What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly movie news column that would like to be the first to welcome you to Earf… We begin tonight with news that will make all 4 of you die hard Roland Emmerich fans out there: Fox is looking to make two Independence Day sequels, with or without Will Smith. It feels like an outlandish rumor, but it wouldn’t surprise anyone if it really came to fruition. Either way, we’ll all probably watch them, right?

Back in 1996, a little movie about Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum saving the world from aliens was a gigantic success. It was called Independence Day, it showed the White House getting blown up, and it raked in about $800m in worldwide sales. I don’t have any numbers in front of me to prove this next statement, but let me shuffle some papers around on my desk to pretend like I have them somewhere and then just say it: Independence Day is one of the biggest box office successes of the last 20 years to not get a sequel. In a society where everyone is always asking for more, it’s crazy that we’ve only seen Smith punch an alien once. And that’s not just me talking, Fox thinks it’s crazy too. That’s why, since back in 2009, they’ve been doing everything they can to get back-to-back Independence Day sequels off the ground. The holdup has been money issues. First, director Roland Emmerich wanted an undisclosed, but very hefty sum of money to come back and blow up some more famous landmarks. And then star Will Smith was reportedly asking for $50mto come on board the lengthy shoot. Spending that much money just to get two men attached to a project would be pretty asinine, so things had stalled out on the Independence Day sequels front, until very recently. Vulture is reporting that an inside source has let them know that the finishing touches are being put on the scripts for [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

When Zoolander came out on September 28, 2001, the production had digitally removed The World Trade Center’s Twin Towers from the New York City skyline in an effort to avoid displaying a devastating image in the middle of a comedy about the world of fashion. If they’d have left it in, it wouldn’t have been the first time the buildings had been featured on film or television. Since they didn’t, it marks the first time the buildings were ever erased. With the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 coming this Sunday, it’s impossible not to be consumed a bit by the gravity of an action that killed so many and lowered a different world view onto all of us. Landon and I talked on Reject Radio regarding the effect that the day had on movies and movie-watchers, but that mostly dealt with the last decade – the world that came after that morning. As a counterpart, here’s a simply-edited montage of the past. Dan Meth has built a view to the movies where the Twin Towers either stood proudly in the background, made prominent appearances in the front of the action, or acted as the set. It’s stirring in its matter-of-factness, and it’s more than a little moving, but it’s ultimately a celebration of a symbol that no longer (physically) exists. Check it out for yourself:

A genre nearly as old as filmmaking itself, the western thrived throughout the years of the studio system but has zigzagged across rough terrain for the past forty or so years. For the last fifteen-ish years, the struggling, commercially unfriendly genre was either manifested in a neoclassical nostalgic form limited in potential mass appeal (Appaloosa, Open Range) or in reimagined approaches that ran the gamut between contrived pap and inspired deconstructions (anything from Wild Wild West to The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford). But last December, True Grit – a bona fide western remake that relied on the opportunities available in the genre’s conventions rather than bells, whistles, or ironic tongues in their respective cheeks – became a smash hit. Did this film reinvigorate a genre that was on life support, as the supposed revitalization of the musical is thought to have done a decade ago, or are westerns surviving by moving along a different route altogether? Three westerns released so far this year – Gore Verbinski’s Rango, Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff, and, as of this weekend, Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens – suggest mixed directions for the dusty ol’ genre.

Science Fiction has seen somewhat of a resurgence these past few years, bringing dozens of different aliens to Earth’s surface via cinema screens. Tom Cruise battled aliens in War of the Worlds, aliens broke down in South Africa over District 9, and more recently Transformers waged war on our planet, Los Angeles was invaded, and a subterranean alien was interrogated in a small town, only to escape. No matter what year it happened, one thing is clear: when aliens come in peace, all is well. When they don’t, well, they’re the ones in for an ass whooping. Not that it makes much sense, considering alien species that manage to make it to Earth are often technologically advanced, super strong, intelligent, and sporting a massive boner for our resources, not to mention laser guns. Despite all of this, when have aliens ever managed a successful takeover? Not only that – when have aliens ever managed to not look like completely retarded asshats, who pretty much design their own downfall as if they were Death Star engineers?

Why Watch? Because Dr. Seuss wants to tell you how to behave now that the war is over. Dr. Seuss and Frank Capra teamed up for this educational film shown to military personnel stationed in Germany after the war was won. As they point out, it’s a delicate peace. There can be a comedic quality to the way this film is presented (especially in light of its treatment of German history), but it’s also important to see this in the context of when and why it was created. It was a film specifically meant to keep its audience on its guard long after they finished watching it. It was also a serious flick made by two men with strong senses of humor. Sadly, unlike Seuss’s other work, none of it rhymes. What does it cost? Just 12 minutes of your time. Check out Your Job in Germany for yourself:

Welcome back to Junkfood Cinema; we will not go quietly into the night. You are about to read one of the worst internet columns in the history of mankind. No longer consumed by our petty need for legitimately good films, we here at Junkfood Cinema are united by our common interest in the utterly schlocky. First we will examine how the chosen film has earned its freedom from the tyranny of nuance and the oppression of critical measures of quality. We will then triumphantly raise our voices to proclaim what it is about the film that allows it to survive total annihilation and win not only the day, but our hearts as well. Finally, we will pair the film with an appropriately themed snack food item in order to prove that our waistlines will not vanish without a fight. Today we celebrate Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day!

Like many of my fellow Americans, on July 4th I succumbed to the obvious film choice and reinvested my time into Independence Day, which luckily never spawned a successful franchise – after all, what do you call the fourth movie when you called the first ID4? Now, back in 1996 this movie was awesome. In 2009, not so much. But in 2010, under just the right circumstances, I found it enjoyable once more. Save for one thing – the alien technology. Or, more accurately, the way it was designed.

This weekend while vampires, werewolves and martial artists invade the multiplex, the whole country will be celebrating Independence Day. And one of the big traditions on the Fourth of July is to drink copious amounts of alcohol. So while the teenage girls are overrunning the theaters, why not rent a patriotic movie – like a good old fashioned war movie – and celebrate our independence in style.

From where I’m sitting, this internet meme of throwing together the same quote one hundred times in a single clip began with Sawyer (Josh Holloway) from Lost and his catch-phrase, “son of a bitch.” Now it’s branching out into cross-platform, cross-property clip mashing for phrases that permeate entire genres.

This week, on a very special episode of Reject Radio, we avoid getting hit by a volcano. By. That. Much.

Instead of plugging in other disaster movies into the formula, Roland Emmerich is finally being blunt about his desperate need to make more ID4.

Does it matter that Transformers 2 is probably this summer’s worst movie? Sadly, no. It’s little more than crassly commercialized cinematic excess, but still some viewers and reviewers have latched blindly on to Bay’s teats as if they expect awesome-flavored milk to start splashing against their tongue. And yes, I am talking about all of FSR’s head honchos…

That is a bold assertion, but you know what they say about assertions – shut up and watch things go BOOM. Now with video!

We know that the Election Night coverage can be a bit monotonous, but while you’re waiting for the results to trickle down, you might as well watch a couple movies.

Even though celebrating Independence Day excites us more than Christmas, we get even more excited when we watch films that remind us of the land that we love.