next_to_normal | Entries tagged with avengers assemble

Much like the film itself, this post has become far more sprawling and unwieldy than it was ever intended to be, so I might as well post it now before I lose the plot completely. I reserve the right to change my mind on some things once I manage to see it a second time.

( All the spoilers )

Current Mood: accomplished

~~Though it was touch and go for a while there.~~

Good lord, it has been over a month since I last posted anything and *mumbledy mumble* since I last responded to comments, because I am a terrible human being. Let's see... well, on the Crohn's front, the Humira worked really well for a while until it didn't, and now I am sick and kinda miserable again. We are running out of new drugs to try, though, so the best option might be to stick with the injections. The thing about Humira is that it has been on the market for years, but it is generally assumed that the FDA-approved dosage is not sufficient for a lot of people, hence why they are doing clinical trials at a higher dose like the one I just did. And I will say, when I was getting 4 injections a week, I felt a LOT better. But after the first month, I dropped down to the approved dose of one injection every other week, which ain't doing it for me. Once the trial's over, I can maybe go up to weekly instead of every other, so hopefully that's enough? I have a few more weeks on this clinical trial and then another colonoscopy YAY.

On the plus side, I have not regained the 15 pounds I lost, and I have acquired a new skill in administering subcutaneous injections? \o/

This whole trial has coincided - naturally! - with the BUSIEST TIME OF THE YEAR in work, since we had our big conference thingy last week, in which I have a WHOLE DAY that I am responsible for and it basically takes over my life for the six weeks prior. It went really well and everyone was happy and then I came home and literally slept for 18 hours. Oddly enough, prior to the conference, I'd been having some really unpleasant insomnia, possibly as a side effect of the Humira? But apparently I managed to cure that by working myself to the point that I literally could not stay awake any longer. (Or the insomnia's just not affecting me as much now that I'm on a lower dose of the drug.) Yay?

And of course, because Marvel is COMPLETELY INCONSIDERATE about scheduling their movie premieres during the WORST WEEK OF MY LIFE, I have not had the opportunity to squee over Avengers: Age of Ultron. Then again, perhaps it was for the best that I wasn't posting linkspams during the press tour, because it was a pretty epic shitshow, lol. Seriously. Joss was tired and cranky and then quit Twitter. RDJ walked out of a really uncomfortable interview. Chris Evans was noticeably drunk for the whole thing. Jeremy Renner was a douche. And poor Mark Ruffalo was publicly begging his own employers to put out some goddamned Black Widow merchandise because Disney doesn't care about girl fans.

I did get to see the movie, and I will have a long rambly post about it at some point. I was kind of hoping to see it again before I tried to gather my thoughts, since I was fairly exhausted and just wanted to squeeze it in before the conference started because I knew if I didn't, I'd totally spoil myself. But I'm not sure when I'm going again, and I have almost 2,000 words written, lol, so we'll see.

I feel like there are a lot of TV things I should want to talk about, but it's all a bit of a blur. I sort of gave up on posting linkspams, what with being exhausted and not having any time. But I'm actually not sure I want to go back to them? Way back in yesteryear, I used to have a lot more ~thoughts and, like, wrote actual posts about actual things, and I would like to do more of that, if I can remember how to sentence the words and whatnot. The linkspamming is sort of a shortcut to say "hey things are happening with things I care about!" without having to put a lot of thought into it, whereas ideally I would maybe address fewer of those things but actually have something to say about them? I don't know. Maybe I will just disappear for another six weeks and only pop up to reassure you I am still breathing.

So, how have YOU been? What's new? What have I missed?

Current Mood: tired

Hello again. So, I was sick and miserable through most of March - including my birthday :( - and then I started new drugs and now I'm feeling better and also have learned how to give myself injections, which is a thing I have been avoiding for like 5 years, but it turns out it's not that bad. (It probably helped that prior to the first shot, I was so sick I was like, "I will literally stab myself with anything if it will make me feel better.")

I also went to Boston (less snow than I expected!).

A month's worth of links:

* Sutton Foster talks about turning 40 and passing for 26 in her new series, Younger.

* Masters of Sex gets a July premiere date.

* This video is from a few weeks ago, but it's so adorable it deserves to be linked: Robert Downey Jr. gives a 7-year-old an Iron Man bionic arm.

* Homeland is once again changing things up for the next season.

* Here's two parts of an interview with Joss Whedon talking about Avengers: Age of Ultron. Plus, an article on the supertwins, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, and a cute behind-the-scenes featurette.

* With Mad Men ending soon, here's an oral history of the show, an interview with creator Matthew Weiner, Weiner and Kiernan Shipka talking about Sally Draper, an interview with Jon Hamm, and one with John Slattery.

* The rumors are true: The X-Files is coming back for a six-episode limited run.

* Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper talk about working together, and Jen mentions that the next X-Men movie will be her last.

* For those of you who've always thought Arya Stark would make a great companion, you're in luck - Maisie Williams is guest-starring on Doctor Who this year.

* In other fandom crossover casting, Arthur Darvill will be on the Arrow/The Flash spin-off.

* Trevor Noah will be taking over hosting The Daily Show. No idea how he'll be as a host, but his stand-up is hilarious.

* The Americans has been renewed for season 4.

* This is a great piece on Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany, which includes references to "licking the butter" - which seems like it should be a euphemism for something but is not.

* Behind the scenes on Community season 6 on Yahoo.

* A really long, but great read from one of the writers of Lost about the early years of the show.

Current Mood: okay

* A major embargo on Age of Ultron articles has apparently been lifted, so there's a ton of interviews with Joss Whedon, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Joss again, Joss and Jeremy together, Evans and Jeremy, and basically the entire cast. And, of course, here's the new trailer.

* The Agent Carter showrunners talked about the season finale. And the Agents of SHIELD team talks about the upcoming half-season.

* I gotta say, I can't blame James Gunn - this awards season definitely felt like it was ragging on superhero movies (and the premise of awards-favorite Birdman didn't help). And, I mean, no one's saying Guardians of the Galaxy deserves to win an Academy Award (even if I liked it about a thousand times more than Birdman), but it seems kiiiiinda disingenuous to be mocking superhero movies when your nominees include Batman, Doctor Strange, the Hulk, the OTHER Hulk, Gwen Stacy, J. Jonah Jameson, and ROCKET FUCKING RACCOON.

* Kyle Chandler talks about Friday Night Lights and his new Netflix series, Bloodline.

* One more interview with Mike Schur about the Parks & Recreation series finale. Plus, an oral history of the show and an interview with Amy Poehler.

* Zachary Quinto is guest-starring on Hannibal, plus we now have a premiere date for season 3.

* The CW is planning an Arrow/The Flash spin-off with kind of an odd (IMO) collection of supporting characters from the two series. Like, I can see why they would want to build a spin-off around each of these characters individually, but I really don't get why they're all in a show together? Maybe it'd make sense if I read the comics.

* There's a trailer for Community season 6, and naturally it is a spoof of the Age of Ultron trailer, lol.

Current Mood: sick

I am trying very hard not to be like, "Ugh everything sucks," but... a lot of things suck. I am still sick and everything hurts and I am going a little bit Chris Traeger. Also, my parents had to put Patches to sleep yesterday (cancer, extremely advanced, like diagnosed less than two weeks ago). She was not quite 9, and is the second cat my parents have lost in 2 years, although Lily was already sick when they brought her in, so they only had her a few months. And my aunt's cat ALSO has cancer, so I have a lot of kitty-related sads.

( First and last pictures I have of Patches )

So I decided that there was no way I'd be able to keep track of a whole month's worth of interesting news, besides which anyone who's interested in it probably would have seen it already somewhere else, and like, you do not need me to link to twelve interviews about The Americans, just go to

theamericans where they have 10,000 of them.

So this is just the absolute "can't miss" stuff. For some weird, subjective value of "can't miss" because I am super-biased.

* Good lord, it seems ridiculous to link to Super Bowl things almost a month later, but Chris Evans taking a flying leap over Chris Pratt cannot go unacknowledged. My bb also shows up in this video in which everyone takes responsibility for the Patriots' deflated footballs.

* Jon Stewart announced he's leaving The Daily Show.

* Jimmy Fallon organized a Saved By the Bell reunion - in full costume and some outstanding wigs.

* Spider-Man will finally get to join the MCU, thanks to a deal between Sony and Marvel.

* Empire has a whole series of interviews about Avengers: Age of Ultron, including Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, and Joss Whedon.

* Agents of SHIELD has made Adrianna Palicki a series regular. 'Bout damn time.

* Krysta Rodriguez has breast cancer, and is dealing with it in her usual awesome fashion.

* I don't usually link to John Oliver's Last Week Tonight clips, because otherwise I'd have no room for anything else. Just assume they're all brilliant and hilarious and watch accordingly. But his take on tobacco companies is too amazing not to share.

* Broadway nerds are finally getting their own con!

And a gif, because this snow ninja cat makes me happy:

Current Mood: sad

* Alison Brie talks about how supportive Yahoo is of Community.

* Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould talk about Better Call Saul.

* Andy Mientus talks about playing the Pied Piper on The Flash. Also, The Flash and Arrow creator Greg Berlanti talks about LGBT characters and introducing diversity to the world of superheroes.

* Director Thomas Schlamme talks about The Americans, Manhattan, and of course, The West Wing.

* The showrunners of The Americans are also talking about their show. Plus, eight reasons to love The Americans (not that you guys need them because you're all obviously watching, right?) and an interview with Holly Taylor.

* Marvel news: Hayley Atwell talks about Agent Carter. There's some new stuff in the Age of Ultron TV spot. And David Tennant is playing the villain in Netflix's AKA Jessica Jones!

* Apparently the internet is actually in charge of casting things now, because Chris Pratt might be starring in an Indiana Jones remake.

* For further evidence of this theory, I present the all-female cast of Ghostbusters. I am particularly thrilled about Kate McKinnon (on whom I'd have an immense crush, except that her Justin Bieber impression is so spot-on it creeps me out).

* Emma Watson will play Belle in a live-action Beauty and the Beast.

* The Fantastic Four trailer looks... um... generic? If you didn't know this was based on a superhero comic, it kind of just looks like a sci-fi disaster movie? I really feel like the gritty realism is a mistake. I mean, look, I don't love the original movies or anything (other than my bb Chris Evans), and I don't think anyone would mistake them for good movies, but why bother making a Fantastic Four movie if you're not going to embrace the inherent ridiculousness? This should be Fox's Guardians of the Galaxy.

Current Mood: okay

* Via

umadoshi, some speculation on Black Widow's MCU backstory based on the Age of Ultron trailers. I have to admit, much as I want Natasha's origin story, the mere mention of "how much Joss Whedon looooves his trained-as-a-weapon, mentally-brainwashed ballerinas" makes me go NO NO NO HANDS OFF DON'T TOUCH DO NOT RUIN THIS FOR ME WITH YOUR GROSS FETISHES, JOSS.

* Here's the live-blog of the Agent Carter TCA panel, as well as the Community panel.

* Also a live-blog of the Parks & Recreation panel, and an interview with Michael Schur about Parks & Rec's final season.

* Season 3 of Hannibal won't be on until the summer. It will also involve a time jump long enough for someone to get married, and Richard Armitage has been cast in a key role.

* Zachary Levi will star in the Heroes reboot. Oh, Zac. Why.

* Jennifer Lawrence interviews Eddie Redmayne and it's adorable.

* Bradley Whitford is guest-starring on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Yay!

* The cast of The West Wing reunites for the second annual Big Block of Cheese Day.

* More Twin Peaks cast announcements.

Current Mood: exhausted

* Here are live-blogs of the TCA panels for Better Call Saul, Mad Men, Orphan Black, and Vampire Diaries/Originals, plus a write-up of the Arrow/Flash panel. And speaking of the latter few shows, the CW renewed basically everything in its line-up.

* Grant Gustin talks about The Flash and his musical theater background. Plus, here's some Flash casting news and a teaser featuring Andy Mientus!

* Someone is leaving The Vampire Diaries (AGAIN, lol. I don't know why they bother announcing it anymore. They'll just bring 'em back in a season or two).

* Better Call Saul finally got its first extended look with a new trailer.

* The Tom Hiddleston/Hugh Laurie BBC miniseries The Night Manager will be airing on AMC in the US.

* Shameless, which just began its 5th season last night, has already been renewed for a 6th.

* Kyle MacLachlan is officially on board for the Twin Peaks revival.

* Gillian Flynn is hinting at possibly writing a sequel to Gone Girl. I know a lot of people didn't like the ending, but I can't imagine that'll be more satisfying.

* New Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer.

Current Mood: tired

Agent Carter premieres tonight (right now, in fact, if you're on the east coast), so there are plenty of articles and interviews about it. Early reviews seem to be largely positive, and I've enjoyed what I've seen so far. Hayley Atwell is outstanding and should be in all the things. If only Agents of SHIELD had been this good right out of the gate...

ETA: Here's the trailer for Ant-Man that aired at the end of the episode. Meh.

I don't have any other links, but rather than hold those until I have enough for a full post, I figured I'd better post them now if I want any semblance of timeliness. So instead I'll fill the post with links to recipes I've tried recently.

My Christmas cookie baking this year wasn't terribly adventurous. I jazzed up a standard chocolate chip cookie with some Reese's chips, but otherwise, my only new recipe was for Pecan, Sea Salt & Caramel-Filled DelightFulls Brownies. I'm a big fan of the salted caramel trend, so this was right up my alley. Two suggestions: first, my mother thought the brownies were a bit dry and recommended her secret ingredient (adding chocolate syrup in the batter) to make them more gooey. And second, I wouldn't bother with sprinkling the DelightFulls on top - they didn't bake into or melt enough and mostly fell off when I cut up the brownies. Just mix 'em all in the batter at once.

On Sunday, I tried a recipe recommended by

per_aspera_ad_astra - Slow Cooker Sugar and Roasted Garlic Pot Roast Sandwiches. I am kind of nervous about leaving the crock pot on while I'm not home (Chelsea has zero sense of self-preservation, she will walk across the stove, lick hot pans, and once got too close to a candle and singed her fur, so I would not be surprised if she managed to knock the lid off the crock pot and curl up right in the damn thing). It's a shame because I love the concept of a meal that does all the work itself and you just come home and eat it. And this one was really good! At least I'll have leftovers.

And then tonight I made Risotto with Shrimp and Peas, which I was less impressed with. It wasn't bad, just kind of bland. I probably should have realized this, but if you're not going to add any real spices or flavors to your risotto, you really need better ingredients than boring shrimp and peas. I could see this being improved with scallops and asparagus, maybe, or a bit of white wine in place of some of the broth.

Current Mood: happy

Happy New Year, everybody. I have been all preoccupied with family and holiday stuff lately, so other than talking about Into the Woods (PRIORITIES), I have been largely MIA. Hope y'all enjoyed your holidays. Here's lots of stuff that happened, which you probably know about already because some of these links are like two weeks old:

* Here's a behind-the-scenes clip with Hayley Atwell about Agent Carter. And in other Marvel news, Mike Colter was officially announced as Luke Cage.

* On a related note, Alan Sepinwall took a look back at the year in comic book TV, including Agents of SHIELD, Arrow, and The Flash.

* Also, a while back, there were a slew of interviews with Joss Whedon from the set of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Here's the one I bookmarked.

* A nice profile of Michelle MacLaren, generally awesome TV director now helming Wonder Woman.

* Showrunner John Rogers talks about The Librarians, which I've been enjoying. It's a little bit like Leverage on crack, lol. And here's Christian Kane, also talking about the show.

* There's a creepy teaser for Orphan Black season 3. And a trailer for the final season of Parks and Recreation.

* Another interview with Anna Kendrick about Into the Woods. And speaking of Into the Woods, I have been waiting for this mashup basically since the casting was announced.

* The character of Mason Verger has been recast, as Michael Pitt opted not to return to Hannibal.

* Audra McDonald's Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill will be filmed and shown on HBO, in case (like me) you didn't get to see it on Broadway.

* Matthew Rhys (The Americans) interviewed Matthew Goode (The Good Wife), and it was ADORABLE. (via

jae)

Also: watch this space for end of 2014 memes, because it's now an annual tradition.

Current Mood: apathetic

So, who watched Peter Pan Live! on Thursday night?

I thought it was technically better than The Sound of Music - for one thing, Allison Williams can sing AND act, and she gave 110% enthusiasm-wise (meanwhile Christopher Walken was kind of just doing whatever the fuck he wanted, lol, which I'm not entirely sure was "acting," per se, but was definitely entertaining). The sets were fantastic (no cardboard Alps here!), and psychedelic crocodile notwithstanding, in general the production values were clearly higher, like they'd actually put some thought into the filming of it.

But overall it kind of left me cold? Mostly because I have zero attachment to the musical (this was actually the first time I'd ever seen it), whereas The Sound of Music has the nostalgia factor, and because you could probably write a whole doctoral dissertation on the creepy and occasionally bizarre gender narratives. (It didn't help that Williams as Peter came across very much as a grown woman pretending to be a prepubescent boy rather than actually capturing the childishness of Peter, which made the flirty scenes with Wendy seem like more of a story of lesbian awakening than anything else. Which, to be fair, is a much better story than "flying asshole kidnaps girl to clean up after his pack of bratty overgrown man-boys.") Oh well. At least they tried to make it less racist?

IDK, I think it was probably not the best choice of musical, so no matter how well done it was, it was never going to have the kind of impact The Sound of Music did. (In case you'd forgotten - like I did - NBC has already locked in The Music Man for next year.)

Anyway, links!

* Marvel casting announcements: Benedict Cumberbatch is Doctor Strange (which we all kind of assumed) and Krysten Ritter is Jessica Jones.

* Jed and Maurissa talk about Agents of SHIELD and the upcoming mid-season finale.

* A piece on the sad state of network sitcoms.

* Newly-bearded Aaron Tveit talks about playing John Wilkes Booth in Assassins.

* Interesting profile of Robert Downey Sr.

* The secret history of chocolate chip cookies! I had no idea it was so scandalous.

* Full audio of Anna Kendrick singing "On the Steps of the Palace." This is the one where Sondheim tweaked the lyrics because she was actually singing it on the palace steps rather than afterward.

* On Reese Witherspoon and our tendency to box movie stars into a particular image, and then be surprised when it turns out they are multi-faceted people, just like the rest of us.

Current Mood: lazy

* Some interesting actors being considered to play Jessica Jones and Luke Cage in their respective Netflix series.

* Such a random thing to come from Playboy, but I will take any opportunity to revisit the short-lived series Kings.

* Here's a trailer for the new live-action Cinderella movie from Disney.

* Better Call Saul finally has a premiere date. So does The Americans.

* Adam Pally is leaving The Mindy Project.

* Really interesting account of how Mike Nichols and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? helped to change the MPAA rating system.

* Cecily Strong is hosting the next White House Correspondents' Dinner. Good for her.

* Here's a clip of Meryl Streep singing "Stay With Me" from Into the Woods.

* There's also a trailer for Pitch Perfect 2.

* Donald Sutherland compared Jennifer Lawrence to Joan of Arc and Jesus. Look, we all love JLaw, but that's a little ridiculous even as hyperbole. (On the other hand, now I kind of want a Joan of Arc movie starring Jennifer Lawrence?)

Current Mood: amused

* Peter Capaldi is confirmed to be coming back for the next season of Doctor Who. Not that anyone really expected he wouldn't, since there's usually much more fanfare when a Doctor leaves and a new one is cast, and also we just did that at the beginning of THIS season. But. You know. In case you were worried. No confirmation on Jenna Coleman, however.

* If you're a fan of The Americans or Masters of Sex, you may be happy to hear that The Millers was canceled, thus freeing up Margo Martindale and Beau Bridges to return to those (much better) shows.

* With Mockingjay coming out soon, Jennifer Lawrence and the rest of the cast are out in full force. JLaw talks about the crazy ways her life has changed since accepting this role and makes plans to fight crime with Stephen Colbert, or possibly commit crimes as part of her downward spiral. Director Francis Lawrence discusses the pressure of being Philip Seymour Hoffman's last film, Sam Claflin talks a lot about his hair, and Natalie Dormer is her usual fierce self as always.

* Marvel has cast Daniel Bruhl to play an unspecified villain in Captain America: Civil War. No idea who he's actually playing, but here's some speculation, which also indicates that the Winter Soldier will still play a major role in the film. You know, in addition to Tony Stark being around, and Cap possibly having a whole new team, and introducing Black Panther... Man, this is going to be one really crowded movie; I'm not sure why they're even bothering to call it "Captain America" at this point.

* This is why it took so long to get Dancing Baby Groot merchandise.

* Rob Marshall and James Lapine talk about adapting Into the Woods for the film. I do not appreciate being told to "chill out." This is only THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF MY CHILDHOOD YOU ARE MESSING WITH HERE. That is, like, barely an exaggeration, you don't even know.

* First promo for Peter Pan live. Apparently, they are making quite a few changes from the original musical, but some of that's about making it less horribly racist, so I think even the purists would find it hard to argue with that one.

* Fantastic discussion of Connie Britton's career and magnificent hair.

* Interesting piece on how certain casting choices provoke outrage, what the threshold is for authenticity, and why some ethnic minorities get lumped together.

* Mandy Patinkin sings and talks really fast and says the Inigo Montoya quote on 60 Minutes.

Current Mood: tired

[1-22] The Flash
[23-42] Avengers: Age of Ultron
[43-94] Captain America: The Winter Soldier
[95] Agents of SHIELD
[96-114] Guardians of the Galaxy
[115-141] Playing It Cool
[142-148] Snowpiercer
[149] Before We Go
[150-163] Actors

Preview:

( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished

Ugh, is Firefox being super buggy lately, or is it just me? (Or my computer, or the amount of tabs I keep open, lol.) It keeps freezing up so that I have to force-quit and restart. I had to do it about three times today and lost a significant portion of my linkspam and THAT MAKES ME ANGRY.

* I think this is a new trailer for Mockingjay. IDK there have been so many.

* Much as I'd like to see Cristin Milioti with her own sitcom, I haven't been too impressed by A to Z and can't say I'm sad to see it cancelled.

* Brian Williams is kind of hilarious talking about his daughter Allison playing Peter Pan in NBC's live show.

...I definitely had one other link in this section pre-crash, but I can't remember what it was, so DAMN YOU FIREFOX.

And the usual slew of Marvel things:

* ICYMI, here's the Age of Ultron preview that aired during last week's Agents of SHIELD (it's the trailer recut with the party scene that apparently was shown at Comic-Con this summer), and I don't know why they didn't just make this the trailer in the first place, because it is exactly the humor and team interaction the other one was lacking.

* Plus, here's the badass lumberjack Steve clip from the Marvel announcement, and, although it's mostly clips from existing movies, there is actually already a teaser for Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and Part 2, which let's not forget are four and five years away, respectively, because that is not in any way reasonable.

* And someone gave away their cameo appearance in Age of Ultron, which I'm assuming is supposed to be a surprise, but kinda makes sense given what we know already.

* Hope you weren't expecting a standalone Black Widow or Hulk movie, because neither of those is happening. Try again maybe in Marvel Phase 20?

* Here's the official Agent Carter preview, which is the same as the one I linked earlier, just with less of someone filming their TV with their iPhone, lol.

I also meant to talk about Agents of SHIELD during my Arrow/The Flash flailing, but didn't get around to it. ( Read more... )

Current Mood: annoyed

OMG just finished Arrow season 1 and I sort of feel like I've been cheating on Marvel this week but it's really, really good so I had to get that in before we get into all the Marvel stuff. Also, one thing I neglected to mention in my last post - OLIVER'S GREEN FACE PAINT. I find it endearingly ridiculous that, while suiting up for superheroing, this boy apparently stops to APPLY HIS EYE MAKEUP (because that is doing SUCH a good job of concealing his identity, what a humungous dork). On the other hand, I want whatever makeup remover he uses, because DAMN he can get that stuff wiped off quickly when reverting back to civilian Oliver.

ANYWAY. In case you missed it, earlier today Marvel announced what we all will be doing for the next five years, and the big news is that it includes Black Panther and Captain Marvel solo movies! \o/ Now we just have to wait until frickin' 2018 for the first female-led Marvel film. There's also the expected subtitles for Captain America 3 and Thor 3 (Civil War and Ragnarok, respectively), and confirmation that Avengers 3 and 4 will be a two-parter dealing with Thanos, subtitled Infinity War. Here's a live-blog of the announcement, at which RDJ and Chris Evans appeared and did an adorable little fighty thing, introduced Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, then played Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide whose side he'd be on in the Civil War.

Other Marvel stuff:

* No confirmation of the rumor that Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast as Doctor Strange.

* An embargo on Age of Ultron interviews was apparently lifted this week as well, because there are interviews with the Chrises Evans and Hemsworth and with RDJ and Mark Ruffalo from the set. Also, here's a detailed breakdown of basically every frame of the trailer.

* Lots of info on the upcoming Agent Carter series from NYCC. I'm guessing it'll be yanked by the time I get this post up, but for now, here's the first TV spot for the series. I'll update when there's an official one released on YouTube.

Non-Marvel:

* NPH is getting a variety show on NBC.

* TVD's Malese Jow is joining the cast of The Flash. Also, Wentworth Miller talks about playing Captain Cold on the show.

* John Rogers talks about creating the team for The Librarians. (As the creator of Leverage, he knows from teams.)

* The first extended look (with actual singing!) at Into the Woods, plus some of the costume inspirations that came from the cast.

* Here's a trailer for Kyle Chandler's new Netflix series, Bloodline.

Current Mood: excited

* Avengers: Age of Ultron official trailer! I am... kinda underwhelmed, actually? I mean, it's all epic and angsty and apocalyptic, and I'm sure it'll be great, but what I have always loved best about the MCU films is the humor and fun.

* Speaking of superhero stories that lay off the angst, The Flash has been picked up for a full season. It's lighthearted without being lightweight, and I am really enjoying it so far.

* Oh god, someone made a chart of all the superhero movies coming out in the next six years. It's... a lot.

* LOL RDJ now owns the gigantic "A" from Stark Tower in The Avengers.

* Adrianne Palicki talks about her appearance on Agents of SHIELD, plus photos of her in her new Mockingbird costume.

* Allison Janney looks back at some of the highlights of her career.

* Tatiana Maslany on Broadway OMG.

* These Game of Thrones photos mean little to me, since I haven't read the books, but apparently it means big changes?

* Lots of new photos from the Into the Woods movie, plus an interview with Anna Kendrick.

* The Bridge will not be getting a third season.

* A memory expert weighs in on the conflicting POVs of The Affair's unreliable narrators.

* The New Yorker profiles Billy Joel, whom I still love after all these years. He was a favorite of my parents, and I grew up on his music, and it was some of the first popular music I learned to play on the piano.

Current Mood: tired

BIG announcement today. This is all still rather speculative, but it seems like fairly solid spoilers for Captain America 3, the Civil War arc in the comics, and probably Avengers 3 and/or 4, so no clicky if you don't want to know.

( Sssssssssssssssspoilers )

Current Mood: surprised

* I love Jon Stewart, but there is no way he'd have been a good choice to host Meet the Press, unless they wanted it to be a completely different show.

* Scarlett Johansson is coming to TV in an Edith Wharton adaptation.

* Yeah, the Twin Peaks thing is happening. Co-creator Mark Frost talks about why and how and what to expect from the Showtime series, as well as what they learned from that bumpy second season. If you haven't seen the original series, here's a Q&A that should convince you.

* Meanwhile, a proposed Say Anything remake got shut the hell down by Cameron Crowe.

* Jennifer Lawrence finally speaks out about the photo hacking, and she is fucking fierce. In other JLaw news, because Fox is not stupid, the next X-Men movie will be centered around Mystique.

* Better Call Saul now has a music video. Meanwhile, I'm so glad to see Bryan Cranston getting legit leading man roles in movies now.

* Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn is teaming up with director David Fincher again, this time for an HBO series.

* RDJ's Reddit AMA is a pretty great read. His answers are a nice mix of serious and ridiculous. He's also been on an RDJ-ish tear, contradictorily answering questions about Iron Man 4 and whether he'll be in it. Answers range from "there is no such thing" to "okay, yes" to "if Mel Gibson directs it" to "can we please talk about something else?" (I mean. I'm assuming he said that one at some point.)

* Avengers 3 may not have (m)any of the first-string superheroes in it - which isn't surprising and is probably a positive, when you consider how big the roster will be at that point. The first film was already crowded with six of them, and poor Hawkeye got the short straw in the character development draw. Age of Ultron is adding three new heroes - plus they're introducing Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, and who knows who else (Captain Marvel PLEASE GOD Captain Marvel) in the Phase 3 solo films. Possibly throw in the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Defenders characters from the upcoming Netflix series, and that's a fucking ginormous cast. So it only makes sense that they'd rotate characters in and out of the Avengers team-up films. It's what the comics always did anyway.