We often don’t think of commercials as having authorship, at least not in the same way we think of movies. Commercials are created by advertising companies, by focus groups, by strategists; not by “artists.” But while the purpose of a 30-second ad may on the surface differ from the motive of a feature length film (though not always), both are media assembled through a particular economy of storytelling devices and are made often by a collaborative company of individuals. But commercials don’t often contain credit sequences, and thus the phenomenology of its making is cloaked and the personalities who made it unconsidered. The focus is on the product being sold, not the creative team selling it. So it can be surprising to find out that well-respected, top-tier, artistic filmmakers often direct commercials. Sure, many filmmakers regularly make commercials as a more lucrative and less time-consuming alternative to feature filmmaking, and there are many visual artists who have honed an ability to express their personality in various media forms, but a surprising number of supposedly cinema-specific auteurs make commercials, despite a lack of apparent monetary need or professional benefit. This subject came to my attention recently because of a series of articles on Slate last week by David Haglund about the oeuvre of the Coen brothers that included the filmmaking duo’s commercials in considering their larger cinematic contribution. It’s an interesting way to view a filmmaker’s career, for it forces you to look for their identifying traits and revisited themes via [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]

The question everyone has wanted to ask: is Mickey Rourke crusty enough to play crazy William Smith?

As you may have noticed, the blogosphere is all a-twitter with Best of the Decade lists. To our credit, we here at FSR have published two lists. Now it is time to look at what everyone else is saying…

Deeper than most comedies, funnier than most dramas, and Judd Apatow’s most mature film. Gird your loins Rejects, as Funny People has arrived. Come inside to see what we think about it.

We may have taken for granted that Darren Aronofsky was going to end up being the director for Robocop. It’s likely that he’ll still do it, but a new scheduling problem may make it that much harder to pull off.

I am very excited for Big Fan. There is a few reasons for my growing excitement but today’s excuse is this wonderful trailer.

There is something to be learned by looking at the current situation of director Darren Aronofsky and so many other filmmakers before him: if you make a critical hit such as The Wrestler, all of those ‘passion projects’ that have been collecting dust in studio offices in Hollywood seem to ‘magically’ gather steam.

Don’t call it a come back on the account of the Blu-ray Report charging in with awesome recommendations, call it a comeback because Mickey Rourke is making his comeback in HD this week.

Rob Hunter continues his DVD buying rampage with a Battlestar Galactica spin-off, a major horror franchise box set and 2008′s great comeback story.

Yesterday we reported on Megan Fox’s desire to be taken seriously as an actress. And today, we’ve got word that she will join Mickey Rourke in the indie drama Passion Plays. We’re confused.

When it comes to Original Songs, Robert Fure doesn’t settle for only slightly related content. Has he taken his obsession with movie music to absurd heights? Yes.

If you missed our live blog during the Academy Awards, fear not – Robert Fure saved you some RAGE.

By now you’ve heard — perhaps via our indisputably successful live-blog of yesterday’s Independent Spirit Awards — that Mickey Rourke’s acceptance speech for his Best Male Lead award was mildly entertaining.

Today’s daily diversion requires very little explanation. Mickey Rourke went on Larry King Live the other day, where he was forced to talk to Chris Jericho, whom he had called out a few days ago on the red carpet.

With Neil at Sundance, I’d like to take this opportunity to stage a coup and discuss Award’s season buzz with you, dear reader.

There are certain questions in life one puzzles over furiously. Today, we examine a tricky one by asking what the hell happened to Kate Hudson’s career? Cinema Sleuth is on the case.

When Awards season rolls around, Robert Fure always wins “Most Rage Filled Rant.” What is both obvious and sad is that he created the award and is the only one who votes on the winner.

The Wrestler spends so much of its time intimately relating the audience to The Ram’s tolling profession as a wrestler, and to his dejected life as a solitary man, that the film ultimately hinges upon the supposition that The Ram’s career and personal life are sufficiently interesting to warrant such an extremely introspective look (fortunately, they are.)

As is customary this time of year, it is my duty (and honor) to present you my list of the Ten Best Films of 2008. And in the past year we’ve seen an interesting range of films, have we not?

We Rejects love our action and we sure as hell like watching men, women, monsters, and superheroes whip the crap out of each other on the big screen. Here are our favorite fights of 2008.