Film School Rejects » Brian C. Gibson

Win a Copy of Lie to Me: Season One on DVD!

Brian C. Gibson — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:49:38 +0000

I don’t know how many of you had a chance to check out Lie to Me, but it is a pretty awesome show. Now we have a pretty awesome giveaway for our pretty awesome readers. We have three copies of Lie to Me: Season One to give away, so keep on reading for the goods.

The average person tells three lies in ten minutes of conversation. From writer Samuel Baum (“The Evidence”) and the executive producers of “24” and “Arrested Development” comes “Lie To Me,” a compelling drama series inspired by the scientific discoveries of Dr. Paul Ekman, a real-life specialist who can read clues embedded in the human face, body and voice to expose both truth and lies in criminal investigations. The first season debuts on DVD on August 25 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

In this powerful and engaging new drama from Imagine Television, the producers of 24, Tim Roth stars as Dr. Cal Lightman, a deception expert whose uncanny ability to read facial expressions and body language makes him a virtual human polygraph. Joined by psychologist Dr. Gillian Foster, Lightman tackles compelling cases of sabotage, scandal and murder, always uncovering the one thing that matters most—the truth.

And now, the good stuff:

Three (3) lucky readers will receive a copy of Lie to Me: Season One on DVD. All you have to do to enter is be one of our Twitter followers and retweet this article. Go to Twitter and follow @Rejectnation and stay in the loop on all things FSR. Here’s a quick 1-2-3 guide to entering:

If you don’t already have one, go to twitter.com and sign up for a free account.
Go to twitter.com/rejectnation and follow Film School Rejects.
Re-tweet the following twitter update by posting the following to your Twitter stream: RT @rejectnation: Win a Copy of Lie to Me: Season One on DVD! – http://bit.ly/4pkjkk (RT to enter)
Done.

Winners will be chosen at random on September 8, 2009.

Inglourious Basterds: 10 Things I Liked, 5 Things I Didn’t

Brian C. Gibson — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:41:51 +0000

Editor’s Note: Warning, as with all of our ‘Ten and Five’ articles, this one does contain spoilers. Please be warned.

Inglourious Basterds has been a project talked about for almost a decade now, living only in the mind of Quentin Tarantino. Finally the film is almost here, and worth the wait. Take a minute though, and listen to a few warnings that come with this film. Just like many other QT films, this one has a lot of dialog. Fortunately though, his films are known to have some of the best dialog. So don’t expect a bunch of action, but this is QT’s most fun film to date. Also, there are a lot of Eli Roth haters…so if you hated him before, it will be tough to hate him after seeing Inglourious Basterds. Finally, one of the hottest talking points of this film has been Brad Pitt’s accent. Trust that there is a purpose for the overdone accent, and it plays like a character all by itself later in the film. What is there not to like about the prospect of a Tarantino directed World War 2 film? Well, I found a few things. But first…

10 Things I Liked

10. Cultural Profiling

You get to see some of this in the trailer, but the dialog in the film is hilarious. Brad Pitt profiles all of Germany with quips like, “why don’t you use your weiner-schnitzel licking finger” and “if you ever want to eat another sauerkraut sandwich again.” Priceless.

9. Badass Principals

Within the trailer, I’m sure you noticed a Nazi with a swastika carved into his forehead. This is actually one of my favorite ideals of the entire movie. Also, if you are going to shoot at Hitler, make sure it is done in the same way that QT would do it.

8. Subtitles

I really love the fact that QT went out and found talent from each respective country, and talent that could gracefully speak each language. Who would have ever thought, other than her German family, that Diane Kruger could be hot and speak fluent German? Some people are really annoyed by subtitles, and this might be one of those movies where you really lose notice of them.

7. Production and Costume Design

The production design and costumes on this film were incredible. The colors pop off of the screen, especially during the movie premiere. QT’s films usually have a high attention to detail and Basterds is no different.

6. The Score

If you pay close attention, the score changes very stylistically from chapter to chapter within the film. It was Spaghetti Western at a point, and harsh contemporary at other points. The score did a wonderful job at setting the right mode for each scene.

5. The Basterds

The Basterds themselves are a spectacle. It is a bit disheartening to see that they don’t have a ton of screen time. There are two amazing scenes that make you feel the Basterd’s mark on the film, but sadly there is just not enough of their ‘men on a mission’ moments.

4. Brad Pitt

To my immediate memory, Tarantino hasn’t directed an actor that carries the same clout as Brad Pitt. Warning, don’t try and debate that John Travolta, Bruce Willis or Samuel L. Jackson carry any more clout than Pitt in the film industry. Pitt is one of those actors that I have always theoretically wished to be under the direction of QT. Pitt was a bit experimental in his roles, especially early in his career with films like Fight Club, 12 Monkeys, Seven, Kalifornia, Cool World and even the Tarantino written True Romance (even though it was a very small part. I have been happy to see his experimental side coming back with Burn After Reading and now – Inglorious Basterds. One thing that I have already heard, is that his accent is too thick and even annoying. Trust in the fact that Pitt’s accent is almost like an entire separate character within the film. QT has a method to the mayhem, and this film’s mayhem is glorious.

3. Eli Roth is Badass

For those who don’t know, Eli Roth is better known as a director. He has directed films such as Cabin Fever, Hostel and Hostel 2. Roth gets a bit too much criticism from his films, and unfairly I might add. He directs his horror films with a bit of humor. Some people frown on his films and their humor, but I’m not here to talk about his directing. Stop hating, and experience all that is Donny “The Bear Jew” Donowitz. Roth put on quite a bit of muscle, and creates one of the more entertaining characters of the Tarantino ensemble. Donny carries a baseball bat, and kills Nazis with it. It’s quite fun to watch, and I say that in the least creepy way. Donny isn’t the only entertaining Basterd though, the trailer made it pretty clear that Brad Pitt will be one of the biggest draws of the film.

2. Tarantino is Back! Even though he was never gone…

Tarantino fans really do not need to be convinced to go see this film, but QT has received a bit of negative criticism over the past few years. There were not a lot of positive things said about Death Proof, even though I personally really enjoyed it. So for QT fans, start to get excited. The film never begs to be taken seriously, but expels its own tone of serious badass fun. Like most QT films there are some laughs, but there is also a bunch of blood and mayhem. Much of this mayhem comes from Eli Roth, known in the film as Donny Donowitz…also known as “The Bear Jew.” Like I said, time to get excited.

1. Italian Accents

Trust me, this will make sense when you see the film for yourself.

So after all of this praise, what is not to like?

5 Things I Didn’t

5. Alternate Universe

Spoilers Ahead. The film never actually tells you that it is not historically accurate, just never tells you that it is. There is no “based on” preface at the start of the film. You will find yourself forgiving these historical inaccuracies due to the fact that each detail within QT’s grasp is tight and cohesive.

4. Apathetic to Adolf

I didn’t know if it was supposed to be funny, or just supposed to be Adolf. I think it was supposed to be funny, but I didn’t laugh.

3. More Action Please

I promised I wouldn’t complain about too much dialog, so instead I will complain about not enough action. This is supposed to be World War 2 QT, give us some bloody war.

2. More Basterds Please

This also falls into the “More Action Please” category. The Basterds are awesome, and I would say they should have their own movie…but that is already kind of what is going on. When you see the movie though, you will find that the Basterds just play a part in the film, and not the film’s subject.

1. Subtitles

Did I mention that I can’t read?

Movies We Love: The Warriors

Brian C. Gibson — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:20:01 +0000

The Warriors (1979)

“Warriors…Come out to Play-ay!”

Synopsis

All of the gangs of New York call a truce for one night to hear what one man has to say. 60,000 gang members, none of them armed, meet to hear a man called Cyrus. Cyrus leads a gang called The Grammercy Riffs, and has a plan for all of New York. He calls out to all the gangs and claims that if all of the gangs were to join resources, they would be unstoppable against any force. The leader of a gang called The Rogues has a different idea though, and smuggles in a gun to shoot Cyrus. During all of the panic, Luther of The Rogues yells out that it was The Warriors of Coney Island that killed Cyrus and broke the truce, leaving The Warriors a long way from home and forcing them to fight their way through every gang along the way.

Why We Love It

To be short, this movie has some of the coolest imagery ever seen on the big screen. It is almost like a sci-fi film or a comic book film, except there are no fantasy or scientific elements present. It just looks awesome. Not to mention the fact that the entire story is loosely based on one of the most bad-ass tales in Greek history. I know you are probably thinking of 300 (or the Battle of Thermopylae), but the film is actually based on a story of a group of Greek mercenaries that find themselves trapped behind Persian lines. I mean, just imagine being part of a gang with only about eight members and being up against the potential force of 60,000 other gang members. There are a ton of gangs mentioned in the movie, but you only get to see a few…and Walter Hill had some of the most awesome names in his script – The Amsterdam All-Stars, The Baseball Furies, The Big Trains, The Charlemagnes, – The Colt 45’s, The Dingos, The Electric Eliminators, The Eighth Avenue Apaches, The Fastballs, The Firetasters, The Gladiators, The Gramercy Riffs, The Howitzers, The Jesters, The Judas Bunch, The Knuckles, The Lizzies, The Meatpackers, The Nickel Steaks, The Orphans, The Panzers, The Queen’s Bridge Mutilators, The Rogues, The Romans, The Runaways, The Shanghai Sultans, The Turnbull AC’s, The Warriors, The Whispers, The Xenophones, The Xylophones, and The Yo-Yo’s…Just to name my favorites.

So what makes this movie really stand out? It incited panic. People saw the posters, the baseball players with face paint and the trailer…and thought “holy shit, I am never going to New York.” People tried to get the movie banned because of the film’s statement that a gang of 60,000 members could easily take over the city with only 20,000 cops. It made people very afraid. I’m all for that, I say that The Warriors is probably the reason that Rudy Giuliani became the mayor of New York. He launched his political career in the early 1980s as a lawyer when he tried to eliminate, you guessed it, organized crime (aka gangs) within the city. So not only did The Warriors incite some panic, but it also caused some good in the world.

The Coolest Gangs, Ever

Seriously, what would you do if you were walking down a dark alley and you saw a guy come running at you dressed like a baseball player, wielding a bat and wearing KISS makeup? I’d probably kick his ass straight up, but most people would pee their pants and run. It turns out that crazy director Walter Hill came up with the Baseball Furies just because of his love for two things – baseball and the band KISS. Maybe I should start a gang called The Crazy BlueBalls, where they come equipped like racquetball players…complete with rackets, goggles and blue balls, but they are dressed up as movie theater ushers (because I love movies, get it?) Now that is some intimidating stuff right there. The film is just filled with some of the most fantastic imagery you will find, and it sticks out so well against the dark city. On a side note though, the really cool part about the entire film is the real gang element that existed while in production. For instance, The Baseball Furies were also a reference to a real NYC gang called Second Base…which wore letterman jackets with Second Base printed on the back. There is a little double meaning to when the DJ says The Warriors have “… made it past Second Base.” Also, the real NYC gangs didn’t take too lightly to the film crew running through their turfs, so production had to hire some real gangs as “security” on the set.

The Music

The Warriors theme is eerie and epic, but the music played by the omniscient DJ is pure perfection for this film. Sent as a warning shot to The Warriors, she plays a little song that goes something like – “”Nowhere to run to, baby…Nowhere to hide…Got nowhere to run to, baby…Nowhere to hide.” Awesome. You can expect some pretty cheesy music throughout the film due to its time of release, but nothing is as good as the victory song at the end, an original song performed by Joe Walsh – “Somewhere out on that horizon…Out beyond the neon lights…I know there must be somethin’ better…But there’s nowhere else in sight…It’s survival in the city…When you live from day to day…City streets don’t have much pity…When you’re down, that’s where you’ll stay…In the city, oh, oh…In the city.”

The Bathroom Fight

Who would have ever thought that a men’s bathroom could be a great fight venue? Seeing people getting slammed into toilets, with porcelain and water flying everywhere, is a bit more entertaining than I would have normally thought. This fight between The Warriors and The Punks is epic. The Punks are fighting on roller skates. I don’t know whether to laugh or applaud that, but if a man can kick your ass on roller skates…then I think you should probably go get into some bar brawls for practice before taking on an actual gang. In all seriousness though, Walter Hill took the most time for this single scene to make it so awesome. This was the only scene shot on a set, and took it took five days of shooting at eleven hours each day to complete.

Moment We Fell In Love

So David Patrick Kelly is easily one of the creepiest little dudes in the history of cinema. I have nightmares about Kelly and Jackie Earle Haley reading dialog in a dark corner — super creepy. First, they both have that whole three name thing going on…as do most psychopaths. Second, who am I kidding – I don’t have nightmares. Nightmare’s have dreams about me. I digress. David Patrick Kelly, somehow thought to put beer bottles on his fingers and spout one of the creepiest but iconic lines in my cinematic memory – “Warriors, come out to play-ay”. Sorry, but it creeps me out to no end, and it also does an amazing job at setting up the oncoming fight scene.

Final Thoughts

The film is not a masterpiece, but it is a cult classic and a damn good movie. Word is Tony Scott is planning a sequel, and while that could be good…I fucking hope not. The beauty of this film is that each actor was a relative unknown, and chosen because they embodied the character they were supposed to be playing. Apparently, Robert De Niro and Tony Danza were offered lead roles…which again could have been cool, but I appreciate this movie so much more knowing that the only people that still really exist in film today are David Patrick Kelly and James Remar. So do me a favor if you don’t already own it, run out and buy it…pop it in, and after watching it, ask yourself one thing…

Can You Dig It?

Christopher McQuarrie to Drive Wolverine 2, Tokyo Drift – Get It?

Brian C. Gibson — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 06:08:11 +0000

Remember that Wolverine movie, all those months ago? It did well enough, and by well enough I mean that it made enough money for the studio to want a second serving. The Hollywood sequel machine never stops eating profits and crapping out more movies. This is just one of those Hollywood trends that we are supposed to get used to. Some studios are taking notice and getting some real talent to helm these sequels. Was that a great seq way or what?

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Valkyrie scribe Christopher McQuarrie has been tapped on the shoulder for the new sequel for X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Did I forget to mention that prequels are getting unwarranted sequels now? Well, at least they were able to secure some talent on this one. McQuarrie is most famous for being involved with almost every Bryan Singer film ever. He wrote Valkyrie, and some of my favorite sets of dialog in The Way of the Gun. In all fairness though, McQuarrie was mostly responsible for writing a little known film from 2000 called X-Men. He bowed out and let David Hayter take the screenplay credits. He wrote X-Men, so he and Wolverine go way back.

Apparently McQuarrie wants to take Wolverine forward into Frank Miller and Chris Claremont’s territory, in Japan. Don’t get me wrong, I dig the idea…but Singer already ruined the Yuriko Oyama character. So will this sequel be Wolverine falling in love again, this time with Mariko Yashida, and then getting betrayed…opening up a berserker rage on endless paper houses. Who knows, we could see some badass Silver Samurai or maybe a covert operation that takes Wolvie to Russia for some Omega Red action. I always love the idea of another Marvel film, but I am saving my excitement for a trailer.

What do you think of Chris McQuarrie taking on the Wolverine sequel?

The Book of Eli Trailer: Denzel Washington Gets Post-Apocalyptic

Brian C. Gibson — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:47:43 +0000

Just in case you’ve been hankering for another ‘last man on Earth’ movie, here comes Denzel Washington in The Book of Eli. The first official trailer has been released for the thriller by Warner Bros. and Apple, and can also be seen in the video player below. The film is a post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.

Denzel Washington is that man, Gary Oldman plays one of the remaining men trying to get his sacred book and Mila Kunis plays what we can only imagine is a hot chick with awesome sunglasses on. If Max Payne is any indicator, she will also be playing the role badly. But here’s hoping that the rest of The Book of Eli will live up to what is a pretty badass trailer, even if the film is derivative of like 35 other post-apocalyptic lone-badass-trying-to-save-humanity films that’ve come before it.

The Book of Eli is in theaters January 15, 2010. View the trailer below, courtesy of Apple.

Exclusive: Peter Gallagher Picks a Favorite Scene from ‘Adam’

Brian C. Gibson — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:04:01 +0000

You may have heard this already, but director Max Mayer’s Sundance hit and soon to be 2009 Fox Searchlight release Adam is one of the most heartfelt films of the year. It stars Hugh Dancy as a man with Asperger’s Syndrome who develops a special relationship with his upstairs neighbor Beth, played by Rose Byrne.

In Neil’s review from Sundance, he said that it was charming, light and smart. As well, he’s said that it also rests steadily on the shoulders of its two leads, both of whom turn in very solid performances.

The film also stars Peter Gallagher, who plays Beth’s father. I say that because we’ve received an exclusive look at a new featurette from Fox Searchlight in which Gallagher picks out his favorite things about the film. Have a look for yourself below.

Adam is in theaters on July 29, 2009.

SDCC: Disney 3D Panel Doesn’t Fall Flat

Brian C. Gibson — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:53:54 +0000

The first in many anticipated panels today, The Disney 3D presentation seems to have impressed all of the Twilight fans that got in to see it. Hell, even some movie sites were impressed. Since we couldn’t be there – I’m pretty sure Robert Fure is wandering around the streets of San Diego handing out his business card to ladies dressed like Lara Croft – we took a quick look around the horn to see who had what to say.

Alice In Wonderland

The big surprise of having Johnny Depp joining the panel seemed to be getting mothers and fanboys tingly, but the clips from the movie were definitively solid. And weird.

	@Laremy Alice in Wonderland also looks fantastic but in this instance the creepy factor works. Could be Tim Burton’s opus.
	@GeekTyrant Tim Burton just gave us a taste of Alice in Wonderland. March 2010 is too long to wait for this film.
	loquaciousmuse Alice in Wonderland is gonna blow my face off, holy shit.
	geeksofdoom The Alice in Wonderland footage looks amazing!

A Christmas Carol

Not a ton of chatter went down for this film. But the reactions did seem positive – and surprising considering that the footage they showed made the film look more like a Christmas horror film.

	mrbeaks Finally sold on A CHRISTMAS CAROL. It’s a horror movie. And, judging from what we saw today, a fairly terrifying one at that.
	GeekTyrant We just watched ten minutes of Robert Zemekis’ A Christmas Carol. Totally worth it!
	bdgrabinski COMIC-CON TWEET: Zemeckis basically just said he’s done with live-action. He’s “dedicated to setting this art form out into the world.”
	davidehrlich Christmas carol “looks” neato at times but methinks it’s better as a quick ride than a movie. Mild bomb.

Tron Legacy

So apparently Tron 2 is now Tron: Legacy. Also, despite only showing concept art, the geek crowd was pretty willing and able to bask in its sci-fi glory.

The best write-up of the entire panel comes from Garth at Dark Horizons, who gives some additional detail about the darker world that Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski has created:

The director says “the world of Tron has been evolving on its own server for twenty years like the Galapagos, so its darker and more visceral”. The environment has become more detailed with weather patterns and textures. There was some video footage of athletes doing motion capture sessions for the disc wars game. They used the ‘Phantom Camera’, which shoots 1000 frames a second, which was in 3D for the first time.

And now, more reactions from Twitter:

	kateyrich Patton Oswalt keeps making Big Lebowski jokes to Jeff Bridges. I love it.
	firstshowing They just showed a bunch of concept art for Tron Legacy of the new lightcycles and other vehicles and a look at the very dark world.
	DrewAtHitFix That “Tron” footage from last year looks reeeeeeeal sexy in 3D.
	totalfilm Tron Legacy, even just in pic form looks… spectacular.

Photo courtesy of Mike Sampson on Twitter. For more from San Diego, keep an eye on our Comic-Con ‘09 Homepage.

SDCC: Ninja Assassin Trailer and Poster Debut

Brian C. Gibson — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:21:30 +0000

Right in advance of day one of Comic-Con, the folks at Warner Bros. have released the first trailer and teaser poster for their upcoming action film Ninja Assassin.

Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), Ninja Assassin follows the story of an orphaned boy who is raised to become one of the world’s deadliest assassins. But after he is betrayed by his own, he becomes the target of a lethal manhunt. It stars Rain, Naomie Harris, Ben Miles, Sho Kosugi and Rick Yune.

As you will see below in the trailer, courtesy of MTV, this movie has all the makings of something totally badass — some wicked action sequences, badass ninja moves and flying stars — who doesn’t love flying stars?! Also, this movie has a very Wachowski Brothers feel to it, and rightfully so as the brothers who brought us The Matrix are producing alongside Joel Silver. Have a look for yourself below.

Ninja Assassin is in theaters November 25, 2009. Poster also courtesy of MTV Movies Blog.

What do you think?

SDCC: A Nightmare on Elm Street Poster Revealed

Brian C. Gibson — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:43:05 +0000

The friendly folks at IGN have passed along the first official artwork from the upcoming horror remake A Nightmare on Elm Street, which stars Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen) as notorious dreamweaver Freddy Krueger. The film, which also stars Rooney Mara and Kyle Gallner, is a re-imaging of the iconic horror franchise that follows a serial killer who wields a glove with four blades embedded in the fingers and kills people in their dreams, resulting in their real-world deaths.

This first poster goes right along with the first look at Haley’s Freddy Krueger that we showed you earlier today, one that wasn’t too great but did give us a bit of his silhouette. It was enough to scare me up some bad memories of the original films.

According to a set visit report filed by Devin Faraci at CHUD, Haley and director Samuel Bayer are looking to make Freddy a more serious character, rather than stick with the campy nature of the original. “”We’re focusing more on the less campy and a little bit more of the scarier side. More of a serious side,” Haley said from the film’s Chicago set. “And there’s definitely, I think, a little more focus on what makes this guy who he is. And so there’s a little bit of a deeper kind of look at him. I’m playing a boogeyman, you know? So that’s what I’m really trying to embrace, but at the same time find out what makes this boogeyman tick.”

A Nightmare on Elm Street is scheduled to hit theaters April 16, 2010. Have a look at the new poster below.

SDCC: District 9 MNU Truck Rolls Into San Diego

Brian C. Gibson — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:34:13 +0000

Among those who actually made it to San Diego today for the start of Comic-Con International, our friends at /Film have hit the ground running and have begun to snap some pics from the area around the San Diego Convention Center. /Film Editor Peter Sciretta has already posted a few photos of an MNU truck that has been cruising the streets of San Diego. MNU is the government agency in charge of keeping aliens and humans apart in Neill Blomkamp’s District 9.

Check out the image above, and click over to /Film for the hi-res images. They’ve also have some cool viral marketing banners for the upcoming Roland Emmerich film 2012, an example of which can be seen below.

For more from San Diego, keep an eye on our Comic-Con ‘09 Homepage.

BREAKING: Rejects Staff Arrested En Route to Comic-Con

Brian C. Gibson — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:14:32 +0000

So, they’re in jail. I just got off the phone with Cole Abaius who asked me to throw this up on the site so you know what to expect for FSR’s Comic-Con coverage. Here’s the story in his own words:

Let’s go back a few hours to where Landon Palmer, Robert Fure, Neil and myself were winding our way through the Southwestern belly of our fair country, enjoying the brilliant beauty of the sunshine beating down on the sand, discussing whether or not a Michael Bay-directed romantic comedy would be a good idea. We had been planning an epic road trip to Comic-Con 2009 that would take us in a not-so-straight shot to San Diego where we could provide, yet again, the best coverage on the internet for you, our dear readers.

Unfortunately, sometime around One in the A.M. last night we got pulled over for going very too fast through the sleepy little hamlet of Pahrump, NV.

You might be asking why we were even in Nevada – a state that’s not necessarily between Texas and California en route to Comic-Con. It’s a fair question, and I believe Robert Fure would have to answer with, “But we HAVE to see the world’s largest fork!”

It turns out the world’s largest fork isn’t even in Nevada.

After being pulled over, I got into what could easily be described as a calm, polite disagreement with the officer which led to a calm, polite search of our vehicle. I can’t say what we got arrested for as it would be a tacit admission of guilt according to FSR’s mascot/lawyer Beasley, but suffice it to say that we will be here a while. Nolo Contendre.

In fact, we’re going to miss Comic-Con because the only judge available is on a personal holiday celebrating some sort of town anniversary or centennial or something. So, that’s awesome.

Basically, we’re stuck.

Of course Neil is furious, but there are a few good things about the situation. For one, Neil is furious which is hilarious to me. For two, Robert Fure isn’t in jail with us. He managed to tuck and roll out of the vehicle. Which didn’t help as he was arrested shortly thereafter. However, he’s got an uncle that owns land in the area who also has the power to post bail for his nephew. Thankfully, Fure has bravely chosen to go to Comic-Con instead of helping us.

Thirdly, the cops here are actually pretty nice. It’s not like this is maximum security or anything. We’ve been tweeting the ordeal – so that gives you an idea of just how stringent they are with the rules here. Plus, I’m pretty sure if I continue to let one of them beat me at backgammon, he’ll let us use station computers. But probably not. We won’t be able to post anything to the site for a week.

That’s verbatim. I kid you not.

But don’t despair or anything. I’m sure they will have things all worked out in no time. As for now, I’ll be running the news, our intern Scott will be getting me coffee, and Kevin Kelly and Robert Fure will still be covering the hell out of Comic-Con.

‘Tr2n’ Has Taken Over FSR’s Computers With Awesome

Brian C. Gibson — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:25:26 +0000

It looks like we got a nice little viral package in the mail today just like everyone else. This packaged contained a USB drive and two gold arcade coins from a very famous movie arcade…and no it isn’t Noah’s Arcade (anyone?). If you can remember Flynn’s Arcade from the movie Tron, we are about to make you pretty jealous. Check out the gold coins from the self proclaimed “Home of Tron.” It would seem though that the little file, simply called “4.gif”, is the most important part of our care package.

Alex over at FirstShowing seems to have almost cracked the code by compiling the gifs from all the various site from around the webs. All the resourceful code junkies from throughout the internet have come together to find that the code spells out “FLYNN LIVES.” Now follow with me everyone, connect the dots and go to www.FlynnLives.com to see what viral goodness that the new Tron has in store. The site basically tries to prove, who would ever guess, that Flynn lives. Who would have ever though that with all of these viral marketing campaigns, that we would finally see an appropriate movie where an online computer viral game actually makes sense?

Now there was another piece of the puzzle, which leads to a pretty frustrating climax. Over at Flynn Lives, there is a little bouncing video game spider that when clicked…leads you to a countdown. The countdown points to Thursday night at 9:30, which probably means that we can expect some type of announcement from Comic-Con. Until then, take a look at the crazy code and the websites to see if you can decode some.

Why The Internet Is Killing the Cult Classic

Brian C. Gibson — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:53:02 +0000

Last week, yet another cult classic hit the shelves after years of waiting from faithful fans. Now that the 90’s MTV cult show “The State” has hit digital media, no one can ever complain about only having a crappy VHS rip. This last few months we have seen a few other titles hit DVD after years of waiting, such as Howard the Duck and “X-Men: The Animated Series.” So now that these long awaited titles have finally hit our high definition world, what does anyone in the world of geek like me have to complain about?

Don’t worry, I have a big complaint…right now. The cult classic is dying my friends, and neither Apple nor Al Gore can save it.

It used to be that a movie or TV show gained the title of a cult classic due to a few qualities. One quality is that the film should have originally had very little critical or commercial success. Most cult classics failed at the box office or in TV ratings, even if they were able to go so far. Cult classics also usually have a very healthy shelf-life on home video or DVD. This is actually a bigger factor than most people think because back before VHS if you didn’t see The Rocky Horror Picture Show in theaters, where or how could you see it? By being some of the select few that did see the film in theaters, you were now part of a small group of fans that created the film’s iconic presence as a cult classic. Really, I think it is the combination of word of mouth and limited access to the content. So when a film like The Boondock Saints was only released on five screens and then hit DVD almost two years later only to catch a wave of word of mouth praise, you have yourself a cult classic.

So there’s the dilemma. How can anything sneak past us in this content-driven society?

The cult classic is dying off faster and faster. The most recent title that could realistically be called a cult classic would be Donnie Darko. The film failed at the box office, only to be resurrected on home video and DVD. “Family Guy” came close, except the content was right in front of us and Fox saw the DVD sales, bringing the show back into the public eye. Any film that hits theaters or DVD is converted into digital content immediately, if not sooner than its release date. Here’s a good example: many people who scour the internet know that the hit film Taken was available online much sooner than its United States release date. Now due to all the downloads and word of mouth praise, the film performed great at the box office. Now Taken is not a cult classic because of its success. However if it had not played in US theaters but had only been released on DVD…I think we might have had a recent cult classic.

So since video has already killed the radio star, the new killer in town is the internet. The internet’s original purpose was to make the world’s largest resource of content available to anyone. We humans have a gluttonous streak though, we couldn’t just have a simple resource. We turned it into a giant machine that can create and kill popular culture faster than we can text, tweet or shout it over to our friends. The internet has taken a cue from us and has turned into a parasite, no longer just hosting the content…but abusing it until we have no use for it anymore. It used to be that when you could only buy a record or a VHS, that would be the only avenue for accessing the content. Now we have taken digital content to the next level – the level of exhaustion.

So is there anything else left on my list of cult classics that need to hit DVD?

Let It Be (1970)

Electric Dreams (1984)

“The Wonder Years”

Rad (1986)

“Salute Your Shorts”

“Hey Dude”

Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into the Future (1987)

Moonwalker

What cult classics would you like to see on DVD?

Giveaway: Simpsonize Mother’s Day With Marge’s Book!

Brian C. Gibson — Wed, 06 May 2009 21:10:19 +0000

We rejects make sure not to forget the special people in our lives, especially our mothers. There have been some amazing mothers in both film and television. It would be hard not to mention Marge Simpson. She is the wife of Homer Simpson, but also the mother of Lisa, Bart and Maggie. Ever wonder what the blue haired wonder does in her free time? Well now you don’t have to wonder anymore, because we have 10 Free Copies of The Marge Book. I had a chance to page through this very hilarious book and learned a few things about Mrs. Simpson. For instance, did you know that she keeps a handgun and a pair of nunchucks in her hair? She’s one crazy lady.

On to the good stuff. All you have to do to win one of the 10 free copies of The Marge Book, is to answer the following question in our amazing comment section below.

If Marge was your mom, what would you get her for Mother’s Day? Go on, impress us…

All entries must be completed by Thursday, May 14th. Winners will be contacted via email.

Win an Autographed Bride Wars Poster!

Brian C. Gibson — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:32:16 +0000

Today marked the DVD release of Bride Wars, starring Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson. So how are we going to celebrate? By giving you a chance at a free autographed theatrical poster, signed by the two Hollywood beauties in the film.

Our very own Kevin Carr loved this one, saying ” It helps that the stars are easy on the eyes. I admit that I don’t get tired of seeing Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson on screen.” Well this giveaway isn’t for Kevin, I’m thinking it’s for the ladies. I checked with the other editors and found out that we do, in fact, have female readers. You guys are allowed to enter as well, but we don’t want to know what you do with the poster…unless it’s something like giving it to your significant other.

All you have to do to get your name in the game is answer the following question in our comment area at the bottom of the page:

If there were an actual bride war, what do you think would be the most effective weapon of a bride?

All entries must be completed by Wednesday, May 6th. Winners will be contacted via email.

Film School Rejects » Brian C. Gibson

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