Every once in a while, an absolutely brilliant film is released that just doesn’t get the credit that it deserves. For me, A Late Quartet is one of those movies. 

Released last fall amongst all the film’s vying for award season consideration, A Late Quartet was for some unknown reason completely ignored, and it’s a damn shame because I think it was one of the best films of 2012. Furthermore, I believe actor Christopher Walken gives one of the best performances of his career as a respected cello player suffering from the onset of Parkinson’s disease, and it is an absolute travesty that he was not at least considered for a Best Supporting Actor nomination at this year’s Academy Awards. As someone who’s own beloved father has been stricken with the terrible disease, I can tell you personally that the film and Walken’s performance are both equally authentic and unbelievably touching. But now you have a chance to judge the film for yourself as A Late Quartet will finally available on Blu-ray and DVD beginning February 5th.

The film, which is directed by documentary filmmaker Yaron Zilberman (Watermarks), revolves around a quartet of respected musicians that are portrayed by a quartet of respected actors including Oscar-winners Christopher Walken (Seven Psychopaths), and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (The Ides of March), as well as Oscar-nominee Catherine Keener (The Oranges) and actor Mark Ivanir (Big Miracle). Ivanir plays Daniel, the outsider violinist of the quartet who is at odds with Hoffman and Keener’s married couple. After Peter (Walken) is forced to leave the group because of his illness, Robert (Hoffman) makes a power-play that jeopardizes their dynamic, which is further complicated when Daniel begins a relationship with Robert and Juliette’s (Kenner) college-age daughter, Alexandra (Imogen Poots). 

I recently had the absolute pleasure of speaking with director Yaron Zilberman about A Late Quartet. The impressive director discussed his brilliant film, the idea for the project, developing the script with screenwriter Seth Grossman, Parkinson’s disease, Walken’s exceptional performance, casting his quartet of excellent actors, and teaching them to play their character’s instruments as if they were classically trained musicians.

Marvel’s The Avengers is truly an amazing cinematic accomplishment on so many different levels. 

Not only is it a groundbreaking project in the sense that it took launching five separate successful films first (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger) in order to set it up and make it work, but it has also gone on to gross over $1.5 billion worldwide and become the third highest-grossing film of all time. As if that wasn’t enough, the film’s visual effects team has now been recognized for its outstanding work by being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. The VFX artists who are up for the award include Janek Sirrs (Batman Begins), Jeff White (Transformers: Dark on the Moon), Guy Williams (X-Men: First Class), and Dan Sudick (Cowboys & Aliens).

I recently had a chance to sit down with longtime Marvel Studios film producer Victoria Alonso, as well as VFX Supervisor and Oscar-nominee Jeff Smith to talk about their contributions to Marvel’s The Avengers and the nomination. Alonso discussed the film’s amazing accomplishments, what it took as a producer to bring it all together, and hiring director Joss Whedon to bring it all together, while White talked about Whedon’s contributions to the film, designing the Hulk, and how it feels to be nominated for an Academy Award. 

Seth Gordon first gained attention as a documentary filmmaker for his directorial debut - the critically acclaimed film The King of Kong: A Fistful of Dollars, which chronicles gamer Steve Wiebe’s attempt to take the record for highest score in Donkey Kong away from reigning champion Billy Mitchell. 

He would eventually go on to direct the holiday comedy Four Christmases starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon, as well as episodes of such popular sitcoms as Parks and Recreation, Community, The Office, and Modern Family. But his biggest box office hit to date came in 2011 with the workplace comedy Horrible Bosses, which featured Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Aniston, and two-time Academy Award-winner Kevin Spacey. Now, the director teams up with Bateman once again for the new road trip action-comedy Identity Thief, which also stars Oscar-nominee Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) and opens in theaters on February 8th.

The film centers on mild-mannered businessman Sandy Patterson (Bateman) who travels from Denver to Miami to confront the deceptively harmless-looking woman (McCarthy) who has been living it up after stealing his identity. In addition to Bateman and McCarthy, the film’s excellent cast of actors and comedians also includes Jon Favreau (Iron Man 2), Amanda Peet (The X-Files: I Want to Believe), T.I. (Takers), Genesis Rodriguez (Casa di me Padre), Morris Chestnut (Think Like a Man), John Cho (Total Recall), Robert Patrick (Gangster Squad), and Eric Stonestreet (Bad Teacher). 

I recently had a chance to sit down with Seth Gordon to talk about his work on Identity Thief, as well as a reboot of the '80s classic War Games, and a sequel to Horrible Bosses. The talented director discussed his new film, working with the comedic duo of Bateman and McCarthy, their instant chemistry, why he thinks Bateman is the best straight man of his generation, balancing the different characteristics of McCarthy’s unique role, improvisation, the film’s fast-paced production, directing action sequences, the inspiration he took from Midnight Run, and two of his possible upcoming projects – a War Games reboot, and a Horrible Bosses sequel.  

Scott Z. Burns has worn many different hats in Hollywood. 

The filmmaker first gained attention for directing the 2006 film Pu-239, and would eventually go on to produce former Vice President Al Gore’s Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, as well as write the box office hit The Bourne Ultimatum. But it is his frequent collaborations with Oscar-winning director Steven Sonderbergh, including The Informant!, and Contagion, that has made everyone take notice. 

Since then the scribe has penned a draft of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, a sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, as well as being attached to write The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which is based on the popular ‘60s spy series starring Robert Vaughn. But first, he has reunited with Soderbergh again on, what may be the director’s final theatrical film, a psychological thriller entitled Side Effects, which Burns wrote and produced, and will opens in theaters on February 8th.

Side Effects centers on Emily (Rooney Mara) and Martin (Channing Tatum), a successful New York couple whose world unravels when a new drug prescribed by Emily’s Psychiatrist (Jude Law), which is intended to treat anxiety, has unexpected side effects. In addition to Law, Mara, and Tatum, the excellent cast of actors also includes Vinessa Shaw (Puncture), Mamie Gummer (The Ward), and Academy Award-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago). 

I recently had a chance to speak with producer and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns about his work on Side Effects. The accomplished filmmaker discussed the new film, its unique concept, his research, plotting its twists and turns, why he writes every role for Matt Damon, the film’s impressive cast, collaborating with Steven Soderbergh, and if he truly thinks Side Effects will be the acclaimed director’s final theatrical film. 

Dwight Schrute, the fictitious assistant to the regional manager of a mid-size Pennsylvania paper company once declared, "Identity theft is not a joke, Jim!  Millions of families suffer every year."  The new comedy Identity Thief, hitting theaters this Friday, February 8th, aims to disprove Schrute's statistically unlikely assertion, panning for comedic gold in the stream of criminality.

Jason Bateman (Horrible Bosses, television's Arrested Development) and Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids, the CBS series Mike & Molly) star in Identity Thief as two people on opposing sides of the country and the spectrum of legality.  Bateman plays Sandy Bigelow Patterson, a straitlaced Colorado accounts rep whose years of fastidious financing responsibility are undone when Diane, played by McCarthy, steals his identity in order to live a consumer's dream on the raggedy edges of Miami.  With only a week before his plans for the future are permanently derailed by her excesses, Sandy travels to Florida to track down Diane and bring her 2,000 miles across the country before it's too late.

Working from a screenplay by Craig Mazin (The Hangover: Part II), director Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses, The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters) assembled a supporting cast full of ringers like Amanda Peet (Please Give), Jon Favreau (Iron Man), T.I. (Takers), John Cho (Star Trek Into Darkness), Genesis Rodriguez (The Last Stand), Morris Chestnut (Think Like a Man), Eric Stonestreet (ABC's Modern Family), and Steve Little (HBO's Eastbound & Down).

Despite all that comedic backup, McCarthy and Bateman are the dynamic duo holding Identity Thief together.  Both actors were on hand for the Los Angeles press day, where IAR was lucky enough to join a group of entertainment journalists from all over the world to talk with the stars.  In a lively, joke-filled interview, Bateman and McCarthy discussed the origins of Identity Thief, how far is too far comedically, playing the straight man, a particular cameo, and making the seemingly monstrous Diane sympathetic.

Actor Bruce Greenwood has achieved a long and esteemed career in television and film that has now lasted over thirty years!

He first gained attention for his role on the groundbreaking medical series St. Elsewhere, and would go on to appear in such movies as First Blood, Passenger 57, and Double Jeopardy, before his career-making role as President John F. Kennedy in the excellent yet underrated film Thirteen Days. He would later play the President of the United States once again in National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and have pivotal roles in a series of successful films including I, Robot, Capote, I’m Not There, Dinner for Schmucks, and Super 8, not to mention the well received but short-lived HBO series John from Cincinnati. But it was his role as original Enterprise captain Christopher Pike in director J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek that made him a household name to Trekkies around the world.

Most recently, Greenwood returned to the big screen opposite his former St. Elsewhere co-star, two-time Academy Award-winner Denzel Washington (Glory, Training Day), in Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis’s (Forrest Gump) critically acclaimed film Flight, which will be available on Blu-ray and DVD beginning February 5th. The movie was not only a commercial success, but has gone on to earn two Academy Award-nominations including Best Actor for Washington, and Best Original Screenplay for writer John Gatins. In the film, Washington plays Whip Whitaker, an airline pilot that successfully saves a flight from crashing. However, the ensuing investigation into the plane’s malfunctions reveals that Whitaker is an alcoholic and a drug addict. Greenwood plays a former pilot and old friend of Whip’s, who now works for the airline and tries to protect him from prosecution. In addition to Washington and Greenwood, the film also boasts an excellent cast of veteran actors that includes recent Golden Globe-winner Don Cheadle (Iron Man 2), John Goodman (The Artist), and Oscar-winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter). 

I recently had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Bruce Greenwood about Flight, as well as the upcoming Star Trek sequel - Star Trek Into Darkness, and his thoughts on director J.J. Abrams leaving the franchise to direct Star Wars: Episode VII. The acclaimed veteran actor discussed Flight, working with director Robert Zemeckis, what it’s like on the set of one of his movies, reuniting with old friend Denzel Washington, how their personal relationship helped inform their characters, why working with a cast of veteran actors helped elevate his performance, playing a former pilot, his pleasure at seeing the movie’s critical and commercial success, Star Trek Into Darkness, what it was like returning to the franchise with Abrams and the rest of the cast, how Pike and Kirk’s relationship has changed since the last film, his thoughts on J.J. Abrams leaving the series to direct Star Wars: Episode VII, and whether or not he would like to play a Jedi Master in the highly anticipated new film.

Australian singer-songwriter Ben Lee first gained attention at the young age of fourteen with his band Noise Addict, but it was his 2005 solo album Awake Is the New Sleep that launched him to international fame, and the album generated his biggest hit to date; the Indie pop anthem “Catch My Disease.”

Now, a new documentary aptly titled Ben Lee: Catch My Disease, which can currently be seen for free on Hulu, chronicles the artists meteoric rise to pop stardom and the issues of celebrity that arise when launched into the spotlight at an early age. The film was directed by Amiel Courtin-Wilson (Chasing Buddha), and in addition to featuring rare archival and concert footage of Lee, it also contains interviews with ex-girlfriend and actress Claire Danes (TV’s Homeland), as well wife Ione Skye (Say Anything), and Lee’s famous friends such as Jason Schwartzman (Moonrise Kingdom), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn), Zooey Deschanel (TV’s New Girl), Winona Ryder (Star Trek), and Mike D (The Beastie Boys). 

Late last year, I had the great pleasure of speaking to Ben Lee about Ben Lee: Catch My Disease, as well as his overall career. The singer-songwriter discussed the new documentary, the origins of the project, having his life and career documented on film, the movie’s focus on his former relationship with Claire Danes, how his wife Ione Skye felt about that, his deep Hindu faith, becoming famous at an early age, how the idea of success has changed for him, his friendship with mentor Evan Dando (The Lemonheads), the success of Awake Is the New Sleep, and writing his most famous lines from “Catch My Disease.”

Actor, writer, and producer Griffin Dunne is truly part of Hollywood royalty. He is the son of famed investigative journalist and movie producer Dominick Dunne (The Panic in Needle Park), the brother of the late actress Dominique Dunne (Poltergeist), and the nephew of screenwriters John Gregory Dunne (True Confessions), and Joan Didion (Up Close & Personal). 

However, Griffin Dunne is a very well known actor in his own right having appeared in several feature films including the groundbreaking An American Werewolf in London, Johnny Dangerously, After Hours, Who’s That Girl, Quiz Show, My Girl, The Great Buck Howard, and most recently Broken City opposite Academy Award-winner Russell Crowe. Not to mention he is also a very accomplished filmmaker and has directed such movies as Addicted to Love, Practical Magic, Fierce People, and The Accidental Husband, as well as producing Baby It’s You, Running on Empty, White Palace, and Joe’s Apartment. Now, Dunne returns to the director’s chair with the new anthology comedy Movie 43, which opens in theaters on January 25th.

The film features several different shorts that are all tied together by one story, and were directed by a string of successful filmmakers in addition to Dunne, which include Peter Farrelly (The Three Stooges), Brett Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand), Bob Odenkirk (Let’s Go to Prison), James Gunn (Super), Steven Brill (Mr. Deeds), Steve Carr (Paul Blart: Mall Cop), Rusty Cundieff (Sprung), Jonathan van Tulleken, Patrik Forsberg, James Duffy and actress Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games). Dunne’s contribution to the film is entitled Veronica and stars Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man) and Keiran Culkin (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) as star crossed lovers who must say farewell for the last time. 

Movie 43 truly stars an all-star cast that in addition to Stone and Culkin includes such talent as Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Halle Berry, Stephen Merchant, Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber, Richard Gere, Kate Bosworth, Jack McBrayer, Kristen Bell, Justin Long, Uma Thurman, Bobby Cannavale, Leslie Bibb, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Grace Moretz, Gerard Butler, Seann William Scott, Johnny Knoxville, Terrence Howard, Elizabeth Banks, Josh Duhamel, Anna Faris, Chris Pratt, J.B. Smoove, Dennis Quaid, Greg Kinnear, Common, Seth MacFarlane, and even Nicole “Snookie” Polizzi. 

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to actor/director/producer Griffin Dunne about Movie 43, as well as his role in Broken City and his overall distinguished career. The accomplished filmmaker discussed Movie 43, how he became involved in the project, why it’s the prefect time to release an anthology comedy, directing Veronica, casting Emma Stone and Keiran Culkin, screening the classic Casablanca for them before they began filming, his role in Broken City, playing racket ball with Russell Crowe, what he likes more – acting or directing, his next feature film – a documentary about his aunt Joan Didion, and why he regrets passing on playing one of the two leads in Dumb and Dumber. 

According to Dumb and Dumber co-director Peter Farrelly, comedian Stephen Merchant is “one of the top five funniest guys on the planet,” and I honestly can’t find any flaws in that statement. 

Writer, director, actor, comedian, and radio presenter Stephen Merchant is probably best known as co-creator of the extremely popular British sitcom The Office, along with his friend and frequent collaborator Ricky Gervais. But in addition to that groundbreaking series, the duo have also gone on to create such popular shows as Extras, The Ricky Gervais Show, Life’s Too Short, and An Idiot Abroad, as well as a series of podcasts and audiobooks with comedic savant Karl Pilkington, which were certified by Guinness Book of World Records as the most-downloaded of all time. Merchant has also appeared in several popular films including Hot Fuzz, Run Fatboy Run, The Invention of Lying, Tooth Fairy, and Hall Pass, which was co-directed by Peter Farrelly. Now, Merchant returns to the big screen once again in the new anthology comedy Movie 43, which opens in theaters on January 25th.

The film features several different shorts that are all tied together by one story, and were directed by different filmmakers including Peter Farrelly (The Three Stooges), Griffin Dunne (Practical Magic), Brett Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand), Bob Odenkirk (Let’s Go to Prison), James Gunn (Super), Steven Brill (Mr. Deeds), Steve Carr (Paul Blart: Mall Cop), Rusty Cundieff (Sprung), Jonathan van Tulleken, Patrik Forsberg, James Duffy and actress Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games). Merchant’s segment entitled Truth or Dare, reunites him with his Hall Pass director Peter Farrelly, and finds the funny man on an unusual blind date with a woman, played by Academy Award-winner Halle Berry, where a game of truth or dare breaks out and the two would-be-lovers try to one-up each other. 

Movie 43 truly stars an all-star cast that in addition to Merchant and Berry includes such talent as Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber, Emma Stone, Kieran Culkin, Richard Gere, Kate Bosworth, Jack McBrayer, Kristen Bell, Justin Long, Uma Thurman, Bobby Cannavale, Leslie Bibb, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Grace Moretz, Gerard Butler, Seann William Scott, Johnny Knoxville, Terrence Howard, Elizabeth Banks, Josh Duhamel, Anna Faris, Chris Pratt, J.B. Smoove, Dennis Quaid, Greg Kinnear, Common, Seth MacFarlane, and even Nicole “Snookie” Polizzi. 

Jason Statham (The Expendables 2) has played his share of indomitable badasses capable of destroying every enemy before him, but with Parker, hitting theaters nationwide on Friday, January 25th, he stars a different kind of hero, one with a literary pedigree.

The criminal known only as Parker has been at the center of no fewer than twenty-four novels written by Donald E. Westlake under the pseudonym Richard Stark.  These novels have influenced countless films and have actually been adapted into motion pictures several times, though Westlake never allowed the name Parker to be used.  As a result, the characters played by Lee Marvin and Mel Gibson in Point Blank and Payback – both based on The Hunter – were known as Walker and Porter, respectively.

Staham is the first actor to play the full-fledged Parker the appropriately titled Parker, which is based principally on the novel Flashfire.  Though he's very much a criminal, Parker operates under a unique and inflexible code of ethics.  That code isn't shared by the crew of his latest heist, who betray Parker and leave him for dead.  As the crew goes about their next job in Florida, Parker engineers a dangerous plan that will allow him to make off with their loot and exact his revenge.

To execute this plan, Parker enlists a real estate inside played by Jennifer Lopez (Out of Sight).  Michael Chiklis (FX's The Shield) plays the principal villain, leading a crew played by Wendell Piece (HBO's Treme), Clifton Collins Jr. (The Rules of Attraction), and Michael A. Hauptman (S.W.A.T.: Firefight).  The supporting cast also includes Nick Nolte (Gangster Squad), Bobby Cannavale (The Station Agent), and Patti LuPone (Driving Miss Daisy).

At the Los Angeles press day promoting Parker, IAR Managing Editor Jami Philbrick had the opportunity, along with several other entertainment journalists, to participate in roundtable interviews with Jason Statham and Michael Chiklis.  These two monuments to onscreen masculinity enthusiastically discussed what drew them to Parker, filming tough action sequences, dressing as a clown, shooting in New Orleans, working with Lopez, and Texas accents.