There’s nothing quite like the end of the year when every holiday comes crashing into focus. Overlord-in-Chief Neil Miller is busy trying to hang up $30,000 worth of lights inside his apartment to simulate Clark Griswold; Fure is knitting everyone atrocious sweaters; Hunter is trying to convince everyone why Visitor Q is a perfect holiday film; Kevin is agreeing with him; Kate is burning copies of “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” to keep warm; Landon Palmer is trying to really understand the nature of Christmas movies; and I am attempting to cure a hot beer hangover by drinking more hot beer. But most of all, as the season of love and warmth and chocolate-covered cream puffs descends upon us all like doves in a John Woo flick, we here at Film School Rejects would like to take a moment out to remember our family: all of you. Like family, you invite us into your home and put up with our insane ramblings around the dinner table even as we take the last crescent roll and spill red wine on your new jacket. The old saying that no one can remember says something about not being able to choose your family, but we are eternally grateful that you’ve chosen us. We’re grandly indebted to our readers, and although we never lose sight of that, we don’t always state it publicly (not because we’re highly, highly embarrassed of you (promise)). So let’s raise a glass and toast to you. Thank you for [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]

In the coming weeks, Film School Rejects will, for the first year on record, perform a valuable public service. Instead of counting down our favorite Christmas movies in a 12 Days of Christmas style feature or being hip and only celebrating Hanukkah, we’re going to do something that will actually help you while entertaining you and somehow bringing it all back to movies. We’re pleased to present our 2011 Holiday Survival Guide. In this month-long feature that kicks off Friday (Dec. 2), we will address topics such as ‘How To Pick Out the Perfect Present’, ‘How to Find Holiday Love’, ‘How To Pick Holiday Movies to Watch with Grandma’, ‘How To Avoid Being Murdered During the Holidays’ and plenty more thanks to the incredible depth of knowledge of the FSR staff. In short, we watch a bunch of movies so that you can learn life lessons. We’re having a lot of fun writing it, so we hope you have similar fun reading it. Keep your browsers pointed to our 2011 Holiday Survival Guide homepage throughout December so that you don’t miss out on all the fun.

It’s been another wonderful year here at Film School Rejects. And every once in a while we find it important to stop and take a look back at our great journey and say thanks. As our staff takes a bit of a break this weekend to spend time with their own families, we’d like to say a bit of thanks and give warm wishes to our extended year-round family: you, our readers. So whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Festivus for the Rest-of-Us, we’d like to wish you a happy holiday. As always, FSR’s team will be back in force next week as we jump right into one of our favorite yearly traditions, the Year in Review. So stay tuned, because we’re not done beating on 2010 just yet. And remember, Festivus isn’t over until you pin your father. Good luck with that.

Maggie Van Ostrand shines an exclusive spotlight on “a mesmerizing indie documentary embodying the search for commonality in the African American community” from director M.K. Asante, Jr.