Opening in theaters on January 27th is a touching new drama from French filmmakers Valerie Donzelli and Jeremie Elkaim called Declaration of War. The movie was written by Donzelli and Elkaim, directed by Donzelli, and the duo also star in the film along with Cesar Desseix, Gabriel Elkaim, Brigitte Sy, Elina  Lowensohn, and Michele Moretti. 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to speak with filmmakers Valerie Donzelli and Jeremie Elkaim about their new film Declaration of War. Donzelli and Elkaim discussed the movie, the real-life experience that inspired the project, injecting fun and color into the serious subject matter, casting the child actors, and why the film is a celebration of life rather than a expose about death. 

Synopsis: Wanting to leave Iran with her husband Nader and daughter Termeh, Simin makes all the necessary arrangements. However, her husband Nader refuses to leave behind his father who suffers from Alzheimers. Determined to leave, Simin sues for divorce, and when her request is rejected, she moves in with her parents. Her daughter Termeh chooses to stay with her father with the hope that one day her mother will change her mind.

Opening in theaters on December 9th is a new dramatic film from director Mark Pellington (Henry Poole Is Here) entitled I Melt with You. The movie centers on a reunion between four college friends and features an excellent cast of actors including Thomas Jane (The Punisher), Jeremy Piven (Grosse Pointe Blank), Rob Lowe (St. Elmo's Fire), Christian McKay (Me and Orson Welles), Carla Gugino (Watchmen), Arielle Kebbel (John Tucker Must Die), and Sasha Grey (The Girlfriend Experience). 

IAR's managing editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with actors Thomas Jane, Rob Lowe, and Jeremy Piven, as well as director Mark Pellington, to discuss their work on I Melt with You. The actors and director talked about their new movie, the film's characters, the impact of drugs on their relationship, how the actors played stoned, why shooting in sequence was so important, Pellington's unique vision for the project, what happens to men when they hit forty, and what it means to fail as an American man. 

Opening in theaters on December 2nd is the new mystery drama from writer/director Matthew Leutwyler (The River Why) called Answers to Nothing. The film stars an excellent cast of popular actors including Dane Cook (Good Luck Chuck) Academy Award-nominee, Barbara Hershey (Black Swan), Elizabeth Mitchell (TV's Lost), Julie Benz (TV's Dexter), Zach Gilford (TV's Friday Night Lights), Erik Palladino (TV's ER), Greg German (TV's Alley McBeal), Mark Kelly (TV's Mad Men), Kali Hawk (Couples Retreat), producer-turned-actress Miranda Bailey (The Squid and the Whale), and newcomer Aja Volkman. 

IAR's managing editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with actor Dane Cook, as well as actresses Elizabeth Mitchell and Julie Benz, to talk about their experiences making Answers to Nothing. The actors discussed the new movie, their unique roles, the intertwining stories, working with director Matthew Leutwyler, Cook's transition from stand-up comedy to dramatic feature films, Mitchell and Benz's similar careers, and the great Barbara Hershey. 

In a relatively short amount of time, twenty-nine year old actor Cam Gigandet has established himself as one of the most sought after actors of his generation. He first gained attention for his role on the popular Fox series The O.C. before taking his talents to the big screen in films like Who’s Your Caddy? and Never Back Down. But it was his role as James in Twilight, the first installment of the extremely popular vampire series, which made him a household name. Since then, he has appeared in an array of popular and successful films such as Easy A, Burlesque, The Roommate, and last summer’s Priest. Now Gigandet returns to the big screen opposite Oscar winners Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas) and Nicole Kidman (The Hours) in Joel Schumacher’s (The Lost Boys) Trespass, which opens in theaters on October 14^th.

In the film, Cage plays Kyle; a successful diamond broker whose obsession with work is threatening his marriage to Sarah, played by Kidman. Things go from bad to worse quickly when Kyle’s family, including his only daughter, is suddenly taken hostage in their own home by extortionists who want Kyle’s diamonds. What seems like a simple home invasion becomes quite complicated when Kyle realizes that one of the attackers, Jonah (Gigandet), has a connection to his wife and possibly some other secrets of his own. Now Kyle must keep the burglars away from his diamonds, and unravel the mystery of Jonah and Sarah’s relationship, if he has any hope of protecting his family and surviving the terrible ordeal.

I recently had a chance to speak with Cam Gigandet about his work in the new film Trespass. The actor spoke candidly with me about the new film, what its like on a Joel Schumacher set, working with the extremely intense Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman’s calming effect over the cast and crew, his character’s complicated back-story, and his next project, which is a pilot for a new Western TV series on TNT.

Opening in theaters on October 14th is the new film from Spanish director Pedro Almodovar (Volver) entitled The Skin I Live In. The film stars Antonio Banderas (Puss in Boots) and marks his sixth collaboration with Almodovar but the first since Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! over twenty-one years ago. In addition to Banderas, the cast includes Elena Anaya (Point Blank), Maria Paredes (Life Is Beautiful), and Eduard Fernandez (En la ciudad). 

IAR's managing editor Jami Philbrick recently had an opportunity to sit down and chat with actors Antonio Banderas and Elena Anaya about their work in The Skin I Live In. The two actors spoke freely about the film, it's shocking subject matter, their complicated characters, kidnapping, and what it was like for Banderas to reunite with Almodovar after all these years. 

To comic book fans Ioan Gruffudd may be best known as the man who portrayed Marvel’s elastic hero Mr. Fantastic in 20^th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four franchise, but the classically trained Welsh actor also has a very impressive resume of non-superhero work to his credit. Gruffudd first gained attention for playing the title role on the A&E television series Hornblower, and eventually went on to appear in such assorted films as Black Hawk Down, King Arthur, The TV Set, Amazing Grace, W., Horrible Bosses, and Sanctum.

Gruffudd currently stars opposite Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress Sarah Michelle Gellar on the popular new CW series Ringer. On the series he plays Andrew Martin, a man who unbeknownst to himself, is secretly married to the identical twin sister of his own wife, who took her place after she mysteriously disappeared. The classically trained actor now returns to the big screen once again with a pivotal supporting role in the new dramatic ensemble film Fireflies in the Garden, which opens in theaters on October 14^th.

Ryan Reynolds stars in the new film as Michael, a successful writer with a troubled childhood and a failing marriage, who returns home to face his demons and attend his baby sister’s college graduation. Upon arrival, his mother (Julia Roberts) is killed in a car accident and Michael must now deal with the aftermath that includes confronting his abusive father (Willem Dafoe), reuniting with his estranged aunt (Emily Watson), and forgiving his recovering alcoholic wife (Carrie Anne-Moss). Meanwhile, Michael discovers that his mother was having an affair with a co-worker of his father’s (Gruffudd), a college professor whose class she was taking. Eventually, Michael must come to terms with his childhood, his family and his own life before ha can move on.

Fox Searchlight Pictures along with Camelot Pictures are set to release Margaret on Friday, September 30^th to limited platform release.  With a stellar cast that includes Anna Paquin (True Blood), Allison Janney (The Help), Matthew Broderick (Tower Heist), Matt Damon (Contagion), Kieran Culkin (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers), the film centers on a seventeen year-old New York City high school student, Lisa Cohen (played by Paquin), who is convinced that she has inadvertently played a role in a bus accident in Manhattan’s Upper West Side that caused a woman’s horrific death.

Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count On Me, which was nominated for two Academy Awards), and produced by the late director Sydney Pollack (Three Days of the Condor), Gary Gilbert and Scott Rudin with the late director Anthony Minghella (The English Patient) as executive producer, the film takes the audience along on the tumultuous journey as she tries to make things right.  Met with opposition at every turn as she takes legal action against the bus driver (Ruffalo), she is torn apart with guilt as revelations about telling the truth in the real world prove frustrating and disappointing.

Fox Searchlight has revealed a new clip from The Descendants, the directorial return of Alexander Payne, that master of deadpan and subtle, detail-oriented emotion who previously directed the unimpeachable Sideways, About Schmidt, and Election.  After a seven year absence from directing movies*, Payne appears not to have lost a single step.  The clip shows George Clooney as Hawaiian real estate magnate Matt King, meeting the boyfriend (Nick Krause) of his eldest daughter (Shailene Woodley) for the first time.  While his younger daughter (Amara Miller) looks on, King doesn't work too hard to conceal his distaste for the boy, but is promptly politically outfoxed by a teenage girl. 

She's now most known as Rogue in the X-Men films and Sookie Stackhouse on the Southern Gothic HBO series True Blood, but Anna Paquin won an Oscar at the age of twelve for her supporting role in The Piano, so there's no doubt that she can hold her own in the heaviest of dramas, even without mutants and/or vampires.  That's good news for Margaret, the sophomore film from writer-director Kenneth Lonergan in which Paquin stars as a high school student who must grapple with some serious, grown up stuff after she witnesses a terrible accident.  The first trailer for Margaret has premiered online, and it starts off like a jaunty, whimsical little comedy before abruptly switching gears.  Watch the trailer to see how, in a matter of seconds, a preview can take you from, "Oh, this looks like fun" to "Oh, oh my god."  Also, the impressive supporting cast includes Matt Damon and Mark Ruffalo, both of whom look to be doing nicely restrained work.