Henry V

Director: Laurence Olivier

1945

“Henry V was regarded by the British government as ideal patriotic wartime propaganda, and Laurence Olivier, serving in the Fleet Air Arm, was released to star in it and – after William Wyler had turned it down – to direct it as well.” (195, Phillip Kemp, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) There’s something just too clean about the whole production, especially the battle scenes. This could be due to the fact that it was intended as a morale booster during World War II and showing any sort of realistic battle scenes would have hit a little too close to home. Censorship is also at play here as well as you don’t actually get to see the kiss between Henry and Princess Katherine of France. I also find the King of France, played by Harcourt Williams, a very wishy-washy character with no substance to him whatsoever. Again I guess this could be a subtle comment on the French given the time in which the film was made.

“The rhythm of Shakespeare’s text, discreetly trimmed to fit the war effort – the three English traitors are dropped, for a start – is buoyed up by the visor of Olivier’s barnstorming performance and William Walton’s sweeping score.” (195) I’m actually not a fan of Walton’s sweeping score – the sound quality is somewhat lacking but that could be due to the age of the film itself rather than the actual score. And in actual fact it is really quite a distraction during the battle scenes. They don’t seem to spend any time developing the lesser characters like Pistol (Robert Newton) and Fluellen (Esmond Knight) which is a bit of a shame as they can be such brilliant and hilarious characters. Fluellen especially seems to be a caricature  of a Welsh man and strangely seems to be the only person with an accent in the entire film!

The portrayal of the Globe is surprisingly close to what they recreated on Southbank which is astounding in 1945 as it is long before Sam Wanamaker dreamed up rebuilding the great theatre. It is almost but not quite right given that there are no pillars on the stage – and yet it still brought a smile to my face. Shakespeare belongs to that place and always feels right when set in that wonderful Wooden O. The opening scenes of the play are played for laughs which is unusual. Clever transition between the stage and the actual locations but the sets are now quite laughable when looked at through today’s standards. Some scenes still have that enclosed feeling of having been shot in a studio. And the landscapes are quite noticeably models thanks to the lack of any natural movement and some strange perspectives. There are moments when the extras really do just look like men in tights.

Now I’m going to confess something … Laurence Olivier is not my favourite portrayal of Henry. I know, I know he is lauded as the greatest performance of the well-known king but he’s not even close to my favourite. That title goes to Jamie Parker for his performance as Henry V in the 2012 Globe production, directed by Dominic Dromgoole, but then Jamie holds a special place in my heart as I saw that production as often as I could over that summer. Olivier is a little bit too feminine and too pronounced for my liking. There is something about having the St Crispin’s Day speech given to you live that stays with you. Indeed I think that speech is one that needs to be done in front of a live audience to have the proper impact. I am massive Tom Hiddleston fan but even his performance in The Hollow Crown falls a bit flat yet was blown away by the video of him performing on the Mark Hoppus talk show. There is that energy that I was talking about that makes it my favourite Shakespearean monologue of all time!

“Henry V is the first Shakespeare film that succeeds in being at once truly Shakespearean and wholly cinematic.” (195) While it may be the first film that managed to be both Shakespeare and cinematic it is definitely not the last as there have been some spectacular Shakespearean films – usually directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh like Much Ado About Nothing (1993), although my favourite is without a shadow of a doubt Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo + Juliet (1996). Now if you excuse me I will be off to watch the best version of Henry V – that is the Globe production from 2012.

Kong: Skull Island

Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts

Nominated for: Best Visual Effects

I’m not really a monster movie fan so I wouldn’t normally choose to watch a King Kong movie. But I am a Hiddleston fan … and as much sister is always telling me is I’m very shallow and quite often watch films just because they have someone I like in them. Kong: Skull Island was fantastic! I kind of knew it was going to be visually stunning before the film even came out as when we were at Universal Studios a couple of years ago they had just finished the ride and the visuals of that were awesome. The scale of the ride was epic so ultimately I knew that the film it was based on would also be larger than life.

Jordan Vogt-Roberts made a conscious decision to have the film set at the tail end of the Vietnam War and was heavily influenced by Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979) I mean my dad came in and after watching roughly 30 seconds of the film guessed that it was set around the Vietnam War. The lighting, the score and some of the set pieces echo Apocalypse Now which helps to situate the film in a specific period of history. And it’s not just the technical aspects of the film that are influenced by the Vietnam War but also the narrative. The team of soldiers assigned to assist the scientific expedition, led by Samuel L. Jackson’s Packard, are very much products of their recent environments and the experiences they went through. They definitely have a “shoot first, ask questions later” mentality about them which is rather a saddening thought. Because of their time in what has come to be recognised as a hellish war they’re completely blinded to the beauty and incredible nature of the island around them … at least at the beginning anyway. Samuel L. Jackson’s Packard is your stereotypical bad-ass army man who has let the power of command go to his head. His priorities have become skewed thanks to the war and he’s actually one of the most dangerous characters in the film – far more dangerous than the majority of the monsters inhabiting the island.

John C. Reilly is hilarious in this as the marooned World War II US soldier. He’s been stuck on this island for almost 30 years with an enemy, in the form of a Japanese soldier downed at the same time, and a native tribe of people who remain silent throughout. To say it’s left him with the inability to recognise if he’s speaking out loud is an understatement – he also has no filter which is brilliant. There is a sadness to his reaction when he asks whether they won the War only to be answered with “which one?” I also love the banter between him and Slivko as Cubs and Tigers fans, respectively, as by the time Kong: Skull Island was released Cubs had finally managed to not only get to, but win, a World Series. As I’ve mentioned before I’m something of a Tom Hiddleston fan and it was really enjoyable to see him in a pure action hero role – he’s not the antagonist for once (that’s not to say that I don’t love him when he’s being the truly antagonistic Loki because well … what’s not to love about Loki?!)

Brie Larson is awesome in this as Weaver, the war photographer embedded with Packard’s squad. At first glance she’s there to fulfil the beauty aspect of the classic ’twas beauty killed the beast that is associated with the King Kong legacy. But she is so much more than that. She is a real kick-ass female character who is about as far from being a damsel in distress as you can get. She is much more one of the boys and gets stuck in with all the rest of them. My absolute favourite part about her character is that the camera not only works but also had real film in at all times while they were shooting. All of those photos were taken by Larson – she’s got an incredible eye! And they really do bring to mind military photos – particularly ones from that era – there’s a strong resemblance to the work of Don McCullin. I mean sure there may be a giant skeleton behind them which is a bit incongruous once taken out of the context of the film but otherwise they could be straight out of recent history. Larson’s Weaver also has some genuinely touching moments with Kong – she is definitely the one who connected with him the most.

Kong is absolutely stunning!! The level of detail in his creation is outstanding and holds up under very close scrutiny as there are a number of close-ups on his face … which is so very expressive. And a large part of that is due to the skill of Terry Notary in bringing him to life through motion-capture. He is very much a protector in this film – displaying it on a number of occasions particularly the scene where he effortlessly lifts a downed helicopter off a giant wildebeest. Kong has the ability to switch from brutality to gentleness instantaneously evidenced in the fight scene with the skull crawler where he takes the time to rescue Weaver. The Skull Crawlers are the stuff of nightmares – they are hideous and seriously creepy looking. Perfect adversaries for Kong. I really liked that there was an obvious respect for Kong – and not just from the scientists on the expedition who you could argue are predisposed to look at new discoveries with open eyes. Indeed this respect counteracts the arrogance with which the whole expedition first arrives on the island.

I love the ending even if it is a very sentimental one – it’s one that brings a lump to my throat every time I watch it. Now I’m a film fan and it’s rare that I watch a film and don’t find something that I like about it – I just enjoying watching films of any sort – but my dad is much more selective in what he views and ultimately likes. You couldn’t really say that he watched Kong: Skull Island out of choice as I was monopolizing the shared living room but he actually rather enjoyed it I think. He certainly watched the entire thing and didn’t leave which is much more of a recommendation than me saying I loved it is (as I tend to love everything)

 

I suck I know …

I seem to spend my life apologizing for being rubbish at updating my blog and yet here comes another one. Real life kind of took over with a new job rearing its head along with rehearsals for a new show and more recently the 2015 Rugby World Cup (the only world cup that matters in my view!) which has come to dominate my free time despite England’s somewhat disastrous performance (the less said about that the better!)

Although I had a couple of months downtime between ending one contract and starting the new job and good intentions of making a dent in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die this sadly never came to fruition and instead I ended up trying to get my room back into something resembling a living space (following an epic leaky roof this time last year – and I’m still not completely unpacked though the end is in sight thank goodness!)

While I have watched a couple of films for the blog I must confess I have been rather lazy when it comes to actually writing up my thoughts on them. I have still been watching films, though not with nearly the same frequency, and have seen some truly awful ones (50 Shades of Gray, 2015, Sam Taylor-Wood), some that are so bad they’re good and guilty pleasures (Magic Mike XXL, 2015, Gregory Jacobs) and then some beautiful films like Macbeth (2015, Justin Kurzel). 50 Shades was always going to be a difficult film as the leading man, Christian Gray, is going to be so different in everyone’s head (mine’s Michael Fassbender by the way) so I wasn’t surprised when I found the film to be somewhat lack lustre. I think Jamie Dornan is a wonderful actor, just not in this – he is in no way the Christian Gray I had envisioned and I found that bizarrely he lacked any sex appeal. The ages are all wrong too – Anna looks much older than she is in the books and way older than Christian where as Christian looked much younger than his description in the books … and yes I’m aware this is me confessing to having read the books, well the first one at least. All in all it just didn’t work for me and I still can’t believe it was as popular as it turned out to be. The creative talent behind it did not rate warrant its box office success!

And then on the flip side I recently saw Macbeth which is breathtakingly beautiful – and not just because Michael Fassbender is the doomed Scottish King though is did certainly help. Macbeth seems to have been received extremely well on the festival circuit and by the critics and I can understand why. I’m not sure though that it will do as well in its general public release. Now I’m a fan of Shakespeare and will quite happily sit through any of his plays but there are many who would be put off by Shakespeare which is a shame especially in this instance. I particularly enjoyed Fassbender’s portrayal of Macbeth as a man suffering from PTSD – it’s a refreshing new take on the character and yet one that makes a lot of sense. He is entirely commanding as Macbeth and as usual I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He dominated every scene he was in. On the other hand I was somewhat underwhelmed by Lady Macbeth but then I’ve never really enjoyed any of Marion Cotillard’s performances and I also don’t like the character of Lady M either. But the true beauty of the film is its stunning cinematography – beautiful shards of light filtering across the scene and glorious moments of slow motion all serve to make the film visually arresting. And yet it is these elements that I fell in love with that I think will result in Macbeth struggling in the general release. It has a much more defined artistic feel to the film that I’m not sure regular cinema goers will necessarily appreciate … I am well aware that I may be doing a great injustice to the intelligence of cinema goers here. I thoroughly recommend seeing Macbeth is you can as it is most definitely a feast for the eyes.

I also had a brilliant experience recently during the London Film Festival where thanks to some random man in the crowd in Leicester Square I unexpectedly ended up getting to see High-Rise (2015, Ben Wheatley) It’s a fantastic film though I was so frazzled by actually getting to go in and see a film at its premiere (completely underdressed of course as I had come straight from work on dress down Friday!!) that I think I didn’t quite appreciate it as much as I could have. There were times when I was hit with a sense of vertigo that was somewhat disquieting but completely fit with the tone of the film. The cast is full of heavy hitters with Tom Hiddleston leading the charge – I was amazed at the number of people at the premiere that had absolutely no idea who he is but I digress – and ably supported by Jeremy Irons, Luke Evans, Sienna Miller, Elisabeth Moss and James Purefoy. It was wonderfully dystopic with a depiction of the lowest level humanity can descend to, all shot in a seemingly timeless aesthetic though I do think it was meant to be set in maybe the 1970s or 1980s. I definitely intend to watch the film again in order to fully appreciate the nuances in it.

Hopefully you’ll forgive my laziness and continue reading – I’m certainly aiming to update in the near future with the reviews of the films I actually managed to watch during the intervening months.

Apologies …

Hey guys,

Huge apologies for the severe downturn in the regularity of my posts. Real life kind of got in the way with the focus having to shift onto finding a real job (still no luck sadly). I do have the next 8 of so blog entries ready and raring to go which I will hopefully get round to posting in the next few days. At the moment I’m having some serious writer’s block concerning Brazil – I’ve watched that film a number of times now and just cannot get my thoughts down on paper properly (because yes I do still write everything down on paper first!) which is seriously irritating me and putting a bit of a halt on the films I can watch.

Despite real life butting in I have not been completely out of the film world thankfully (my sanity would suffer if I was!) I have of course seen Thor: The Dark World (Alan Taylor) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Francis Lawrence) as I am kind of obsessed with each of those franchises … I mean who isn’t head over heels in love with both Jennifer Lawrence and Tom Hiddleston?! I’ve been playing with Future Cinema again recently – Ghostbusters this time. And let me tell you they have taken a great movie and upped the enjoyment level by recreating the world the movie is set in and allowing everyone to play in it – complete with a 40 ft Stay Puft Marshmallow Man! Seriously all you film lovers out there (well UK-based definitely) if you get the chance to go to any of their events it is so very much worth it. I’ve done a number of the events now, with both Future Cinema and Secret Cinema and have loved every single minute of them. Sign up to their mailing lists (http://www.futurecinema.co.uk/ http://www.secretcinema.org/) for a truly immersive cinematic experience … one of the best ways to watch films going!!

Ok enough plugging done. What else have I been up to? Well I was lucky enough to win tickets to the Worldwide Fan Event for the Hobbit held on the 4th November 2013! I entered a competition on a whim the morning of the event never expecting to win because let’s face it I have the worst luck and never win anything. But lo and behold within like 3 hours I was getting a call from a very nice lady from Air New Zealand telling me I had won two tickets to the event. Colour me speechless. I took my mum as it’s thanks to her that I even know about Middle Earth let alone love it. She has been reading the books for 41 years!! To say I am a fan of Peter Jackson and his adventures in Middle Earth is somewhat of an understatement so I was kind of beside myself. Thankfully my mum was equally as excited – actually spazzing out which I don’t think I have ever seen her do before! We arrived in Leicester Square at 9pm  (the event wasn’t starting until 10!) and got to bypass the enormous queue of people waiting in the cold to be let into the cinema. Mummy Doull and I, along with the other 2 winners from Air New Zealand were the first people allowed in which was very exciting as there was a red carpet and everything. Once inside the cinema there were a couple of the costumes on display, Bilbo’s, Gandalf’s and a dwarfs costume (I want to say it’s Dwalin’s). And then eventually we were allowed into the screen where we discovered a goody bag on every seat. Mum and I managed to get a pretty good seat on the aisle 3 rows in. What’s in the goody bag I hear you ask? Well we got the usual cinema fare of popcorn, a bag of sweets and a drink along with a massive cup and bucket, both with the Hobbit plastered all over them, as well as a copy of the latest issue of Empire magazine – with its Hobbit cover obviously! But the best things were a beautiful poster for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and a t-shirt marking the event.

What was the actual event about and what happened at it? Well the event was promotional, both for the new film coming out in less than a week now, and the extended version of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey being released on DVD. So the event consisted of a live Q&A session being linked in four cities around the world, each of which had at least one cast member present in the host cinema, which was also being streamed live on the Internet worldwide. The four cities were Los Angeles, with Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel); New York hosting Orlando Bloom (Legolas) and Richard Armitage (Thorin); London with Luke Evans (Bard), Lee Pace (Thranduil) and Andy Serkis (Gollum); and of course Wellington which had Jed Brophy (Nori) and the main man himself Peter Jackson. We had the Q&A which was interesting due to the delays between the link ups and gave some really good moments. We were also treated to a clip from the new extended cut of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the latest production blog which as usual was hilarious!

And then it got really exciting … but only in the 4 cinemas as it was at this point we said goodbye to the live stream and everyone watching. Everyone was instructed to turn off all phones and anything with recording capabilities – anyone seen using one would result in the next part being stopped immediately. We were then treated to the music video for the end credit song, written and performed beautifully by the very talented Ed Sheeran. It’s called I See Fire and is attached to this blog as it’s now been released. I absolutely love the song and think it fits perfectly with the tone of Jackson’s Middle Earth.

After the video which was exciting enough we got a bit of a talk from Peter Jackson telling us how Warner Bros asked him to prepare some material to show at this event, about 6 minutes long or so. The shots were fully dependent on which ones were actually already completed but Jackson couldn’t decide so we ended up with something that was 20 minutes long! Now I’m not going to spoil any of the film for you by telling you what I saw in those 20 minutes but let me tell you the film is going to blow you all away and Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug – WOW just wow!! It is going to be epic! I was so impressed and geeking out big time then remembered we still had just over a month to wait before we could see the whole thing. Seriously the whole evening was one of the best nights of my life and I’m so glad I got to share it with the one person who loves Middle Earth as much as I do, my mummy.

Wow this post has gone on for a lot longer than I intended it to – I kind of ran away with my thoughts. So for now I will leave you, not for so long this time I promise, until my next film post. Oh and I am now working from the new revised 2013 copy of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

Peace and love guys xxx

 

Warhorse

Director: Steven Spielberg

2011

“Some viewers have criticized its sentimentality. However, if some of the early scenes, as well as the final sequence, are overly romanticized, they only serve to reinforce the horror of the trenches.” (938)

I’m still adamant that the play is far superior to the film but then as I’ve said before I saw the play first and was, and remain, absolutely enchanted by it. Since writing my review for the film when it was nominated for the Oscars I have spoken to a couple of my friends about it. Interestingly they saw the film first and preferred it to the play. I still feel that the characterizations suffer from moving onto the big screen and can’t quite understand why certain characters were both omitted and added when there was such a wealth of them both in the novel and the play.

John Williams really is an extraordinarily talented composer which is just highlighted with another beautiful score to add to his outstanding repertoire of work. Like I said previously there are enough similarities to the music used in the play while at the same time he creates something new and suited to the film.

Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch are still the standout human performances for me despite only being in the film for about 30 minutes. Hiddleston’s Captain Nicholls has a tangible sense of compassion – he understands the bond forged between Joey and Albert. And the dawning realization on his face during that fatal charge that this style of warfare was no match for guns. In a single look Hiddleston manages to convey the truly senseless loss of so many animals. And in a much subtler way than the shot of a field strewn with the bodies of dead horses.

While I still feel that the film loses a lot of the magic that makes the plays so special I do like all the little nods Spielberg includes, particularly the inclusion of the goose – a much-loved puppet in the play. I am beginning to see the beauty of the film the more I watch it. The cinematography is gorgeous. It has very definite styles as well. The beginning of the film is lush and bright. Gradually as the war continues the color begins to fade until we reach the desolate landscape of No Man’s Land. Towards the end of the film the color begins to return to the world, an infusion of healing, warm light that washes over everything.  “Their brief exchange, finding common ground in their concern for Joey, reminds us of the absurdity of this war and explains why Joey and Albert’s return home at the end of the film is bathed in such warm, welcoming light.” (938, Ian Hayden Smith, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Some of the most breath-taking scenes come out of No Man’s Land and this is one of the few areas where the film excels over the play. There just isn’t the scope on stage to recreate that infamous dead space of land yet there most definitely is the scope to do it justice in the media of film. Joey’s run through No Man’s Land takes your breath away. It’s an outstanding piece of cgi – one that you almost cannot tell is computer generated but for the fact they would never allow a real horse to go through that.

Joey and Topthorn’s relationship translates pretty well to the big screen – in some ways it’s more believable than the core relationship of Joey and Albert. It’s surprisingly moving and emotional when Topthorn meets his end. And as much as I complain that the film can’t quite match the standard of the play I am still reduced to tears at Joey and Albert’s reunion and eventual return home.

It will be a long time, if ever, that the film will ever match the play in my eyes but the more I watch the film the more I can appreciate the masterful aesthetics that Spielberg created and the continued life he gave to Morpurgo’s beautifully touching story. It means that should the play ever stop running (which doesn’t look likely to happen any time soon) there will always be the film to ensure the story of an incredible horse endures, reminding us all about the sacrifice of so many animals oft forgotten.

Avengers Assemble

Director: Joss Whedon

Nominated: Visual Effects

There is a very great danger that this could become one big love fest because you see I am a massive fan of a number of elements associated with Avengers. My newest love is the impeccable Tom Hiddleston who made a huge impression on me during the last Oscars, as you remember, despite not being nominated or in anything for any length of time. Then of course I’m a bit of a comic book geek especially Marvel and greedily consumed all of the films leading up to Avengers. And the biggest fan element is Joss Whedon! He has been an idol of mine ever since I started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (even doing a number of essays on his work while studying at university) I have devoured every single thing he has ever created (no matter how undeservedly short-lived it may have been) including his comic series Astonishing X-Men. So yeah you could say I’m a fan of great proportions and to say that I was excited by the release of Avengers Assemble would be a massive understatement! Only 3 films really mattered to me before their release last year – The Hunger Games (Gary Ross), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Peter Jackson) and Avengers Assemble – all the rest were just happy bonuses.

Joss Whedon was really the best person to direct Avengers Assemble due to his previous experience of juggling ensemble casts – every project of his had at least 4 core characters  that each got their own moment. This ability to tell a story cohesively with a number of characters is exactly what the Avengers needed and what it ultimately got in the very capable hands of Joss. And of course the fact that he is essentially a massive comic book fan-boy himself ensured that we would get an exciting and dynamic film without sacrificing any of the elements that have maintained the popularity throughout the decades since its creation.

It’s only been nominated in the Visual Effects category at the Oscars (well unless it gets any in the technical awards) which isn’t all that all that surprising really. To be honest I’m just glad it garnered at least one nomination. The set pieces are explosive (quite literally) and hit you from the opening minutes with the incredible sequence of S.H.I.E.L.D imploding. But then let’s face it Whedon isn’t a stranger to a sequence like that – the Hellmouth imploding in Chosen (final ever episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 2003) anyone?

The visual effects are excellent – fitting into the world seamlessly which is exactly what you want visual effects to do. All the effects surrounding Iron Man’s suit just keep raising the bar. I mean first you had the static application of the suit in Iron Man (Jon Favreau, 2008), the pop-up suitcase suit in Iron Man 2 (Jon Favreau, 2010) and now he has the suit form around him while falling from Stark Towers thanks to some very nifty bracelets. The creation of the Hulk is an achievement in itself and is by far the best incarnation of the character in a long time. For one it actually bears some resemblance to Mark Ruffalo who is playing the human element, Bruce Banner. Speaking of his Banner – easily one of the best. He played him in a really interesting way and made me want another stand alone Hulk film which is saying something after the lukewarm attempts that came about in 2003 (Ang Lee) and 2008 (Louis Leterrier) There’s a new depth to him and I love his relationship with Tony.

The entire creative team manages to bring something that was created in the 1950s and bring it up to date without it seeming dated. Indeed they make a joke out of it with Captain America being a man displaced in time and only getting one of the many cultural references. And they get around the lack of female characters by having Black Widow take a more prominent role (not surprising really considering Whedon’s tendency to have strong female characters at the centre of his stories!)

Avengers Assemble has a huge and unexpected appeal. I say unexpected because although you have the die-hard comic nuts who flocked to see it, if only to disparage it for not being exactly the same, you also got a much wider audience. I went and saw it with my mum, and didn’t even have to attempt to persuade her she jumped at the chance, who wasn’t ever really that into comics but she has seen pretty much every Marvel film.

Everyone retains their own characteristics, established in all the preceding films, while gaining a new dynamic when thrown together to form this initially unwilling team. Comedy is a huge part of the film, and thankfully mainly wit rather than slapstick. One of my favorite lines is “He is my brother,” “He killed 80 people in 2 days” “He’s adopted”. It’s just classic and an excellent example of Whedon’s pithy writing. Although having said that some of the most memorable moments come from the Hulk smashing the gods Loki and Thor. 

So far I have avoided talking about Tom Hiddleston as the villain in the form of Loki because I didn’t want it to turn into this fangirl love letter to him. But he is amazing … and the big bad so I have to talk about Loki. He’s grown up since Thor (Kenneth Branagh, 2011) albeit only slightly. He is less of a petulant child although clearly still hellbent on power and ruling. I know he’s a baddie and all but whenever anyone asks me who my favorite Avenger is I reply with Loki (and that’s a hard question to answer).

In case you can’t already tell I loved Avengers Assemble. It was everything I hoped for and more and I cannot wait until the follow-up film … and all the other related projects like Iron Man 3 (Shane Black), Thor: The Dark World (Alan Taylor), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Russo brothers)and S.H.I.E.L.D (Joss Whedon)