Land of the mildly insane

And thus passes a lovely Easter weekend. Plenty of friends, family, temperamental English weather and probably more Pimms than is healthy *ahem*

More importantly it is now only 16 days till The Avengers comes out. Though any Londoners near Westfields should keep your eyes peeled as the UK première's apparently being held there on the 19th.

In the meantime! Passing on some good interviews.

x. 'Well, acting with Robert Downey Jr is like playing Agassi. You never know what he’s going to do next. Unless, of course, you happen to be throwing him out of a window and he’s shouting, “Throw me harder, baby. Let’s make it real.”' - wherein Hiddleston talks Avengers and also a bit on how class in perceived in the acting world, (he speaks as an Oxbridge Etonian via Rada).
x. "We were trying to design the fight so it had big brother-versus-little brother mentality... Thor wants to take Loki home without harming him, while Loki wants to approach the fight with deadly intentions. - ah, bring on the family angst! Great interview with fight choreographer Jonathan Eusebio and Hiddleston on their work in Avengers. Spoilers only for what's already been seen in the trailers. *rubs hands* Bring it on :)

If, like for me, one of the main draws of Marvel's latest film offering is that nice young chap all strapped up in leather and metal, then this latest trailer is for you since (hurrah!) he actually says more than one line (well, sort-of):



La la la la laa, is it 26th April yet...

I'm seeing SPN reaction posts popping up all over the place. Last time there was a reaction like was when I came back after a certain episode of Torchwood: Children of Earth aired.

Like last time I am being left with the distinct impression this is an episode I need to see asap. Can I? No. Because today is a wonderfully sunny day, it's early morning, and I'm about to embark on a long day out with the family perusing galleries and the like.

*twitch* I love my family but this is painful. Ah well. SPN, I will see you upon my return...

So the Avengers promotion continues to be ramped up with yet more images popping up. This time round there's been some new Loki pics which pleased me greatly.

1 & 2: The one in which Loki attempts to look innocent and fools no-one...
3: An almost fullshot of that wonderful costume. As Tom said, leather and metal does seem to be how they like it in Asgard.

Come to me, 26th April, come to me...

Somehow I've inhaled a good few movies these past few days:

( In which there were Muppets, Artists, Drive(ers) and small Scottish islands. Oh my... )

And finally! Two links to pass on.

1) With the Oscars/Baftas out the way, it's time for the real awards to be dished up. Yes! It's the Empire Movie Awards. Nominations are up and it's up to you to cast the deciding vote :) Cast your vote right this way...

2) Fan-credits: 'Friends' version of 'The Avengers'. I enjoyed this far too much, mainly because I can picture in my head the warped AU where all these guys are flat-sharing and generally driving each other crazy, and it's a glorious if insane world.

Oscars eat your heart out. Unless you got your stars interviewed by Miss Piggy herself on the red carpet then you are but mediocre ;)



Tom Hiddleston, Adam Deacon, and Daniel Radcliffe are personal highlights, though she gets compliments from all her interviewees. Well worth a watch!

( And the award goes to... )

Baftas aside I'm still basking in my own Hiddleston afterglow, aka Stories Before Bedtime at the Criterion Theatre. It was a brilliant night out with great company and fabulous performances from all the actors concerned. There was a brief *blink* moment when the penny dropped as I remembered where Tennessee Williams hailed from. A moment sparked by Tom emerging in worn jean/dungarees, white wifebeater, and artfully smeared dust and dirt to the tune of 'Man of Constant Sorrow'. To my uncultured ear he bloody nailed the Southern accent and gave a wonderful reading, the kind where you forget who you're watching as he changed his voice and body language to bring to life each character in the (definitely adult-rated) tale.

Though I will never forgive him for making me hear "I want it, daddy" spoken out loud without a hint of irony *shudders*.

I did pop around to the stagedoor afterwards to find a sizable swarm of fans overflowing the pavement. Russell Tovey had clearly been there a while signing and was just retreating as I arrived. His departure did nothing to shrink the size of the crowd. We provided much entertainment to next-door's staff on their smoking breaks ('Who are they waiting for?' 'No idea, someone famous.' 'Have you heard of this guy Hiddleston?' 'Nah.')

Alas I have nothing exciting to report as 1) the crowd was solid and trying to get close to the doors would have required either being there from the beginning or pulling off your own Hulk!smash. And 2) when Hiddleston did emerge he apologised that he was running late already and couldn't stick around for too long. That said he was gent and signed as much as he could in a short space of time, saying sincere thank you's to those who got to say something and finally left somewhat laden with bags and parcels (it had been his birthday the previous day).

( So just 2 rather small blurry pics here... )

So in conclusion my Hiddleston phase shows no sign of passing just yet. And I resent him with every bone in my body for it. And yes the Criterion has said that the podcast will be up "shortly" so of course I will be downloading it the second it appears :)

T'is been a good, good weekend. It brings the latest The Avengers trailer. It looks pretty. I have squee to insane proportions, but I shall save it so I can really irritate the workmates with it throughout the day tomorrow. I'm kind that way :)

This weekend saw me catching-up with Glee and the latest ep of Supernatural. I also got around to watching Attack the Block which was utterly daft but actually quite good fun, me and the father had quite a chuckle as alien furry blobs tried to invade a decidedly hostile estate 'block'.

So. Glee. Non-spoilery reaction: Mike Chang, I am going to miss you and your incredible dancing moves. Finn continues to grow on me as a character. Santana, you are still unfairly gorgeous. ( SPOILER-y reactions... )

And onwards! To Supernatural. Non-spoiler-y reaction: ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz. Enough already. A few interesting nuggets to leave you wondering just what's coming next, but they were nuggets. ( SPOILER-Y reaction... )

AND FINALLY! There is a new Loki promo still for The Avengers. I might have flailed a bit when this cropped up. Roll on May April! (Yes, it rocks to be in the UK :) )

Last weekend I succeeded in seeing a Hiddles-free film *is proud* And truth be told it was brilliant film; if Hugo is still showing in 3D anywhere near you, do try and find a way to see it. Visually it is just beautiful, the opening 3D shot of snow falling from the sky before you gently swoop down into and through Paris is breathtaking.

The cast are all superb, Sir Ben Kingsley of course wonderful as the crochety toymaker. It's an old-fashioned fairy tale of sorts, one of those films you can't talk about too much as the mystery is what makes the tale (but rest assured all questions are answered). Suffice to say it starts with post-WW2 Paris, and a boy living in the walls of the railway station where he looks after the clocks. It all goes from there.

Also: Am I the only one watching Eternal Law? I caught up with the series so far over the weekend; the ease of doing so says something about the 'depth' of this series but I am thoroughly enjoying it so far. Sam West is having far, far too much fun as the cynical, weary angel-on-earth who's saddled with a new former-angelic-chorister sidekick. ( SPOILERS for eps so far - 'Please don't make the mistake of thinking I give a rat's fart what you think, you pompous little singing twat.' )

AND FINALLY! Because I was this close to managing a Hiddles-free post...

It seems another vampire movie is being planned, though from the looks of it it's a more artie/indie affair that folks are hoping will rescue the genre from Twilight. Anyway! One of the vamps was supposed to be Mssr Fassbender, which actually I can picture very well. Unfortunately he's had to bail due to his social diary being full - alas. In his place, however, they've snagged Tom Hiddleston. He'll be joining Tilda Swinton and John Hurt, so this could be veerry interesting...