Opening in theaters on February 10th is the new crime drama from director Oren Moverman (The Messenger) called Rampart. The film features an extremely talented cast of actors including Woody Harrelson (The People vs. Larry Flynt), Ice Cube (Boyz n the Hood), Robin Wright (Forest Gump), Ben Foster (The Mechanic), Anne Heche (Wag the Dog), Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City 2), Sigourney Weaver (The Ice Storm), Brie Larson (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs), and Ned Beatty (Network). 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with director Oren Moverman, actresses Anne Heche, and Brie Larson, and actor/producer Ben Foster to discuss their work on Rampart. They discussed the new film, the real-life events that it was loosely based on, the decision to tell the story fictionally, Moverman's vision for the project, Woody Harrelson's powerhouse performance, Heche's character's odd family situation, and Foster's choice to produce the movie in addition to acting in it. 

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.

For the better part of a decade, audiences around the world have vehemently demanded a movie following the illusionist exploits of GOB, the imbecilic cad from Arrested Development.  Since a GOB Bluth-based movie won't redefine the image of cinematic magicians for all time, though, we've got to put our hopes in Burt Wonderstone, a comedy centered on a successful Vegas magician who loses his professional partner and must rediscover his flare for the magical.  The production is currently on location in Las Vegas, and a fresh batch of unofficial photos from the set provide our first peek at Steve Carell looking quite different from The Office's Michael Scott as Wonderstone himself, along with a blonde-haired Steve Buscemi and Olivia Wilde sporting a pretty funny little outfit.

Steve Buscemi hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend, and he made an appearance in a Dark Knight-style Digital Short from the Lonely Island.  The two-minute video is done in the style of Christopher Nolan's take on the Caped Crusader – complete with very Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard-sounding music – has Buscemi sporting a mustache as Commissioner Gordon and Andy Samberg in an ill-fitting Batman costume.  Unlike so many parodies of the cinematic Batman, this one does not focus on Christian Bale's chain-smoking-demon-with-a-really-bad-cough Batman voice, but instead on Bruce Wayne's love of pulling that ninja trick where he dramatically appears as if from nowhere then just disappears once his crime fighting point has been made.

Director Celine Danhier's debut film, the documentary Blank City, opened in theaters on May 27th and depicts the punk rock and new wave film movement of New York City in the late '70s, which gave birth to independent film as we known it. Danhier had the opportunity to interview such film and music luminaries as John Waters, Jim Jarmusch, Jon Lurie, Steve Buscemi, Eric Mitchell, Lizzie Borden, Amos Poe, Fab 5 Freddy, and Deborah Harry. IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down and chat with director Celine Danhier about making her new film, doing the research required, interviewing the participants, and tracking down the rare film clips needed for the documentary.

Disney and Pixar's latest animated juggernaut, Cars 2, will hit theaters next month, which means it's time to start getting excited about their next two projects.  Next year, there's the mythic Scottish adventure Brave, and in 2013, they're rolling out their third sequel, Monsters University, which is actually a prequel.  Disney has rolled out the official Monsters University logo, confirmed that the film will be released in 3D, and issued a synopsis for the film, which is directed by Dan Scanlon.

Last week, Pixar dropped two knowledge-bombs on their prequel to Monsters Inc, revealing both that the film is titled Monsters University and that its director is Dan Scanlon, a co-writer of Cars and story artist on Toy Story 3.  Now, The Pixar Blog has unveiled the official logo for the prequel, which again features the vocal talents John Goodman and Billy Crystal.  Additionally, the film has a new release date about eight months later than the previous November, 2012 date. 

Last night, Matt Dentler tweeted to announce the passing of Gary Winick at just 49 years old.  The director and producer would have turned fifty next month. Indiewire reports that Winick endured a long battle with the brain cancer that took his life yesterday.  Winick is probably most well known for his directorial work on family friendly crowd pleasers, including 13 Going on 30, Charlotte's Web, and Letters to Juliet, but he emerged from the independent film world with a low budget horror picture Curfew, and also directed the indie Tadpole, starring Aaron Stanford, Kate Mara, and Sigourney Weaver.

Oren Moverman, the director of the Oscar-nominated drama The Messenger, is planning an ambitious cop thriller called Rampart, which is based on a story by James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential). The flick just received funding from newly formed Amalgam Features, and it's finally ready to move forward after months of looking for a backer.  Rampart will reunite Moverman with his Messenger stars Woody Harrelson (who received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for that film) and Ben Foster. The film also boasts an impressive supporting cast, including Ice Cube, Steve Buscemi, Anne Heche, Cynthia Nixon, Sigourney Weaver and Robin Wright.