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We'd like to recommend some under-hyped but more-than-worthy films which you may not have seen this year...

DRAMAS
THE BLACK BALLOON (AUSTRALIA) Elissa Down
WINTER'S BONE (USA) Debra Granik
BARKING WATER (USA) Sterlin Harjo
EVERYONE ELSE (GERMANY) Maren Ede
FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN (IRELAND) Oliver Hirschbiegel
BIG FAN (USA) Robert D. Siegel
PLEASE GIVE (USA) Nicole Holofcener (pictured above)

COMEDIES
CYRUS (USA) Duplass Brothers
THE MAID (CHILE) Sebastián Silva
BLACK DYNAMITE (USA) Scott Sanders (pictured)
GENTLEMEN BRONCOS (USA) Jared Hess
WHITE ON RICE (USA) Dave Boyle
HAPPY TEARS (USA) Mitchell Lichtenstein (son of Roy)
DARK & STORMY NIGHT (USA) Larry Blamire

DOCUMENTARIES
AFGHAN STAR (U.K.) Havana Marking (pictured)
CASINO JACK & THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY (USA) Alex Gibney
RESTREPO (USA) Tim Hetherington, Sebastian Junger
YES MEN FIX THE WORLD (USA) Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno
PRODIGAL SONS (USA) Kimberly Reed
COLLAPSE (USA) Chris Smith

SUSPENSE/THRILLERS
VENGEANCE (HONG KONG) Johnny To (pictured)
TERRIBLY HAPPY (DENMARK) Henrik Ruben Genz
RED RIDING TRILOGY (U.K.) Julian Jarrold, James Marsh, Anand Tucker
THE CHASER (KOREA) Hong-jin Na
EXAM (U.K.) Stuart Hazeldine
HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER (RUSSIA) Aleksei Popogrebsky

SCIENCE FICTION
DAYBREAKERS (USA) Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig (pictured)
METROPIA (SWEDEN) Tarik Saleh, Stig Larsson
COLD SOULS (USA) Sophie Barthes
MOON (U.K.) Duncan Jones
THE BOX (USA) Richard Kelly
SPLICE (CANADA) Vincenzo Natali

HORROR
TRIANGLE (U.K., AUSTRALIA) Christopher Smith
DOGHOUSE (U.K.) Jake West
THE CRAZIES (USA) Breck Eisner
THE NEW DAUGHTER (USA) Luis Berdejo
HOUSE OF THE DEVIL (USA) Ti West (pictured)
PIG HUNT (USA) James Isaac
YOGA (KOREA) Jae-yeon Yun
HUMAN CENTIPEDE (NETHERLANDS) Tom Six

DISTINCTLY BRITISH
LOOKING FOR ERIC (dramedy) Ken Loach
FOUR LIONS (comedy) Chris Morris (pictured)
CEMETERY JUNCTION (dramedy) Ricky Gervais
PERRIER'S BOUNTY (crime) Ian Fitzgibbon
ONDINE (drama) Neil Jordan
HARRY BROWN (crime) Daniel Barber
IN THE LOOP (comedy) Armando Iannucci

TRÉS FRENCH
OSS 117: LOST IN RIO (comedy) Michel Hazanavicius (pictured)
MADEMOISELLE CHAMBON (drama) Stéphane Brizé
LET IT RAIN (dramedy) Agnès Jaoui
WILD GRASS (drama) Alain Resnais
WELCOME (drama) Philippe Lioret

ASIAN INVASION
TOKYO SONATA (JAPAN) Kiyoshi Kurosawa
THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE WEIRD (KOREA) Ji-woon Kim
MOTHER (KOREA) Bong Joon-ho
AIR DOLL (JAPAN) Hirokazu Kore-eda (pictured)

MAGICAL VISUAL WONDERS
THE SECRET OF KELLS (IRELAND) Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey
ALTIPLANO (PERU, BELGIUM) Peter Brosens, Jessica Hope Woodworth (pictured)
MICMACS (FRANCE) Jean-Pierre Jeunet
SON OF MAN (SOUTH AFRICA) Mark Dornford-May
BLUEBEARD (FRANCE) Catherine Breillat
THE PATTERNS TRILOGY (USA) Jamie Travis
THE WIND JOURNEYS (COLOMBIA) Ciro Guerra

MICRO-BUDGET
WAH DO DEM (USA, JAMAICA dramedy) Ben Chace, Sam Fleischner (pictured)
THE EXPLODING GIRL (USA drama) Bradley Rust Gray
THE SNAKE (USA comedy) Adam Goldstein
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF LITTLE DIZZLE (USA comedy) David Russo
RESONNANCES (FRANCE sci-fi/horror) Philippe Robert

CINEMA DOCUMENTARIES
NOLLYWOOD BABYLON (CANADA) Ben Addelman, Samir Mallal
IT CAME FROM KUCHAR (USA) Jennifer M. Kroot
BEST WORST MOVIE (USA) Michael Stephenson
JACK SMITH & THE DESTRUCTION OF ATLANTIS (USA) Mary Jordan (pictured)
NIGHTMARES IN RED WHITE & BLUE (USA) Andrew Monument

"SOMETHING DIFFERENT"
DOGTOOTH (GREECE) Giorgos Lanthimos
A TOWN CALLED PANIC (BELGIUM) Stéphane Aubier
TAXIDERMIA (HUNGARY) György Pálfi (pictured)
I'M GONNA EXPLODE (MEXICO) Gerardo Naranjo
SKELETONS (U.K.) Nick Whitfield
THE SUN (RUSSIA) Aleksandr Sokurov
THE MILK OF SORROW (PERU) Claudia Llosa
WHAT A WAY TO GO: LIFE AT THE END OF EMPIRE (USA) Timothy S. Bennett

VINTAGE RE-ISSUES
MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW (1937, USA) Leo McCarey
VAMPIRE CIRCUS (1972, U.K.) Robert Young (pictured)
BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE (1969, USA) Paul Mazursky
HOUSE (1977, JAPAN) Nobuhiko Ôbayashi
THE MAGICIAN (1958, SWEDEN) Ingmar Bergman
LOUIE BLUIE (1985, USA) Terry Zwigoff
BIGGER THAN LIFE (1956, USA) Nicholas Ray
OSHIMA'S OUTLAW SIXTIES box set (1965 - 1968, JAPAN) Nagisa Oshima

NEW TELEVISION
MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE (USA) Created by Ray Romano, Mike Royce (pictured)
THE TAKE (U.K.) Created by David Drury
PARKS & RECREATION (USA) Created by Greg Daniels, Michael Schur
CRIMINAL JUSTICE (U.K.) Created by Peter Moffat
THE LEAGUE (USA) Created by Jackie & Jeff Schaffer

BREAK-OUT DIRECTOR
Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, for his two stunning English-language releases BRONSON and VALHALLA RISING (pictured), one conjuring the operatic madness of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and the other a mind-bending Viking epic. Refn honed his unique, visually impeccable style with his earlier PUSHER TRILOGY, also available at LDV.
You may also want to check out our Distinguished Customers Top 10 Lists for the year. Or click here for even more lists, including our top choices of the decade!
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