Film School Rejects » Editors Blog

Editor’s Note: A New Day, A New Comment System

Neil Miller — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:10:10 +0000

Good morning to everyone who dares venture out into the wilderness of the internet and visit us here in this dark corner known as Reject Land.

Okay, that was silly — but it’s early, so bear with me. I wanted to drop a quick note in our feed about a very noticable change here at Film School Rejects, one that may or may not cause some uproar in the comment section. Why? Because the change is the comment section. As you may know if you’ve been around a while, our ‘Sound Off’ section below is one of the most important features of our site. We are extremely dedicated to ensuring that our readers (that’s you) have a easy-to-use, intuitive way to provide their opinion along with those that can be seen in the articles. It is something that we take very seriously.

Over the past few months we’ve been using a 3rd party system from Intense Debate, which many of you have come to know and love. And while we love the way it looks and the user interface that it uses, we have had some major stability issues of late — mostly on the backend. And sadly, it has come to a point where a change must be made.

Swooping in to rescue us is Disqus, an alternate solution that promises to provide us with the stability and functionality that we demand from a comment system. In addition to being reliable, Disqus also includes the following features:

Log in to comment using your Facebook profile
Log in to comment using your Twitter profile
Tracking of Conversations over Twitter, Digg, FriendFeed, etc.

Beyond that, Disqus features some of the same great user friendly items that Intense Debate did, including the ability to make video comments via Seesmic, conversation threading, subscription via email and voting up of comments by hitting the ‘like’ button.

In the end, we regret having to make a big change like this on such short notice, but we are very excited about the quality of the Disqus product. We hope that you too will also be excited. If not (or if you find any problems), please don’t hesitate to use the new comment system below to provide us with some feedback or email me at neil@filmschoolrejects.com.

What do you think of the new comment system? Are there any other features that you would like to see FSR add to features (or anywhere else on the site)?

Editor’s Blog: New Features! Twilight Fans! Date Rape!

Dr. Cole Abaius — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 02:15:31 +0000

It’s been a while since we’ve done a Weekly Editor’s Blog which begs the question of whether we can keep calling it “weekly.” Since no one actually cares, the answer is yes. Plus, we worked too hard coming up with that name just to let it go. I’m sure you can’t blame us.

We’ve got some serious ground to cover this week, so I’ve conveniently jammed the relevant material into three categories that will inevitably be mocked for being puns.

The News

This week is actually a pretty exciting week in the menial little inner workings of the site. Due to its wild popularity, we’ll be moving Landon Palmer’s Culture Warrior column to Mondays (reset your DVR), and we’re introducing three – count ‘em – three new columns.

Turned On, Tuned In – Every Monday, Bethany Perryman reports on what’s turning her on this week. A sex column for the entertainment junkie. We’ve been meaning to do this for a while, but since no one that works for FSR has ever had sex, we figured we’d turn to a name that’s been written on bathroom walls from El Paso to Maine.
The Worst Movie Ever – If there’s anything we like more than bashing terrible movies, it’s chocolate pie. Since we can’t publish chocolate pie on the internet, this will have to do. Every Tuesday, we’ll be taking another look at that week’s worst movie ever. Check it out, or you might accidentally watch something that will force you to gauge your eyes out.
Movies We Love – We couldn’t be Rejects without bringing some balance to the force. After bashing the worst of the worst, we’ll be celebrating the stuff that made us fall in love with the big screen in the first place.

Exciting column switches, exciting brand new features, and exciting new logos. Plus, Neil has an exciting meeting with a specialist to finally check out that growth.

The Fad

It turns out that the new cultural trend is to physically attack anyone who doesn’t share your taste in movies. Apparently Twilight fan girls are throwing out verbal threats, tossing acid and leaving horse heads in the beds of detractors of the series. I’m hoping none of them have read my review of the film.

Some of you have latched onto the fad in order to launch F-bombs and empty death threats because Robert Fure didn’t like Observe and Report.

To counteract this new attitude that stems solely from fans being completely insecure in their own artistic tastes that they feel the need to insult and threaten anyone who disagrees – I’d encourage everyone to go check out Fure’s review and leave a comment telling him what a great job he’s doing and how handsome he is. Also, go hug a puppy.

But seriously, if anyone else disses Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, I swear I will choke them.

The Ugly

Speaking of Observe and Report and nonsense – there have been a lot of editorials around the internet discussing the finer points of date rape and its humor value. Major blogs have done roundups, feminist sites have given video-middle-fingers to Seth Rogen, and for some reason, no one has bootlegged the scene and set it to Meatloaf’s “I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).” Get on it, YouTube.

We’ve stayed out of the debate pool so far because, let’s face it, no one has offered any good arguments on either side so far. Some people are outraged that date rape is being displayed in a “comedy”. Some people realize that the context of the scene matters. Some people are outraged that the scene wasn’t rape-y enough.

Personally, I don’t really care where you come down on the argument. Is it rape? Is it not rape? Should date rape be shown in film by the “hero?” Does the context even matter?

These questions don’t matter because the right answer is — Tugg Speedman should have never gone full retard.

Tune in next week when we may or my not write another edition of the Weekly Editor’s Blog. Will we? Won’t we? Not knowing is half the fun!

Why Variety is Wrong (and Right) About Film Blogs

Dr. Cole Abaius — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:23:54 +0000

During the past week, I’ve had the privilege of sitting down with a host of talented filmmakers and actors to discuss the process of making movies. It’s a rush built on the already-strong fever created by the festival atmosphere, and it’s probably my favorite part of my job. Early in the week, two of the filmmakers that I interviewed told me I was intelligent, had great questions and was really insightful which of course had my ego at an all time high (as if it could get any bigger). Then, I spoke with Mark Boal, the writer for The Hurt Locker, and interviewing a journalist made me realize that I had a lot to learn and a long, long way to go before I could even be considered good at what I do. It was humbling, and it needed to happen.

All this to say that between the subtle alcohol references and the absurd analogies (Mary Poppins is a lot like The Exorcist when you think about it), I take parts of my job seriously, and I have a passion for learning and growing in what I do. Still, I wouldn’t consider most of what I do journalism. In fact, there’s a running joke amongst some of the FSR staff that started at Comic-Con when we saw the creator of a personal blog refer to himself as a “legitimate journalist.” Most days, I barely consider myself literate, let alone a bona fide journo. My proof is that I almost spelled that, “bonified.”

Yesterday, Variety launched three salvos into the depths of the internet that resonated like the answer to a question nobody asked. “How I Got Blogged Down,” by Michael Fleming; “Tempest of the ‘Touldja!’ Journalists,” by Cynthia Littleton; and “Hollywood’s Blog Smog,” by the always-charming Peter Bart. I highly suggest you read them – or you can just let me poorly characterize them and stick with that.

Despite the three blatantly aimed at Nikki Finke – who must have thrown sand at all three writers on the playground last week or something – the articles do make some honest-to-god points about the gray area between traditional journalism and whole-sale blogging. The thrust of all three pieces is that the failings of bloggers and film sites are dragging down the fine profession of news-delivery. Fleming celebrates the speed of the internet but laments the existence of the undisciplined who are giving journalism a new bad name. Littleton’s piece laments the bickering between bloggers while pointlessly chronicling one such scuffle – an ad hominem attack that doesn’t even deserve to be responded to. Bart’s piece basically uses ideas that Andrew Sullivan from the Atlantic espoused to frame an argument that blogging is frantic, pathetically desperate, and not financially viable.

The core argument of all three is that bloggers are so quick to post stories, they are often wrong. Despite this being true, it’s not the whole story. Just like Tylenol chose the slogan, “Nothing’s Stronger” even though nothing was weaker than it either, characterizing bloggers as the sole cause behind the construction of the rumor mill is about as outlandish as claiming Mary Poppins is a lot like The Exorcist. A quick survey in journalistic history will show a massive amount of misinformation, especially because the idea of being first had more pull than triple-checking with sources.

Still, I’ll admit that being first is a moniker most film sites and blogs want attached to their name. It’s a sign of being on the inside. Of knowing something before everyone else. Of being legitimate, in a way. And bloggers almost never run retractions when they are wrong.

However, it’s not exactly the presence of blogs that has created the instant news world. It’s the internet itself. At the root of the problem is the mechanical bias inherent in dealing with the internet. It’s also more of a double-edged sword than the article lets on. For example, FSR reminded its readers of a year-old story regarding the Coen Brothers adapting “True Grit” last week with the usual sort of fanfare. Today, Variety wrote the same story up and is blazing a trail through the internet to claim tacit credit for what’s actually a year-old story. Even when you’re slow, you’re fast. Secondly, the fatally sharp edge of that sword is that film sites garner a reputation as rumor-mongerers. Yes, there’s a problem with bloggers and sites not retracting or ever admitting they’re wrong – but audiences aren’t stupid. They know when a site has screwed up, and that site gets a big Scarlet Letter for it.

There’s also the question of whether the things posted on blogs are actually news. Specifically, should a meeting between a director and an actor make the front page of the blog when a development deal might still be years in the making? The answer is yes, because the audience deems it so. I realize the slippery slope, I do, but there are two parties at work dictating what is and isn’t news, and I traditional journalism has a major problem with allowing the audience (a completely unpredictable, uncontrollable group (except you guys who we control through subliminal messages)) to help decide what stories are important. This ties in to the previous point about posting things with speed – sometimes you’re a news-maker, and other times – when the audience proves apathetic – you’re just shouting into the void.

The only other semblance of a point that the pieces make is that there is a ton of cattiness amongst the entertainment blog world – site runners sharping at other bloggers in order to create manufactured dramatics. Unfortunately, the questions raised by Variety’s writers yesterday are completely neutered by their willingness to belly-flop right into the mud with the rest of the pigs. It’s tough to maintain even an iota of respectability when the pieces shake their fist at the endless name-calling while sniping at Nikki Finke and others childishly from the other side of the internet.

The good news is that this discussion should be an on-going one. In the same way that I hope I’m learning and growing, getting better at what I do, we all still live in a gray area that resides somewhere between classic print journalism and the Valhalla of quick, expert, professional journalism that the internet’s potential can represent. In the mean time, we need to ask ourselves and ask our audiences what we could be doing better. What do you want from us? What can we do to better serve both our readers and retain objectivity and integrity? I understand that the Variety pieces aren’t really even aimed at sites like FSR – we don’t even pretend to consider ourselves a news site. We’re an opinion site. The news we report comes with a side of opinion. Even the posters and trailers we present – which might as well be wordless posts – come with whatever snarky or celebratory language we can muster up. But we still have a stake in what should be a very worthwhile conversation.

It’s important to recognize that the line of journalistic ethics is fuzzier than ever. The new world of journalism and non-fiction reporting is inhabited by a huge swath of people that haven’t taken a journalism course. Variety is right to raise these questions, and they are right to be concerned while we’re still in this nebulous area of ethics, quality, and mean-spiritedness. But they are wrong to claim that blogs and websites are the only ones causing the problems, wrong to claim that they already see where the future is headed, and wrong to believe that they will survive in a world of new media without getting their hands a little dirty. Luckily, it seems like they don’t have a problem with doing that.

Editor’s Blog: On the Road Again…

Neil Miller — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 16:10:22 +0000

I feel like I am caught in a Willie Nelson song. In the past 8 months I have now moved my place of residence twice, one move being of the two hour variety (Columbus, Ohio to Cleveland, Ohio) and my next of the 20 hour variety (Cleveland, Ohio to Austin, Texas). But as I prepare to make the cross-country move from the Heartland to The Lone Star state, I am struck with the irony of today. You see, today is February 15th — it is the third birthday of Film School Rejects. Yes for those of you who weren’t there — which is probably almost all of you — FSR took one giant leap onto the internets and one small step toward being a legitimate online publication on 2/15/06. And since then we’ve had a lot of fun and run the gamut of changes. We’ve gone from a blog that casually reviews movie to a news site in denial of its blog roots back to the most kickass, in your face, amazing movie blogging experience on the web all over the course of 3 years. Ok, so that last part is debatable, but you all know that we are pretty awesome.

And as it turns out, February seems to always be a transitional month, both for the site and me personally. Last February I left the “real world” behind, leaving my job in the world of retail to take on FSR full-time. It was a huge risk, but thanks to the hard work of everyone of our contributors and dedicated readership of all of you it would appear as if we made it. And today I am packing up again in preparation for another big change — the relocation of FSR’s “world headquarters” to beautiful Austin, Texas.

Why Austin? You may ask yourself quietly. Why not Austin, I say. It is much more than just the capitol of Texas, it has quickly become the cultural epicenter of the midwest. Home to such gems as the Alamo Drafthouse theater, arguably the most amazing movie theater experience in the whole of this green Earth, Austin is one of the most culturally diverse and proudly weird towns that I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. That, and it costs half as much to live there than it does to live in Los Angeles or New York City. These are the reasons for quite possibly the biggest change of my own personal life.

But even as my personal life changes, there are also some changes happening here at FSR. Needless to say, we’ve got a lot of things planned, some of which have already been implemented. And as this is our third birthday and all, it might be a good idea for me to lay them on you. First, for all of the iPhone users out there — our site is now equipped with a special iPhone/iPod Touch formatted layout. So if you are browsing the pages of FSR on the go it will look like the picture to the right (click to enlarge). Nice and clean, easy to browse and fine tuned to load quickly and efficiently.

We have also installed a new video player that you may have already noticed. This handy little display mechanism now affords you the opportunity to take a video from our site and embed it on your own blog or MySpace profile, spreading the same goodness that we have delivered here on FSR. These are just two of the many physical site changes we have planned, so keep your hand off of that remote — you are going to want to see what we do next.

And finally, we’ve had the honor of bringing on several new voices over the past few weeks. You’ve already heard from both Robert Levin and Paul Sileo in the day-to-day news offerings, and you may have already discovered Landon Palmer’s new featured column “Culture Warrior,” which runs every Saturday. We are very excited about all three of these gentlemen, as they each bring very unique voices to the already interesting mix of contributors that we have.

So there you have it, friends. All sorts of changes and updates, movings and shakings. And as much as I would have liked to sit here and wax reminiscent about the last 3 years of FSR glory, I have a lot of packing and an equally daunting amount of driving ahead of me. I’ve got to keep moving forward, just like this fair website. So I will leave the reminiscing for all of you to do in the comment area below…

How long have you been reading FSR? And what keeps you coming back?

Editor’s Blog: Lessons in Critical Douchebaggery

Neil Miller — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 19:41:47 +0000

The Editor’s Blog is your weekly look behind the curtain here at FSR, in which members of our editorial staff take you into the not-often-interesting world of movie blogging. Ever wonder what its like to be one of the cool kids? Well, we can’t help you with that. We can however, share a few useful anecdotes from our day to day grind.

Through the course of my time on this planet, some 25 years and change, I have always kept what I like to call a “things to not do” log. It is a mental list of things that I have witnessed other people doing that I myself would not ever do. This tactic of watching others fail and adding their actions to my list has worked out quite well, both in everyday life and in the workplace. I was never the kid who touched the hot stove and learned never to do it again, I was the one who watched his mother burn her hand on the stove and took note — the stove is hot.

And since my journey into the world of film journalism began back in late-2004, there is one thing that I have realized — film journalists are naturally very good at showing their peers what not to do. Some of them are like a walking encyclopedia of bad habits and deplorable actions. So with my mental notepad in hand (or mind), I have wandered through this world of film journalism, adding items in bulk. And for this week’s column, I thought it might be fun to share some of the things I’ve learned.

First up: don’t make a complete drunken ass of yourself in front of someone with a video camera. And of course I am referring to the now infamous and mysterious video that was posted by my good friend Pete over at /Film during this year’s Sundance Film Festival. In the vid, two friends of mine — Devin Faraci from CHUD and Alex Billington from First Showing — had it out about their differing theories on film criticism, “real” journalism and the contraction of sexually transmitted diseases. And while funny at face value, it was an argument that should have taken place off-camera. Because while I’m sure that all of you find the behind-the-scenes elements of the movie blogging industry to be fascinating, it can often be misconstrued without the proper sense of context. The lesson here, at least for me, is to stay away from the camera and anyone with whom I am prone to passionate arguments after having a few drinks. And we journos do like to drink. In the end, I think we all learned that particular lesson.

But that isn’t even really the big story of the week. Next up is probably the most gross and flagrant violation of common sense that I’ve seen in a long time. It is the story of a man named Jeffrey Wells, whose work can be found over at Hollywood Elsewhere, and his trip to the quaint little town of Oxford, Mississippi. And as was so expertly chronicled by our good friend Eric D. Snider, Mr. Wells was invited to Oxford by the programmers of the Oxford Film Festival, flown out and put up in a hotel at the fest’s expense all to have him sit on a panel discussing film criticism. But after having some allegedly epic WiFi problems in his hotel room, which was documented on Wells’ blog, Wells not only made a big stink to the festival runners, he also drained his own emotional bank account so much so that he just “blew off” the film critic panel the next morning.

Now, common sense tells us that if you are invited somewhere (all expenses paid) to participate in something like a panel discussion that you should actually attend said panel, no matter what your internet connection situation might be. And to be fair, I’ve been in that “no internet” situation at a film festival — and it sucks. It sucks a lot. But it doesn’t suck so much so that I would ditch my responsibilities and make public my childish antics on the pages of this website. There is always a Starbucks, a cafe or heaven forbid, the purchase of an Aircard to help ease the pain of finding good WiFi. I learned long ago that if you are going to succeed in the world of blogging about movies, you have to be resourceful above all things. Being clever with a turn of phrase comes in third, right behind “functional” knowledge of movie history.

But there is an even bigger lesson to be learned from this little debacle with Mr. Wells, whose work I have long read and respected. The lesson is to never forget. As someone who has the privilege and good fortune to be able to work in this industry full-time (my job is, I watch movies and stuff) I vow never to forget how fucking cool that is. And in turn, I should never forget that no matter what happens, there are so many people out there who have it worse than me. The jobless, the shit-shovelers and anyone working in the retail industry (which is where I worked before). I get to travel the country, watch movies and meet cool and interesting people (and celebrities, too). And there is nothing that could possibly happen in my day-to-day in the world of movie journalism that could possibly be so bad that I would erupt in such a ridiculous way.

And sure, there are annoyances sometimes — can’t find seats at Comic-Con, publicists not calling you back, everyone and their brother (inside the industry) labeling you “one of those bloggers” and treating you like a second-class citizen — but all of those are temporary. They are not that deep. We should never allow them to linger beyond a momentary annoyance. We should certainly never allow them to make it to the pages of our blog in a childish rant — because you guys and gals don’t really care about that stuff. And nine times out of ten, all we are going to accomplish is making ourselves look like big spoiled children who have forgotten about the Utopian state of our own employment. We watch movies for a living and get paid to share our opinions with the world. It isn’t that serious a thing in the grand scheme of things. So I’ve learned not to lose perspective on things, fair readers. Because in the end, anyone on this side of things should count themselves lucky to be doing what they are doing — not angry because their hotel room has wonky WiFi.

Rule #1: Don’t Drink and Argue on Camera

Rule #2: Don’t Be an Elitist Douchebag

I think we’ve learned a lot here, friends.

And now we return you to your regularly scheduled programming…

Editor’s Blog: Neil’s Gone, I’m In Charge

Dr. Cole Abaius — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 04:34:28 +0000

When asked to run Film School Rejects for a week, I immediately thought, “What’s in it for me?” because I’m self-centered. Actually, my first thought was, “Where’s my car?” because when Neil made the offer to me, I was wandering around the Costco parking lot like Lawrence of Arabia that time he misplaced his car in the desert. It turns out I parked in the Blue Zone. But with my second thought, Neil promised that I could do whatever I wanted with the site while he was away covering Sundance skiing in Park City, Utah. Ergo, you may have noticed that the site has been at least 4,500% better this week.

Besides bringing some much-needed class to the site, I’ve also decided to bring back the long-dormant Editor’s Blog feature and the often-under-appreciated use of hyphens.

For this installment of the Blog, I’d like to take a look at something that’s been puzzling me: the disparity between Award’s Season buzz and the general public’s knowledge of the films.

I was on local radio station 1440 KEYS in Corpus Christi, Texas for Joe Hilliard’s Weekend Magazine, talking about films and making a general ass of myself when he asked me a very important question. The question was essentially this, “Movies like The Wrestler, Slumdog Millionaire, and The Reader have gotten massive buzz for the Oscars – why haven’t audiences had a chance to see them?”

It’s an incredible question. As a film critic that is forced to see every film good or bad that comes out, I often forget that a lot of smaller markets, mid-sized markets, and markets that aren’t New York City and Los Angeles tend to hear (in this global internet-tastic world) the buzz about movies before they are actually released – if they get released at all.

This quirk has to do with the Academy’s simple rule for eligibility requiring that film’s only a) play theatrically in Los Angeles County for b) at least seven days in c) one of the accepted formats and d) is advertised in a customary fashion. Whatever a customary fashion is.

Basically, a film must only be seen in one city for a week in order to qualify.

This creates an interesting situation where indie films and movies otherwise more difficult to market to a larger release have a shot at winning the big award, but where a huge amount of the population hasn’t had a chance to see the movie that ends up winning.

So it’s a win for little films that could, but in a way, it’s a loss for the movie-going public. It furthers the gap between the critical elite and movie fans by setting up a scenario wherein the critics and the Academy members proclaim the best of the year to a giant swath of the populace that hasn’t even seen the films.

Shockingly, I have no solution for this. I’m not even sure it’s a problem, but it seems like a problem for people like my friend Joe, a huge movie fan who won’t get a chance to see The Wrestler until March when its press campaign uses its Oscar wins to sell the public on a wider release. However, any solution or change would make it even harder for indie films to be recognized for their brilliance.

So that’s it. My rambling thought for the week. Now, where’s my car?

Tropic Blunder: R-Rated Comedies and the New Offensive

Dr. Cole Abaius — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:10:06 +0000

A few years ago I found myself in one of those generic, convention-center chairs situated near the front of the grand hall at the Driskill Hotel in Austin. It was the kind of chair created solely to keep someone comfortable for exactly an hour, the kind that makes you want to leave the conference room as soon as a panel is over. The rest of the room was built with the same intent. The lights, too bright against the walls, kept the mood completely sterile. I imagined countless dentists, realtors and traveling salesmen sitting in the same seats, listening to whatever their bosses or the industry had sent them down to Austin to learn about.

That environment seemed perfect for them. It did not, however, seem perfect for me and several hundred other Austin Film Festival attendees listening to Michael Ian Black and Jake Kasdan talk about the return of the R-rated comedy. There was nothing funny about the discussion – there was a short history of the genre, a few attempts at dissecting the humor and some honest talk about where it was headed. Aside from a few quick non sequiturs from Michael Ian Black, the conversation could have been about the technical specs for a new root canal drilling instrument.

Two years later, Paramount is realizing that it shouldn’t go full retard.

It didn’t take a rocket surgeon to see that the rise of R-rated comedies would be followed by the parallel outrage of the communities who felt slighted in the process. After all, it’s impossible to make an R-rated omelet without cracking a few racist jokes. Or misogynistic jokes. Or religion jokes. Personally, I’ve weathered the slew of outraged protests and calls for boycotts with a roll of my eyes. For the most part, it’s been knee-jerk reactions clothed in a tone that seeks more pity than communal understanding. Now, on the edge of groups calling for a national boycott of Tropic Thunder because of its portrayal of the mentally handicapped and use of the word “retard,” I find myself having to rethink my positions a bit.

Here’s why.

Although there have been some outlandish reactions and demands, the argument that most are making seems solid. The question of whether the scenes and dialog in Tropic Thunder are offensive is up for debate. The fact that they have offended people, is not. Unfortunately, despite the differences, those people have been lumped into the same groups that always protest, no matter the cause. The main difference is that these groups – groups like The Arc and The Special Olympics – are raising their voice for a group of people that often cannot speak for itself. And while I think I could summarize the main concerns, it would be much easier to hear it directly.

“I am hearing the word ‘retard’ used more and more – on TV, in movies and by kids and young adults,” says Executive Director of The Arc of the Capital Area Susan Eason. “Certain words have a lot of power. . . I believe that, as a society, we have become much more sensitive about how other groups of people are portrayed, but people with disabilities seem to be fair game.”

Pretty simple. The root of the argument is that “retard” is an offensive slur which most who have cognitive disabilities and those with family members who do deem utterly unacceptable. Eason reiterated this point by saying that she’d “never spoken to anyone who works in the field or has a family member with a disability, who thinks calling someone a ‘retard’ is ever ok.”

I’ve said it before elsewhere, but the offended group gets to define what offends them, not the majority. When a black person tells me she’s offended by the word “nigger,” I accept it. When someone with a cognitive disability tells me he’s offended by the word “retard,” I accept it. No questions asked. What’s even more disappointing is that the same people who were shocked that I just used the word “nigger” (instead of the incredibly infantile “N-word”) probably didn’t bat an eye the five times I used the word “retard” previously in the article.

I’ll agree that some groups, including as reported by Patricia Bauer (who launched a lot of this discussion), are demanding too much of the film and too much of Paramount. That the company is in talks at all with these groups should be a breath of fresh air, but it’s a bit presumptuous to ask for all the scenes involved to be cut from the final print. It illustrates a misunderstanding of how the system works, but the reactions to Bauer’s response have been almost as absurd.

For the most part, the main argument including some from our very own Neil Miller and rage-a-holic Robert Fure has been that people just need to lighten up, man. The basis, if I can characterize their arguments as well as they’ve characterized their opposition, is that it’s just not cool, you know, for people to complain about anything. However, there have been a few decent arguments amongst the pile of of bad, reactionary ones.

The strongest argument seems to be that Stiller and company are making fun of actors, not the mentally disabled. Taken in context, the joke only uses the word “retard” as a vehicle for making a larger point about the lengths that actors will go to in order to tempt the Academy. The joke is on actors. Not on the mentally handicapped.

My Downey-esque response to that: can’t it be both? The two options are not mutually exclusive, and humor, when not focused well can hit multiple targets. I think while Stiller is obviously lampooning actors, anyone would be hard-pressed to claim that his cartoonish depiction of the mentally handicapped in Simple Jack doesn’t also land squarely on the butt of the joke. It seems reasonable to assume that many in the audience won’t be chortling and remarking in low tones about how charming the high-minded satire of the situation is – they’ll be laughing at how silly Stiller is being. More so, whenever a human being is reduced down to a flat image or single concept for the purpose of humor, it’s a safe bet that they are the punchline.

But the people in the audience will all be of age since the film is rated R. It’s not even an issue of the film influencing a younger crowd negatively, as some have pointed out.

Leaving aside the obvious point that younger people will sneak into the theater and have perfectly easy, context-free access to the clip where Stiller and Downey, Jr have their infamous dialog about “going full retard,” it seems as though the college crowd is certainly still susceptible to a certain type of influence. It’s inevitable that “You never go full retard” will enter into the culture as a meme, making its way to the front of t-shirts and in frat house conversations alike. It’s that inevitability that has cognitive disability advocates worried – the proliferation of a slur being hoisted so highly in the public mind while being made cool to say by two highly revered actors. Is this going to lead to World War III? No. But for a certain section of the population, it’s a disheartening reality to see a word they cringe at being thrown around without much consideration.

Branding the groups that are bringing this boycott to fruition as “whiny” profoundly misunderstands the issue. In fact, The Special Olympics is not without a sense of humor, giving its blessing to the film The Ringer during its production and after its release. It’s also not a case of freedom of speech – everyone’s speech is protected. Tropic Thunder is free to use the dialog. People are free not to see it. People are also free not to commercially support products made by Paramount in response. Until the Federal Government threatens to arrest people for making Tropic Thunder or for decrying is as offensive, freedom of speech doesn’t factor in. At all. Ever.

It’s also not a situation where claiming those that are offended can solve their own issue by simply not seeing the film. If it were personally offensive, that would be enough, but the complaint is such that the film’s content is offensive on a cultural level – that it helps in perpetuating and most likely increasing the use of a broad-based slur against a group of people.

So what happens now? What do people want to happen now? For Susan Eason, it’s straightforward.

“The civil rights movements in the sixties and seventies were, among other things, about awareness. It would be awesome if Paramount, and others in the business of making movies, would use this as a wake-up call.”

No death threats to studio executives. No outlandish demands to have most of the movie on the cutting room floor.

As long as there are slurs, there is going to be a question of how to use them in art. It’s not always going to be a comfortable conversation, but the conversation will evolve. If there is a silver lining to this situation, it’s that a discussion is taking place out in the open. Whether audiences agree or not, Paramount is learning a powerful lesson. They capitulated almost immediately on taking down the Simple Jack advertisements for the film, and are going to see the effect of this boycott. It might be strong. It might not. But it will be present.

The R-rated Comedy is still young in its revival, but it’s clearly entering it’s rebellious years. A while back, it was content to make low-brow sex and defecation jokes to get the soccer moms riled up. It was happy to point out the hypocrisies and absurdities of some religious doctrines. Now, it’s pushing its boundaries, and at least a certain part of the population is pushing back. This time, with good cause. If it doesn’t seem like a good cause or it seems unruly that they are taking offense to a piece of art – my suggestion is to either think more critically about the situation or lighten up.

Comic-Con 2008: Cue the Music, The Show’s Over…

Neil Miller — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 00:36:59 +0000

As you have probably already noticed, our coverage of Comic-Con 2008 in San Diego spilled over well into the following week. And now, a full 7 days removed from the heart of the event, we are finally bringing our coverage to a close. As it is with every event we do around here, it is a mixed bag of emotions. On one hand, by the end of the event we were all tired, worn down from long days and sleepless nights, transcribing interviews and trying to dig news out of sometimes extremely news-less press conferences. But we made it, all together. And for the most part — at least in my mind — we delivered some damn good coverage.

Yes, thanks to the hard work of Brian Gibson, Cole Abaius, Robert Fure, Rob Hunter, Kevin Carr and Cody Miller, otherwise known as our Comic-Con Attack Squad, I’d say we gave you what we set out to give you, some of the best damn Comic-Con coverage on the web. Seriously, these fine gentlemen worked their asses off to make Comic-Con 2008 our best event in the history of FSR. Then again, I’m a little biased. It’s my nature.

On the final night of the Con we headed out to dinner with the entire team in tact (with the exception of Rob Hunter, who had to leave earlier in the day). And as luck would have it, the person planning the operation picked a quaint little restaurant in downtown San Diego, a little steakhouse that didn’t seem like much of a challenge. So there we joined our friends from Slashfilm.com, FirstShowing.net, ScreenRant.com, GeeksofDoom.com and our own Kevin Kelly (who was covering the even for Spout.com) to have a nice meal. And as “the boss,” I was going to get stuck with the check.

The only problem was that after perusing the menu a bit, we decided that any establishment that sells $27 meat loaf that doesn’t even come with a side order of mashed potatoes must be out of their mind. So we ordered some appetizers (one single crab cake went for $15, but it was delicious), socialized with the good people of the movie blogosphere and headed out early. And in true Reject fashion, we stopped to pick up some pizza, some beer and some cigars on our way back to the hotel to get some work done. In the end, the Rejects conquered Comic-Con… We laid down the law in the land of the Geek. Or at least, we hope so. Either way we got some great pictures, including the following candid shots from our final victory dinner:

Brian Gibson and Kevin Carr

Kevin and the Robert Fure

Cole Abaius and Cody Miller

That’s me… Probably still working… Okay, maybe not…

A room full of movie geeks… A truly dangerous and altogether wonderful thing.

And finally, one last treat from our Comic-Con 2008 arsenal. This is a little video that the FSR team has been waiting for since we left San Diego. The following video is the gag reel from all of the footage that was shot. And just like any good B-movie, you won’t believe how it ends…

[See post to watch Flash video]

This video is also available on Daily Motion and YouTube. Feel free to spread the love.

Until next year, you stay classy, San Diego…

12 Things That Made Comic-Con 2008 Worth the Trip

Neil Miller — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:36:31 +0000

As you already know, the staff here at Film School Rejects had a damn good time at Comic-Con International last weekend in San Diego. We saw some cool footage, met throngs of great people, talked to some people who are some-bodies and we drank… a lot. And in order to bring our coverage to a close, I asked the attending staff to put together a list of the 12 things that made it all worth while. These 12 things made the lines, the painful crowds and the sometimes difficult world of being press at such an event worth it. So lets have a look and see what they had to say. Note: Each author’s name appears below the items that they wrote for this piece.

12. Learning Some Lessons about Twilighters

We learned that not all Twilighters are whiny little girls (and their boyfriends angling for handjobs) who attack anyone with an opinion that differs from their own. Some are intelligent, funny, and reasonable human beings (and a few are actually pretty damn cute too.) So thank you Natalie and the unnamed girl we met in Hall H on Thursday before the 20th Century Fox panel, and thank you two unnamed girls I met in line outside on the patio waiting for Joss Whedon on Friday. I still think Twilight (the movie) looks lame, but I won’t be generalizing the fanbase any longer. Well, I’ll try not to anyway… - Rob Hunter

11. Watching Other Journalists Embarrass Themselves

It seemed that this year, there were alot of rogue outlets that slipped through the cracks of the con. I had been using the fake domain “www.PuppiesandKittens.com” as an example all throughout the event to vent frustrations. There was a journalist who got too caught up in his own narcisistic sense of self importance to realize that he was mistaking one acrtress for another during an interview. There were several “legitimate journalists” who acted ignorant and belligerent throughout the Con, acting as if their press badge was indicative of some secret society membership. When you could stop laughing at their behavior and sneak a peak at their badge, you would find that they were reporting for PuppiesandKittens.com. When G4 can’t get access, neither can you… shut up and wait like everyone else. Normally something like this would bother me, but it was really funny to see how important other people make themselves out to be. - Brian Gibson

10. The RocknRolla Presentation

“While some panels at Comic-Con are full of actors and actresses smiling blindly and claiming they “just totally had to do” a certain movie and that it’s “just so, so awesome” with as much enthusiasm as toilet bowl cleaner, Guy Ritchie and the rest of the gang of RocknRolla – Jeremy Piven, Gerard Butler, Idris Elba, and Ludacris – seemed genuinely electric about the whole thing.” – as reported by Cole Abaius

9. A Photo Opportunity with Katie Morgan

After a panel on Zack and Miri Make a Porno, I suddenly found myself on the wrong side of the security door, sharing the same patio with the likes of Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, and Jason Mewes. A few other stars from different movies were also out, mulling around and sipping on what looked to be Coke, but no doubt probably had some rum in it. It was at this moment I realized I had an opportunity I would never have again. In that moment I had a chance to do what every red blooded fan longed to do. I ignored Apatow, Rogen, and the rest and cozied up to porn star Katie Morgan, slipped an arm around her and asked for a photo. Great success. - Robert Fure

8. Watching Alex Billington Get Ejected from Hall H

First off, who is this Alex Billington guy, anyway? I love Alex, and his site (His Bob Stencil coverage is priceless), but this is a case of press vs. fans. When there are almost 4,000 press badges given, versus the 100,000+ fans… you don’t want to go up against 25:1 odds. This is also a lesson in self humilty. Maybe only if Alex would have shown more love to Twilight, he wouldn’t have had to miss the Wolverine trailer. Alex, if you are reading… when the world cried out for more seats, you should have whispered… yes. (Editor’s Note: In Alex’s defense, he didn’t actually get ejected. You can see him talk about it over on Slashfilm…) - Brian Gibson

7. Interviewing the Cast and Producers of Friday the 13th

As a huge horror fan, I can’t really describe how awesome it was to talk to these guys. They were really fantastically nice and friendly, as well, and the producers knew my alma matar was well known for doing blow. For people who are out to make a Hard-R rated blood splatterfest, they’re really the nicest guys you know. Derek Mears is a complete gentlemen and didn’t even press charges when he found out I’m the guy trying to jump his security fence. - Robert Fure

6. Meeting Comic Legend Dave Gibbons

Despite my geek tendencies, I was only really excited about the Watchmen events. There were a lot of awesome things that took me by surprise, but meeting Dave Gibbons was still the best thing that happened during the week. Shaking the same hand that created one of the most influential novels of my life is definitely an experience I won’t forget. To think – just over 25 years ago, that same hand was drawing Rorschach – pretty incredible. And to top it all off, he was a really nice, bright guy. - Cole Abaius

5. The Awe Inspiring Size of the Con

he incredible feeling of being in awe. As an adult I don’t often find myself being impressed, surprised, or ‘wowed’ like I did when I was a kid. But Comic-Con is actually the closest thing I know to a fountain of youth, bringing all those feelings back on an almost daily basis. From the pleasant surprise of how incredible a certain movie looks (Terminator Salvation, Ninja Assassin)… to the nerdy joy of playing footsie with Simon Pegg beneath the interview table… to the awesome accomplishment of suggesting a potential DVD feature to the Pineapple Express gang and seeing them seriously consider it… to being alternately impressed and aroused by the creativity of some fans’ costumes… to the utterly surreal feeling of petting and playing with Ron ‘Hellboy’ Perlman’s dog (while someone else threatens to fuck it.) You can’t find these experiences anywhere else. - Rob Hunter

4. Meeting Fellow Geeks (and hot ladies) on the Show Floor

On the Comic-Con show floor it didn’t matter who you were, who you worked for, what you looked like, what you were dressed up as, what you could buy, everyone just came together to share the entire experience. It was like being surrounded by the largest group of geeks, but no one cared because they all knew they were in the same boat. Everyone got along, even the free hug gangs didn’t seem worn down on the last day. I think the Banana said it best, “We are all rejects.” Oh, and all the hot ladies of Comic-Con. - Cody Miller, Photographer

3. The Rejects, the Wrath of Con and other Camaraderie

For me, the guy who came away from the Con with no real swag to speak of and nothing but a bill to pay, I still found it all to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience. What makes it such a wonderful time, and the reason we keep coming back each year, is the people behind-the-scenes; all of those friends who run other websites that we got to hang with at the Wrath of Con party. And of course, having such a large chunk of the FSR team in one place, working together and having plenty of laughs was worth more than any collectible off the show floor. Needless to say, we all deserved those victory cigars on the last night. - Neil Miller

2. Watching the Watchmen

“Throughout these conversations it became clear that I wasn’t sitting down to talk to actors who had been hired for a job, but true “Watchmen” fans – whether they had even read the novel before signing on or not – who invested a huge amount of themselves into creating beautifully rounded, intensely human characters. After seeing the extended footage earlier, and hearing the way these actors approached this film – like a passion project that happened to be backed by millions of dollars – this fan is even more sold on how fantastic Watchmen is going to be.” - as reported by Cole Abaius

1. The Terminator Salvation Presentation

“… after the Hall H presentation forTerminator Salvation, the movie is looking incredible. Spirits weren’t high after McG was announced as director, with fans feeling the series was doomed to extinction in a cheese-fest of nuclear holocaust proportions. I was one of those fans, but now I’ve seen the light, or the McG in this case. The new footage looks slick, epic, and breathtaking, and the crowd absolutely loved it.” - as reported by Rob Hunter

For more of our coverage, check out our Comic-Con 2008 Homepage.

Comic-Con 2008: We Still Know People!

Neil Miller — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:18:03 +0000

Last year at Comic-Con we needed photos to prove that we were part of the in crowd. We displayed these photos in a feature that we called We Know People. This was our way of showing all of you who we met — you know, to back up all the stories we would tell later and to make you think that we were cool.

Now, you would think that all of that insecurity would go away after another year’s worth of working in the business they call show-business. It didn’t. So of course we are back this year with another round of We Know People. And this year, we went all out…

Brian caught up with Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg

… and accosted producer/director Judd Apatow (Nice Shirt, Judd)

… and Judd’s lovely wife, actress Leslie Mann

… and one of Judd’s favorite stars, Seth Rogen

Robert Fure and Brian with Katie Morgan (Not familiar with her work…)

Fure also got just as excited about John Cho and Kal Penn

Meanwhile, I partied with Ron Perlman (Note the idiots in the background — Rob Hunter to the left and Cole Abaius to the right.)

… and I had a few drinks with the ladies of Bitch Slap

Meanwhile, our photog Cody went in search of a date…

But was held up by a visit from Master Chief…

… and he had to battle some Spartan Warriors …

… but he went ultimately back to looking for the ladies

… including, but not limited to Wonder Woman

… and the last time we saw him, he was leaving with this one

And finally, Kevin Carr found his own date for the weekend…

For more of our coverage, visit our Comic-Con 2008 Homepage.

Meet FSR’s Comic-Con Attack Squad

Neil Miller — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:52:51 +0000

And so it has begun — the Film School Rejects team, normally scattered across the country (and the world) is assembling this very day in San Diego, California for Comic-Con International. Once a year we bring our highly skilled, hand-picked attack squad to the city named after a piece of a whale’s anatomy to bring you all of the goods from what is known as the Mecca of Geekdom.

And while this year’s Comic-Con has not even begun, we can already see that it is going to be just as exciting and grand as years past — which makes it all that much more fun to cover. And cover it, we shall. We will be bringing you all the happenings Live From Hall H, including first reports on films such as Watchmen, Frank Miller’s The Spirit and Fox’s Max Payne. We will also have some great exclusive interviews lined up, including chats with the stars of the upcoming Friday the 13th remake, the cast and crew of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans and maybe, just maybe, a little time with Paris Hilton to talk about her upcoming flick Repo! The Genetic Opera.

As well, we will have our video crew roaming the show floor, talking to fans and random leggy blonds in an attempt to create some comedy. Ultimately, if we entertain ourselves we will be just fine.

But before we get to all of that, it can’t hurt for all of you to get to know the Rejects who will be on the ground in San Diego. This should give you a good idea as to what we all will be looking out for at the Con. Even more importantly, this will give you some faces to look for, just in case you are going to be in attendance and you feel the need to stop us and say hello — or in the case of Kevin Carr, talk about Tijuana hookers. In order to get you up to speed, we’ve each filled out a little pre-Con questionnaire — a little “getting to know you” sort of thing. And as you will notice, this year’s theme has something to do with facial hair.

That said, lets do this thing:

Neil Miller

The Dude in Charge

How Many Comic-Con’s is this for you?

Two — in a row.

What are you looking forward to most this year?

Watchmen, The Spirit, Battlestar Galactica, the Starship Troopers 3 panel, kickin’ it old school with my Princess Leia outfit on and accosting Frank Miller at a party… again.

What is your area of expertise?

Keeping Brian Gibson out of trouble, making sure the site stays up-to-date, security detail for Cole Abaius during all Twilight-related events. Also, taking hot, C-list actresses back to my hotel room — to play Scrabble.

What is your beard type?

I like my beard like I like my women, smooth on the outside, party down the middle. (That doesn’t make any sense, does it?)

Brian Gibson

The Secret Weapon

How Many Comic-Con’s is this for you?

Second time.

What are you looking forward to most this year?

The collectibles that I will buy — a lot. Also, the Hasbro Transformers 2 panel, to see how close to naked Olivia Munn can get and Watchmen.

What is your area of expertise?

We are still figuring that out…

What is your beard type?

Chubby face-shield.

Kevin Carr

The Celebutant Stalker

How Many Comic-Con’s is this for you?

I’ve been to 3 Comic-Cons so far. This is my 4th.

What are you looking forward to most this year?

The Stargate: Continuum press event. They have a f–king flight simulator!

What is your area of expertise?

Sci-fi television and general fanboy movies. Also, the art of the inappropriate.

What is your beard type?

Evil Fu Man Chu.

Robert Fure

The Ladies Man

How Many Comic-Con’s is this for you?

Comic-Con Virgin.

What are you looking forward to most this year?

Hot nerd girls in skimpy costumes, Terminator: Salvation, Battlestar Galactica.

What is your area of expertise?

Horror, Rage, Comics

What is your beard type?

Stylish Scruff

Cole Abaius

The Intellectual

How Many Comic-Con’s is this for you?

First time.

What are you looking forward to most this year?

Ray Bradbury, Watchmen and Robert Fure dressed as Samus.

What is your area of expertise?

Sci-fi, egotism.

What is your beard type?

The Beard of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Rob Hunter

The Connoisseur

How Many Comic-Con’s is this for you?

Two.

What are you looking forward to most this year?

Kevin Smith, Joss Whedon, Max Payne, Clive Barker’s Midnight Meat Train and the Masters of the Web party.

What is your area of expertise?

Foreign films, horror, discerning quality cinema.

What is your beard type?

Inner-thigh approved.

Cody Miller

The Dude with the Camera

How Many Comic-Con’s is this for you?

First time.

What are you looking forward to most this year?

Kevin Smith and seeing Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder.

What is your area of expertise?

Snappin’ pics, paparazzi style.

What is your beard type?

Patchy and undefined. A.k.a Wannabe Amish.

Stay tuned all this week as we bring you coverage from Comic-Con International. Not only will we be roaming the floor in search of love, but we will have the latest news Live from Hall H, great interviews with some of Hollywood’s hottest stars and random convention shenanigans, courtesy of our Comic-Con Attack Squad! To keep tabs on all of the happenings, just head over to our Comic-Con 2008 Homepage.

Introducing FSR’s Guide to The Dark Knight

Neil Miller — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:23:52 +0000

First we brought you all of the goods on Indiana Jones at the beginning of the summer, then we introduced you to a familiar face with The Incredible Hulk, and we even brought you into the world of espionage with Secret Agent Week. And this week we continue our romp through Summer Movie Season 2008 by introducing our biggest, most epic feature yet: our Official Guide to The Dark Knight.

Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale are back, hot off the success of 2005’s franchise reboot Batman Begins to bring us back to Gotham City. In a new Batman-led era, violent crime has broken out in the streets of Gotham, courtesy of The Joker, played by Heath Ledger. With his penchant for violence and his unapologetic committment to pure anarchy, The Joker might just be the greatest threat that Gotham has ever seen.

It is a film that critics across the country have already called “epic” and “unlike anything you will see this year,” so why shouldn’t we spend some time on it. By clicking the banner above or the one below, you will be taken to our official homepage for The Dark Knight. There you will find articles chronicling the history of Batman, both on-screen and in comics. As well, we will have reports all week from The Dark Knight press junket, including interviews with the cast and filmmakers as well as behind-the-scenes features that you won’t want to find anywhere else.

But enough talk, it is time to get ready for The Dark Knight!

And here… we… go…

Reader Call to Action: Tell Us How You Feel About FSR

Neil Miller — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 13:00:24 +0000

Normally I use the Editor’s Blog column to wax poetic (or not so poetic in most cases) about what is going through my mind every single week — the politics of online movie journalism, my love for “Battlestar Galactica” and whatever else has been keeping me from writing other, more interesting articles about the world of film. But as we reach the midpoint of 2008, I think it is time to take a look back at some of the changes we’ve made here at Film School Rejects and gather some opinions from you, the readers, as to where we still need to go.

On January 1, we launched our new design, which seems to have been received well — at least, as far as I know. Since then, we have continued to make changes in the way we deliver content in order to keep things interesting and attempt to set ourselves apart from other movie websites. We’ve added some great columns, brought some great new talent onto our team and continued to deliver more interesting news stories. At least, this is theoretical world in which we live — a fact that has led me to this article. The truth is that in order for us to grow as much in the next 6 months as we did in the previous 6, we are going to need some feedback from all of you.

That said, I have some questions for our faithful readers. Please feel free to drop your answers, as well as any other suggestions, comments or feedback that you may have in the Sound Off section below:

1. What is the one thing about Film School Rejects that keeps you coming back for more?

2. If you could change one thing about Film School Rejects, what would it be?

3. What would you like to see more of from FSR? Less of?

Thank you in advance for all your feedback. As always, please don’t ever hesitate to drop us a line if you have have something to say. Just send an email over to editors@filmschoolrejects.com.

And just as a heads up, keep an eye out for a few kick-ass features that we will be unleashing in the month of July:

On July 13th we will begin our Official Guide to Batman in preparation for the release of The Dark Knight. This will include a look back at the origins of Batman in comics, film and pop culture as well as an exclusive preview of The Dark Knight.

Later this week we will be launching our official Live at Comic-Con 2008 homepage, which will serve as the official spot for our extensive coverage of Comic-Con International, which will take place from July 23 to July 27 in San Diego.

Kevin Smith Drops a New Porno Image, Talks Dark Knight

Neil Miller — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:10:41 +0000

Talk about a surreal 24-hour stretch — I awoke this morning still trying to process the unbelievably epic nature of The Dark Knight, which I had a chance to see last evening. And while I am not ready to put together a full review, both because Warner Bros. probably doesn’t want me to do so and because I have not yet found the words to describe what I saw, I will say this: The Dark Knight is unlike any film you will see this year, and perhaps this decade.

Moving on, it was also very surreal to wake up to see that director Kevin Smith, who we all know and love, had updated his Personal Blog with a brand new image from his upcoming film Zack and Miri Make a Porno, which hits theaters on October 31. The photo shows the supporting cast, including Tracey Lords, Jeff Anderson, Craig Robinson and Jason Mewes looking intently at something off-screen. We can only imagine what sort of depraved shenanigans are happening to the left of this picture.

As well, Kevin also blogged a bit about his experience seeing The Dark Knight last night with Slashfilm’s Peter Sciretta. How cool is that? The even cooler part was that I too, was there, hanging with Pete, Alex from First Showing and Mr. Smith himself. I cannot begin to describe how cool it was to not only see The Dark Knight, but to do so sitting next to one of my all-time favorite filmmakers — that folks, is a surreal experience. We also got a chance to hang out after the flick, chatting about the awesome experience had by all. In his blog entry, Kevin had this to say about the film:

Without giving anything away, this is an epic film (and trust me: based on the sheer size and scope of the visuals and storytelling, that’s not an overstatement). It’s the “Godfather II” of comic book films and three times more earnest than “Batman Begins” (and fuck, was that an earnest film). Easily the most adult comic book film ever made. Heath Ledger didn’t so much give a performance as he disappeared completely into the role; I know I’m not the first to suggest this, but he’ll likely get at least an Oscar nod (if not the win) for Best Supporting Actor. Fucking flick’s nearly three hours long and only leaves you wanting more (in a great way). I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed by it. Nolan and crew have created something close to a masterpiece.

I could not have, nor will I probably be able to say it better than that. As I have found time and time again in this business, there are some people who are genuinely cool people to be around, and Kevin Smith is certainly one of them. I cannot begin to describe the relaxed, fanboyish conversation that took place outside of the screening last evening — it was just a small group of geeks in awe. It was also very funny that even on a night when I got a chance to meet one of my idols, Christopher Nolan and his film still stole the show — now that is saying something.

It goes without saying that you should be pumped for The Dark Knight. As well, you should also be pumped for Zack and Miri Make a Porno — because that film looks like it is going to be pretty damn good in its own right.

James Bond Would Have Wanted an iPhone 3G

Neil Miller — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:19:39 +0000

Those of you who read Film School Rejects on a regular basis may have noticed that we have begun doing more and more weekly features, everything from our Official Guide to Indiana Jones to our Kung Fu Preview to last week’s very special Guide to The Hulk, which hopefully helped you get in gear and see Universal’s The Incredible Hulk. And based on the feedback that you’ve given us through emails, the comment section and by participating in the discussions and polls, you have been telling us that you would like to see these sorts of features continue. And we are happy to oblige, as we have found these features to be a lot of fun.

As we roll through the summer you will continue to see more and more special features, including Animation Week next week in anticipation of the Pixar release WALL-E and FSR’s Official Guide to Batman in the week leading up to The Dark Knight. But before we get to those, we have a very special treat for all the fans of the spy genre out there: Secret Agent Week. Yes, we are dedicating an entire week of feature articles to our favorite sneaky spies and sexy femme fatales, everyone from James Bond to Jason Bourne to Austin Powers.

And in addition to taking a look at all of our old favorites, we will also be giving you our official preview of the upcoming film Get Smart, starring Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway and Dwayne Johnson. We will have some cool articles that take you deep into the production, tons of images and video and a special report from the Los Angeles press day that includes a special one-on-one chat with director Peter Segal. So stay tuned to our Secret Agent Week page as the week goes on, as I am sure that you will love what we have planned for you.

The whole Secret Agent Week thing, along with the announcement of the new iPhone 3G last week at the Apple WWDC in San Francisco did get me thinking, however, about super secret agent gadgets. No matter the secret agent, no matter the story, these resourceful folks always seem to find a way to come out on top, sometimes by using only using the things they have around them. As well, not every great secret agent has a gadget-maker like Q making all sorts of sweet custom gadgets to help them with their missions. Sometimes they must used real-world items or even better, go MacGyver and make stuff themselves.

That got me thinking — the new iPhone 3G (and the previous iPhone for that matter) would probably be a good choice for any real world super spy, wouldn’t it? Solid built-in camera for doing recon, GPS for helping track their worldwide position and a host of other useful features. In fact, I am sure that there are all kinds of real world consumer devices that could be useful, should you decide to go off and become a Secret Agent. Therefore, I think that will be our Sunday topic of discussion:

What real world consumer products do you think would be useful if you were a secret agent? What would you take with you as you went out into the world to thwart (or perpetrate) evil?

Film School Rejects » Editors Blog

Editor’s Note: A New Day, A New Comment System

Related Reading:

Editor’s Blog: New Features! Twilight Fans! Date Rape!

The News

The Fad

The Ugly

Related Reading:

Why Variety is Wrong (and Right) About Film Blogs

Related Reading:

Editor’s Blog: On the Road Again…

Related Reading:

Editor’s Blog: Lessons in Critical Douchebaggery

Related Reading:

Editor’s Blog: Neil’s Gone, I’m In Charge

Related Reading:

Tropic Blunder: R-Rated Comedies and the New Offensive

Related Reading:

Comic-Con 2008: Cue the Music, The Show’s Over…

Related Reading:

12 Things That Made Comic-Con 2008 Worth the Trip

Related Reading:

Comic-Con 2008: We Still Know People!

Related Reading:

Meet FSR’s Comic-Con Attack Squad

Neil Miller

Brian Gibson

Kevin Carr

Robert Fure

Cole Abaius

Rob Hunter

Cody Miller

Related Reading:

Introducing FSR’s Guide to The Dark Knight

Related Reading:

Reader Call to Action: Tell Us How You Feel About FSR

Related Reading:

Kevin Smith Drops a New Porno Image, Talks Dark Knight

Related Reading:

James Bond Would Have Wanted an iPhone 3G

Related Reading: