When you land a smash indie hit like Donnie Darko, the world can’t help but take notice. A mind-bender like the iconic Jake Gyllenhaal-starring sci-fi thriller almost always makes waves for a talent like writer/director Richard Kelly, and when Hollywood came a’callin in one particular instance, we could have seen an alternate X-Men sequel happen with his talents applied that very project. However, there was a huge lesson that Kelly learned when it came time for him to turn down that rather promising gig: when you have a movie as weird as Southland Tales on deck, and you have an embarrassingly awesome ensemble that includes an early performance from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, you can’t turn your back on what you have in front of you.