For decades, the skateboarding community has documented itself by producing their own brand of “skate videos” that showcase the best in the sport doing often extremely dangerous tricks and jumps. However, with the exception of former skater-turned-filmmaker Stacey Peralta’s brilliant 2001 film Dogtown and Z-Boys, there has never been a really great documentary about the sport … until now. 

Opening in theaters and available for download beginning December 7th is Waiting For Lightning, which tells the inspirational story of visionary skateboarder Danny Way and his quest to jump The Great Wall of China. The film was directed by Jacob Rosenberg (December Story), and produced by Bandito Brothers productions (Act of Valor). In addition to Way, the documentary also features interviews with legendary extreme sports athletes like Travis Pastrana, Laird Hamilton, Mat Hoffman, Ken Block, Rob Dyrdek, and Tony Hawk. 

IAR’s Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had the pleasure of speaking with iconic skateboarder Danny Way about Waiting for Lightning and his inspirational career. The extreme athlete discussed the new documentary, the origins of the project, agreeing to be a part of it, allowing the filmmakers to have access to his family and personal life, watching the completed movie, jumping The Great Wall of China, and what amazing stunt he is planning to attempt next.

Available on Blu-ray and DVD beginning June 5th is the new American war film Act of Valor directed by Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh. The movie is unique in comparison to other Hollywood action films in that it stars actual active duty U.S. Navy SEALs and U.S. Navy Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen, rather than real actors. in addition to the U.S. active duty servicemen featured in the film, the movie also stars actors Roselyn Sanchez (Basic), Nestor Serrano (The Negotiator) and Emilio Rivera (Spider-Man 3). 

IAR's managing editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with Scott Waugh, one of the films directors, at SEALFIT Training Center near San Diego, California to talk about Act of Valor and the upcoming Blu-ray and DVD release, as well as his next film Need for Speed, which is an adaption of the popular video game.

The director discussed Act of Valor, its success in theatrical release, audience's reaction to the film, what he learned from working with the SEALs, the current comic book culture, the movie's Blu-ray and DVD extras, the SEAL casting process, the film's authentic dialogue, Chief Dave's remarkable performance, getting the real SEALs to agree to act in the film, how they now feel about being movie stars, Waugh's unique filmmaking process, conformation that Need for Speed will be his next project, making a big car chase film, his favorite all-time car chase movies, and beginning pre-production on the highly anticipated new project. 

In addition to speaking with Waugh, Philbrick also had an opportunity to train with real Navy SEALs at the SEALFIT Training Center near San Diego, California and found out first hand what it takes to be a real Navy SEAL!

Going into last weekend, expectations for the adaptation of the first novel in Suzanne Collins' dystopian novel trilogy were huge, but The Hunger Games opened even huger than anyone anticipated, becoming the third-biggest domestic opening of all time.  In its second weekend, the film was facing competition from two new releases, the sequel Wrath of the the Titans and the family-friendly Snow White tale Mirror Mirror.  Though both of those films opened well, they were up against the indomitable The Hunger Games.

While it undertook the task of actually making The Hunger Games, Lionsgate smartly began pumping the film up as an inevitable blockbuster, expertly playing the hype-harmonium on the adaptation of Suzanne Collins's first novel in her dystopian trilogy.  It started a year ago with breathless yet seemingly endless casting talk, it continued over months of official images, and led up to weeks of fevered anticipated and total marketing ubiquity.  It all paid off, as The Hunger Games just opened to an estimated $155.0 million over three days. 

Okay, let's get the bad news out of the way right off the bat: this weekend's box office was down from the corresponding weekend last year, a first in this so-far commercially robust 2012.  Still, it was only down 8% from last year, when Limitless, The Lincoln Lawyer, and Paul all opened.  This weekend had just one wide release, and that one performed excellently.  21 Jump Street opened in first place, while two very different films in limited release got off to promising starts.

This weekend saw the addition of three new wide releases to the movie marketplace, one an expensive would-be franchise starter, one a thriller remake built around a cinematography novelty, and one family-friendly vehicle from an erstwhile stand-up comedian with a predilection towards leather outfits.  Of these three, none were able to really make an impression commercially, and last week's number one movie, The Lorax, once again stood atop the box office heap grooming his Wilfred Brimley-style mustache.  Disney's John Carter, a movie whose budget has been the subject of much hemming and hawing, debuted in second place.

It's Oscar weekend, which means the culmination of months and months of fevered speculation and whatnot.  While The Artist is the subject of Awards Season discussions, four new releases hit nationwide theaters on Friday, and according to estimates, Relativity Media's military actioner Act of Valor won the weekend by a sizable margin.  One of the other new releases performed within expectations in second place, while the other two disappointed in eighth and ninth.

Opening in theaters on February 24th is the new American war film Act of Valor directed by Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh. The movie is unique in comparison to other Hollywood action films in that it stars actual active duty U.S. Navy SEALs and U.S. Navy Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen, rather than real actors. in addition to the U.S. active duty servicemen featured in the film, the movie also stars actors Roselyn Sanchez (Basic), Nestor Serrano (The Negotiator) and Emilio Rivera (Spider-Man 3). 

IAR's managing editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with the films directors Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh to talk about Act of Valor. The two directors discussed their new film, the benefits and the challenges of using actual active duty soldiers, mixing them with real actors, and the movie's authentic high-octane action sequences. 

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The Navy SEALs are some of the most badass individuals to ever walk the Earth, responsible for carrying out the most intricate, precise, and dangerous black ops missions all over the globe.  Rather than rely on actors to provide a portrayal that could never live up to the real thing, the new one-of-a-kind epic film Act of Valor instead stars a group of active-duty SEALs, placing these real-life commandos in a fictionalized story.  The real SEALs provide a never before-seen punch to an original story of globe-spanning adventure, which features some of the most spectacular action set pieces ever committed to film.  Relativity Media released the first trailer today, and it highlights the truly unprecedented access that the United States Navy granted co-directors Mike McCoy and Steve Waugh to create an accurate picture of SEALs get the job done, with weapons and tactics taken directly from reality.