RARE EXPORTS - This critically acclaimed modern fairy tale from Finland crosses Scandinavian pagan mythology with the legend of Santa Claus, and the result is something truly unique and highly entertaining. Set in the winter wonderland of north Finland, the story begins with a mysterious drilling project that unearths a sort of nest where a gigantic creature with antlers is encased in ice. Soon naughty children from a nearby village begin disappearing, the local reindeer population is massacred, and a young boy named Pietari sets out to prove that the "real Santa Claus" - the not-so-cuddly one depicted in Finnish legends - is to blame. This was one of my favorite films this year, for sheer freshness, but I don't recommend it for small children, because they will never want to put cookies out for Santa again...

THE FUTURE - The latest from Portland filmmaker and performance artist Miranda July (ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW)! July and Hamish Linklater star as a couple in their thirties who decide to adopt an injured cat, then realize that the responsibility of being pet owners will crush their freedom to do all the things they had never thought to do until that point. They have a month to pick up the cat from the shelter, so they decide to use this window of time to do stuff like have a random affair with an older man (her) and save the environment (him). For fans of offbeat humor and stories narrated by cats!

OUR IDIOT BROTHER - Paul Rudd plays a sweet, unflappable organic farmer who trusts in human nature so whole-heartedly that he does things like admit to his parole officer that he caved in and smoked a joint with a neighbor kid. When his dreadlocked girlfriend kicks him off the farm, his honesty and good intentions end up making life hilariously difficult for his three sisters (Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks, and Emily Mortimer). I think we all know people like this.  Not the usual gross-out humor - we enjoyed this one a lot!

TEARS FOR SALE - A modern fairy tale from Serbia that resembles a humorously twisted hybrid of Terry Gilliam, the Jeunet Brothers, and Guy Maddin. Set in a post-WWI Serbian village where all the men and boys have been killed in wars, a pair of sisters are forced to leave their lucrative professional mourner business and set out to bring more men back to the lonely women of the town. This rare import is only available at La Dolce Video!

CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS - We love Werner Herzog (GRIZZLY MAN), mysterious ancient cultures, and the word "spelunking," so this documentary on the discovery of the earliest known cave art (c. 33,000 years ago!) is a real treat. The French cave was discovered in 1994 and quickly sealed off from the public, but Herzog was allowed special permission to film there. A stunner!

ANOTHER EARTH - Don't mistake this for a "sci-fi" film. This is a character-driven indie drama that just happens to have a quantum physics element to it. No hovercraft chases or giant robots, just people in the near future dealing with guilt, loss, and forgiveness, while another Earth just happens to be slowly making its way towards this one. This film goes in the category of intelligent speculative fiction like GATTACA and SOLARIS, whose realms of the unknown allow for exploration of the human soul.

ANDRES DOESN'T WANT TO TAKE A NAP - Set during Pinochet's regime in Chile, the protagonist is a young boy who finds out his mother was a resistance fighter, after her untimely death. When he goes to live with his grandmother, she does everything in her power to teach him how to conform to the dictatorship and forget his mother's influence...

SUPER 8 - From director J.J. Abrams (LOST, CLOVERFIELD) and producer Steven Spielberg, this is sort of a cross between THE GOONIES and E.T., but with a much more frightening alien. The child actors are great, including the obligatory Fanning sister, but if you're expecting a lot of bizarre "Lost" or "Fringe" flavor be forewarned that the Spielberg influence is very strong here (which is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as you know what you're in for).

THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE - From the director of ONCE WERE WARRIORS, this fast-paced action-biopic has Dominic Cooper playing both Saddam Hussein's sadistic party-boy son Uday (whom his father was not very pleased with, to say the least), and the soldier who was forced to become his double. Based on the autobiography by Uday's (alleged) body double Latif Yahia.

BELLFLOWER - One of this year's most acclaimed American indies! Aiden and Woodrow are 20-something nihilists who spend their free time building tricked out Mad Max muscle cars and flame throwers, in preparation for the apocalypse they long for. When one of them meets and falls for an actual flesh-and-blood girl, things get complicated. Definitely one of this year's most original!

BEGINNERS - Ewan MacGregor is a man in his late 30s trying to embark on his first meaningful relationship with a woman, interspersed with memories of his father (Christopher Plummer), who came out of the closet and began to live life freely and happily at the age of 75. Meanwhile, his late father's jack russell terrier gives telepathic advice through subtitles. Plummer and MacGregor are both excellent, as are their love interests (French actress Melanie Laurent as a rambling loner, and Goran Visnjic as a lovably wacky younger man), with Mary Page Keller in a memorable role as the mother -- so Auntie-Mame hip, yet perhaps a little unhinged. Loosely based on the director's own life (Mike Mills' father also came out in his seventies). Recommended!

SAINT MISBEHAVIN': THE WAVY GRAVY MOVIE - Former Beat poet, Merry Prankster, Woodstock MC, Hog Farm-er, Presidential candidate (sort of), Ben & Jerry's flavor namesake, and philanthropist Wavy Gravy makes for a head-spinningly awesome documentary subject. A one-man embodiment of '60s counter-culture, the man is just inexhaustibly good-willed and goofy, despite battling chronic pain from several back surgeries. The archival footage from the '60s is wonderful, with Wavy giving advice on things like talking people down while they're on LSD. See also: MAGIC TRIP.

TABLOID - This insanely entertaining documentary by Oscar winner Errol Morris (THE THIN BLUE LINE) definitely falls into the "stranger than fiction" category. In 1977, former Miss Wyoming Joyce McKinney kidnapped the Mormon she loved and made him into her sex slave in an effort to deprogram what she felt was Mormon brainwashing. This, of course, made her the darling of the British tabloids at the time. Years later, she would appear in the spotlight again as the first person to have her deceased dog successfully cloned. Interviews with McKinney, former tabloid writers, Mormons, and the Korean scientist who cloned her dog paint a colorful portrait of the woman Morris calls his favorite documentary subject so far. Highly recommended!

MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED -  This hilariously over-the-top cinema doc from the director of NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD takes a look at the explosion of Filippino B-movies during the Imelda Marcos regime. The clips from the films are the most entertaining, but so are the interviews with directors like Roger Coman and John Landis, who are aghast at their own ability to get away with making such ridiculous films under those conditions.

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY - Not to be confused with this year's Australian film about a prostitute, this one is a stunning fairy-tale adaptation by French director Catherine Breillat, part of a trilogy with 2009's BLUEBEARD and the forthcoming BEAUTY & THE BEAST. In this version, Princess Anastasia is a tomboy who falls asleep for 100 years at the wee age of 6, and instead of following events in the world around her sleeping body, the film follows her vivid dream life, where she is the hero and the wanderer-seeker. Other fairy tales are also woven in, notably THE SNOW QUEEN. The art direction is reason enough to watch, with a Kay Nielsen influence, especially the trek through the snow on the back of a deer. Not made for young children, this is very...umm, French.

THE TOPP TWINS: UNTOUCHABLE GIRLS - One of New Zealand's top ten grossing films of all time, this charming documentary tells the story of Jools and Lynda Topp, the world's only yodeling comedy duo of lesbian twin sisters!

MAGIC TRIP - Compiled from never-before-seen documentary footage of Ken Kesey's legendary 1964 cross-country road trip with his Merry Band of Pranksters! Oscar winner Alex Gibney (TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE) helps bring the counter-culture magic to life. See also: THE WAVY GRAVY MOVIE.

THE WEIRD WORLD OF BLOWFLY - "Inventor of hip-hop" Blowfly (aka Clarence Reid) practically gave away the rights to popular R&B songs he wrote for others in the 60s, and now the 70-something musician barely scrapes by with his own bizarre, X-rated lyrical act. This documentary follows Blowfly/Reid and the doting manager who's trying to revive his "brand," sometimes seemingly against his will. I'll never forget seeing him play in Eureka years ago...

DIRTY PICTURES - A fascinating new documentary about Alexander Shulgin, the scientist who synthesized hundreds of psychedelic compounds including MDMA (later known as Esctasy), and tested them on himself.

JULIETTE OF THE HERBS - This hard-to-find documentary chronicles the life and work of Juliette de Bairacli Levy, the renowned herbalist who lived with Gypsies for 60 years in an effort to chronicle in writing the folk remedies that had been only been passed on through spoken word until then. She was also a pioneer of holistic veterinary medicine, and her books are still used as references today. Recommended for anyone interested in holistic medicine or gypsy culture.

TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL - One of those rare films that both critics and audiences liked, this is better than your average scary movie spoof. If you can stick with it through a slow beginning, it has some laugh-out-loud moments in its story about two gentle hillbillies mistaken for psycho killers by a group of preppy college kids camping in the backwoods. The hillbillies, in turn, think that the teens must be part of a suicide cult, because they keep throwing themselves into wood chippers and running into trees...