‘Thor’: It’s hammer time!

I must admit, for all the Avengers amassing, “Thor” was the character for whom I held the most doubt.

For the uninitiated, Marvel Comics is toiling away at an epic comic concoction filled with its bankable superheroes. Over the past few years, it has been skillfully crafting the wildly diverse origin stories of these crusaders, starting in 2008 with “Iron Man,'” followed by “The Incredible Hulk,” and concluding this summer with “Thor” and “Captain America.” They will unite next summer on screen under the direction of geek overlord Joss Whedon (“Buffy, The Vampire Slayer,” “Firefly” and author of several comic book miniseries) in what is anticipated to be one of the biggest nerd-gasms the box office has seen in quite some time.

‘Thor’: It’s hammer time!

I must admit, for all the Avengers amassing, “Thor” was the character for whom I held the most doubt.

For the uninitiated, Marvel Comics is toiling away at an epic comic concoction filled with its bankable superheroes. Over the past few years, it has been skillfully crafting the wildly diverse origin stories of these crusaders, starting in 2008 with “Iron Man,'” followed by “The Incredible Hulk,” and concluding this summer with “Thor” and “Captain America.” They will unite next summer on screen under the direction of geek overlord Joss Whedon (“Buffy, The Vampire Slayer,” “Firefly” and author of several comic book miniseries) in what is anticipated to be one of the biggest nerd-gasms the box office has seen in quite some time.

Saving the best for ‘Fast’

“Fast Five” is like “Inception” created for a“Jersey Shore” audience.

What is more shocking than that union is that it’s not a bad move. It only took producers five tries, but it seems this one gets it right.

For we are now in our fifth outing with the gears, girls and guns franchise known originally as “The Fast and the Furious,” and for all intents and purposes, the treads on the series’ tires should be quite thin by now. But somehow, “Five” defies common cinematic laws and manages to become the most entertaining, coherent and flat-out fun installment to date.