If You Were a Movie, Which Movie Would You Be?
File under: “Things We Make New Interns Do.” May has been a very transitional month for us here at Film School Rejects. You may have heard about our recent migration across platforms. But there’s even...
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The Unheralded Imagination of Early DreamWorks Animation
Remembering the genuine creative risks of DreamWorks Animation’s early repertoire, and the heat death of traditional animation. When DreamWorks was founded in the fall of 1994, Jeffrey Katzenberg had...
View ArticleWhat Goes Up: A Reversed Montage of Falling in Film
From certain death to rebirth. Some of my favorite sorts of videos are those that play with established tropes. Take for example the following video from our very good friend, the supremely talented...
View Article‘Dark Waters’ is an Italian Horror Gem Worth Discovering
Director Mariano Baino also shares some of the film’s unlikely inspirations. In 1994, director Mariano Baino released Dark Waters, a dark Italian horror film with roots in the Nunsploitation genre, as...
View ArticleShort of the Day: Love, Loss, and ‘Focus’
Love puts everything in focus. It extracts meaning from the blur of the world around and within us, it slows things down and gives us a better perspective. When you’re in love colors are brighter,...
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A Place Both Wonderful and Strange: The Perfect Shots of ‘Twin Peaks’
80 meaningful moments to get you back in that Lynchian spirit. Twin Peaks is bar none the most daring program ever shown on network TV, especially for its time. But it wasn’t just the show’s narrative...
View ArticleThe Ultimate Video Essay Guide to Paul Thomas Anderson
The film scholar’s favorite filmmaker. In my experience, film critics and scholars are obsessed with Paul Thomas Anderson, and rightfully so – yes, I count myself among them – because Anderson combines...
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8 Movies to Watch After You See ‘Alien: Covenant’
Before you ask, no, it’s not just a list of the other ‘Alien’ movies. There are plenty of movies you need to watch before you see Alien: Covenant. Five other installments of the Alien franchise precede...
View ArticleFilm Itself: A Conversation with Producer Stephen Scarlata
In this week’s podcast conversation, we talk to producer Stephen Scarlata about his latest, ‘Beyond the Gates,’ and so much more. The format of Film Itself is simple. Each week we talk to someone...
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The Alien Franchise, Ranked
For almost 40 years, we’ve found terror (and other strange things) in the eight films in the ‘Alien’ franchise. It’s about time we ranked ’em. Think about it. How many film franchises have survived,...
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The Tao of Nicolas Cage: ‘Ghost Rider’– Take Two
Nicolas Cage puts on his letter jacket, lights his skull on fire and hops on his motorcycle once more. Are the results any better this time out? “It doesn’t matter how far you run, there are some...
View ArticleMia Wasikowska and Mia Hansen-Løve May Be The Perfect Match
It’s looking like Mia Wasikowska’s suggestive acting paired with Mia Hansen-Løve’s subtle filmmaking will be a perfect match. In an exclusive from Screen Daily, it has been revealed director of 2016’s...
View ArticlePretty as a Picture: Famous Art Recreated in Film
The latest chapter of an ongoing series. This is truly one of my favorite series of video essays. Every few months our friend Vugar Efendi releases a gorgeous new montage comparing classic works of...
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‘Boys in the Trees’ Review: A ’90s Halloween Down Under
A stunning coming-of-age horror film. When the Overlook Film Festival came to a close all the talk centered around It Comes at Night, the latest film from Krisha director Trey Edward Shults. The talk...
View ArticleShort of the Day: ‘Backstroke’ is a Noirish Take on Teenage Rebellion
Never, ever go skinny-dipping in the movies. Teenage rebellion is nothing new when it comes to the movies. Ever since producers figured out back in the 1950s that not only did teenagers have opinions...
View ArticleWhy We Still Love Ninjas
This week, the gents of Junkfood Cinema, as part of their ongoing Summer of 1987 series, discuss the action trash-terpiece American Ninja 2: The Confrontation. Without being too confrontational myself,...
View Article‘Wonderstruck’ Review: Todd Haynes’ Latest Is So Okay It’s Boring
Less an abundance of flaws than an absence of anything that works especially well. Wonderstruck is not a “bad” film. The people involved, from director Todd Haynes to cinematographer Edward Lachman to...
View Article‘Loveless’ Review: Bad Parenting Under Putin’s Shadow
A profound and morose take on contemporary Russia from the director of Leviathan. You could go as far back as Shakespeare to truly witness just how important a work of drama’s setting can be to the...
View Article‘Okja’ Review: Experience The Lighter Side of Bong Joon-ho
Bong Joon-Ho teams with Netflix for a saccharine “monster movie.” One of the fundamental filmmakers of the Korean New Wave, Bong Joon-ho is among a group of filmmakers responsible for the renewed...
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A Fantastic Folly: Reviving ‘Fantasia’ and the Remake Ouroboros
The troubled history of Walt Disney’s great experiment, and the grotesque implications of the live-action remake of “Night on Bald Mountain.” The first time my mom saw Fantasia was at the Stanley...
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