The Mayans, the wise race of ancients who created hot cocoa, set December 21st, 2012 as the end date of their Calendar, which the intelligent and logical amongst us know signifies the day the world will end, presumably at 12:21:12am, Mountain Time. From now until zero date, we will explore the 50 films you need to watch before the entire world perishes. We don’t have much time, so be content, be prepared, be entertained. The Film: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) The Plot: When the Nazis threaten to find and unleash the power within the Ark of the Covenant, the US Government turns to the only place that can save them: Academia. Back in the 1930s, Professors and Archaeologists were made of a lot tougher stuff, and were far more attractive to co-eds than they are today. The manliest among them, Indiana Jones, fresh off a disastrous trip to a South American jungle, embarks on a global quest to find the Ark first.

In an interview with Empire Online, legendary director Steven Spielberg talked about the development of future sequels for two of the biggest properties he has ever launched, Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones. While both of these franchises are huge name brands, and future sequels will probably rake in boatloads of cash no matter what, they’ve also both had some less than stellar installments already. So, artistically, if Spielberg is going to get us movie geeks to buy into the fact that more movies in these series are necessary, he’s got some explaining to do. Spielberg seems to readily admit that Jurassic Park 3 was a B-level film unworthy of carrying his weighty name in its credits, because he comes right out and assures us that a fourth installment won’t resemble that film in any way. He said, “The screenplay is being written right now by Mark Protosevich. I’m hoping that will come out in the next couple of years. We have a good story. We have a better story for four than we had for three…” Protosevich has been the writer on films like Thor, I am Legend, and the remake of Poseidon, so probably you can judge how much you trust Spielberg to get his story told correctly based on how you feel about those films.

Every week, Landon Palmer and Cole Abaius log on to their favorite chat client of 1996 as ghostfacekillah and olddirrtybastard5 in order to discuss some topical topic of interest. This week, it’s the horrifying growth of the trend in Hollywood to take old movies and make sequels for them. The fans are too hip to reboots and remakes, but if they can convince an aging actor to retread barren ground, then it’s all aboard the money train. Of course, that’s not always the case, but how else do you explain Indiana Jones 4? The problem is that these movies either suck or are hollow shells of what a franchise once was. So if you’re making a decades-later sequel, what are the problems and how do you avoid them?

Apparently a retirement home is just not good enough for the treasure hunter who wants everything in museums. “Sources” are telling ShowbizSpy that Harrison Ford wants Indiana Jones to die in the next installment of the franchise. There was never much doubt that this would be the last round up for Ford, especially with Shia Labeouf waiting in the wings to take over as his son, but death seems a bit extreme. After all, there must be an adjunct professor position out there waiting for him. It may seem fatalistic, but it’s also important to look at why killing him off might be a good thing. Or why it might be completely moronic.

If there was one thing that fans hated about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull it’s that the magical realism of religion was tossed aside for a tale about aliens who had a love for polished glass. It didn’t seem right within the universe where, for whatever reason, a box with a bunch of angry, face-melting souls did. So, as a fan, I find myself questioning whether to groan or start a slow clap with the news that Indiana and company are going to be headed for the Bermuda Triangle. Will this be the right brand of magical realism for the series?

This morning we take a look at fan made trailers for the Lost finale, dueling Marylin Monroes, the future of Nick Fury, Mark Hamill’s directing career, Paul Dano vs. Aliens and more.

You don’t have to be a child of the 70′s to understand the phenomenal impact of Star Wars. The career of creator George Lucas has been nothing short of mercurial since the release of the first Star Wars film in 1977. But as the years passed, Lucas made a series of decisions that, well, to say these decisions upset fans would be a massive understatement.

“Steven [Spielberg] and George [Lucas] and I are sort of agreed on a germ of an idea and we’re seeing what comes of it.” It’s likely that some of you will be upset about that quote, which was given to the folks at the BBC by Indiana Jones himself, Harrison Ford. The rest of us are wondering one thing: germ? As in virus?

There’s a baseless rumor that’s not even going around the internet at all that Dr. Jones might be written into the next Indiana Jones movie. I don’t believe it at this point, but that doesn’t mean we can’t sound off on whether it’d be a good idea or not.

As guaranteed by the box office take, Indiana Jones and the Half-Blood Prince has got its story line. Now, all they need is a script that Harrison Ford smiles at, and we’re on our way to a fifth adventure.

To be fair, there is actually no ‘fanboy rage’ yet, but be sure that it is coming folks. In an interview with BBC News, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen star Shia LaBeouf made claims that director Steven Spielberg is already hard at work on a follow-up to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

I remember a time when sex used to be what sold in Hollywood, it’s not really that way anymore. It’s all about sequels nowadays. Anything the corporate machine can do to propagate a franchise and poke fun at aging actors in roles that may or may not compromise the position they’re in when jumping off buildings, driving backwards through tunnels, or remembering to take their Metamucil.

With such a memorable year, it was hard to pick the top ten memorable scenes from all the films. Of course, to be fair, I had to choose only one scene from any given movie (otherwise, The Dark Knight would easily take five or six spots on the list).

It is time once again for a special edition of the Reject Report, the 2008 Year in Review! This is our final look at 2008′s box office winners — and our final chance to roast some of the losers.

How (puke-colored) green was our valley in 2008? I offer ten instances in film that did not live up to a certain amount of hype, didn’t get the credit they deserved, or just flat-out disappointed the general public.

The Academy has announced its 15 finalists for the Best Visual Effects Oscar, and we know one film that can be eliminated right off the bat… Here’s a hint: it stars Keanu Reeves.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull may have been a mixed bag critically but it was dynamite at the box office, bringing in over $800 million dollars. But would Harrison Ford get the whip cracking for a fifth chapter of Indy? Maybe …

I did not count Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull among the BD releases that were sure to knock me off of my sofa. And it turns out, I was right and wrong, all at the same time.

South Park has a rich history of offending people. I was waiting for some fallout from this episode pissing off somebody.

Brian Gibson loves to buy DVDs. Come with him on his weekly journey into the depths of credit card debt as he tells you what to buy, rent and avoid.