisenberg (BATMAN V. SUPERMAN), Chris Evans (CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR), Kate McKinnon (GHOSTBUSTERS), Eddie Redmayne (FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM), Ben Affleck (BATMAN V. SUPERMAN), Jeff Bridges (HELL OR HIGH WATER), and Benedict Cumberbatch (DOCTOR STRANGE).

None of these heroes (or villains) however were able to surmount the huge turnout of reader ballots that lapdanced their way across the lap of that Merc with a Mouth, the unkillable killer, Deadpool, portrayed with perfect smartass attitude and comedic style by Ryan (Green Who?) Reynolds!

Zach is feeling a little down and depressed because he didn't make very much progress lately, and then along come this big mole who just won't die.

Zach get so angry.

Last night's episode of SUPERGIRL explored Valentine's Day through the eyes of many of it's characters. While the title villain Mr. Mxyzptlk sought Kara's hand in marriage, one former romantic interest was mysteriously missing.

The absence of James Olsen only confirms my thoughts that, while moving him into the role of 'Guardian', the show just isn't quite sure what to do with his character. That's not to say they haven't given him a lot to do, running Cat Co is quite a chore, but a lot of what he does takes him away from the central plot of the season.

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s weekly look at what new comics you should check out each week.   Just a warning, I make these picks pretty much a week BEFORE I actually get to read any of these comics, so if something is a stinker, I take no blame on that.  Let's get to it!

Comics shipping this week

A streak has been broken. While CW's THE FLASH has taken this award for 2014 and 2015, the so-called Fastest Man Alive gets beaten this year by a horde of shamblers.

When I saw the covers for Darkrose Studios' TREADWATER graphic novels, I knew exactly what I was getting into. Skin tight suits, strange flying crafts, mid-air explosions. Surely this was a space opera war along the lines of Michael Tierney's WILD STARS or Van Allen Plexico's LUCIAN.

I could not have been further off, at least in setting if not in flavor.

Continuing our series of announcements for all the Best of 2016, as voted on by the readers of CriticalBlast.com, we come to our Best Television Actor of 2016 award.

Among the nominees, the CW made a powerful, powerful showing. Nominated for this award were both Carlos Valdes and Grant Gustin for their roles on THE FLASH, Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards for their work on ARROW, and last year's winner, Melissa Benoist, for SUPERGIRL. Also in the running this year were Kit Harrington for GAME OF THRONES, Thandie Newton for WESTWORLD, and -- Sweet Christms! -- LUKE CAGE made a last minute entry, garnering Mike Colter a nomination for that series!

The boys play BATMAN RETURNS for the SNES, and things get heated! No seriously: there's a level where you are surrounded by fire!
_
Thanks for watching! Any view that we get is a shining moment for us but let us know how this episode made you feel because we are here to keep you entertained.