Welcome to the Film School Rejects Archive

Release Date: August 22, 2006
Silent Hill, released in 2006 and directed by Christophe Gans, is a creepy little ghost-ish tale. I say “ish” because its hard to get a feel for exactly what Silent Hill is about. Fans and followers of the game may have a better idea, but basically a mother, Rose, [...]

Release Date: September 22, 2006 (Limited)
Feast is the much maligned Project Greenlight horror film directed by John Gulager. Although after watching a special advanced screening and meeting Gulager, it becomes apparent that much of the tragedy surrounding Project Greenlight was reserved for the doomed television show and not Feast.
This romp of a horror [...]

Release Date: May 7, 2004
I’m sure many of you have heard about this movie. It has been featured on the news, Ebert & Roeper featured it on their show, even the mighty McDonald’s took notice. At first the concept seems a bit gimmicky, I’m going to eat nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days, let’s see [...]

Fortunately, this week did not end up like last week. The box office was a little bit stronger this week. Instead of having the number 1 film under $9 million, there was a surge that pushed two films over the $10 million mark.
The top film this week was the inspirational football drama Gridiron Gang. There [...]

Release Date: September 15, 2006
Well if I had to use just one word to sum this movie up, its a toss up between “underwhelming” and “disappointing.” The Black Dahlia is a detective movie that takes place around the infamous Hollywood slaying of Elizabeth Short. I say “takes place around” instead of “about” because [...]

In this post-modern world of ours it is easy to get lost. With no past to cling to, we are often lured by the siren song of the future. Hollywoodland reminds us of our film past. It takes us back to a world before digital technology and special effects ran amok; before George Lucas threw [...]

Last week’s Over/Under makes me wish that I would read the theater counts more often. In an act of naive prediction, I picked The Last Kiss to out-gross the Rock’s Gridiron Gang. And for my unresearched choice, I was rewarded with another disappointing loss at the hands of an excellent film. Gridiron Gang dominated a [...]

Let me begin with a statement that may come as a surprise: The Last Kiss was not written, nor was it directed by Zach Braff. I understand that this will be difficult for many to accept; the film has that Braff charm and it feels eerily like Garden State 2. But alas, Braff may be the guy whose face made it to the poster, but this is not completely his film.

Release Date: September 15, 2006
The trailer held so much promise. Brian De Palma directing a noir-ish tale of a true unsolved Hollywood murder mystery, a decent looking cast, and a stylish look all add up to something that could be very impressive film. What went wrong? I think the first, and most important, misstep is [...]

Release Date: September 15, 2006
The Last Kiss is a very good movie. Is it original? Not really. Is it insightful? Not any more than other movies like this. Then how can it be very good? I don’t know. What I do know is that for the entire running time, I was engrossed [...]

Release Date: September 15, 2006
We’ve all seen this story before. There is no new ground to tread. It always seems like these inspirational films are the same story, only the names and places are different. It doesn’t seem to matter if they are based on a true story, or completely constructed in the writer’s head, [...]

Note: This was originally posted on 4/30/04
I just got this disk direct from Hong Kong the other day, a little apprehensive about what I was in for. You see, I had read about the film before buying it, but nothing was terribly positive about it, mind you, most of the reviews were luke warm. But, [...]

Disclaimer: Originally posted on 5/7/04.
Godsend is the latest in a long line of suspense thrillers to feature a creepy kid. This one, sadly, is not terribly effective. It is plagued by weak acting, cheap jump-scares, and not enough emotion. But, I guess you could say that it does succeed as a film espousing the inherent [...]

Release Date: September 15, 2006
When setting your expectations for The Last Kiss, please don’t fall into the trap that many have already fallen into. This is not a sequel to the surprising hit Garden State, and this is not the brainchild of Zach Braff as was the afore mentioned film. This film, much like Garden [...]

Release Date: September 26, 2006
Gee, I wondered quietly to myself, this is much like Braveheart; only, instead of Mel Gibson and a phony Irish accent I got Gerard Butler and his undoubtedly Irish dialect playing, a Viking warrior? Go figure, right? But Mel Gibson aside, there is always something interesting about these epic stories set [...]

Time again for yet another very fun edition of Weekly Top 5. In honor of this week’s release Last Kiss, I thought that the Rejects would get a little wet and sloppy, or maybe just plain old romantic. With that, I bring you the Top 5 All Time Best Movie Kisses:
5. Mulholland Dr. (2001)
I’m sorry, [...]

M. Night Shyamalan has been on a bit of slide of late. After his fantastic The Sixth Sense and even better Unbreakable, he has hit a bit of a rut. Signs was good, not great, and The Village was a big disappointment. Even with the downward slope his movies have been on of late, I still wanted to believe that the slide would stop here. The trailers looked good, I like Paul Giamatti, and Bryce Dallas Howard gave an incredible performace in that bomb that was The Village, with those going for it, I hade some cautiously guarded hopes. Unfortunately the stink seeped through the door and I was faced with yet another disappointing film.

Release Date: September 15, 2006
While Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has found a home in Hollywood with some legitimate lead roles in the past few years, his newest role lands him in a story that has already been told and has definitely become old.
The film begins with a statistic stating that nearly 75% of the 120,000 [...]

Last week’s Over/Under was almost a wash - I am willing to admit that. The consensus among the Film School Rejects was that The Covenant would easily clear the $8 million mark. Lo and behold it did, but not quite by the large margin that was originally anticipated. It took a beating from some other [...]

The Hidden Blade is a beautiful film about a noble samurai near the end of the feudal period. He is a man of low samurai ranking, and is finding many aspects of his life being questioned in the fast changing world. The changes affect him in a profound way, from his personal life, to his respect for the way of the samurai.

If you want pastel colored clothes, bright sunny days, and a fun action movie, you are sure to be disappointed. If you are looking for a dark, gritty, violent excursion into the drug trade, then this may be something for you. As for whether or not it is successful, the answer is a little cloudier.

On June 16, 1959, George Reeves was shot dead in the bedroom of his home. The case was quickly closed as all of the evidence indicated that it was a suicide. However, there was a considerable amount of evidence that pointed towards the possibility of murder. That evidence never led to any revelation to what really happened, and to this day the truth has never been uncovered.

Not to be outdone by Owen, Luke Wilson comes with a romantic comedy of his own to compete with You, Me, and Dupree. The said fact exists, that for as mediocre as Owen’s film is, Luke’s doesn’t even reach that level.

When I saw this on the big screen, earlier this year, I thought that I was ready for it. I thought that I had prepared myself enough to see it. I was wrong. I was greatly and deeply moved by what I saw on the screen.

Release Date: July 21, 2006
Now here is a film that is sure to bring in a split reaction. The split will probably be between the Smith faithful and everybody else, although there is sure to be some crossover. I am not sure that I can be counted among the the Smith fan [...]

Release Date: August 9, 2006
No matter how much I think I am ready, I am not sure I ever actually will be. I remember getting ready to see United 93 on the eve of its release and thinking I was fully prepared, that couldn’t have been further from the truth. That film [...]

Release Date: July 21, 2006
“If Stephen King made an animated horror movie this would be it.”
That is the best description of this movie I have seen, and I wish I had thought it myself, but I cannot lay claim. I saw this in a thread over at the Home Theater Forum, and, [...]

The latest CG film to grace the screens is The Ant Bully, a tale of a picked upon boy who takes his frustrations out on the ants, the ants then rise up to teach the boy a lesson. Now, is it me, or does it feel like every week or two there is a new computer animated movie hitting the multiplex, with more on the horizon? What I wouldn’t give for a traditional, hand drawn animated film on the big screen, but that is neither here nor there.

Coming straight from the Roger Corman collection comes this former staple of late night cinema. It is not a good movie, by any stretch. It isn’t even a movie I can recommend, as it is a pretty poor example of an 80’s teen sex flick. It lacks pretty much anything that could be considered titillating, and it isn’t all that funny either. To its credit, it does try to be more than a cheesy B-flick, but the talent involved doesn’t have the skill to raise to any respectable level.

I had the pleasure of hitting Grauman’s Egyptian Theater for a midnight showing and American Premiere of Night of the Living Dead 3D. Sig Haig, Brianna Brown, as well as some other cast and crew, were all in attendance, so it was a good night to be there.