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‘Transformers 2,’ G.I. Joe and Jason Statham all in Everyday Hero headlines

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Congrats to the Pittsburgh Steelers and welcome to a special postgame, all-video edition of the Hero Complex, your roundup of handpicked headlines from across the fanboy universe.

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE ... AGAIN: Does anybody blow it up bigger (or more often) than Michael Bay? (Just check out his truly awesome self-spoofing Verizon commercial.) Anyway, during the Super Bowl on Sunday there was a brief but, er, energetic preview of ‘Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.’ How did it look? Well, I don’t think it will be ushering in a new era in cerebral cinema BUT it did have giant alien robots on skates! Here you go ...

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UNDER THE GUN ... AGAIN: I kind of forgot there was a ‘G.I. Joe’ movie coming this year. Seriously. But there it was, a trailer for ‘G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra’ during the biggest U.S. sports broadcast of the year, with slow-motion hot chicks and dour military men making hard decisions in a hard world. The move is directed by Stephen Sommers (‘The Mummy,’ ‘Van Helsing’), which is not necessarily a great thing, but it does have Dennis Quaid as Gen. Hawk, one-time ‘Doctor Who’ star Christopher Eccleston as Destro and Ray Park as Snake Eyes. Lock and load ...

Hmmm. I know this is not the intended effect, but as I watched that ‘G.I. Joe’ trailer all I could think about was this ...

BEHIND THE WHEEL ... AGAIN: Action star Jason Statham, who has a flair for laconic exasperation, drives more sweet rides than a valet at the Four Seasons. The actor (who told the Hero Complex he wants to portray a certain Marvel superhero) has made a specialty of gas-pedal films (‘Transporter,’ ‘Transporter 2,’ ‘Transporter 3,’ ‘Death Race.’) and he’s in a great new Audi commercial that aired during the game Sunday. Here’s a look; it’s really fun ...

ON THIS DATE: Today is the 60th birthday of actor Brent Spiner, who has appeared in major films such ‘The Aviator,’ ‘Independence Day’ and, uh, ‘Dude Where’s My Car? but will be forever remembered as Mr. Data, the earnest android from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation.’ The mechanical man with the positronic brain is one of the great characters on a great series (and in four films) and with his relentless logic and sweet naivete he was a sort of yellow-eyed hybrid of ‘Mr. Spock’ and ‘Pinocchio.’ You Southern California readers have a chance to see Spiner on stage soon -- he will be starring in Man of La Mancha’ at the Freud Playhouse at UCLA beginning on Valentine’s Day and continuing through March 1. Also, the Houston native has a tricked-out personal website. Check it out. In honor of Spiner’s birthday, let’s treat our friends to a surprise rendition of ‘Blue Skies’ today ...

Thanks for reading, have a great day.

-- Geoff Boucher

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