In May 2011, the Alamo Drafthouse hosted “Day of the Apes,” an epic 8-hour marathon of all five Planet of the Apes films on 35mm. Above all other things, this should be celebrated as one fine event. Every single Apes film in glorious 35mm? What could possibly improve such a situation? How about a brilliant set of posters from some of Mondo’s sinister cabal of artists, the likes of Ken Taylor, Martin Ansin, Phantom City Creative and Jason Edmiston. In an unprecedented exclusive that spans across four of the web’s most popular film blogs (and also Film School Rejects), the poster set, created to commemorate the event, is finally unveiled to the public with each film tackled by a different artist.

With my review and claim that Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a near-masterpiece, I don’t believe it’s possible to get more hyperbolic about this film. Perhaps my fourth viewing, which will inevitably take place soon, could make that happen. Why such grand enthusiasm for a slow-burn “thriller” that’s splitting plenty of folks? Well, go see for yourself. Thankfully for you lot, director Tomas Alfredson‘s film is expanding into 800 theaters today. To further urge you wise readers to go see the film, Focus Features was kind enough to give us these exclusive behind-the-scenes shots of Alfredson shooting the breeze and working with Gary Oldman and John Hurt on set. They’re black and white, meaning they’re all prestigious and such.

Director Tony Kaye‘s debut was 1998′s stunning tour de force, American History X. The film stars Edward Norton as a recovering skinhead trying to set things right in the present while remembering his misdeeds of the past, and if you haven’t seen it I can’t recommend enough that you stop reading and seek it out immediately. It’s an incredibly affecting film anchored by a tremendous performance from Norton. Sadly, Edward Furlong also stars. Kaye and Norton had a very public falling out during the film’s post-production, and the director seemingly vanished into thin air in the decade-plus since. Except he’s actually been making films at a steady pace. You just most likely haven’t seen them. Now thirteen years after reportedly trying to remove his name from American History X (and replace it with Humpty Dumpty) Kaye’s latest film looks to return him to the limelight. The critically acclaimed indie Detachment stars Adrien Brody as a man who chooses to avoid personal connections as the ones he was born with begin slipping away. A dead mother, a father falling into dementia…he avoids intimacy to avoid the pain, until his latest teaching assignment finds him forming an unexpected bond. Check out the clip below, and head over to the film’s official site for more info.

This month, the folks at Titan Books have released a book that cult film fans will be dying for, right in time for you to add it to your Christmas shopping list and satisfy the most hardcore of your movie loving loved ones. It’s called “The Hammer Vault,” promising treasures from the archives of Hammer Films, Britain’s most famous film studio and the keepers of many great cult films. We’ll have more about the book and author Marcus Hearn in an upcoming features. But for now, we’d like to present some exclusive art from the book, some of which is a little NSFW (that means it has bare breasts in it).

“For over 20 years, Jimmy Testagross has lived his childhood dream: being a roadie for his childhood heroes, Blue Oyster Cult. But the band’s Arena-Rock glory days are a distant memory. County fairs and club gigs pay the bills. And Jimmy has become a casualty of these leaner times. With no place to go, no job prospects, and no real skills outside of being a roadie, Jimmy needs to regroup. So he returns to his childhood home in Queens, NY. There, he revisits old relationships: his ailing, widower mom, a high school crush, a former nemesis and, most importantly, his relationship with himself.” I’m not sure about all of you, but they had me at Blue Oyster Cult. Super 8‘s Ron Eldard stars in Roadie as Jimmy, a middle-aged man child, who is featured in this exclusive clip we’ve received. Of course, this clip also involves Bobby Cannavale and Jill Hennessy.

Sure, Film School Rejects is an international publication. But as far as the IRS is concerned, we’re a resident of the great city of Austin, Texas. And as residents of Austin, we’re required to celebrate all that is weird. It’s just part of the cost of living here. It helps that much of our staff is already into the strangest that cinema can provide, from the depths of the horror genre to oddities from around the world. As a general rule, we love a good midnight movie. Chillerama is said to be the “ultimate midnight movie,” at least according to its Blu-ray packaging. This genre anthology features films from the likes of Adam Green, Joe Lynch, Adam Rifkin and Tim Sullivan bringing you titles like Wadzilla, I Was A Teenage Werebear, The Diary of Anne Frankenstein, and Zom-B-Movie. It’s quite a treat for anyone with a little moviegoing courage. And to celebrate its DVD and Blu-ray release today, we’ve rounded up an exclusive behind the scenes clip in which star Sean Paul Lockhart explains what its like to be a Teenage Werebear, struggling with animalistic urges, suggen hair growth and his own sexuality.

Sure, what we’re about to show you is a 30-second commercial for The Descendants, the George Clooney led indie comedy that’s beginning to spark up some Oscar buzz. And sure, it will likely be preceded by a 15-30 second advertisement, courtesy of our advertising company and our robust hosting bill. But isn’t it nice, just knowing that you, the reader of Film School Rejects, are seeing something that people who read /Film aren’t seeing… like a commercial with a big pull-quote from Peter Sciretta at /Film? It’s the must-see TV spot of the night, especially if you’re into things that involve George Clooney.

Take a moment to think about Santa Claus. Chances are that you’re thinking of a jolly, fat white dude with a big beard and red tights, being hauled around by 12 overworked, miraculous reindeer, hurling through the night from house to house to deliver magical consumerism to the masses. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Unless you are Finnish filmmaker Jalmari Helander. His idea for Santa, steeped in some folklore, is far more dangerous, violent and worth burying underneath a mountain if you have such resources. It was a vision come to life in his film Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, perhaps one of the most brilliant yuletide ho-ho-horror movies since the original St. Nick was putting coins in the shoes of unsuspecting children. And if that description wasn’t enough, we’ve also got some exclusive original artwork created for the film. I’ve included it as large as our layout will allow, so as to maximize the creep factor.

We have to hand it to the folks at Indominia — for a newish on the scene distro, they are picking a wicked slate of titles. So much of what we’ve seen from them has been interesting. That, and we’ll support anyone who imports as much international cinema as they do. The Pack, which hits VOD today (9/27), is right along those lines. It’s a French horror film about a gal named Charlotte, who picks up a hitchhiker on a road trip she’s taking alone. As 100+ years of cinema have taught us, this is a bad idea. When we meet Charlotte in this clip, she’s been captured by a woman named La Spack, played by the always excellent Yolande Moreau. This hard-nosed old dame is the leader of a mysterious pack and they’ve got plans for young Charlotte. We’ll let you watch the clip from this Franck Richard directed film and you’ll see what’s in store for her.

It’s not often that two tough guys like Jason Statham and Paddy Considine share their feelings, but it does happen. And while we don’t know much about Blitz, a new direct-to-DVD actioner starring the pair, we do know that some feelings will be shared in between rounds of ass-kicking. In fact, we’ve got an exclusive clip to debut for you that proves said assertion. Don’t worry though, the trailer for this film also indicates that many a mean person has their face kicked in by a big ole’ Statham boot, so it’s not all therapy sessions.

As you saw earlier this week in my This Week in Blu-ray entry, I very much recommend you see Exporting Raymond, the documentary about Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal’s journey to Russia with hopes of translating the hit sitcom into an equally successful Russian show. It’s a charming and strange journey, and even the deleted scenes are funny. Like this one, which we have the pleasure of debuting exclusively. It involves Phil meeting the pair of twins who will play the kids on the Russian Raymond show, both of whom have a penchant for eating things that aren’t really food.

Since it’s Friday and we’re not expecting a rambunctious news wire, we’re happy to focus on other things that might be of interest to our astute readers. Such as Alex Gibney and Allison Ellwood’s Magic Trip, a documentary about One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest author Ken Kesey and his wondrous, drug-fueled trip in 1964. Check out the clip for yourself after the jump and decide if you’d like to go on this fantastical journey. You probably will.

One of my own personal areas of expertise, beyond being a guy who writes about movies for a living, is being chubby. I’ve been pretty chubby since I was in the 4th grade and lets face it, movies generally get it right when it comes to the plight of the fat kid. He’s got it rough. So I can’t imagine not somehow connecting to Azazel Jacobs’ new film Terri, one of Sundance 2011′s breakout hits. It follows the odd bromance between a vice principle (John C. Reilly) and an overweight 15-year old (Jacob Wysocki) as they both try to navigate the horrors of high school. The film drops into theaters in limited release on July 1, and today we’ve got for you an exclusive gallery of photos.

James Franco has been a busy guy lately, hosting the Oscars and getting involved in just about every high-profile project in development. But did you know that he also does direct-to-DVD psycho-thrillers? I didn’t, either. But apparently he does. In Shadows & Lies, Franco plays William Vincent, a quiet and mysterious criminal. When he falls for a New York gangster’s (Josh Lucas) favorite call girl (Julianne Nicholson), Vincent is forced to flee the city, threatened with death if he should ever return. But after four years in exile, Vincent secretly returns intent on rescuing the woman he loves from her dangerous fate. In this clip, which we are pleased to present exclusively, we see the moment when the quiet criminal, having just stolen a wallet, meets gangster Josh Lucas in a chance encounter. I suspect it won’t be the last time.

One of our favorite things to do is bring a potentially under-the-radar film to the attention of our audience. We spend so much time whining about the big-budget follies of Hollywood, that sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of smaller, more interesting fair. With that, we’re proud to present the exclusive poster debut for Point Blank, from director Fred Cavayé (writer of The Next Three Days). It’s a runaway thriller about Samuel (Gilles Lellouche), a hospital employee whose pregnant wife (Elena Anaya) is kidnapped before his very eyes. Knocked unconscious, he comes to and discovers that a dangerous criminal named Sartet (Roschdy Zem) is responsible, and if he’s ever to see his wife again, he must do Sartet’s bidding. Samuel quickly finds himself pitted against rival gangsters and trigger-happy police in a deadly race to save the lives of his wife and unborn child.