26 Days of Christmas - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The one thing that pissed me off about The Avengers was Joss Whedon killed S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent Phil Coulson. I should have trusted him. He never let me down in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." starts with Coulson's reinstatement to active duty after recovering in Tahiti for several months. Supposedly, the med team of the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier resuscitated him, and Fury hid this from the Avengers to push them into facing Loki together.

Except Coulson, and his right hand Melinda May, are beginning to suspect that's not what really happened to Phil.

Joss's brother Jed is the showrunner, and he's definitely got the family talent for delivering rip-roaring action, intense characterization, and a creepy, season-long story arc.

Why I recommend it? Clark Gregg has always rocked as Coulson in the movies as the every man touchstone in a world of superheroes. I always wished he had a bigger role, and had big hopes for him in The Avengers. Seeing a normal looking guy star in a series makes me happy.

Oh, and I've had a serious girl crush on Ming-Na Wen since the first season of "ER".

Monday Movie Mania - Thor, The Dark World

Oh, don't worry, kids! This is still part of the 26 Days of Christmas!

Why? Because even S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Melinda May says, "Thor is dreamy!"

The gratuitous naked shot of Chris Hemsworth for the ladies aside, this is one rare sequel that I think surpasses the original.

The movie begins with a look back to Odin's father Bor and his battle with the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim. Of course, this sets up the Dark Elf king's oath of revenge as we jump to the present. Thor and his buddies are cleaning up the rebellions that broke out thanks to the destruction of the Bifrost at the end of the first Thor movie.

Thor's human love Jane gets infected with floating red crap the dark elf plans to use to destroy Asgard. Big battle starts...

And that's when things get really fun. Loki's in prison due to the events of the Avengers movie. And Thor has no one left to help him save his girlfriend and the Nine Realms except his insanely jealous, power hungry, possibly sociopathic, brother.

PROS
1) Naked Chris Hemsworth. (Really? What did you think #1 was going to be?)

2) The incredible Tom Hiddleston making Loki sympathetic and loveable.

3) Zachary Levi playing Fandral was FUCKING incredible. I knew Joshua Dallas, who played the lothario in the first movie, couldn't do The Dark World because of his commitment to Once Upon a Time. But seeing Levi's name in the credits? My estimate of Levi went up a thousand fold.

4) Stellan Skarsgard is incredible as the comic relief.

CONS
Um...uh...not enough naked Chris?

Seriously though, Chris can act. When I saw Star Trek (2009), I questioned why Abrams didn't cast him as Jim Kirk, instead of George Kirk.

I give Thor, The Dark World 9.5 stars out of 10!

Even better, you can already pre-order it!