Out of the great Northwest our friend GermanCityGirl offers up the big news!

We all eagerly await The Avengers, right? The 2012 blockbuster that brings together a team of superheroes to save Earth... directed by our beloved Joss? Yeah. We're eager for that. Bring on the midnight showing! But when the news of a Whedon-directed Shakespeare play hit the internet... well, let's just say that the indie film caused some major buzz.

Stolen shamefully from the press release:

• This is the first feature from Bellwether, a micro-studio created by Joss Whedon and Kai Cole for the production of small, independent narratives for all media, embracing a DIY ethos and newer technologies for, in this particular case, a somewhat older story.

• The film was shot in glorious black and white by Jay Hunter.

• “The text is to me a deconstruction of the idea of love, which is ironic, since the entire production is a love letter – to the text, to the cast, even to the house it’s shot in.” - Joss Whedon.

• The film should be completed by early spring and headed for the festival circuit, because it is fancy.

more after the break...

Below is the video of what happened at the LA CSTS that was broadcast live and saved for posterity. They were not only able to bring in a few writers and/or minor stars like other CSTS events have been able to do, they brought in the big guns! Joss Whedon! Oh, and a few others of note. It's a bit slow getting going, a lot of stuff you won't care about up front, but skip ahead and you'll be glad you did. Joss takes the stage at around 45 minutes in.

It's a little late but Entertainment Weekly might just have something of interest to you this week. It is on stands now, you should have til Friday to nab one or hop online and order the issue here. You can always read the article online at popwatch.ew.com but there's no replacement for a nice glossy coffee table filler. Enjoy.

San Diego ComicCon starts July 20 with all sorts of goodies including a rumored panel combining Joss Whedon and JJ Abrams, and probably some kind of news to feed Joss's rabid fans, like details on A Shepherd's Tale or confirmation on Avengers (more and more blogs are confirming it, but until I hear it from the man himself and see production begin, I'm not biting). Is anyone going? I'll be expecting full coverage from our more fortunate members! Make the Az Browncoats proud! For now, enjoy this glorious (if fuzzy and low res) picture twittered by Nathan tonight. Oh what wonders must have taken place on this night.

Alan Tudyk is one of the most prolific of our big damn heroes. He's been tragically underrated in countless films both before and after Serenity, from A Knights Tale to Death at a Funeral (the original Brittish one... I get remaking a Japanese horror flick for American audiences, but do we really need to remake a three year old Brittish comedy with an assortment of African-American actors?). So here's something new I've never heard of. Turns out it's only a film festival style flick, but it looks pretty entertaining. It features Tudyk and the buddy from Reaper (and the upcoming and semi-relevant Sons of Tucson) as hillbillies facing off with a handful of college co-eds (including Wonderfalls' fabulous Gretchen Speck).

The film is Tucker and Dale vs Evil. Enjoy!

My one concern is that the trailer tells a bit too much of the story... Oh well, looks like a couple hours of fun.