2012 has been an incredibly exciting year for movies and all of these great films have been driven forward by the vision of the director.
We have already heaped praise on Ben Affleck and Christopher Nolan but the director who has really stood out for us here at FemaleFirst this year is Joss Whedon.
Of course is has been Avengers Assemble that has been the standout blockbuster movie of 2012 - not to mention the biggest grossing.
The film has won over critics and audiences as a fantastic cast of Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L Jackson and Tom Hiddleston has been assembled.
There has been a lot of talk of a possible Avengers movie for many years but bringing together so many characters and actors was always going to be a tricky task.
But Whedon really did pull of this seemingly impossible as he played a fine balancing game as he has created a movie that is huge in terms of scale but very intimate when it comes to the characters.
And this is a true ensemble cast were everyone gets a share of the spotlight and the story. Each character is on a very personal mission and has their own reasons to want to help.
Not only does Whedon mix scale with intimacy and the many strands of the story but he strikes a fine balance between fast paced action and humour.
The humour elements are all perfectly timed and yet Whedon has not turned this into a comedy movie.
Avengers Assemble grossed over $1.5 billion at the global box office and it not only the biggest grossing movie of the year but the third biggest grossing movie of all time.
As well as having success as a director Whedon has also enjoyed success as a producer as he was behind horror movie Cabin In the Woods - a film that enjoyed huge critical success earlier in the year.
Into 2013 he is set to direct Marvel project S.H.I.E.L.D for TV and a second Avengers movie is also in the pipeline but that it not expected to start filming until 2014.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Joss Whedon