Opening in theaters on March 16th is the latest comedy from directors Jay and Mark Duplass (Cyrus) called Jeff, Who Lives at Home. The film stars an impressive cast of comedic and veteran actors including Jason Segel (The Muppets), Ed Helms (The Lorax), Judy Greer (The Descendants), Rae Dawn Chong (The Color Purple), and Academy Award-winner Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking). 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down and speak with the delightfully funny Judy Greer about her work in Jeff, Who Lives at Home, as well as the upcoming Arrested Development mini-series and film. The hilarious actress discussed the new film, her character, the directors unique filmmaking style, Ed Helms commitment to acting, why Jason Segel is the only actor who could play the film's title role, and what she would like to see her Arrested Development character - Kitty Sanchez - do in the upcoming mini-series and film. 

The FX animated series Archer, created by Adam Reed, revolves around ISIS, a private espionage company populated exclusively by venal, self-centered sociopaths and degenerates.  On any other series, the character of Cyril Figgis would be the butt of every joke, nothing more than a sweater-vest-wearing do-gooder.  Even in the comedy's first season, the unadventurous accountant and comptroller showed himself to be in their league as a betrayal-prone sex addict with serious Freudian issues.  With the series in its third season, Cryil, voiced by Chris Parnell, has been promoted to Field Agent, allowing Parnell to play whole new levels of awkwardness. 

Even if you don't know Parnell by name, it's almost guaranteed that he has made you laugh repeatedly over the years. A veteran of the improv institution The Groundlings, Parnell was a castmember on Saturday Night Live from 1998 to 2006, where he threw down regular recurring characters and notable impressions.  At the show, he became inextricably associated with the emergence of the viral video thanks to "Lazy Sunday," the insanely-popular SNL Digital Short starring Parnell and Andy Samberg.  In addition to Archer and Saturday Night Live, Parnell's extensive television credits include series such as Suburgatory, Big Lake, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and 30 Rock, on which he appears as the beloved Dr. Leo Spaceman.  On the cinematic side, he has appeared in films such as Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Hot Rod, and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. 

As Cyril on Archer, though, Parnell is now an indispensable part of television's most delightfully deranged series.  IAR and a number of other outlets were lucky enough to participate in an interview with Chris Parnell, who discussed his relationship to the character, SNL, table reads, Funny or Die, screenwriting, and what's coming up on Archer.

Both Jason Segel and Ed Helms are comedic actors who star in movies between playing leads on popular television series, with Segel on How I Met Your Mother and Helms on The Office.  Now they're both starring in Jeff, Who Lives at Home, a comedic drama from Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass, the duo who wrote, directed, and produced mumblecore mainstays The Puffy Chair and Baghead, as well as 2010's Cyrus.  Segel plays the eponymous Jeff and Helms is his brother Pat, who is having some Porsche and wife-related problems while his sibling attempts to parse out his own existence and destiny.  The first trailer is online, and it promises that the film will be another enjoyably low-key, funny, Duplasstastic little tale with lovable characters.

Even at the start of its first season, the FX series Archer had a clear, well-defined identity and an irreverent sensibility, but it was over the thirteen episodes of the second season that the animated show became one of the very best and funniest series on television, animated or not.  Created by Adam Reed, Archer takes place in the familiar world of espionage, following the unabashedly selfish, vain, libidinous, and inconsiderate staff of the International Secret Intelligence Serice (ISIS).

A talented voice cast that includes Aisha Tyler, Jessica Walter, Chris Parnell, Judy Greer, Amber Nash, and Reed himself all do superb work as the ISIS crew, but the honor of voicing the title character, Agent Sterling Archer (codenamed Duchess) falls to H. Jon Benjamin.  You might just recognize Benjamin from his Comedy Central series Jon Benjamin Has a Van or his appearances on Human Giant, Important Things With Demetri Martin, or Parks and Recreation.  While some folks might not be able to immediately identify him by his face, odds are they'd know his voice.  Benjamin's deadpan delivery has been featured prominently on many an animated series, from Adult Swim fare like Home Movies, Venture Bros., and Aqua Teen Hunger Force to Fox shows Bob's Burgers and Family Guy.

With the third season of Archer set to premiere tonight, January 19th, at 10:00 pm on FX, Benjamin engaged in a conference call with entertainment journalists from all over the place.  Throughout, Benjamin maintained his unique sense of humor, practically declaring his intent by mocking the moderator during his introduction.  Read on for the interview in which H. Jon Benjamin discussed the series, his relationship with Sterling Archer, obscure allusions, wearing black turtlenecks, and the perils of pretending to cry.

I believe one of the most important, and certainly underappreciated, jobs in the cinematic process is the editor. You don’t always realize it when you are watching a film, but their work is on every frame of the picture and without it, you’d literally have, well … nothing! Any good director will tell you that an editor’s contributions are absolutely vital to the filmmaking process. There have been many great director/editor teams over the years such as Steven Spielberg and Michael Khan, Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker, Ron Howard and Dan Hanley/Mike Hill, Quentin Tarantino and the late Sally Menke, and most recently, Alexander Payne and Kevin Tent.

Over the course of its second season, the already-enjoyable FX series Archer went from an undeniably sharp comedy set in the world of international espionage to – no hyperbole – one of the best shows on television.  The animated show follows the exploits of the staff at International Secret Intelligence Service, aka ISIS, a private spying company.  Though there is an element of the spy spoof to the show, its more focused on the ensemble of characters, pretty much all of whom are unrepentantly self-involved, petty, and mercenary. The voice cast, led by certifiable national treasure H. Jon Benjamin as the reckless, libidinous Sterling Archer (codename: Duchess), along with Jessica Walter, Aisha Tyler, Chris Parnell, Amber Nash, and series creator Adam Reed, all do fantastic work ranging from deadpan to wildly broad. 

The second season only got more fittingly outrageous as it went on, and a recent arc of three new episodes served to bridge the gap between season two and the upcoming third, while also giving Archer the chance to inadvertently become a pirate king.  Today, five new promotional clips serve to show that very little has changed at ISIS and remind us all that the third season begins on January 19th.

Matthew Lillard is probably best known for his work on the Scream franchise and for playing Scooby-Doo’s BFF Shaggy in the Scooby-Doo series of live-action films. But the actor has been working in the entertainment industry for over twenty-years and has appeared in several popular movies including Hackers, She’s All That, Summer Catch, and The Perfect Score, as well as the critically acclaimed SLC Punk! Lillard is now receiving some of the best reviews of his life for his career transforming performance in director Alexander Payne’s The Descendants, which was just nominated for several Golden Globes and is currently a frontrunner for best picture at this year’s Academy Awards.

The film, which is currently in limited release and opens wide on December 16th, stars Oscar-winner George Clooney as Matt King. Matt is a real estate lawyer from Hawaii put in charge of his family’s land deal while he is dealing with his wife’s terminal coma, and two young daughters. Soon after finding out that his wife is going to die, Matt is struck with more bad news … she’s been cheating on him. Along with his children, and his oldest daughter’s (Shailene Woodley) friend Sid (Nick Krause), Matt goes on a quest to confront the man his wife was having an affair with. Lillard plays Brian Spear, the man he’s desperately searching for, but when Matt finely locates him, he discovers that Brian is closer connected to his own life than he could ever have imagined.

I recently had a chance to sit down and speak with Matthew Lillard about his work on The Descendants. The actor discussed his new film, his pivotal character, working with director Alexander Payne, his insecurities about playing George Clooney’s wife’s lover, and his overall career.

With the 84th Academy Awards only three months away, it’s time to go on record with some Oscar predictions. The race is officially on, with front-runners beginning to take the lead and dark horses waiting in the wings to shake things up. Several movies have still not yet been released, but every film that hopes to qualify for the Oscars will be in theaters by the last day of December. Let's take a look at how the six major categories are taking shape, with the top ten contenders fighting for five coveted slots…

Currently in limited release and opening wide on December 16th is director Alexander Payne's long awaited follow up to his Oscar-winning film Sideways, entitled The Descendants. The film is set in Hawaii and is based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. The Descendants features an impressive cast of veteran and young actors including Oscar-winner George Clooney (The Ides of March), Oscar-nominee Robert Forster (Jackie Brown), Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys), Judy Greer (TV's Arrested Development), Matthew Lilard (Scooby-Doo), Rob Huebel (TV's Children's Hospital) Shailene Woodley (TV's The Secret Life of the American Teenager), and newcomers Nick Krause, and Amara Miller. 

IAR's managing editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down and talk with Oscar-nominated actor Robert Foster about his role in The Descendants. Forster discussed the new film, why he wanted to be in it, collaborating with director Alexander Payne, balancing the film's dramatic and comedic moments, acting with George Clooney; what he learned from him on set, shooting in Hawaii, punching Sid, working with the film's young actors, and how Quentin Tarantino went about asking him to be in Jackie Brown. 

Fox Searchlight has released a second theatrical trailer for The Descendants, the first feature from co-writer and director Alexander Payne since Sideways way back in 2004.  It contains many glimpses of the very same moments from the first trailer, along with George Clooney waxing somewhat philosophical over imagery of the characteristically gorgeous Hawaiian islands.  The film marks a rare instance in which Clooney plays a father and family man, quite different from his charmingly rakish persona.  Payne's first three films (Citizen Ruth, Election, and About Schmidt), meanwhile, were set in the somewhat less picturesque locales of his native Nebraska, but in Sideways, he spent some time in Southern California wine country.  This excellent little The Descendants trailer makes the point, however, that no matter how exotic the setting, no one is immune to the trials and travails of life.