Clifton Collins Jr.

Born: June 16, 1970

Number of Roles: 88

Best Known for Playing: Wild, over the top supporting characters, comic relief

First Appearance: Mickey on Freddy’s Nightmares (1990)

Most Recent Appearance: Weasel on Pound Puppies (2011)

Can Be Seen/Heard in:

• The Boondock Saints II
• Crank II: High Voltage
• Extract
• Star Trek
• CSI: NY
• The Event
• Mindhunters
• Brothers
• Tigerland
• Scott Pilgrim vs the World
• Sunshine Cleaning
• Thief
• Capote
• The Last Castle
• Traffic
• Crisis Center
• Walker, Texas Ranger
• Dead Presidents

Name: Ed Exley

Occupation: Lieutenant with the LAPD

Family: Preston Exley (Father)

Allies: Wendell “Bud” White, Jack Vincennes, Lynn Bracken

Enemies: Pierce Patchett, Captain Dudley Liam Smith, Nite Owl cafe murderers, various thugs

Weapon(s) of Choice: Colt Detective Special, M1911, Ithaca 37 shotgun

Body Count: unknown

Memorable Quote: “I’m talking about the gas chamber, and you haven’t even asked me what this is about. You’ve got a big “Guilty” sign around your neck”

See Ed in Action:

The show isn’t debuting until June 7th but Disney was kind enough to put the entire first episode of Tron: Uprising up on youtube.  The show takes place between the original Tron and Legacy and follows young program Beck, whose city is invaded by the forces of Clu, specifically his general, Tesler.  When one of his friends is derezzed, Beck decides to take up the mantle of Tron and start striking back at the invaders.  The show features an all star cast that includes Elijah Wood as Beck, Bruce Boxleitner as Tron, Lance Henriksen as Tesler and also Emmanuelle Chriqui, Paul Reubens, Reginald Veljohnson and Mandy Moore.  It also has an extremely unique and awesome looking art style and the Daft Punk score is in full effect.  Definitely check out the first episode below and then check out the show when it debuts on Disney XD.

The current TV season is winding down but the networks are all revealing what thy have planned for the Fall 2012 season with a bunch of new shows.  Check out what seems like the most interesting ones announced so far and we’ll update if any others get announced.

Revolution (NBC): From Jon Favreau and JJ Abrams, Revolution is a post apocalyptic show that takes place 15 years after all the world’s electrical systems fail.  The world that builds up afterwards is part medieval/part wild west.  Check out the trailer below.

Last Resort (ABC): From Shawn Ryan of The Shield, Last Resort follows the crew of a nuclear submarine who are ordered to launch their payload against Pakistan but they refuse to do so with out confirmation. They are fired upon by friendly ships and forced to flee to a nearby island and set up a base and then try to clear their names and find out what is going on. Andre Braugher, Scott Speedman and Robert Patrick star. Check out the trailer below.

666 Park Avenue (ABC): A couple from the Midwest are given the chance to manage the historic Drake building in NYC. They soon realize the owner and his wife are hiding things from them and have some sort of sinister plan and the couple starts to experience strange occurrences. Terry O’Quinn and Vanessa Williams star.

Vegas (CBS): Dennis Quaid stars as Vegas sheriff Ralph Lamb, a former rodeo cowboy turned lawman, who delivers some old school justice to the 60′s mobsters of Las Vegas. Carrie Ann Moss, Michael Chiklis and Jason O’Mara co-star.  So their trying to combine Justified and Mad Men and the typical CBS procedural into one show?

Crossbones (NBC): An assassin is dispatched by the British monarchy to take out notorious pirate Blackbeard but ends up joining him instead. It’s from Neil Cross, creator of Luther.

Elementary (CBS): Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu are Sherlock and Watson, respectively in a modern interpretation of Sherlock Holmes. I think someone might have done this already.

The Following (Fox): Kevin Bacon stars as an FBI agent who is called in to help catch a serial killer he previously caught nine years ago when the killer escapes from death row. This killer has an edge however in that he’s assembling a network of other killers that he can train and send out to do whatever he feels needs to be done. James Purefoy, Maggie Grace and Natalie Zea co-star.

Adult Swim: Harold & Kumar Animated series and an untitled Dan Harmon (creator of Community) project.

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, a duo who have created some amazing movies like Edward Scissorhands but also abominations like Alice in Wonderland.  Dark Shadows, their latest collaboration, is firmly in the middle as it’s not outright bad but also not particularly good.

Depp stars as Barnabas Collins, a wealthy industrialist in the 1770′s who draws the ire of a witch (Eva Green), who he scorned.  The witch casts a spell on his fiance that forces her to leap off a sea cliff and Barnabas tries to follow but finds that he’s been turned into an immortal vampire.  Angelique, the witch, the riles the townspeople to lock Barnabas in a coffin and he stays there for 200 years until the 1970′s, when he’s unearthed by a construction crew.  He returns to his mansion to find his dysfunctional descendants living there.  He vows to rebuild the family fortune, which proves more difficult because Angelique (or Angie as she’s now called) is also alive and well in the 70′s and has built a rival fishing business that has all but destroyed the Collins fishing business.

Now, that sounds like a ton of plot but the movie isn’t too worried about any of it.  The movie has this weird structure where you’ll have about 20 minutes of “Johnny Depp is a wacky vampire and he doesn’t understand the 70′s” sequences and then Eva Green will show up and reveal some sort of plot detail and then it will be another 20 minutes before the plot advances again.  Eva Green’s character also has some of the most confusing villain motivation since Gargamel couldn’t decide whether to eat the Smurfs or turn them to gold.  She curses Barnabas to be a vampire as revenge for not loving her but when he comes back, she still loves him, but also wants to destroy his family and their business?  The movie also has the terrible habit of introducing what could have been interesting, movie long sub plots but then resolves them abruptly 5 minutes later.  For instance, *SPOILERS*, it’s revealed Chloe Moretz aka Carolyn, is a werewolf.  There is not even the slightest hint that this is the case until it’s abruptly revealed during the finale.  Even worse, the movie then gives an extremely half assed explanation of how she became a werewolf.  There’s similiar things for at least 4 of the other characters.  It probably doesn’t help that last week we had The Avengers, which was a masters class in how to perfectly balance characters and giving them all their moment to shine.  Dark Shadows is mainly the Barnabas show and the attempts to flesh out the other characters falls short.

Johnny Depp is not doing anything that you haven’t seen before from his previous collaborations with Tim Burton.  His Barnabas is sort of a combination of Sweeney Todd and Jack Sparrow and he has couple of laugh worthy lines and bits but most of the jokes are about how he doesn’t understand the 70′s, which gets old after about the 10th one.  Eva Green seems to be having tons of fun as Angelique but, like I said before, her character is all over the place and you have no idea what her motiviations or plans are.  The one character that is probably the most interesting but doesn’t get any sort of explanation is Michelle Pffeifer as Elizabeth Stoddard, the matriarch of the family with a capitol M.  She feels like a mother lion or wolf, where if you touch her cubs, she will rip your throat out.  There’s the hint that there could have been a great back and forth between her and Eva Green but it doesn’t really play out.  The rest of the cast is either solid but don’t really have anything to do, like Jackie Earle Haley or Chloe Moretz, or are just straight up boring, like Bella Heathcoate as the recent arrival to Collinswood, Victoria, who might be the reincarnated finance of Barnabas but who cares?  Oh, and of course, Helena Bonham Carter is on hand as well and looks like she literally just came from the set of Alice in Wonderland with her crazy orange hair and makeup but she does have a couple of funny moments, mostly because she’s constantly hungover.  One last thing regarding the cast is that the movie blows one of it’s funner moments not only in the trailers but also the credits when they list Alice Cooper. who shows up to perform at the ball the family throws to sort of show the town they’re back in business.

If you’re burned out by Tim Burton/Johnny Depp, Dark Shadows doesn’t do anything fresh to change your opinion.  It goes right down the Burton checklist and while it looks great and has some funny jokes and bits, it gets tiresome after a while and none of the characters are interesting enough to keep you interested.  If you are a die hard Burton fan, it might be worth a watch but everyone else can probably skip it or wait to rent it on DVD.

3 out of 5

The Avengers dropped 50% from last weekend this weekend at the box office, but, half of the biggest opening weekend of all time is still a shitload of money.  The Avengers made another $103 million, bringing it’s domestic total to $373 million and it has crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide in 19 days, tying Avatar and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in terms of days to $1 billion.  It was also the best second weekend ever and best hold from the previous weekend and also broke a ton more “fastest to x amount” records.  The movie will easily make over half a billion domestically and the only question now is how far up the all time box office list can it get.  In a distant second was Dark Shadows with $29.7 million, which is around Sleeply Hollow level for Depp/Burton collaborations.  Think Like a Man, previously impressive box office winner The Hunger Games and The Lucky One rounded out the top 5.   In other box office news, The Artist returned for some reason to about 750 theaters but only eked out just over $188,000, finalizing it’s theatrical run at around $44 million.  Can Battleship take over the box office this coming weekend or will The Avengers continue to dominate?

The American Dream is an ancient cliche in this day and age, but in the ’50′s and 60′s it was the way of life. The cookie-cutter house in the suburbs, the well-paying job, the  two-and-a-half kids, the whole nine yards. It was what Don thought he had in Betty, and it’s what she thought she found in Henry.

The “Dream” has not been kind to either of them as of late. Last season saw Don struggling to his new single life, only to be whisked off his feet by his newest secretary. Betty thought she had her meal ticket punched with hot-shot political figure Henry Francis.

Now, over halfway into this season, the tables have turned. Don is living the high life in his swanky Manhattan apartment with his smoking-hot young wife. While Betty tries desperately to lose weight while being tied down to Henry’s floundering campaign.

So it makes a little bit of sense why the petulant Betty would drop a bomb like “Anna Draper” on her daughter. Overwhelmed with jealousy on Don’s new life, she tries to wedge tension between the already somewhat tense Drapers. Sally plays her role to a tee, but Megan proves the adage “cooler heads prevail” before Don fully freaks out. It all implodes right back in Betty’s face.

“Mad Men” has tought us that lows are lows and highs are highs. That is, there are some pretty petty characters on this show and the most petty of them all is Betty herself. She can’t stand to see the man she casted aside finally enjoying his life. Her weight and husband’s failures don’t help either. The “Anna Draper” slip was intended to get her some satisfaction, only Don (and moreso Megan) prevailed once again.

Don already has his share of problems, most recently his creative block at work. He squares up against the wunderkind Ginsberg, who has the slight edge due to the fact that the creative team enjoys his Sno Ball pitch more. Don doesn’t like to be one-uped like that but rather than call him out and look desperate, he simply leaves Ginsberg’s idea in the cab. Ginsberg, flying high on his extortion of Roger and the office success of his Sno Ball idea, is a ticked by Don’s actions. But Don simply doesn’t care. It seems like another type of move for the guy who simply didn’t get the new generation in the last episode.

Pete faces his other demon: Howard Dawes’ wife Beth. He seems to be on Cloud 9 for the time being as he fantasizes about her in his office. But his mood is quickly soured about the New York Times feature he helped interview for doesn’t contain one drop of information about Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Season five Pete Campbell: still can’t get what he wants.

It makes sense that Don and Pete face these issues of transition. Pete dreams of future glory, while Don just wants to hold on to what he has. And while he may have had a great idea of the Devil in the Sno Ball pitch, I feel it won’t be long until he digs himself deeper at the expense of his co-workers. As expendable as they may be.

BAMF: Ginsburg, who has them hooked on his Sno Ball pitch and is getting a little something under the table from Roger. (No, not like that.)

Maddest Man: Betty, who is green with envy to the point she brings up a skeleton in Don’s closet just to bother him and her daughter. Sally is irritated by it too… how great of an actress is Kiernan Shipka? And Peggy is also miffed by Roger’s latest secret offer.

Line of the Night: “I don’t devote my energy to hating people anymore”, which should be a title to a chapter in “Sterling’s Gold”.

Releasing a new album this week is “the greatest band in the world”, Tenacious D.  The acoustic metal/rock duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass have been rocking “ear pussies” for years, from their original album and HBO special to their underrated movie/album, The Pick of Destiny.  Check out some of their greatest hits below and their new album, Rize of the Fenix, is out Tuesday (and to see what the guys have been up to since POD, check out “To Be the Best”).

“Tribute”

“Wonderboy”

“Fuck Her Gently”

“Rock Your Socks”

“Kickapoo”

“Classico”

“Master Exploder”

“Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)”

So last summer was sort of disappointing, action blockbuster wise, and most of the attention fell on the many R rated comedies that came out like Bridesmaids, Horrible Bosses and The Hangover Part II.  This summer is the exact opposite, with massive action movies like The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises and Expendables II dominating the summer and comedies being put on the back burner.  There’s The Dictator, Ted and now we get a look at The Campaign, which stars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifinakis as rival candidates vying for a senate seat in North Carolina.  Ferrell is Cam Brady, the five time congressman who wins because he runs unopposed and Galifinakis is Marty Huggins, director of a small town tourism center.  It looks like both guys are firmly in their comedy zones as Ferrell is super cocky and Galifinakis is naive and kind of creepy and there’s some really funny looking moments from both guys.  Dylan McDermott and Jason Sudeikis co-star and the movie is out in August.  You can check out the trailer below.

• Lego Lord of the Rings video game confirmed:  There were apparently inserts in the physical LOTR lego sets confirming that a video game in the works.  There’s not an official confirmation yet but if it is in development it would probably be a late this year, early next year release.
• Rebecca Hall might be new Iron Man 3 co-star:  Jessica Chastain backed out of Iron Man 3 recently and Rebecca Hall, probably most recently seen in The Town, might be in line to replace her.  Since the movie is supposed to be heavily influenced by Extremis, the role Hall would be up for would most likely be for scientist Maya Hansen or an equivalent character, who is one of the people responsible for creating the nanotechnology the powers the villain and upgrades Iron Man.
• Marion Cotillard says she is NOT playing Talia Al Gul:  One of the big questions related to The Dark Knight Rises is why big actors like Marion Cotillard and Joesph Gordon Levitt are playing generic sounding characters and speculation by many fans was that Cotillard, who is playing Miranda Tate in the movie, is actually playing Talia al Gul, daughter of Ra’s Al Gul (Liam Neeson in Batman Begins).  It would make sense to bring the series full circle but Cotillard said in a recent interview that she is definitely NOT playing Talia and that her role was very small and she worked on an off with long gaps in between when she was needed. Is she lying to build buzz or is she telling the truth?
• White House Down gets release date:  Roland Emmerich’s “Die Hard in the White House” movie will be out November 1, 2013.
• The World’s End start filming in September: The long awaited third part of Edgar Wright’s “Blood and Ice Cream trilogy” will start shooting this September with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost once again co-starring.  The movie is supposed to be a parody of disaster movies, like how Shaun of the Dead parodied zombie movies and Hot Fuzz parodied action movies.
• The Starving Games coming from Friedberg/Seltzer:  The directors of such classic films like Epic Movie, Date Movie and Meet the Spartans, Friedberg/Seltzer, are going to be directing a “parody” of The Hunger Games called The Starving Games.  It will probably be filled with the usual non-jokes and horribleness that defined their other movies.
• TV Renewals:  TV renewals and cancellations are starting to come in and NBC has renewed 30 Rock, Parks & Recreation, Up All Night, Whitney and…Community!!!!!!!  AMC renewed Talking Dead and Comic Book Men and ABC renewed Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Happy Endings and Suburgatory.
• TV Cancellations: NBC cancelled Awake and Fox cancelled Alcatraz
• “Red” cast returning for sequel with Catherine Zeta Jones and Byung-Hun Lee (aka Storm Shadow): Red was a fun but forgettable action movie with a bunch of great actors and a sequel is on the way with all the original cast (Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren) coming back and Catherine Zeta Jones and Byung-Hun Lee joining the cast.  The movie will find the RED team in Europe tracking new enemies.
• Cole Hauser cast as villain of “A Good Day to Die Hard”:  Cole Hauser, probably best known as Johns from the Riddick movies and games, will be the bad guy of the fifth Die Hard movie, which finds John McClane heading to Russia to rescue his son.
• James Cameron only making Avatar related movies from now on:  In between his various ventures like journeying to the deepest part of the ocean and mining asteroids, James Cameron is working on sequels to Avatar and apparently that’s all he will make from now on.  He will possibly make documentaries as well but the only original movies he will make now are Avatar sequels.
• Prometheus officially rated R: As it should be.
• Schwarznegger starring in Ten:  Schwarznegger is starring in a “cops and drugs” thriller from the writer of Training Day, David Ayer and written by Skip Woods of The A-Team and A Good Day to Die Hard.  The movie is about a group of DEA agents who raid a cartel safe house but are actually after the drugs for themselves.  The team thinks they’ve gotten away with the the theft until they start to get killed one by one.

Dark Shadows

Starring: Johnny Depp, Eva Green, Michelle Pffeifer, Chloe Moretz, Jackie Earle Haley, Helena Bonham Carter, Jonny Lee Miller

Directed by: Tim Burton

Plot: Barnabas Collins, a rich 18th century playboy, breaks the heart of Angelique Bouchard, a witch, who transforms him into a vampire and locks him away in a coffin for two centuries.  In the 1970′s, Barnabas is freed and finds his descendants now living in his manor.

Rotten Tomatoes Freshness: 42%

Critic Consensus: N/A

This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach, Chris and Joe talk about the ever increasing ridiculousness of True Justice, the Expendables 2 full trailer, what the deal with Fantasy Island was, the rapid decrease in quality of the Underworld movies, the world’s largest nightclub in Sleepless Night and pay tribute to the late MCA of the Beastie Boys.

• Show and Tell: The guys all saw The Avengers (but there’s a whole separate podcast for that) and Chris also watched more Avatar: The Last Airbender and Joe introduced Chris to the Cajun spiced world of True Justice.  Zach, meanwhile, watched post apocalyptic thriller The Divided, Family Guy’s recent parody of Taken, the return of Cartoon Network’s Thundercats and French action/thriller, Sleepless Night.
• News: The Expendables 2 full trailer, James Cameron not making anything not Avatar related, RIP MCA of the Beastie Boys, Luke Evans cast as villain of Fast Six, TV renewals and cancellations and a slim New Release Round Up

We want to hear your comments, feedback and, most importantly, suggestions for discussion topics. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, be sure to subscribe to us in the iTunes music store (just do a search for Everything Actioncast in the store) and follow us on twitter @evaction and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/everything.action).

Clark Gregg

Born: April 2, 1962

Number of Roles: 64

Best Known for Playing: Agent Phil Coulson from the Marvel movies

First Appearance: Stage Manager in Lip Service (1988)

Most Recent Appearance: Agent Coulson in The Avengers (2012)

Can Be Seen/Heard in:

• Iron Man
• Iron Man 2
• Thor
• (500) Days of Summer
• Mr. Popper’s Penguins
• Ultimate Spider Man
• The New Adventures of Old Christine
• Choke
• Hoot
• When a Stranger Calls
• The West Wing
• Spartan
• We Were Soldiers
• AI
• Sports Night
• The Commish
• The Usual Suspects

Ruben Fleischer, director of Zombieland and 30 Minutes or Less, takes a more serious approach for his third film with the 40′s crime movie, Gangster Squad.  Sean Penn plays mobster Mickey Cohen, who is looking to control all the West Coast’s crime operations and a special team of cops is assembled by Nick Nolte, and led by Josh Brolin, to take Cohen and his organization down by any means necessary. It seems like one of those movies where they just threw a bunch of awesome actors into it and see what would happen as Ryan Gosling, Robert Patrick, Anthony Mackie, Emma Stone, Michael Pena and Giovanni Ribisi all co-star.  It looks like it’s going to have some stylish action and it’s got Jay-Z in the trailer, so it’s gotta be cool.  We’ll have to see if this or Lawless is the best 40′s crime movie for the year, although Gangster Squad doesn’t have a solid release date yet.  Check out the trailer below.

There are some movies that cannot be contained by the regular Everything Actioncast and The Avengers is definitely one of those movies.  Zach, Chris, Brian and Joe spend almost an hour talking about nothing but Joss Whedon’s triumphant culmination of the Marvel movie universe and also their wish list for what and who they would want to see in the future and give Disney some ideas about how to capitalize on the Avengers success.  Check out all our thoughts on arguably the biggest movie of the year and let us know what you thought of it as well, either in the comments, on Facebook, Twitter or email contact@everythingaction.com.

Name: Jack Sparrow

Occupation: Pirate captain

Family: Captain Teague (Father)

Allies: Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Gibbs, Tia Dalma, The Pirate Council, Angelica, Phillip Swift

Enemies: Davy Jones, Captain Barbossa (on and off), Zombie pirates, James Norrington, Blackbeard, Lord Cutler Beckett

Weapon(s) of Choice: Flintlock pistol, cutlass

Body Count: unknown

Memorable Quote: “When you marooned me on that god forsaken spit of land, you forgot one very important thing, mate: I’m Captain Jack Sparrow”

See Jack in Action:

May 4th marked the official start of the Summer 2012 Movie Season with Marvel’s “The Avengers”. We can all agree that it’s simply awesome to see Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and Captain America all together on the big screen. But we also decided that having one of us review it just simply wasn’t enough.

So we’ve called on the heroes of the Everything Actioncast to assemble and give us their personal take on the blockbuster. Consensus? Overwhelmingly positive.

What a way to kick off the summer with, The Avengers, which takes the bar and has the Hulk throw it into orbit.  We’ve been waiting for this movie since the post credits scene of the original Iron Man and it lives up to everything you expected and wanted.

If Joss Whedon has one talent, it’s balancing an ensemble and giving everyone at least one moment to shine and there are at least a dozen “hero moments” for every character whether it’s the Hulk being fully unleashed on the Chitauri invasion, Iron Man flying in with AC/DC blasting to help Cap defeat Loki or Thor blasting the alien invasion with lightning.  Even smaller characters like Agent Coulson (RIP ) get tons of great moments.  The best moments though are when the Avengers are teaming up and that scene where they are all circled back to back gives even more goosebumps in context than it did in the trailer.  It’s also amazing to see things like the Helicarrier on the big screen and all the threads from the various Marvel movies come together perfectly with Loki’s plan incorporating elements from all of them.

The tone of all the characters is perfectly captured as well.  Tony Stark is at his absolute snarkiest and pretty much every one liner and quip is genius (Favorite is probably him calling Loki “Reindeer Games”), Cap is at his most earnest and heroic, Thor at his most honorable and Hulk at his angriest, but finally in control.  Hawkeye has an especially interesting arc through the movie as he is brainwashed early on by Loki and is a villain for about 2/3 of the movie.  The only character I’m not really sure about is Maria Hill, who they are clearly setting up to replace Coulson but doesn’t really have much to do other than take orders from Nick Fury.

There are a few minor nitpicks, the number one one being they don’t really explain how Thor returns to Earth after the cliffhanger of the Bifrost Bridge being destroyed at the end of Thor.  They basically just say Odin managed to transport him back but I would have liked to have seen a quick scene in Asgard where Thor discovers a way back or Dr. Banner and Tony figure out a way to open a portal to Asgard.  The Chitauri are also not very developed and are basically just generic cannon fodder.

If the rest of the summer is even half as awesome as The Avengers, this is going to be one of the greatest summers in history.  This is an event that has to be experienced and the way the characters and plots finally come together is pretty much perfect.  Huge laughs, huge action and all your favorite superheroes, what more could you possibly want? (5/5)

There is a moment part way through “The Avengers” where Agent Coulson talks to Steve “Captain America” Rogers about how his suit has been revamped. “Aren’t the Stars and Stripes a little old-fashioned?” Rogers queries. “With everything that’s happening, things about to come to light,” Coulson responds, “people might need a little old-fashioned.”

While at face value it seems like Coulson is just referring to the Captain America suit and it’s old patriotic ways, he could also be referring to the Avengers themselves. Outcasts, misfits, volatile, but heroes nonetheless. Most of Whedon’s film drives this point home. They know that as people/beings they themselves as different in their personalities as they are in their powers. Stark’s ego rules all, Rogers’ is at first glance outdated, Thor is out of this world (literally) and Banner can’t control his anger and what comes after it. And these are who we trust the fate of the world?

Yes. And in the best Marvel movie yet, they come together in grand fashion to take on Loki and the invading Chitauri. Joss Whedon, who has long been at the altar of nerd worship, simply delivers yet again here with the succinct blend of heart, comedy (a surprisingly large amount) and unbelievable action. He knows the strengths and weaknesses of each character, and having read the comics and/or seen the movies, we do too. It’s not only intriguing to see them fight against each other, it’s also a blast to see them on the same team.

It hasn’t been this good or this easy. Anybody who has seen the dreadful Superman sequels of the ’80′s and the putrid “Batman and Robin” can attest. But since “Iron Man” and “Batman Begins”, studios are seeing the light. Put the smart nerds in charge, the ones who know how to pique the interest of the general public, and they will succeed. “The Avengers” is a near-perfect action-adventure movie and the 100%-perfect start to this stacked summer movie season.  (5/5)

Marvel’s long awaited super movie “The Avengers” has been released and yes, you can believe the hype on this one. As a movie that is trying to appease to kids and non-Marvel fans, this is a fantastic entry.  But don’t just take it from a Marvel nerd like myself (I think I can earn a Master’s degree in Marvelology), “The Avengers” is a great summary of all that related movie’s that lead to this gathering of heroess.

2008′s “Iron Man” laid the foundation of what the tone of every new Marvel should be; witty, action packed, low in romances, and something to do with super-weapons. This formula is repeated for every movie. Yet, it shouldn’t stop you from watching them. In fact, if you watched the progressive movie build up towards “The Avengers”, you don’t have to wonder why all this stuff is happening (Unlike some people in the theater who were wondering when Superman was going to appear).

Every Marvel hero has enough screen time to fulfill their roles in this film; Captain America doesn’t understand modern technology, Black Window does a lot of gymnastics, Hawkeye is a poor man’s Legolas,  Bruce Banner/Hulk cannot be stopped, Thor reflects on his powers and Iron Man hogs most of the movie. Even Nick Fury gets to do some cool things besides appearing in rooms and smack talking.   Minor characters such as Maria Hill, Pepper Pots, Agent Coulson, all add to the charm of the cast, and fleshing out small details that really connect with Marvel nerds (or people who are really attentive).

While it is awesome to see all these hero’s in one movie, the first villain group the Avengers tackle is Loki and his army of Chitauri (Skrulls in the Ultimate Universe, I did say I am Marvel nerd), which isn’t much compared to what else they could be fighting. In the comic version, Loki isn’t as organized or has the presentation like Christoper Nolan’s Joker. In fact, Loki is one of the many of Marvel’s running joke of short sighted villains that usually has all their plans back fire on them. Not much is explained about these aliens that the Avenger’s fight. They like war. Are in Space. And really trust Loki in opening a space gate. However, when the show down of Chitauri vs. the Avengers begins, it is everything you can imagine if you threw your action figures to fight.

“The Avengers” is a great blend of visual effects and super hero action; this movie doesn’t heavy rely on the visuals to tell the story and the story isn’t too corny to follow. If you somehow avoided all five marvel movies that lead to this assemble of avengers, I’m pretty sure nothing we have to say has convinced you leave your house to see this movie.  (4.5/5)

The Avengers have assembled! You know, for all the hype that was going into this movie, I was expecting to be disappointed, even a teeny, tiny bit on some level. In a way, I wanted to be disappointed. I wanted all the haters and nerd-ragers out there in interwebs land saying, “an Avengers movie will just never work!” to be right. No, not because I am bitter over the lack of a JLA flick, nor because I hate the Avengers. Quite the contrary, in fact. I wanted it to fail, even on a nitpicky level, because I wanted some sort of justification for how damn long it took this movie to be made!

Indeed, The Avengers proved to me, as has happened precious few times in the past, that some things in life are worth the wait. The Avengers was certainly, unquestionably, undeniably worth every moment that we spent drooling over what if and wouldn’t it be cool scenarios with the rest of the hoard of loyal comic book fanboys/girls on message boards. We got the answers, at long last, to several questions that had been keeping me up at night. Take that however you want to.

First of all, how would Mark Ruffalo’s portrayal of Dr. Banner resonate with fans and Hulk loyalists (the few, the proud)? Would the transition from Bana to Norton to M-Ruff be as rough as it sounds on paper? The answer: HULK SMASH PUNY CRITICS! This was my favorite Banner up to this point, which is impressive, as I was a fan of Ed Norton’s efforts. Secondly, how would the team dynamic play out? Would Hawkeye get the short end of the screen time stick? The answer: the time devoted to each character, proportionally of course, was very well-managed. For an ensemble picture, and arguably the most important ensemble in the superhero-on-film realm, the time given to develop each character’s micro-arc was perfect.

Most significantly, The Avengers was a success on several levels. Obviously, it made hella money. In fact, I have a good mind to call Busta Rhymes and advise that he re-release “Arab Money” with a more appropriate title, “Avengers Money”. In addition to being the biggest opening in box office history (until The Dark Knight Rises, that is), it represents everything a comic book movie should be: grounded in the comics (to hell with reality), handled in a loving manner by competent folks (writers, directors, actors, etc.), and part of a larger universe. The Avengers has proven to fans and filmmakers alike that the Superhero ensemble movie, when developed properly over time and allowed to take form organically, doesn’t just work, but SMASHES records. Though some assembly is required, The Avengers is undoubtedly greater than the sum of its parts. (5/5)

Secrets have long been a theme on “Mad Men” starting with first and biggest one: Don’s true identity. When the proverbial cat was let out of the bag a few seasons ago, fans wondered where the series was going to go now. Last season, we thought they knew who Don Draper was, but Don himself had to do some soul-searching. This season seems to be centered around the true “Mr. and Mrs. Draper” and Don believing he has found his soul-mate. (The episode’s Cool Whip re-enactment is a perfect example of this.)

But it’s “Mad Men”, so it can’t be that easy. The episode starts innocently enough with Pete on his train ride with insurance salesman buddy Howard Dawes. Dawes brags about his apartment in the city where he happens to be hiding a mistress. Pete, locked into “early Draper” mode, does seem to be a little interested but knows that there are severe risks involved.

Pete’s contemplating gives way to Megan’s hushed dinner plans. Tip-toeing around Don, she lies to Peggy about her plans. Don calls Peggy late at night asking if she’s seen his wife. Peggy doesn’t appreciate this at all. Later that night, Megan comes home to Don who was worried but seems complacent with his wife’s explanation.

The next day, Peggy corners Megan in the women’s bathroom to berate her for putting her in that position. Megan spills the beans about her true whereabouts: she was auditioning for an off-off-broadway play. It seems like her father’s talk from the previous episode resonated with her and she wants to rekindle her dream of acting. But Don seems smitten with her in the role of copywriter at SCDP, and Megan feels that telling him would only bring disappointment.

Pete, meanwhile, goes about his business. On the way home, he comes across Howard’s wife Beth who is worried about when her husband will come home. Pete, fully aware of Howard’s cheating ways, only lies to Beth and badly at that. Pete’s sympathy goes so far that when he drops her off at home, he comes inside to attempt to further apologize — and only ends up in affair of his own. The rest of the show finds Pete trying to make something happen with Howard’s wife, but he’s toeing a very thin line.

That night, Megan wakes up Don and announces to him her plans to resume acting. Don doesn’t seem thrilled, but he does support his wife no matter what she wants to do. Just that it be the choice that she wants. The next day at work, Megan tearfully announces that she’s leaving. Despite being initially nonplussed about the ordeal, even Rizzo and Ginsburg offer their well-wishes. But the look on Don’s face when he’s alone and later with Roger shows that he’s not 100% into this move, at least for right now.

Which brings us to the best part of the episode: the Cool Whip taste testing. Don and Megan came up with a pitch-perfect husband-wife scenario to pitch to Cool Whip at the urging of Ken. With Megan out, Peggy takes a stab at the real thing… and botches it. Horribly. What results is a big blow-up from Peggy and Don about Megan. Don accuses her of pushing Megan out at work and feels that Megan truly loved her job or would eventually. Peggy takes insult to this accusation, saying she’s been nothing but a friend. The two fail to reach common ground.

The final scene leaves us with the Drapers at home. Megan is about to leave for acting class and Don is ready to unwind. Megan hands him the latest Beatles album, Revolver, and asks him to play the last track, “Tomorrow Never Knows“. Psychedelic sounds swirl around the room as Don listens. Scenes from Pete’s ordeal mix with Peggy smoking weed to relax at work, to Megan seeming in her element at acting class. But as Don listens he fails to get the songs message of letting oneself go to the idea of love and it isn’t long before he turns it off towards the end. This episode it seems Pete and Megan are getting closer to what they truly want, while Peggy and Don continue to reject the changing climates around them.

BAMF: Roger, who got some delight out of seeing Pete carry all that awkward ski equipment around.

Maddest Man: Peggy, who is tired of being the middle (wo)man in any of Don and Megan’s predicaments.

“Hey, it’s That Guy/Girl!”: Yep, that’s Alexis Bledel of “Gilmore Girls” fame as Howard’s wife Beth Dawes. And Dennis Haskins aka Mr. Belding as the Cool Whip guy. From the looks of it, I guess he said yes only at the words “Cool Whip”.