Just hours after the red band The Watch trailer debuted featuring Jonah Hill's character describing the sexual lengths to which he go with R. Lee Ermey, news has emerged of the actor's involvement in decidedly more dramatic project.  Hill is apparently set to star alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street for living legend Martin Scorsese.

Bernie Tiede, a soft-spoken assistant funeral director, was probably the most popular guy in the small Texas town of Carthage, while widower Marjorie Nugent was one of the least popular.  The two sparked up an unlikely friendship that found Bernie traveling the world with the elderly millionaire and essentially acting as her servant, until one day in 1996 when he murdered Nugent. 

Bernie, based on the true story, seems unlikely material for a comedy, even a dark comedy, and seems even less likely as a collaboration between director Richard Linklater and Jack Black, who last teamed up for 2003's family-friendly School of Rock.  Linklater co-wrote the screenplay with Skip Hollingsworth and recruited Black to capture Bernie's sweet likability.  Oscar-winning screen legend Shirley MacLaine plays Marjorie, while Matthew McConaughey lends support as Danny Buck Davidson, the local district attorney who went against local sentiment in his prosecution of Bernie.

Unlikely though it might seem on paper, Bernie arrives in limited release today, with the film and Black's performance in particular earning no small amount of critical praise.  IAR Managing Editor Jami Philbrick was on hand at the film's Los Angeles press day earlier this month.  At the promotional event, Richard Linklater, Jack Black, and Shirley MacLaine were all present to discuss the film, the mysteries of Bernie, recreating real people on screen, the need to be liked, shooting in Texas, and the humor in horror.

In 1988, the news cycle didn't work with the same rapidity that it does today, when a story can go from the center of global attention to virtually nonexistent in a matter of days or even hours.  Almost 25 years ago, big stories became big stories without so many competing 24-hour news networks, all manner of social media, immediate meme-dom, and the eventual backlash. 

It was a year that included an American presidential election and the release of Die Hard, but one particular story that captured the imagination and attention not just of America but of the world at large was that of three California gray whales surrounded by encroaching ice in the Arctic Circle.  Multiple nations and even conflicting interests united to find a way to get the whales, known affectionately as Fred, Wilma, and Bam Bam, through miles of ice to the safety of the open ocean.

Operation Breakthrough, as it was known, was chronicled by Tom Rose in the 1989 book Freeing the Whales: How the Media Created the World's Greatest Non-Event.  That book inspired the new film Big Miracle, which dramatizes the events and stars Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski, who respectively play a Greenpeace activist and the journalist who first discovered the whale family.  With the new family-friendly drama arriving this Friday, both stars were recently on hand for a Los Angeles press conference, along with fellow actors Kristen Bell, Ted Danson, Dermot Mulroney, Vinessa Shaw, and director Ken Kwapis.  IAR's own Jami Philbrick was present to get these creative figures' thoughts on telling the story of Fred, Wilma, Bam Bam, and all those who aided in their journey.

If I had told you, in the summer of 2004, that within eight years, Ben Affleck would be a successful director with two formidable feature films under his belt, you'd probably punch me right in the solar plexus then laugh your ass off.  But here we are, and based on his directorial track record, Affleck's third effort as director seems likely to be a highlight of 2012.  As part of a preview for the year ahead, Warner Bros has released the first official image from Argo, which Affleck both directs and stars in as part of a pretty ridiculous ensemble.  We've previously seen some unofficial photos from the Los Angeles set, but read on for your first bona-fide look Argo, with Affleck very seriously perusing some documents.

There aren't many guys who have not, at some point in their lives, dreamed of being a fighter pilot, and the newly-released third trailer for Red Tails suggests that the film's airborne action sequences will deliver a level of giddy kinetics that could make a grown man regress into a giddy little boy.  The long-in-the-works film dramatizes the story of the Army Air Corps' 332nd Fighter Group and 477th Bombardment Group, popularly known as the Tuskegee Airmen, who became the first African-American aviators in the history of the United States military. 

Like its predecessors, this new trailer gives the impression that Red Tails is swinging for the fences, aiming not just to exhilarate with ecstatic action, but to inspire with these pilots' struggle against entrenched racism.  In addition to the trailer, Lucasfilm has also issued a new poster, which inadvertently looks like the aviators are remaining cool while plane crash around them.

Warner Bros has shown a lot of confidence in Gangster Squad since it was a recently completed screenplay by former LAPD cop Will Beall still referred to as Tales From the Gangster Squad.  The film tells the true life story of a cover cop squad formed in 1949 to combat the corruptive influence of Brooklyn-born mafia boss Mickey Cohen as he spread his influence across sunny Los Angeles. 

As the project acquired a director and a pretty damned stunning cast, the studio's confidence must have increased correspondingly, and now Warner Bros has given Gangster Squad a release date that demonstrates what could be Oscar hopes.

This summer, Chris Evans got to prove his superheroic bona-fides yet again, this time as the title character in Captain America: The First Avenger, and while he very capably brought the skinny Steve Rogers and the unstoppable super-soldier to life, he was bound by the inhibitions of a morally unambiguous character.  In the independent film Puncture, by contrast, Evans sinks his teeth into the contradictory role of Mike Weiss, a real-life functioning drug addict whose small law firm went up against pharmaceutical giants in an effort to implement needles that would effectively save many health care professionals from the risk of contamination.

Based on a true story, Puncture is the work of sibling directorial duo Adam Kassen and Mark Kassen, both making their feature debut as both directors and producers.  Producing the film along with them is Paul Danziger, Weiss's legal partner and the cautious, responsible yin to Weiss's irrepressible, dangerous yang.  Mark Kassen actually plays Danziger in the film. IAR recently had a chance to screen the film and was very impressed with both the Kassen's filmmaking and Evans' brave performance. With Puncture opening in limited release on September 23rd, both Kassen brothers took the time for an exclusive interview with IAR's own Jami Philbrick, in which they discuss their shared process, the hazards of adapting a true story, working with Evans, and their casting methods.

Chris Cornell can do the impossible.

In Soundgarden, he's always mined the subtle middle ground between storytelling a la Bob Dylan and thunderous wailing reminiscent of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Cornell remains the ultimate frontman, and he deserves to be revered in the same league as all of those legends.

However, the singer conjures the same magic with just an acoustic guitar and that one-of-a-kind voice. His contribution to Relativity Media's Machine Gun Preacher, "The Keeper", is hypnotic and haunting folk. It tells the story of the film's subject, humanitarian hero Sam Childers [Gerard Butler], while painting a personal picture for Cornell. Like all timeless tunes, numerous interpretations will abound, and that's the beauty of it.

It's one of the best songs of 2011, and it perfectly complements one of the year's best films.

In order to uncover the story behind "The Keeper", ARTISTdirect.com editor in chief Rick Florino sat down for an exclusive interview with Chris Cornell while in the midst of the Toronto International Film Festival. Cornell discusses writing the song, another classic soundtrack song, "Seasons", new Soundgarden music, meeting Sam Childers, storytelling and more.

After production began a week ago in Los Angeles, we have our first look at unofficial images from the set of Argo, the third directorial endeavor from professionally charming dude Ben Affleck.  Last Thursday, Warner Bros and GK Films officially announced that production had commenced on the darkly comedic drama, which tells the true story of a surreal CIA plan to pose as Hollywood movie-makers in order to save six Americans during the Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979 to 1981.  These first set photos reflect Argo's period setting, with star/director Affleck sporting a very 70's style from his hair to his jeans.  Alan Arkin is also present and accounted for, though his appearance doesn't so immediately establish the setting.

Warner Bros and GK Films have officially announced that production on Argo, the new film from director Ben Affleck, has begun in Los Angeles.  The film, a drama with dark comedy sprinkled throughout, tells the true story of an usual CIA effort to free six Americans during the Iran Hostage Crisis that began in 1979.  As is his style, Affleck will direct and star, along with an impeccable ensemble cast that includes Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, Kyle Chandler, Kerry Bishe, Clea DuVall, John Goodman, and Michael Parks.