Avengers (UK: Avengers Assemble) [movie]

I watched Avengers Assemble last night, when I met up with most of my Thursday night gaming group at the cinema with reasonable expectations of the movie we were about to see.

Wow.

Those expectations I had? They were surpassed and then some.

I thought the film had a great cast; had some genuine surprises; some great action sequences; moments of humour that had the whole cinema laughing - two key moments with Hulk were hilarious (and intentionally so!); and most of all - it felt 'right' and it 'worked'.

Every character had their moments to shine, and in allocating Joss Whedon to writing and directing duties I think he proved himself a very capable director within this genre, but much more importantly, all of the dialogue felt unique to the characters in question: lines by Tony Stark/Iron Man, Steve Rogers/Captain America, Thor et al all felt true to the previously established Marvel Cinematic Universe interpretations and continuity.

It is a big movie. yes at two and half hours is the longest of the Marvel movies. It is not the longest super-hero movie (Watchmen probably), nor the most narratively dense (again Watchmen I believe, or possibly The Dark Knight), but it was a packed film. There is a little sagging in the middle which was more to do with positioning characters and characterisations, but in all I would rank this as one of my favourite super-hero movies of all time.

Thinking about the list that would probably include The Dark Knight (Avengers does not over-run as I feel TDK did), X-Men 2 (which starts amazingly and never quite lives up to that opening scene again in terms of action - Avengers builds better), Spider-man 2 (Avengers wins in scale, Spider-man 2 in evenness of tone), The Incredibles (I think The Incredibles has the similar problem of sagging a little, but also mixes too much spy-fi into the mix at the expense of spectacle - Avengers has an amazing array of spectacle). On balance Avengers is so strong in so many areas that it may be the contender. That said, I will be very curious to listen to Mark Kermode's review today on BBC 5 Live.

And to anyone going to see it - do, do, stay for the couple of minutes necessary after the initial post-film credits - it is worth it for anyone with some Marvel knowledge.

Possibly my favourite super-hero film ever. I want to see this again - NOW!

Welcome

Back to back 'welcome' posts - this one goes out to Obscure Creations who has signed up, and thank you very much for doing so.. I hope that obscure Creations finds something of interest on the blog, but then I guess that goes without saying. Thanks again.

On to my hobby stuff/general update. I have a building or two I plan to photograph and post about, since one was finished a few days ago.

I have been painting Crimson Oni and have started with Shadow Mask, so maybe one will be finished tomorrow, luck permitting.

Doc Cosmos

And on another note - does anyone remember that mini I had sculpted by James Van Schaik when I wrote about having a mini commissioned (published in the Ancible; link to post here)? Well after moving house last year I did not realise that I had "put it somewhere safe" - meaning I had no clue in which box it was when I have been looking recently. After much searching, a third expedition into the attic finally uncovered the mini which I hope to get cast up soon  in very limited numbers after speaking with the friendly guys at MaxMini at salute at the weekend. It won't be a Pulp City mini per se, but it may very well see use somehow in my games!

Welcome

Another 'welcome' post, this time to two new Followers for the blog.

Big thanks to signing up go out to Minion Studio and starrchild81.

Minion Studio (judging by their own web-site!) are another 'hobby collective', including Brovatar, similar I guess to other collectives such as the GOG Online guys. Having checked out the Minion Studio site (link here) you can be sure that I will be Following their blog avidly; there is some great painting on there.

I think I had the pleasure of meeting and briefly chatting to starrchild81 at Salute, and if so thanks for that opportunity as well as stopping by here.

So thanks to all Followers of the blog, old and new alike.

Some Salute 2012 Sneak Peeks

At Salute this year ye Pulp Citizen was pleased to see some Pulp City preview minis on display: Green Emperor; and some new Grimm; as well as one of the Reaver Lords. New Grimm (top picture).

Green Emperor (middle; sorry it is fuzzy)

Reaver Lord (bottom) The Pulp Citizen also glimpsed some new greens that will be minis on the horizon: my favourite possibly being one of Voices Imps. Really, really looking forwards to them.

Welcome

A belated 'welcome aboard' to Brovatar, of Brovatar's Painting Blog. While the Pulp Citizen seems to have lost someone along the way, I am pleased to greet another new Follower to the blog and have reciprocated to Brovotar's own blog - thanks for coming aboard.

Beasts of War - Pulp City Interview (Salute 2011)

This interview was conducted by the Beasts of War crew at Salute 2011.



Logo and video ©2012 Beasts of War. All rights reserved.

More Mugs!

Okay, okay - this could get out of hand...

This pair were produced through Printster and they have images both sides as can be seen in the pictures.

Since I am more satisfied with this set, and these give me a Hero mug, and a Hero/Villain mug, I think maybe I need a Villain mug to complete the available options. Any hobby visitor to the Pulp Citizen's lair for gaming will be accorded all 'drinking from the mugs' opportunities!

So I just need to decide on a suitable Villain - any suggestions?