In what is the most anticipated TV series this Fall. ABC is now previewing the new series Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. This series is taking place after The Avengers movie and it already looks promising!
Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Together they investigate the new, the strange, and the unknown across the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary. Coulson’s team consists of Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), highly trained in combat and espionage, Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) expert pilot and martial artist, Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker); brilliant engineer and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) genius bio-chemist. Joining them on their journey into mystery is new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet).
From Executive Producers Joss Whedon (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”); Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” pilot co-writers (“Dollhouse,” “Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”); Jeffrey Bell (“Angel,” “Alias”); and Jeph Loeb (“Smallville,” “Lost,” “Heroes”) comes Marvel’s first TV series. ”Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television.
Two more panels at the Alabama Phoenix Festival featured two people whose careers are very interesting! First up is Robin Shelby. Her appearance was sponsored by the Alabama Ghostbusters. Yes there is a group devoted to all things Ghostbusters. In fact before the festival I had no clue this group existed. I first saw them during Do Dah Day and I have to say this is a very devoted group! The group had lots of fun with Robin Shelby over the entire weekend. And during the panel we learned what its like to be inside the Slimer costume.
Robin Shelby had the honor of wearing the costume of the Slimer character in the Ghostbusters II movie. Robin Shelby had auditioned for the role of Slimer and the casting team had her go through several steps. She said it was a very simple process! And later she found out she got the role of wearing the Slimer character. And this costume or puppet had motors inside the costume to control the mouth and eyes. And inside the costume Robin said it was “very loud.” Every time there was a break in taping the crew put on K-Y Jelly to make it look like Slimer was slimy. In fact she almost passed out while wearing the costume because it was too hot. There were no fans or ways to get air inside the costume.
She called the times on the set “memorable days.” She was lucky and loved meeting the cast on set. And at times she also worked in front of a green screen. She loved the experience in playing a role in the Ghostbusters movie franchise. And she loves meeting the fans at all of the events she attends. Robin Shelby found the Alabama Ghostbusters after the state went through the April 27th tornado outbreak in 2011. And they raised around $3,000 for the relief effort. Currently the Alabama Ghostbusters has around 30 members around Alabama and they travel to events and raise money for charities.
Robin Shelby runs the YouTube channel Far From the Tree. And she called the art of the Slimer puppet “dead.” If another Ghostbusters movie is made Slimer will be done from CGI computers. As for the Alabama Ghostbusters; some people asked about the equipment or props that they wear. Yes there are plans online to build such things as a proton pack. And the group is helping to keep the Ghostbusters brand alive. Sony knows these groups exist. But they do not bother any groups unless a group does something bad. The group hopes there is a Ghostbusters 3 movie coming soon. And that is something everyone would look forward too! Find out more about the Alabama Ghostbusters at http://www.alabamagb.com/.
A couple of videos were shown for the crowd during the panel. And I found these videos on YouTube and these are neat to share. This first video features Robin Shelby rehearsing a role for a scene in the Ghostbusters II movie.
And here is a video of Bill Murray hanging out with Robin Shelby for a few moments on the set of Ghostbusters II.
The other panel was with Adam Baldwin. He was on the TV shows Chuck and Firefly. And he was in the movies Serenity and Ordinary People. Adam Baldwin has grown to love southern hospitality. He has finished with the Chuck project and has another project lined up; but he can not talk about it. And he enjoys his family, his pets, and he also enjoys his fans and conventions. Of course some people asked him about his time on Firefly.
Adam Baldwin was heartbroken when Firefly was cancelled. It broke Joss Whedon’s heart and the crew’s heart as well. The cast loved each other on the set. And everyone worked hard in making the show. He called his time on the Firefly set “a family affair.” He called Nathan Fillion the best actor on the series. The cast was also thankful to wrap up plot points in the movie Serenity. Adam had all of the Firefly scripts signed by all of the cast members. He intended to keep them but decided to auction them off on eBay for charity. He has kept the boots, shirts, and the knife from the series.
Adam Baldwin got into acting in 5th grade. He loved the TV show The Three Stooges and loved to play games with his friends and family. He was in a good theater program in his high school on the north side of Chicago. And he stuck with it! While in high school; he did not do well in the classroom. He needed support from his peers as he watched his parents divorce. He called himself “a messed up kid.” He worked on a little known show on The Family Channel before Fox bought it. And he worked on the shows The X-Files, Full Metal Jacket, and Angel among others. Adam was very thankful for the role on Angel. He said the character General John Casey from Chuck was one of his favorite roles ever.
Adam Baldwin has done voice acting as well. He had a voice role on the movie Transformers: Prime. And he said he would love to have a role in the Avengers 2 movie. Adam said he loves voice acting. He called people who did voice acting very talented. And no one cares what you look like when you do voice acting. What do you think Adam Baldwin prefers; movies or TV? He calls movies cool, concentrated, and intense. He called TV steady work and has no real end. Plus it has better character development and better pay. Adam Baldwin prefers TV work.
When Adam Baldwin dies; he would like to have on his tombstone “he is right.” And he would love to see a Firefly animated series as well. For more info. about Adam Baldwin follow him on Twitter @adamsbaldwin.
I went to see the new movie from Joss Whedon called The Avengers and I have to say that this was the best superhero action movie I have ever seen! The nearly 2 1/2 hour-long movie was action packed and gave each main character plenty of camera time. Plus there was a couple of great laughs throughout the film. One tip for the people who have not seen the movie. Sit through the credits as there are two bonus scenes! The movie made a little over $200 million over the opening weekend. So go see this movie! Below I am going into detail about the movie; if you do not want to know about the movie consider this an SPOILER ALERT!
The movie opens when Nick Fury played by Samuel L. Jackson arrives at a research facility that is remote. The facility is undergoing an evacuation because the Tesseract was activated. This device has a massive energy source that has unlimited potential. Fury meets agent Maria Hill and has a confrontation with villain Asgardian Loki. Loki uses the Tesseract and controls the minds of several S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel. This scene was very cool and the computer effects were great. Then we have a great getaway scene as the facility is blown up and everything collapses into the earth. And right off the bat; the movie opens up to great scenes. This was only the start.
Fury decides to launch the Avengers Initiative; and we go through the part of the movie where we see the lives of superheroes such as Iron Man, The Hulk and Captain America. And at the same time; we see Loki talking to Alexis Denisof; who offers Loki an alien army raced called the Chitauri when he gets the Tesseract. This part of the movie was slower but there was some good laughs and great story-lines on some of the superheroes.
Loki travels to Germany to get some iridium needed to stabilize the Tesseract’s power. This while at the same time he crashes a party. And when all of the party-goers run they are met by Loki who demands they kneel before him. This is something I would never do. When one of the party-goers refuses to kneel and stands up to Loki. He is almost killed by Loki’s weapon but saved by Captain America’s shield. This fight scene was another action packed part of the movie and I loved it. Loki is captured and while on the plane Thor lands on top to get Loki. And we see Iron Man and Captain America skydive out of the plane to recapture Loki and confront Thor. The special effects in this part of the movie was great. I really liked when Thor’s hammer flattened a huge part of the forest.
Loki is captured again and the group arrives at an aircraft carrier that has massive engines. We see some great special effects seeing the carrier fly up in the air. That was a cool part of the movie. Loki is put into a jail cell designed to hold The Hulk. The Avengers and Fury are divided on how to use the Tesseract to develop weapons but are clueless to see that Loki has planned an ambush. In one of the best parts of the movie; Loki’s agents attack the helicarrier and blow up an engine. Iron Man attempts to restart the engine while Captain America fends off some shooters. But the coolest part was when we got to see The Hulk blow up. And we have this awesome battle scene between The Hulk and Thor. Eventually both of them are ejected from the ship. Agent Coulson tries to stop Loki with a powerful weapon but is killed. This was a very sad part of the movie. Fury rallies the superheroes to work together. And this is really needed as Loki is about to launch an attack on New York City.
Loki is on top of Stark Tower and uses the Tesseract to open a portal to another world. The Chitauri starts the attack on New York and The Avengers step in to help stop it. But they are quickly overwhelmed by the aliens and their massive ships that looked like giants dragons that eats and destroys everything it touches. The Avengers help citizens escape and fight the aliens while Fury tries to stop an attempt to send a nuclear warhead to blow up New York City. Iron Man intercepts the warhead and takes it through the portal to blow up the Chitauri mother-ship. Iron Man loses power and gets through the portal before it closes. Loki is captured and The Avengers go their separate ways. This part of the movie was awesome as the battle sequence was the best ever! One of the bonus scenes was when Other confers with Thanos about the attack on Earth; while the other scene was when the Avengers eat in silence at a shawarma restaurant.
The Avengers lived up to its hype! This was the best superhero movie Marvel has come out with. And with Joss Whedon directing the movie. This movie was a blast to sit through and time really did flew by. The actors in the movie did a superb job and the special effects was awesome! The battles all throughout the movie was the best battles I have ever seen. Every character got plenty of screen time in the movie and you do not have to read the comics or watch the past superhero movies to follow the story-line of The Avengers. I recommend everyone to go see The Avengers as I will probably go see it again!
Unless you have been living under a rock everyone should know that this Friday The Avengers movie comes out for everyone to see! This movie by Joss Whedon is expected to make massive amounts of money this weekend. And the reviews coming out so far are all very positive. Here is the trailer for The Avengers.
The Grand Theatre in Oxford, AL and Premiere Cinemas in Gadsden, AL among many other theaters are premiering The Avengers at midnight Friday! Look for a review of The Avengers on Geek Alabama on Friday. And for the people who wants to know about this movie right now. Matt Blum from the Geek Dad blog has two great reviews. For fans who wants general information about this movie. Click the link below.
