The second wave of Fantastic Fest films is incredibly irritating. Why? Because alongside the first wave of titles, it represents the best line up in the festival’s history, and I won’t be there for the first time in years. Have no fear, because we’ll have plenty of Rejects on the ground covering every inch of film, but I will be twiddling my thumbs at home wishing I was getting drunk off of a third Guinness milkshake and watching weird movies. Looper is absolutely at the pinnacle here when it comes to anticipation, but there’s also the Cannes freak-out Holy Motors and Sinister, the newest film from Exorcism of Emily Rose director Scott Derrickson. Plus, the Fantastic Fest faithful can see a follow-up to New Kids Turbo and the ambitious horror short anthology The ABCs of Death, birthed outside of a dumpster right behind the Alamo Drafthouse. There’s also a healthy amount of filmmakers in attendance and probably some crazy surprises and why not just check out the whole obnoxiously good list yourself?

What is Movie News After Dark? Like the Curiosity Mars rover, it’s out there breaking new ground. Taking panoramic pictures of the red planet and whatnot. Also, collecting links to interesting stories about movies. We begin with a shot from the titles of The Avengers, taken from the expose that Art of the Title has done on the summer’s biggest blockbuster thus far. They brilliantly profile the work of Method Design on the Joss Whedon directed movie. Here’s hoping that Method will get asked back alongside Whedon for the sequel.

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s the next big thing, the opening night every night, the closing ceremony before the event even starts. It’s also a contender in the 100-meter dash. We begin this evening with a great new image from Rian Johnson’s Looper featuring Joseph Gordon-Levitt in his next breakout role. I say next because this guy seems to be on a hot streak of break-out roles. How many breakout roles can one have, anyway?

Rorschach’s Journal: July 13th, 2012 I don’t sleep, not by current definitions. I lie still, lie silent, but my eyes do not close. Vigilance is the price of order. Sleep is a breeding ground for vulnerability. I tend to be grumpy in the morning. Suiting up for my second day of the maddening orgy of nerdom that is Comic-Con, I don my mended face. The tensile strength of my haphazard handiwork proves adequate. On the train, local law enforcement commence inspecting tickets. I remain calm. Costumed freaks of all ilks populate this speeding geek wagon. I should not draw much attention. My admittance is confirmed. They do not leave; maintaining uncomfortable proximity. Fists clenched, I will not go quietly. Stop reached, I am not accosted. The badged grunts turn a blind eye as I step off the train and vanish into the crowd.

Check out a preview of what the Rejects will be up to this year at the San Diego Comic-Con, beginning with SDCC virgin Brian Salisbury… Having never been to Comic-Con, in fact having never before set foot in the state of California, I can’t help but feel a tinge of trepidation as I pack for San Diego. Chief among these concerns was whether I’d even get an adequate feel of the Con on my first outing as I darted from roundtable to roundtable, from press screening to blogger party. Would I leave my first Comic Con with no legitimate understanding of what keeps people coming back year after year? It was then I decided that, as a noob, it was best to experience the convention as a fan and not an industry professional. I needed to separate these two factions of my personality, to make a clean break from the behind-the-scenes journalism aspect and the intrepid geeks who walk the floor without the benefit of credentials. That’s when the idea of wearing a mask came into the picture, to disguise myself and resist the temptation of professional perks. I will walk the floors, stand in lines for panels in the various halls, and talk geek shop with the other attendees; providing journal entries for each day. This seems doubly fitting given the amount of cosplay that I’ve heard takes place at Comic Con. I will blend in even under fantastical vestments. So what character would I choose? What hero, outlaw,

Rian Johnson is perhaps as lucky as they come in the game of modern filmmaking. He gets to live in public, with a strong presence on Twitter and Tumblr, connecting with fans via social media. But he’s also been able to make his latest film, Looper, under the radar for the most part. We’ve seen little in the way of set photos or  rumors throughout the production. It’s the sweet spot in the era in social media. And that lack of distraction can, in many cases, allow you to slowly roll things out in a creative way. It isn’t so much about controlling the information that ends up online, but being able to mold the pre-release material into a narrative all its own. Such is the case with this five-minute preview of the Looper score, courtesy of Rian’s brother Nathan, the film’s composer. He walks us through the process of gathering sounds and inspiration on the way toward creating a unique score for the Joseph Gordon Levitt, Bruce Willis-led time travel actioner. It’s a short but substantial peek behind the curtain.

From the looks of it Django Unchained, Pacific Rim and Anything Marvel Does Forever are topping the list of the most anticipated movies hitting Comic-Con 2012. The question is, with 400 million (number estimated) other movie panels showing up in San Diego, how will you possibly see everything? And how can you see anything if you aren’t going to be there? Since the list of events is massive, we’ve teamed up with 14 other movie websites to make sure that every inch of the convention center is locked down. Consider this your portal, bookmark it, and return often to check out the full spectrum of coverage from ours and other fine sites. To get started, here’s a small look at what all of us are most excited to see.

The first look we got at Rian Johnson’s upcoming time travel action yarn, Looper, did a solid job of setting up the story and teasing the action. A curiously lantern-jawed Joseph Gordon-Levitt is playing our hero (or, at least, the closest thing we get to one), a hitman for the mob who gets paid handsomely to wait in a field that exists many years in the past, shoot the people the wise guys send back in time as soon as they wink into existence, and then dispose of the body where no future authorities can find them. The wrinkle comes when his latest clean-up job gets sent back in time and a quick locking of the eyes reveals that he’s an equally lantern-jawed version of himself from the future (Bruce Willis). What to do? The new international trailer for the film gives us a bit more of an idea of what is going to be done. Future Gordon-Levitt has come to the past with a plan. And, as you might expect out of a hitman, his plan involves killing someone. Will he be able to set everything right and fix his future, or will his past self – who’s going to be in deep trouble if he doesn’t take his future self out – stop him before he can put his plan in motion? Lots of interesting questions about destiny and how much we can control our future seem to get asked. But, more importantly, everyone involved is shooting guns

Actress Emily Blunt has reportedly nabbed the female lead role in one of Tom Cruise‘s next projects, a sci-fi actioner not be confused with his Oblivion/Horizons that went through a long cycle of “short list” casting choices before settling on its two female leads. Fortunately, Doug Liman‘s All You Need is Kill has not subjected the movie news-consuming public to another drawn-out casting process and has just gone ahead and picked a dazzling lead. Variety reports that Blunt and Warner Bros. have ended a “long flirtation” for the part, with the Brit currently in talks for the role. The film is being adapted from a “light novel” of the same name by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, that centers on a new soldier (named Keiji Kiriya) who dies in his first battle – which happens to be against evil aliens who are taking over the Earth. Oddly enough, Keiji’s death is not the end of his life, as he wakes up every morning and relives the battle (and his death) over and over. It’s like a war-set sci-fi Groundhog Day. Blunt will reportedly play “another solider who fights alongside Cruise.” While I have not yet read the film’s highly lauded source material, a brief trip to the book’s Wikipedia page reveals a possible character for Blunt – “Rita Vrataski: A U.S. special forces soldier. Highly decorated and peerless in battle, she is seen as a hero by the entire world. In reality, she was caught in a time loop just like Keiji.” That

After having to deal with those teasers-for-the-teaser annoyance, we now have the actual teaser trailer for writer/director Rian Johnson‘s Looper, his futuristic sci-fi thriller featuring a Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt face-off, both playing the same character. Right off the bat you can see Gordon-Levitt is channeling Willis’s well-known demeanor and style. But based on the impression this trailer gives, it’s an actual transformation, not an impersonation. Take a peek at Bruce Willis apologizing for Surrogates:

When did this trailer for the trailer thing become the norm? Was I napping or something? We’re now advertising for advertisements? Maybe that’s what happens when you give iTunes the exclusive – they demand that you make another video. Already got the trailer you worked real hard on? Great. Now make another trailer so we can make people want to see the trailer you made. Infinite regression is our worst enemy here. But, then again, that’s the kind of thing Rian Johnson probably wouldn’t mind tackling because he’s got a mind to take the Gordian knot of time travel and toy around with it like a rubber Rubik’s cube. Here he is alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt talking about the action and the mind-exercising premise of Looper to get people excited. The cheeky line, “I think you guys are gonna like it a lot,” is where things get sold on the market floor:

In September, Bruce Willis will be hunting Joseph Gordon-Levitt (unless it’s the other way around? Or the other, other way around?) for Rian Johnson‘s Looper. You know this because Tyler knows this. And because you’ve probably had your calendar marked for this one since a year and a half ago. The fine folks at /film have debuted the first poster for the Sony flick, and it looks beautiful, mirrored, and like it will continue the People Evaporating theme that’s hit everyone from Source Code to Total Recall lately. Check it out for yourself:

Fans in attendance who braved the Ballroom Line were treated to the first footage anyone anywhere has seen of Rian Johnson‘s (Brick) newest film, Looper. Up ’til now, all we’ve really heard about the project is that it’s a movie that somehow blends time-travel and assassins. How could it go wrong? While I’m sure there are millions of ways for that idea to go wrong, what we witnessed seems to suggest that none of those things actually went wrong. I’ll break down the footage for you, and it could be considered kind of spoilery I guess, though the teaser trailer will be online in a few weeks. We’ve also got pictures of Joseph Gordon-Levitt as he appears in Looper!

After hitting the stage to conduct a live show version of his hitRECord website (dedicated to open collaboration production with his users) at last month’s Sundance Film Festival, it looks like Joseph Gordon-Levitt is finally adding a very expected title to his already long string of occupations. Gordon-Levitt will make his feature directing debut with a still-untitled comedy that he has also penned. Moreover, he will also star in the film alongside Scarlett Johansson. Deadline Brentwood reports that the film is “a sexy comedy about about a modern-day Don Juan, and his quest to become less of a ‘selfish dick.’” Gordon-Levitt is, of course, cast as that “selfish dick,” with Johansson grabbing one of two female lead roles. Gordon-Levitt also told the outlet that “his major motive for returning [to acting] was a burning desire to direct.” You don’t say! He went on to say, “I spent a year working with Chris Nolan, Rian Johnson, Steven Spielberg, and I did my best to pay attention. I’ve also been making short films for a long time now, I’ve directed a ton of them, and that is a huge part of why I feel comfortable and confident in this.” Well, he’s got a point there.

Rian Johnson first won the hearts of film fans by mixing the noir and teen movie genres in 2005’s Brick, and coming up in 2012 he’s set to wow us all again by mixing the time travel movie up with the assassin thriller in Looper. This one sees Johnson once again working with Brick star Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who will be playing an assassin that kills people who have been sent back in time; one of those targets being Bruce Willis. You can basically think of Gordon-Levitt as a T-800 and Willis as Michael Biehn. Except, Looper has a twist. While I’m sure this will all be revealed in the film’s advertising, be warned, thar be spoilers ahead.

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.

It’s already the second day of 2012, which means we’ll all be sober within the next day or two. It also means that we can officially start looking (through blurry eyes) ahead to the future. A future of promise and potential. A future of hope. A future of tingling anticipation that the road stretched out in front of us that leads to the cinema will be paved with gold. Will there be piles of excrement along the way? Of course, but we don’t know how many or how badly they’ll tarnish our yellow-bricked roller coaster ride. All we can see from this far out is the shimmering wonder of movies to come – the vast unknown that looks wonderful (and might just live up to the hype). In past years (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), we’ve gone with a fairly arbitrary count of 20-30 movies. This year, we decided to prove that there were 52 movies worth prematurely celebrating (even though what we found were many more). That’s one for every week (even if there are some weeks with a few and some weeks with none at all). Regardless of the number, Rob Hunter, Neil Miller, Kate Erbland, Allison Loring, Landon Palmer, Brian Salisbury and Cole Abaius have joined forces to remind us all that there are a lot of great movies to hope for this year. Go grab a calendar and pencil in everything that gets your blood pressure up toward unsafe levels. It’s going to be a busy, flick-filled

What is Movie News After Dark? This is a question that I am almost never asked, but I will answer it for you anyway. Movie News After Dark is FSR’s newest late-night secretion, a column dedicated to all of the news stories that slip past our daytime editorial staff and make it into my curiously chubby RSS ‘flagged’ box. It will (but is not guaranteed to) include relevant movie news, links to insightful commentary and other film-related shenanigans. I may also throw in a link to something TV-related here or there. It will also serve as my place of record for being both charming and sharp-witted, but most likely I will be neither of the two. I write this stuff late at night, what do you expect?

In Looper, a group travels back in time to kill people. It’s their job, and the pay is probably outstanding. Here are the speakers and min-scooters on which they jam to the latest tunes and ride to important business meetings. The fine folks over at / have gotten their hands on some concept props for the movie, designed by the industrial design majors of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

What is Movie News After Dark? This is a question that I am almost never asked, but I will answer it for you anyway. Movie News After Dark is FSR’s newest late-night secretion, a column dedicated to all of the news stories that slip past our daytime editorial staff and make it into my curiously chubby RSS ‘flagged’ box. It will (but is not guaranteed to) include relevant movie news, links to insightful commentary and other film-related shenanigans. I may also throw in a link to something TV-related here or there. It will also serve as my place of record for being both charming and sharp-witted, but most likely I will be neither of the two. I write this shit late at night, what do you expect?