Opening in theaters on March 9th is a new British romantic comedy/drama from celebrated director Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules) called Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. The screenplay was written by Academy Award-winner Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire), and based on the popular book of the same name by author Paul Torday. The film stars a terrific cast of international actors including Ewan McGregor (Beginners), Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada), Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient), and Egyptian actor Amr Waked (Contagion). 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with actors Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt to discuss their work on Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. The actors talked about the new film, their characters, working with director Lasse Hallstrom, what they look for when they are choosing projects, and of course ... fishing.

The 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards took place on Saturday, February 25th in Santa Monica. Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, handed out awards to such films as The Artist, The Descendants, Margin Call, My Week With Marilyn, Beginners, 50/50, Pariah, A Seperation, and The Interrupters. The event aired on IFC and was hosted by Seth Rogen (The Green Hornet), with the evening's announcer John Waters (Pink Flamingos), and musical performances from My Morning Jacket, K'Naan, Kate Micucci, and Garfunkel & Oats.

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick attended the 27th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards and was on the red carpet (it was actually purple) talking with many of the stars as they entered the ceremony. He had a chance to speak with actor Bryan Cranston about working with director Nicolas Winding Refn on Drive, and asked young actress Amara Miller about her experience working with director Alexander Payne on The Descendants, as well as speaking with Pariah director Dee Rees and producer Nekisa Cooper, Natural Selection director Robbie Pickering and actress Rachel Harris, actress Kelly Lynch (Drugstore Cowboy), actor Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher), actor Giancarlo Esposito (The Usual Suspects), and former Connecticut Senator turned President of the MPAA Chris Dodd about the importance of independent film and the Independent Spirit Awards.

There are just over twenty-four hours until the Academy Awards ceremony begins, and naturally, awards fever has descended on Los Angeles. Symptoms of Awards Fever include, but are not limited to: hives, fancy dressing, red carpet-walking, seizures, limo-riding, hemorrhagic bleeding, speechifying, and general hyperbole. On the eve of the Oscars, those most susceptible to Awards Fever are quarantined in a series of tents on the beach in Santa Monica, mere yards from the Pacific Ocean. 

This quarantine is, in fact, the Independent Spirit Awards, celebrating the very best in independent cinema from the past year. The 27th Annual Spirit Awards are hosted by Seth Rogen. This year, the nominees for Best Picture are 50/50, The Descendants, Drive, The Artist, Beginners,  and Take Shelter, while recognizable faces like Jessica Chastain, Ryan Gosling, Elizabeth Olsen, Corey Stoll, Michelle Williams, John Hawkes, Lauren Ambrose, and Jean Dujardin are nominees in other categories.

IAR is on the ground at the event itself, ready to share the winners at an awards show that is inarguably cooler and younger than those staid old Oscars. Check back for up to the minute news as we update with each and every new winner.

In a month, awards season will be no more than a memory.  A memory of ecstatic accolades, tuxedo-sporting actors, and actresses clad in dresses so beautiful they'll melt your face off while inspiring impoverished people the world over to weep diamond tears.  Right now, though, we are very much in the middle of awards season.  The latest news comes from the Screen Actors Guild, which has just handed out its annual awards.

Opening in theaters on January 20th is the new action-packed spy/revenge film from Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Contagion) called Haywire. The movie marks the feature film debut of women's MMA fighter Gina Carano, and also boasts an impressive cast of all-star actors that includes Ewan McGregor (Beginners), Channing Tatum (The Son of No One), Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class), Bill Paxton (Aliens), Antonio Banderas (The Skin I Live In), and Oscar-winner Michael Douglas (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps). Haywire also reunites Soderbergh with screenwriter Lem Dobbs for the first time since their work together on the seminal revenge film The Limey. 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with Ewan McGregor to talk about his work on Haywire. The actor discussed the new film, Carano's acting chops, their characters complicated relationship, and whether or not he was intimidated to go one-on-one with her in their fight scene. 

With just days to go before the Oscar nominations are announced on January 24th, it is now time to narrow down the predictions to 5 in each category. Rather than list each name alphabetically, the contenders have been listed in the order of their likelihood of receiving the nomination. In each category, the 5th slot could possibly go to a “dark horse” instead…

Another year has come and gone, and what a year 2011 was for movies! We’ve had sensational sequels (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), impressive comic book adapted projects (X-Men: First Class), fascinating documentaries (Page One: Inside the New York Times), amazing animation (The Adventures of Tintin), groundbreaking 3D (Hugo), high-octane action (Drive), homerun hitting sports films (Moneyball), terrific dramas (The Descendants), hilarious comedies (Bridesmaids), blockbuster alien robots (Transformers: Dark of the Moon), movies that celebrate the art of cinema itself (The Artist), and the return of some true Hollywood legends (The Muppets).

The following is a look back at some of my favorite films of 2011. While my job as Managing Editor of IAR allows me to see almost every movie that is released, I was not able to see all of them (sorry Young Adult, and J. Edgar). The list I’ve compiled is based on the films that I did see this year and which of those are my favorites overall. I’m not necessarily saying that these are the ten best films released this year, but they are the ten I enjoyed the most.

Because one seemingly interminable night of bloviating and self-congratulatory pomp just isn't enough, the awards season must span the three months leading up to the Oscar Ceremony in late February.  During those three months, many a critical organization drops their own list of honorees from cinema of the last year, and all of these awards contribute to the narrative of "buzz" for a film or performance film leading up to the Academy Awards.  One such set of honors are the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and today, the nominees for the 18th annual awards were announced, with the winners set to revealed on Sunday, January 29, 2012.

You might assume that there are only so many organized bodies looking to award excellence in cinema every year, but you'd be wrong.  The Oscars, undoubtedly the apex of movie-based self adulation, are three months away, but the seemingly interminable awards season properly kicked off this week with the Gotham Awards, the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, and the announcement of the Independent Spirit Award nominations.  Now, the National Board of Review has chimed in with its awards for the best films of 2011.  In what is sure to be an exception in a season that seems likely to heavily favor The Artist, the 3D family film Hugo was named Best Film, while its legendary director Martin Scorsese received richly deserved honors for his love letter to early cinema.

"HUGO is such a personal film by Martin Scorsese,”  Annie Schulhof, the National Board of Review President explained. “It is a tribute to the early years of cinema that uses today’s cutting edge technology to bring the audience into a completely unique and magical world.  It is visually stunning and emotionally engaging.”

As long as we're talking surprises, we should also mention that Will Reiser won the Best Original Screenplay award for 50/50, which is based on his own experience with cancer as a young man.  Christopher Plummer won a supporting category for his impeccable, moving work in Beginners (expect him to get a lot of attention over the coming months), and Shailene Woodley also racked up an award for her supporting work in The Descendants.  Alexander Payne's film received awards for George Clooney and Adapted Screenplay, as well.

We're a full three months out from the 2012 Academy Awards, but it would seem that it's never too early to get awards season underway.  With that in mind, Film Independent has announced their full list of nominations for next year's Independent Spirit Awards, which naturally award excellence in independently-financed film.  As ever, the 27th annual Spirit Awards take place the day before the Oscars, this year on February 25th.  While the Academy Awards take place in the Kodak Theater, The Independent Spirit Awards are held in a giant complex of tents on the beach in Santa Monica, where many famous people shiver their asses off every year.  That, my friends, is an example of why this awards show is cooler than the Oscars.