The powers that be at Film School Rejects were wise enough to include Rian Johnson‘s sci-fi pic Looper as one of our Most Anticipated Films of 2012, and it’s certainly in my top 3 for the year as well. Sadly, the film is still far off and we’ve only gotten a few behind-the-scenes pics (via Looper‘s Twitter feed) and an official shot showcasing Bruce Willis doing what he does best. Now we have gotten another behind-the-scenes picture which may give you a better idea of what to expect. Johnson released this pretty damn cool shot of the film’s time travel machine, and it looks like a down and dirty time machine, a.k.a. it’s not shiny and all that stuff.

Since we all have a million dollars, our minds are almost always tuned to the day dream of what kind of movie we’d make with all that loose cash just lying around (since banks do nothing but lose things). Would it be a romantic horror film? Would it be a silent action film? Would we blow of all of it on lighting and forget the other elements of production design? Probably. Fortunately, we’ve all had a few filmmakers tread before us in using their million bucks with efficiency and artistry. In a world where Michael Bay needs 200 suitcases full of $1m, these directors made it happen with only one of those suitcases (or no suitcases at all), and they created a lasting legacy despite their lack of foldin’ money. If they can do it, why not us? Here are 8 great films made for under a million dollars that we can all learn from. (And if you enter our contest sponsored by Doritos, you might actually win that $1m you need for all those lights.)

By now, you should all know that Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Brick, 500 Days of Summer, The Lookout) is awesome. So it’s double awesome news that he’s in negotiations to star in TWO action thrillers!

Charles Carter is investigated in the death of President Warren Harding, duels with his nemesis Mysterioso, falls in love, out of love, in love again, and manages to escape life’s harshest dangers even when they have him bound in a straight jacket and thrown into the river.

Just over 3,000 films were released in the past ten years. Instead of sleeping, Neil and Cole (with the help of a supercomputer) whittle that list down to the best 1%.

Though they very seldom win awards, the best teen movies usually compel repeat viewings and somehow seem to intuit the needs and tastes of generations to come. Here are 15 of the decade’s most memorable explorations of all the intrinsic charms and traumas of teendom.

Film School Rejects chats with ‘The Brothers Bloom’ director about his love for con man stories, his unique stylistic vision and working with a cast full of famous people, on a big scale, in Eastern Europe.

If there is one up and coming director that we are watching closely, it is Rian Johnson. And if there is one sci-fi flick we are now looking forward to, it is Looper.

Brick director to try sci-fi with his third film, Looper. I need to change now.

I have no idea how I missed it, but over the weekend Summit Entertainment released the first trailer for director Rian Johnson’s The Brothers Bloom.

Release Date: August 8, 2006 I have been on the Brick bandwagon for months now; and ever since seeing it at the Columbus alive Deep Focus Film Festival in May I have been absolutely engrossed in the astounding brilliance of this film. It is so hard these days to find films that are so original, so daring and so faithful to a genre. Rian Johnson’s modern day high school crime drama dashed in a world that noir built sets the stage for a story that keeps us guessing as much as it pins our asses to our seats. As with classic noir, the film sets its main character, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, in a cynical world, trapped in the midst of turmoil and mystery. Levitt’s Brendon is a loner, a self inflicted reject of the mass populous of his high school, but he loves Emily (Emilie De Raven). And when Emily turns up dead, Brendon buries himself in the underground world of drugs and corruption that claimed the life of his sweetheart.