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.

This article has changed three times since I even started thinking about it. It began as a simple rant about prequels, but when my first example focused on Star Wars ran several hundred words, I then decided to focus on that. When that ran for over a thousand words before moving even half-way into my second point, I decided to scale that back a bit too and just focus on what I call the “timeline crunch” of the prequels. The movies are coming back to theaters in 3D, so it’s kind of topical and I’m allowed to write whatever the hell I want, so how about you spend a few minutes listening to me rant about perhaps one of the smallest flaws of the prequels, but a flaw that has bothered me to no end for years.

If you’ve been fortunate enough to avoid this news until now, I’m sorry, it’s about to get shitty. George Lucas, in a move that surprises no one but angers anyone who’s ever seen Star Wars, has excessively tinkered with the movies in the saga, taking the beloved and dropping a pile of turds on it. It’s true Lucas has been wallowing in the sewage pool after tweaking the original movies in shitty ways (Greedo shoots first, Jabba looks like ass, etc) and making three bad movies to utterly destroy the awesome coolness that was Darth Vader and irreparably rupture the continuity of the franchise. Not content to stop there though, ol’ Georgie-poo has decided to add another notch to his bulbous neck by ignoring (mostly) fan outcry and amplifying the shit we already hate. Let’s break it down.

The Library of Congress opens up its big mystical vault once a year to toss in 25 films that it deems worthy (by stirring old clapboards into a vat of rat blood and reading the star alignment). This year was a big year that honors some of the fallen members of the community – notably Leslie Nielsen, Blake Edwards and Irvin Kershner. Safely stowed away as important cultural documents, The Empire Strikes Back, Airplane!, and The Pink Panther join 23 other films that will be forever kept in the hearts of those who care to apply for a Library of Congress library card (a three-step process that includes a photo being taken). Check the entire list (which is littered with incredible movies) below:

It’s understandable that movie fans are in a bit of an existential crisis – trying to decide whether to watch Airplane! in memory of Leslie Nielsen or to watch The Empire Strikes Back in memory of Irvin Kershner. That’s why we always keep two televisions handy at Reject HQ. It’s also understandable that your hand would race to the E-section of your alphabetized film collection after hearing the sad news about Kershner, but he had a handful of other great films that are worth celebrating. None are quite like Empire (in every way that can be read), but if you’re a fan, you owe it to yourself to peruse his other movies to find something new to love.

It’s too early to call this a trend, but shortly after Brian Salisbury reviewed Flash Gordon uber producer Dino De Laurentis died. Last night on RejectRadio Neil Miller revealed to the world that he only just got around to watching The Empire Strikes Back a few days ago… and this morning we wake up to the news that the director behind that film, Irvin Kershner, has passed away at the age of 87. Having just posted a column about two new Charlie Chaplin releases on Blu-ray I can only pray The Little Tramp survives to the end of the week… Irvin Kershner, as you should very well know, was the man in the director’s chair on not only the best Star Wars film but also one of the greatest films period. The Empire Strikes Back is a fantastic work of action, drama, and darkness, and it was one of the first blockbusters to show that a popcorn film can be more than just brainless entertainment. His energetic but thoughtful direction (alongside a strong script from Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan) revealed our beloved Star Wars characters as more than just simple heroes and villains.

You’ve stumbled upon Circle of Jerks, our sporadically published, weekly feature in which we ask the questions that really matter to our writers and readers. It’s a time to take a break from our busy lives and revel in the one thing that we all share: a deep, passionate love of movies. If you have a question you’d like answered by the FSR readers and staff, send us an email at editors@filmschoolrejects.com. I heard a rumor somewhere that FSR founder and big time publisher-guy Neil Miller had never seen The Empire Strikes Back until recently. First of all, if this is true he should be beaten. Second of all, what movies have some of the rest of you never seen that you’d be embarrassed to tell your movie-loving friends? – David D.

Every so often, a film emerges from the fray to prove its popularity and warrant a sequel. More and more, franchises are planned out in advance, but when one film turns into a franchise, a cash register sound goes off in the ears of the studio. Even though the kid stays in the picture, sometimes the director does not. Maybe the director is done working with the material. Maybe the producers want a more seasoned hand. Maybe a simple schedule conflict keeps him or her out of the chair for the next round up. But the show must go on, so the producers find another director to fill the slot – a director who ostensibly inherits all the strengths and weaknesses of a franchise birthed by someone else. Cinematic sloppy seconds that could have easily turned into sloppy sequels if it weren’t for a steady, talented director guiding the ship. Here’s a list of the ten best.

It’s been thirty years, and I get way too personal to share with you my favorite thing about Empire and ask that you celebrate your own.

Even though his latest brainchild, The Empire Strikes Back, won’t be in theaters for another month, George Lucas is talking about more movies in the franchise. After the success of Star Wars three years ago, Lucas will once again take us back to “A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far Far Away” — at least seven more times.

A highly anticipated sequel, Scorsese and De Niro back together, and another from a Japanese legend round out our list of what we’re looking forward to most this year.

Have you had it with Star Wars adaptations? Have you had it with Family Guy? No? Well, its time for another go at it. So you might as well have a drink.

Have you ever watched Star Wars and thought “this would be great as a concert experience?” Well continue on my friend.

Kevin rages out at people who splatter his Facebook wall and TweetDeck columns with movie and TV spoilers.

Here at Film School Rejects, we have always tried to steer clear of letting our political opinions come out into the open. So with this video, we are not endorsing anyone — we just think it’s funny.

My good friend Peter over at Slashfilm dropped this one on us the other day and I just couldn’t resist reposting it for those who have not yet had the opportunity to see it.