Opening in theaters on May 4th is the highly anticipated and soon-to-be summer blockbuster The Avengers, which was produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film marks the culmination of a promise that began in 2008 with Iron Man and continued in the years to follow with Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger, introducing new Marvel characters that all exist in one unifying cinematic Marvel universe. Marvel Studios has succeeded in the impossible, bridging together several different film franchises to create one world where all of Marvel Studio's on-screen characters can coexist and form the popular superhero-team The Avengers, based on the classic comic book co-created by the legendary Stan "The Man" Lee.

The Avengers was written and directed by fanboy favorite Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Cabin in the Woods) and truly stars an all-star cast that includes Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2) as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Evans (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Mark Ruffalo (Shutter Island) as Dr. Bruce Banner/Hulk, Chris Hemsworth (Thor) as Thor, Scarlett Johansson (Iron Man 2) as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Jeremy Renner (Thor) as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Samuel L. Jackson (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger) as Nick Fury, Tom Hiddleston (Thor) as Loki, Cobie Smulders (TV's How I Met Your Mother) as Maria Hill, Clark Gregg (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor) as Phil Coulson, Stellan Skarsgard (Thor) as Erik Slevig, and Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man, Iron Man 2) as Pepper Potts. 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with actor Clark Gregg to discuss his work on The Avengers. The actor talked about the new film, being a central part of the Marvel on-screen universe, having doubts early on that The Avengers would even get made, the emotional depth of the film, watching the original character her created become part of the Marvel comic book world and the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, his character's fear, working with writer/director Joss Whedon; his terrific script, and whether or not we will see Agent Phil Coulson in future Marvel Studio films. 

Sony Pictures has made no bones about its intention to adapt the entirety of the late Stieg Larsson's bestselling Millennium Trilogy, starting with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  That film is performing reasonably well in theaters right now, and the studio is continuing development on the first sequel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, though it's unknown whether or not director David Fincher will return.  Given the obvious franchise intentions, it's no surprise that the opening title sequence for the first film visually incorporates moments from all three novels.

That title sequence strongly recalls some of Fincher's distinctive work as a director of both commercials and music videos, as well as (to a lesser extent) the titles to his 1995 thriller Se7en.  The titles feature a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" by composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, along with Yeah Yeah Yeahs lead singer Karen O, and its a testament hypnotic, at times assaultive style that the song doesn't simply overwhelm the visual presentation.

Everyone is stocking up on champagneand ticker tape for 2012.  Earth has completed yet another orbit of the sun, and as wecontinue to cruise through an oblivious and indifferent solar system at about 67,000 miles perhour, it's time to look back on the year that was.  Like every other year, the conclusion of2011 means a veritable avalanche of year-end lists, from chronicles of favorites to bests toworsts to pretty much everything in between.  Here at IAR, we've looked back with Jami Philbrick's picks for the Top Ten Movies of the Year, and we've looked forward with Brett Gursky's Oscar Predictions for the 84th Annual AcademyAwards.

Now, like anydevastatingly handsome individual, IAR is going to look in the mirror and say, "Damn, I looked good this year."  Okay, not quite.  But what we are going to do is showcase some of the content produced this year that showed what the organization is all about and what it does best.  This end-of-the-year compilation is broken down into ten categories: News, Press Conference Coverage, Screenings, Documentary Coverage, On Camera Interviews, Convention Coverage, Oscar Contender Interviews, Comic Book Movie Coverage, Legends, and finally, Scoops and Exclusives.  You'll find all those categories right here, complete with links to all manner of articles.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is now in theaters, and it's the first big, studio-backed American adaptation of an international bestseller by the late Stieg Larsson.  Naturally, Sony Pictures planned the film as the starting point for cinematic adaptations of all three novels in Larsson's Millennium Trilogy, but in the two weeks since The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo hit theaters, the film has, fairly or not, been carrying the faint whiff of  commercial disappointment.  Despite that perception, the studio intends to go ahead with The Girl Who Played With Fire and trilogy-capper The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

Synopsis: A discredited journalist (Daniel Craig) and a mysterious computer hacker discover that even the wealthiest families have skeletons in their closets while working to solve the mystery of a 40-year-old murder in this David Fincher-directed remake of the 2009 Swedish thriller of the same name. Inspired by late author Stieg Larsson's successful trilogy of books, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo gets under way as the two leads (Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara) are briefed in the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, whose uncle suspects she may have been killed by a member of their own family. The deeper they dig for the truth, however, the greater the risk of being buried alive by members of the family, who will go to great lengths to keep their secrets tightly sealed.

Like a griffin preparing to descend upon us spitting golden awesome, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is mere weeks from hitting theaters.  While this is good because it means we'll be able to see David Fincher's take on the jet black bestseller by Stieg Larsson, it's bad because it means that Sony Pictures' incredible marketing campaign will finally be over.  Before the end, though, Sony has gone ahead and dropped a full eight-minute preview of the film.  This would be the same super-extended trailer that Sony showed to select audiences a few months back.  So if you want to watch almost ten minutes of the new film from the man behind Fight Club, Zodiac, Se7en, The Game, Panic Room, and The Social Network, you are free to do so.  Not only that, but Oscar-winning The Social Network composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have dropped details of preorders on the basic score, a mega-deluxe edition, and a half hour-plus preview of the huge, atmospheric score.

The last two films from director David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Social Network, both became heavy hitters during the always-ridiculous awards season (the latter moreso than the former).  Since that last film arguably represented a critical high water mark for the auteur behind Seven, Fight Club, and Zodiac, there are already some expectation that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo will have a similar presence, but today Fincher himself is sharing his thoughts on exactly why that isn't likely to be happening.  Not only that, but as a bonus, we have a couple of new images from the adaptation of the late Stieg Larsson's bestselling novel, one featuring Daniel Craig as the beleaguered journalist Mikael Blomkvist and two with Rooney Mara as the titular hacker and badass.

Opening in theaters on November 11th is a new science fiction film from acclaimed Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier (Breaking the Waves) called Melancholia. The film features an Oscar worthy performance by actress Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man), as well as an impressive supporting cast that includes Kiefer Sutherland (TV's 24), Charlotte Gainsbourg (I'm Not There), Alexander Skarsgard (TV's True Blood), Stellan Skarsgard (Thor), John Hurt (Alien), Charlotte Rampling (Swimming Pool), Jesper Christensen (Quantum of Solace), and Udo Kier (Armageddon). 

IAR's managing editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down and talk with Kirsten Dunst about her work in Melancholia. The talented actress spoke about the new film, its abstract story, working with Lars von Trier, her character's strength, her own acting process, and how director Paul Thomas Anderson helped her get the role.

Given the global popularity of the novel by Stieg Larsson, the marketing for the upcoming adaptation The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo could probably consist of some dudes wearing sandwich board signs saying "David Fincher made a new version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and the movie would probably still do really well.  Sony has not gone that route, however, and the marketing for this film has been appropriately stylish, unique, and generally just really cool.  Another new poster, for example, doesn't just put the standard floating heads above a title, but interestingly presents Rooney Mara's Lisbeth Salander and Daniel Craig's Mikael Blomkvist with an arresting graphic approach and the fairly ominous tagline, "What Was Hidden in the Snow Comes Forth in the Thaw."

Synopsis: Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures "Marvel's The Avengers"--the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, "Marvel's The Avengers" is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series "The Avengers," first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when "Marvel's The Avengers" assemble in summer 2012. In "Marvel's The Avengers," superheroes team up to pull the world back from the brink of disaster when an unexpected enemy threatens global security.