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This Week... It's been a week of superheroes here in the Empire office. Obviously Avengers have been Assembling on the big screen, and we've been celebrating Joss Whedon's supergroup triumph with all manner of features. This week also saw the new issue of Empire magazine hit the stands, led by Daniel Craig's James Bond in Skyfall. Let us know if any shady figures from MI6 try to steal your copy on the way back from the shops. Then there was our webchat with fantasy hero and Game Of Thrones creator George RR Martin on Monday, when he turned out to be very fun company and didn't behead anyone at all. And as if that weren't enough we also spoke to Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige for this week's podcast. Short of actually getting bitten by a radioactive gamma ray (or something) that's about as heroic as a week can get. Helen O'Hara
Deputy Editor, Empire | | |
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Avengers toys and goodies, presumably because the team is Assembling in cinemas right now. | | | |
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|  | | | These wine gums are corked. | | |  | | | Phil is disappointed by his out-of-date gummie sweets. | | |
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Five Reasons To Cherish Whit Stillman
As The Guardian's Michael Newton pointed out in a lovely piece on the filmmaker last weekend, it's impossible to imagine anyone turning out the kind of film Whit Stillman makes in England. All those upwardly mobile, thesaurus-swallowing Oxbridge types? It'd end up like Bullingdon Club: The Movie or Oxford Blues, but with Rob Lowe replaced by Spencer from Made In Chelsea or a puppy-fat David Cameron. Filmgoers would queue up just to blow raspberries at their local cinema. | | | |
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Empire Assembles The Avengers
The Ocean's Eleven of comic-book movies, Avengers Assemble is finally with us in all its S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited, Hulk-smashing awesomeness. And as Empire's review reveals, it's been well worth the wait. So what better way to celebrate than by coming over all Nick Fury and assembling an Avenger or two of our own? That's right: there isn't one. With the greatest ensemble of superheroes every seen gathering in a London hotel, we bowed before Thor and Hulk, fell under Loki's spell and met the less mighty, but still jolly nice Agents Coulson and Hill. | |
|  | | The Empire Podcast #9 Is Here!
For our ninth podcast, the man behind most Marvel movies you could mention dropped in for a chat - that's Kevin Feige, by the way - as well as Eugene Levy and Jennifer Coolidge, who spent a few minutes in the podbooth before our American Pie: Reunion webchat the other day. |
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|  | | The Evolution Of Iron Man's Suits
In Avengers Assemble, you will see a new Iron Man suit so awesome that it may well make you squeal with joy. In honour of that we thought it high time to go through the previous incarnations of Mr. Stark's marvellous outerwear, from the rough-and-ready Mark I to the rather remarkable Mark VII. A little warning, however: if you're colour blind to hot rod red, this may not make a whole lot of sense to you… |
|  | | Jameson Empire Awards 2012: The Photo Booth Snaps
Step One: take a photobooth. Step Two: Fill it with famous and/or gorgeous people at the annual Jameson Empire Awards. Emphasis on the "gorgeous" bit. Step Three: Put the photos on the website and admire at your leisure. Step Four: Practice making same faces in your mirror at home. Despair when you don't look half as good doing it. Step Five: Have a breakdown; invest in a photobooth; feel better. This, in case you're wondering is Step Three. |
|  | | The Amazing Avengers Flowchart!
To short the superwheat from the evil chaff, Empire assembled this test. We're not going to lie, not everyone will end up being Thor, although if you end up as Loki, something's gone wrong somewhere. Also: please don't hurt us. |
|  | | Jameson Empire Awards 2012: The Group Portrait
Just after the main awards ceremony and before the drinking got seriously underway, we gathered our Jameson Empire Award winners, presenters and guests for one monumental group shot. Here is the result: an achingly glamorous look at some gorgeously glamorous people. |
|  | | George R. R. Martin Webchat Transcript
George RR Martin was already a successful writer, but his career exploded when he began the series called A Song Of Ice And Fire in the 1990s. It went stratospheric when the story was adapted by HBO as Game OF Thrones, one of the most talked-about shows of last year. As the show's second season gets underway on Sky Atlantic, we invited the author in to answer your questions on what's happened so far, what's left to write, and what his favourite sandwich is. Surprisingly, what follows is relatively spoiler-free, except where marked. |
|  | | The Ultimate Cats Picture Quiz
Cats, like cat hair, get everywhere. They're on our sofas, on our TV screens, in our cinemas, even. According to the upcoming African Cats documentary, they even crop up on the plains of the Serengeti. Those darn cats, eh? Still, despite their proclivity, we can't help but love the furball-hacking beasties, and here's the picture quiz to prove it. It's not 100% comprehensive - don't expect anything from the Cats & Dogs franchise, for example - but at 45 moggies long, we hope you'll forgive the cat-shaped gaps. |
|  | | Schwarzenegger Character Name Quiz
We already asked you to spot the Jean Claude Van Damme action movie from a selection of ridiculous character names. Now it's Arnold Schwarzenegger's turn. Arguably, Arnie's real name is action-y enough to make this list in its own right: so much so, in fact, that the likes of "Jericho Cane" and "Trent Mauser" almost pale in comparison. Still, a couple of the Austrian Oak's more bizarre films have given us the likes of "Prince Hapi" and "Mr. Freeze" to throw the likes of "Mark Kaminsky" into sharper, more masculine relief. |
|  | | Damsels In Distress Interviews
Whit Stillman may not be prolific - Damsels In Distress is only his fourth film in a career spanning two decades - but each of his films has added credence to the theory that he's one of the most interesting voices in American independent cinema. So where does an indie darling go to make magic happen? Empire sent its top man in LA down to find out (clue: it's Dunkin' Donuts) and meet Stillman's young cast. |
|  | | Classic Pint Of Milk: Chris Evans
Here's a treat for you: Chris Evans, aka Captain America in next week's Avengers Assemble, took our Pint Of Milk challenge. Can he stay sane in the face of the most bizarre questions ever assembled? Would he rather lose an arm or a leg? And does he know how much a pint of milk costs? |
| | | Special Mike Newell Podcast
Two weeks ago, Mike Newell came into the Empire podbooth. He was pencilled in for about 20 minutes or so to talk about his favourite film ever, La Grande Illusion, as it had just been rereleased on the big screen. He ended up staying for well over double that, chatting away about everything from Four Weddings And A Funeral and his complicated working relationship with Jerry Bruckheimer on Prince Of Persia. Put simply: it was frank, funny and slightly mad. | | | |
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Amazing Jubilee biscuit tin from the insanely talented Biscuiteers. Even the most die-hard republican would become a monarchist for this lot. | | | |
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If you have any timewasters to share, then e-mail them in to us. | | | |
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Avengers Assemble 
The Avengers have been assembled and, for the most part, they fit together superbly. A joyous blend of heroism and humour that raises the stakes even as it maintains a firm grip on what makes the individual heroes tick. | | | |
Also Out
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This week's video trailers and clips. Every week, our video player will update to show trailers and clips from the week's movie releases listed above. | | |
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The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
A tough, post-punk Tintin-meets-Klute for the Occupy Wall Street set, this kinetic, hard-edged thriller is the perfect festive comedown for Fincher fans and dysfunctional families everywhere. | | | |
Also Out
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