Caffeinated Clint
So.. “The Avengers” starts filming tomorrow; that’s the big Marvel superhero tag-team flick with Captain America, The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Nick Fury, Hawkeye, Maria Hill and Meteor Man others teaming up to thwart the forces of evil – or, er, lanky ol’ Loki.
Directing from his own script is one Joss Whedon, he of “Buffy, “Angel”, “Dollhouse”, “Firefly” and ‘Oh god! not him!’ fame.
… I don’t think that, but many of you seem to.
I’m a Whedon fan from way back (yes, even “Alien Resurrection” is considered a good film in my book) and having seen and read this many’s work since the mid ’90s I have the utmost confidence in Whedon doing a great job on “Avengers”. Not only is Whedon a terrifically creative and exciting creator but he’s probably more familiar with comic books than any of the cats who’ve directed one of these Marvel movies before – not that that really matters, a good filmmaker is a good filmmaker, regardless of whether he or she has read “Wonder Twins #45” – and that includes Jon Favreau. Yes, your beloved Favreau. I’ve been reading comments on the message boards and in the comments sections of Moviehole and there’s a heck of a lot of people complaining that Whedon isn’t the right man for the job – namely because he hasn’t directed anything as big or as ambitious as “The Avengers” before. That’s a fairly silly statement to make. Yes, it may be true (though “Serenity” is inarguably rather grand), but had Favreau? had Joe Johnston? had Kenneth Branagh? No, far from it. Heck, I still remember folks complaining when Favreau inherited the “Iron Man” directing job from Nick Cassavetes – it was all “But that dude directed Zathura and Elf! He can’t do Iron Man”, and it’s really interesting that nobody much has even bothered to bring up Joe Johnston’s previous credits when discussiong the fine-looking “Captain America” movie – I mean, this is the same guy that gave us one of 2010’s biggest stinkers, “The Wolfman”. And does one even need to mention Louis Letterier, who did a great “Hulk” movie a couple of years ago? So what I’m saying kids is this, Whedon is in exactly the same boat those other cats were and look how fine a job they all did? Now take that fine job we’ve been accustomed to seeing from a tyro superhero movie maker on the Marvel payroll and combine it with a script and direction by someone that dry humps a comic book before bed every night… tell me that’s not a recipe for success?! First response guess? “No, it’s not Clint – that dude did Dollhouse”.
Whedon has issued an amusing statement confirming the start of production on Disney’s “The Avengers” over at Whedonesque.
On the Eve of Our Endeavor, I celebrate an american classic — or possibly all of them.
Hi Pumpkins, joss here.
Tomorrow we start shooting (I THINK I’m legally permitted to say that). Day one. That’s right. We’ll be shooting the pivotal death/betrayal/product placement/setting up the sequel/coming out scene, at the following address:
[Marvel Lawyers rush in, take Joss’s keyboard, blowtorch a picture of his family like in “Stormy Monday”, drink his milkshake, leave the seat up, fluff his pillows, violently unfluff his pillows, leave]
Went too far. My bad. Anyhoo, it should be a fun day, followed by the eighty thousand other fun days it will take to finish this. I’ll be checking in from time to time, if there’s news or I crave attention (i.e. am awake) . None of it will be Avengers news — I have some very denty pillows to remind of that — but I may have tidbits. (They’re not about Firefly. I should say that up front, if only to protect Sis Mo from the HATORZ.)
Some of you may be saying, Joss! Why this link, here, now, why, huh, howcum? My friend Allyx turned me on to these guys, and I’ll tell you, they’ve gotten me through this intensely pressurized, preply time. I strongly recommend checking out their other vids — I’ve watched them many many times, and I have a very special place for “Teamwork” in my heart. These guys are the guys. And IS there a better movie title than “Eagles Are Turning People Into Horses”? I thought not.
So wish me luck. DO IT! LUCK! NOW! I’m off to finish some Buffy pages, and then figure out what the movie is about already. I’m pretty sure it’s about the Justice League [Marvel Lawyers re-enter, unspeakability occurs] or possibly something else. I’ll get it. I’ve been looking forward to this. For about 46 years.
Catchphrase!
-j.
Godspeed Joss!
