With a ton of classic films and an Oscar under his belt, producer Walter Mirisch joins us to talk about The Great Escape, Steve McQueen and the key to producing great movies.  Plus, with so much news landing, Geoff and I offer opinionated insight and some insightful opinions on Ray Harryhausen, the future of a potential Downey-less Marvel, a delayed Jurassic Park IV, and the best trailers of the week. For more from us on a daily basis, follow the show (@brokenprojector), Geoff (@drgmlatulippe) and Scott (@scottmbeggs) on the Twitter. And, as always, we welcome your feedback. Download Episode #18 Directly Or subscribe Through iTunes

Welcome to another edition of the Reject Recap, where we highlight the past week’s best news and original features from this very movie site and others around the web. It really wasn’t a huge week for stories out of Hollywood and the rest of the industry. Some of the biggest things involved sci-fi movie casting and trailers and the reminder of a remake nobody sees as necessary. In addition to the ten posts curated for your attention, we also share two goofy mash-up videos for your enjoyment this weekend. Start your weekend right after the jump.

Tonight in Movie News After Dark, we’ve got actionable items of to-do-ness for you. From learning about Neill Blomkamp’s latest to watching Marc Webb show off his Spidey-sets to remembering KFBR392, we’ve got a big list of things that every movie lover should be doing this evening. Lets get started.

As you may already know, Jurassic Park returns to theaters today in gloriously revamped 3D. It’s also not news that JP is one of the significant movies of my lifetime. Ten at the time of its release, my eyes opened wider and my imagination traveled further following a viewing of Steven Spielberg’s dinosaurs on the big screen. One could say that its release was a turning point in my life, one that has led us all here. To you reading Movie News After Dark, a nightly movie news column that tonight dedicates itself to one thing: Welcome to the Jurassic Park Edition.

While it’s easy enough to knock films that get a post-production 3D-conversion (err, sorry, G.I. Joe: Retaliation), this week’s Jurassic Park 3D is a true exception to the rule. The difference? Well, starting out with a solidly entertaining crowd-pleaser from Steven Spielberg sure doesn’t hurt. Turns out, Jurassic Park in 3D is still one hell of a ride, and that extra dimension is exactly what it should be – a nice bonus, but not essential to audience enjoyment. Are you ready to journey back to Isla Nubar, now with bonus raptor-popping? You should be. After the break, we eschew the standard review format to talk about Jurassic Park 3D (because, well, this movie came out twenty years ago) and give you eleven big reasons why you should shell out your hard-earned movie-going dollars to see the movie this weekend. Really, spare no expense on this one. Take the kids. Find the most giant screen you can. Get the big popcorn, too – all the better to jump out of your hands when a huge raptor leaps from the screen right into your face.

You’re going to need some foam core, a few Jeeps and some black-tinted KY jelly. Such is the glamour of the filmmaking business. With Jurassic Park in theaters again, renowned special effects artist Shannon Shea joins us to talk about what it was like building dinosaurs and being on set for the Steven Spielberg picture. He was also nice enough to share some very rare behind-the-scenes pictures (and a dramatic reading of a scripted scene that never made the film). For more from us on a daily basis, follow the show (@brokenprojector), Geoff (@drgmlatulippe) and Scott (@scottmbeggs) on the Twitter. And, as always, we welcome your feedback. Download Episode #13 Directly Or subscribe Through iTunes

Several companies at the top of their game have now gone bankrupt, hundreds protested outside the Oscars, the Jaws theme added insult to injury, and it all adds up to the VFX industry being in trouble. But how can something so central to modern filmmaking be struggling to stay alive? If blockbusters earn billions on the back of stunning CGI wizardry, why are the best in the business failing? Industry veteran Jim Hillin joins us to explain it all in simple terms and to offer a few solutions in the face of a complex, dire situation. Plus, Geoff and I share a few big visual effects moments that changed movies by delivering real magic. For more from us on a daily basis, follow the show (@brokenprojector), Geoff (@drgmlatulippe) and Scott (@scottmbeggs) on the Twitter. And, as always, we welcome your feedback. Download Episode #9 Subscribe Through iTunes

Universal Pictures has just announced that their Jurassic Park IV will hit theaters on June 13, 2014. And, yup, that’s pretty much it. Beyond that, we only know that Steven Spielberg will produce, it will likely be in 3D, and it (may possibly?) come with a script by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. That’s right, there’s no word on plot details, who could star in it (or even what sort of roles they are looking to cast), and who will direct it. The summer of 2014 is already shaping up to include a monster (very sequel-heavy) lineup, with May seeing the release of The Amazing Spider-Man sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, that new Godzilla, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes; June featuring both How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Transformers 4; with July set to feature both The Hobbit: There and Back Again and X-Men: Days of Future Past; and August already slated for that Guardians of the Galaxy opening. Geez, save your movie-going dollars now, people. This has been Friday news. [Universal Pictures]

Unless you were living under a rock during the ’90s, the new trailer for Jurassic Park 3D probably seems pretty familiar to you. It’s basically just a trailer for Steven Spielberg’s ubiquitous 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park, with some stuff about the film being re-released in 3D tacked on at the end. But, that doesn’t mean you don’t need to watch it. Chances are it’s been quite a while since you’ve last watched Jurassic Park, and chances are you’ve forgotten how much a movie like this lends itself to making great trailers. The sense of grandeur, the big reveals, the breakthrough special effects, Jeff Goldblum draped across various things all shirtless and sexy, the ripple in the glass of water, Samuel L. Jackson saying “Hold on to your butts,” it’s all here. But, what strikes you about watching this trailer more than anything else, is the music. The second the first few notes of John Williams‘ iconic score for this dinosaurs run amok adventure start playing, you find yourself instantly transported back to being however old you were when you first saw this movie. And by the time the song gets to the soaring crescendo, well, it’s done its job of convincing you that you’re going to want to shell out some money to experience this classic up on the big screen one more time pretty effectively.

How does a human fit inside a raptor? The standard way would probably be as bite-sized chunks, but if you’re Stan Winston and the effects team behind Jurassic Park, you’d want the human being to be in one piece. This amazing behind-the-scenes video takes the raptor from a “garbage bag” test in foam to the terrifying final product. The actor inside the suit, John Rosengrant narrates and explains the process (as well as the challenges). The video is part of a larger blog post from the Stan Winston School which features even more information and still photos, but the video itself is remarkable (if only to watch a raptor ripping up a towel in front of The Terminator). There’s no doubt that this movie had a profound impact on audiences, and that scene in the kitchen is one of the keystones that made raptors a household name more frightening than T-Rex. It’s priceless to be able to see the ingredients that went into it, partially because seeing how the trick was done only manages to make the magic more impressive. More like this, please.  

We are more than halfway through the month of October, which means we’re in the home stretch to Halloween and in the thick of great content pertaining to scary movies and horror films. So, welcome to another filling recap of a week’s worth of original writings and coverage. First, though, let’s remind you of the regular goodies here at FSR, such as our reviews of new releases (Paranormal Activity 4, Alex Cross, Bestiaire, The Sessions) and interviews with Alex Cross director Rob Cohen and star Matthew Fox and The Black List creator Franklin Leonard. We also caught some new trailers for Carrie and Jack Reacher and, in addition to our regular TV column, we have begun a weekly recap for the TV series The Walking Dead. Also this week, we saw the New York Film Festival end (stay tuned for a look at our critics’ highlights and favorites) and the Austin Film Festival begin. So rummage through our coverage of the former (including a review of Flight) and bookmark the tag for the latter — also check out some AFF recommendations below. Check out our ten best features from the past week, plus some other recommended reading, after the break.

It has to be the simplest motivation out there – it’s even excusable at times. You can’t fight hunger, right? And if your meal of choice happens to be the earth’s self-proclaimed dominant species then well, you’re going to have to get a bit creative. Like all predators, the secret is to surprise your prey. As the following list will show, this can be done many ways – some much more creative than others.

Ah yes. It’s that time of the year, folks. The only month where it’s slightly less mean to jump out at a child while wearing a clown mask. The vandal’s holiday… cretin Christmas. It really is a special time for all of us horror movie fans. So let’s light some candles, get our favorite Misfits album out and start this party. They say that nothing can ever outdo the imagination – something that is most evident when it comes to terror and death. It’s not what you see that scares you – it’s what you don’t. It’s why we fear the dark. So while gore is great fun, it’s nothing compared to something merely implied.

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly news column that’s struggling on a slow-news Monday. Luckily there’s plenty of poster art to go around. Our evening begins with a behind the scenes shot from the production of Game of Thrones and its sure to be epic third season. It’s not telling us much, but the official production blog kicking into high gear is enough to whet the whistles of many a fan, including yours truly.

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly news round-up that is fully prepared for the apocalypse. It watches enough movies to know what’s up. Our night begins with the iPod playlist of Omar Little. More to the point, it’s a playlist that actor Michael K. Williams designed for his character on The Wire. In order to maintain a character’s temperament, Williams often creates playlists that help keep him in the zone. Vulture has his playlist for Omar, which you can also get on Spotify. If you be comin’, that is.

Movie trailers are one of the few things in the industry that you really can’t improve upon with technology. It’s just editing – that’s it. Nothing else can make a trailer better besides skill. This is also why it seems like they generally get better every year (not always the case though). It’s difficult to nail down exactly what makes a teaser trailer effective, which is why we’re going to focus simply on intensity. It’s the best part, especially when a film is already anticipated from the start due to being an adaptation or a sequel. So here we go – fifteen movie teasers that have your heart pounding before the feature presentation even begins.

Through his work on things like the first two Star Wars films, Temple of Doom, and the Robocop series, Phil Tippett has established himself as something of a legend in the world of creature effects, puppeteering, and stop-motion animation. One thing he was never able to do, however, was create his own animated short. He tried, earlier in his career, to put together a project called Mad God, which he describes as being, “an experimental, hand-made, animated film, set in a Miltonesque world of monsters, mad scientists, and war pigs.” Unfortunately for fans of interesting and weird animated things, it never quite got finished. As Tippett recently explained to Indiewire, “I started shooting on 35mm film way back in the early 90s and then the project kind of fell into disrepair when the digital age hit. So I had to recalculate and spend a lot of time re-engineering our business from photographic to digital, so Mad God kind of went on hold.”

The past couple years have been a rocky road for Universal Studios. Long strings of costly box office flops like The Wolfman, Cowboys and Aliens, and Your Highness have not been completely balanced by their hits. Even this year, the success of The Lorax and Snow White and the Huntsman don’t completely wipe out the red numbers on the books from Wanderlust, The Five-Year Engagement, and most recently Battleship. Oddly enough, their DVD and Blu-ray releases of catalogue titles have been causing the most buzz. The studio’s 100th Anniversary Blu-ray releases of E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial and Jaws are making as much noise as their releases of Back to the Future and Jurassic Park box sets. Plus, Jurassic Park is getting a high profile re-release in 3D next summer. It only makes sense that the studio goes back to these popular franchises for a new hit. Deadline Isla Nublar is reporting that Universal has found writers for the long-awaited Jurassic Park 4. Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, who are best known for penning last summer’s prequel hit Rise of the Planet of the Apes and its upcoming sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, will be tackling the script for the high-profile dinosaur adventure.

As you may have noticed, Rejects HQ is located in beautiful Austin, Texas. Austin is a town of many pleasures, from the survival of two local video rental stores, to the shit-ton of bats the live under one of our bridges, to the best movie theater in the world. But that’s not all Austin has to offer. It’s also home to some damn creative folks and a few of them have banded together once again to assault your eyeballs with awesome. You may have heard tell of the Old Murder House theater, a group of crazy people transplanted to Austin from parts unknown, who take major motion pictures and turn them into live stage plays. They made a name for themselves with previous shows like Back to the Future Live, Robocop Live, and last year’s incredible spectacle, Aliens on Ice! But they’ve come up with a whole new ballgame for this summer, an epic 10-city tour (thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign) that stretches from coast to coast to bring you Jurassic Park like you’ve never seen it before with their Jurassic Live: Dino Action Show.

With a giant pile of movies to his name, Steven Spielberg has the considerable honor of being the only filmmaker who makes entertainment that’s massively popular, critically acclaimed and decade-enduring. It’s an illusive triumvirate. His fundamental success is owed to a lot of things, but principle among them is his childhood sense of wonder and magic – a sense he’s never let go of. His childhood was also spent with a camera in hand. From Jaws to Close Encounters of the Third Kind to Indiana Jones to The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun and Jurassic Park and Amistad and Schindler’s List and Munich and, and, and…he’s been a prolific, skilled presence in the filmmaking world for going on 5 decades, and he’s done so by spanning genres, tones, and subjects. So here’s a bit of free film school (for fans and filmmakers alike) from a little kid who hid under his bed after watching Bambi.