Midwest Movie Maker

Why wait for Sept. 25 to see all the behind-the-scenes extras from this summer’s mega-blockbuster on The Avengers blu-ray when so much is already available on YouTube? Okay, true, the blu-ray and DVD extras will be more extensive and likely super-cool. But with all the great clips available via social media, it’s easy to get your fix early. And it makes us wonder if the blu-ray should include a special section specifically for some of the best “caught on smartphone” videos. Most of those that we’ve found – and are most interested in – take place during last year’s on location work in downtown Cleveland. A big deal, since the scenes are from the final big battle with the alien Chitauri. Here are some of our favorites: Avengers Battle Scene – Day 2 , by jpesicek In this two-minute clip, we get to see just how much of E. 9 th and Euclid was consumed by The Avengers movie set. While it takes a good minute to get into the action, once it does, you can see a long line ...

Some news we haven't read yet, but just floated into our mailbox from a female friend in the news biz: local Channel 19 Action News anchor  David Wittman  will get a shot at making the big screen in The Avengers. The production is expected to shoot at or near the station in the coming days. What's his role? Well, we're guessing newscaster, of course. What will he report on? Probably the massive explosions on 42nd Street. Those took place on the E. 9th New York City set today, much to the delight of spectators.   Cleveland.com has great video of the explosion, but we like this cell phone video from inside an office overlooking the set, from @kuriousrangiku. Finally, a few shots from the smaller set the Avengers  crew is building on Public Square. I can't quite figure out what this is supposed to be. Any ideas? Oh, and apologies to the prop department. I took my seven- and three-year-old to see the set this weekend, and my daughter did what three-year-olds ...

Here are a few simple Avengers  tidbits we've discovered in the last few days, just by reading the local papers and by doing a little searching online. First, Samuel (Nick Fury) Jackson was not the only actor to film in Sandusky at NASA's Plum Brook Facility. Jeremy (Hawkeye) Renner was the there as well, according to The Morning Journal , Lorain County's daily paper, along with Tom (Loki) Hiddleston and Clark (Agent Phil Coulson) Gregg. Speculation? Holding cell for Loki? In the preview at the end of Captain America , we see Loki marched in under guard. With these three in the scene, alongside the king of all liars, it would seem that way to me. Total guess, though. Another total guess that seems way off now? Our guess that the structure built early on for the E. 9th set in downtown Cleveland might be Stark Tower? Seems a bit unlikely now. Unlikely because the set, doubling for 42nd Street, is looking a lot like 87 E. 42nd Street - Grand Central Terminal . If you Ma...

More information is trickling in about the soon-to-shoot Avengers  film. One great resource is Cleveland.com's official Avengers page.  Part of The Plain Dealer , Cleveland's daily newspaper, the site is connected to the production in a way that only daily metropolitan newspapers can be. It's here we first learned that the E. 9th Street set is a replica of New York City's 42nd Street. I've been scrolling through Google Earth to see if it's an exact replica, but I can't find restaurants like "Grand Central Bistro". (Let us know if you can find the real place, if it exists.) We also learn more about The Avengers'  production in Sandusky at NASA's Plum Brook facility . Plum Brook is home to the world's largest space environment simulation chamber . It's designed and constructed to test both nuclear and non-nuclear space hardware in a simulated low-Earth-orbiting environment. Word is only one Avengers cast member is shooting at NASA...

As we speak, location scouts are combing Northeast Ohio looking for locations to film The Avengers , Marvel Studios blockbuster superhero flick, set to unspool in 2012. We thought we’d take this opportunity to help them out. Here are five Cleveland-area locations we want to see in The Avengers : Severance Hall 1.     Severance Hall as Avengers Mansion. Severance Hall is home to the world renowned Cleveland Orchestra. It’s also one of the most beautiful buildings in Cleveland. The home that John Long Severance built for the orchestra in 1928 would serve as the perfect backdrop for Iron Man and Captain America’s New York City headquarters . Plus, the location should be familiar to filmgoers. It stood in as a Russian mansion during the opening scenes of Air Force One . East 4th Street 2.     East 4 th Street District. Now you know Tony Stark ( Robert Downey Jr ) will wine and dine some young thing (just don’t tell Pepper Potts). And chances are Ste...