All eyes are on Michael Fassbender. Now that the awards season has kicked off, the film industry is celebrating cinema in 2011. But we’re also thinking about the year a head. And top of the list is Fassbender, who is tipped to be the leading man of 2012.

Men of Action like The Wild Geese saw new frontiers on the horizon that beckoned to them. Space is widely thought of as ‘the final frontier’, but there are those among us who refuse to accept this definition. Instead of a culmination of human exploration, astronauts of all nationalities see this as an endless sea of possibilities.

One of NASA’s most recent projects, Expedition 29 provided us regular earth dwellers with images of the frontier they had been exploring.

This image shows a Russian Soyuz capsule returning leaving the International Space Station, heading for earth. The capsule is the speck of light in the middle of the image, which was taken by Dan Burbank, who stayed on board the International Space Station.

This video shows the undocking of the capsule before the image was taken. Expedition 29 Commander Mike Fossum and Flight Engineers Satoshi Furukawa and Sergei Volkov each spent 167 days in space, working on the International Space Station. They returned to Earth on November 21st 2011, landing in Kazakhstan.

Glenn Close has spearheaded a movie project that has been tied to her ambitions for close to 30 years. On the brink of release is Albert Nobbs, a film that is sure to challenge the role of gender in a person’s character. 

The Talisker Atlantic Challenge has come to an exciting close, with a world record being broken and a dramatic final sprint to the end.

The all-ametuer challenge is thought to be the world’s toughest rowing race but Andrew Brown, from the UK, battled massive waves, salt rashes, blisters and cramps and arrived in Barbados after 40 days, 9 hours and 44 minutes at sea. He is now the fastest man to row solo across the Atlantic, which is no mean feat. According to the event organisers, more people have been into space than have rowed across the Atlantic.

But three miles ahead of him, were rowing duo Toby Illes and nick Moore. As Andrew raced to catch up with them, the contest suddenly had a dramatic final sprint to the finish. Although this turned out to be the ‘closest finish’ seen in an endurance contest like this, the rowing duo won the challenge.

Their time of 40 days, 9 hours, 15 minutes at seas meant they just missed out on breaking the world record for a pair rowing across the Atlantic.

After spending 40 days at sea and travelling 3000 miles, all the competitors must be commended for completing the contest.

A Czech stunt rider recently wowed crowds at Mexico’s Vive Puebla Tournament. Petr Pilat powered his motocross up a ramp to back flip over an aeroplane, piloted by American Kirby Chambliss. The image below speaks for itself, but today we’re taking a closer look at the Pilat, who has been intimately acquainted with motorcycles since he was 3 years old!

In 2001, at the age of only 10 years old, Pilat started experimenting with Freestyle Motorcross, which was still very new at the time, which more experienced riders were now attempted. But Pilat didn’t want to be denied this new thrill, and worked hard to focus his skills. For him, this was a natural evolution of a passion that had started seven years earlier.

With the ‘Irish Oscars’ quickly approaching, here’s a run down of the talent who are in the running for the award for Actress in a Leading Role. 

As the Oscars approach, everyone is starting to talk about the awards season. This is a time of year to reflect on the film and television talent that are keeping the industry alive and kicking.

Entering its 9th annual ceremony, the Irish Film and Television Academy will be celebrating a wealth of Irish talent, which is continuing to flourish each year.

Similar to the prestigious Oscars, the IFTA help to support the ever expanding entertainment industry. Their goal is ‘the stimulation of the original and creative production work, and the encouragement of excellence through recognition, education and leadership in film and television’.

Some of the nominees include:

Brendan Gleeson
For his role in The Guard

Ciarán Hinds

For is role in Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy

Martin Sheen

For his role in Stella Days

These awards are testament to ongoing achievements of Wild Geese throughout the world. Talent as strong as this not only entertains us, but brings lucrative stories to our culture and we’re very excited to see who will win this year. The awards ceremony will take place on 11th February

The term ‘adventurer’ may sometimes sound like an echo from the past. In a fast paced world where the internet can bring striking images to your living room ‘frontiers can seem more akin to mythology rather than modern news items.

However, there are those amongst us who continue to seek out the frontiers that are not easily accessible. These Men of Action have the same drive as The Wild Geese, whose search for new frontiers started back in 1691.

Modern day adventurer Eric Larsen is driven by his intrigue of winter conditions and finding new frontiers. He admits ‘…there definitely is something about snow and winter that captured my imagination’ which propels him to explore these conditions in their most extreme cases, and in his 15 years of adventuring Eric has explored the poles in -50 degree temperatures. Hi personal motto is ‘it’s cool to be cool’.

2012 is shaping up to be a very important year for Irish talent in Hollywood. There’s a new wave of Irish talent that are being picked up by Hollywood.

First on our list is Rooney Mara, who’s fiery turn in the US version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was a key attraction of the box office smash.

Mara fearlessly brought to life controversial character Lisbeth Salander, from the critically acclaimed ‘Millennium series’ by the late Stieg Larsson. For those of you familiar with the story, Lisbeth is a troubled young woman, but is so intriguing you’re left wanting more from her. Mara certainly does her justice – filling the screen with intense emotion and a daunting feeling of unpredictability. She’s certainly one of the most important characters of the naughties and after Mara’s portrayal she’ll be just as prominent during the next ten years.

Rooney Mara was certainly dedicated. After five screen tests, she was given two months to prepare for the role.