Amidst the glam and hype of the barrage of new releases, the subject matter of which includes schools for wizards, transforming cars, and 3-D adventures, we tend to overlook the movies that have been released to DVD. These are the films that rose above our expectations and continue to remind us that true cinema is not dead. Here are just a few favorites of mine that I strongly recommend you see.

Welcome to the Dollhouse
In 1995, director/writer Todd Solondz illuminated the Sun Dance Film Festival with his wildly imaginative and hilariously accurate depiction of suburbia. The outrageous tale follows Dawn “Wiener Dog” Wiener (Heather Matarazzo) through the ups and downs of her somewhat tragic 11-year-old life. From feuds with her brother and fights with her sister, to the looming threat of losing the “Special People’s Club,” another person’s misery is rarely this funny. Few movies have managed such humor while maintaining real, relatable characters like this movie does. So I suggest you check it out and find out for yourself why “not all girls want to play with dolls.”

True Romance
After his work on Top Gun, director Tony Scott teamed with the multi-talented Quentin Tarantino to create a 1990s action movie masterpiece. True Romance (1993) is a seamless blend of an untraditional love story and an all out, no holds barred action movie. The film follows newlyweds Clarence and Alabama Worthy (Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette) as they discover that married life isn’t as easy as they had anticipated—especially when you’re wanted by pimps, the police and mobsters. With an all-star cast and cameo appearances by Samuel L. Jackson and Val Kilmer, this movie is a must see.

(500) Days of Summer
This amazingly witty and sexy comedy is comparable to few movies I have seen to date. After enduring countless cheesy, sappy and utterly predictable love stories, it was time for a little relief; an “anti-love story” of sorts. In 2009, director Marc Webb, along with actors Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, delivered exactly that: “Not another love story, a story about love.”

(500) Days of Summer, is a hilarious and imaginative story that sports one of the most relevant titles I’ve ever come across. It’s a tale about finding love through loneliness and of gaining hope when things seem hopeless.

Maybe You Should.

Do you have ideas for movies that you think people should see? Or maybe you have something to tell me about the movies I recommend. Just send me a message and let me know what you think. braddyer91@yahoo.com