Thanks for your many anniversary wishes. Vidiots is grateful and happy to have just celebrated 24 years of providing the best movies we can find to our community and loyal customers. We truly appreciate your support.

December Specials: We've got some great specials to make stretching your dollar a little easier this season. During December, rent three movies and get one for free, open to both members and non-members. (Regular late fees apply.) On Christmas Day, if you come into the store, you can get purchase 10 rentals for only $25.00. (One per customer; rentals can be used anytime.) And if you buy a gift ceriticate for 25.00 or more, we'll also give you a Vidiots T-shirt.

Congratulations! Staff member Aimee gave birth recently to lovely son Henry Huss, joining sister Phoebe and dad Damon in one of the kindest, happiest families you could ever hope to meet.

Welcome to Francis, the newest member of the Vidiots staff. Francis worked at the legendary Kim's Video in New York for two years.

Find insightful DVD reviews from Vidiots staff member Ryan Marker in the latest print editions of Filter magazine.

Holiday Shopping: For your holiday shopping consideration, we suggest you skip the malls and big-box stores. Park easily in the back of Vidiots, grab a delicious cup of coffee from the new Flying Saucers café next door, and leisurely browse our eclectic selection of DVDs and Blu-Rays. You'll be supporting local independent businesses and you'll be much saner. Here are some gift ideas:

Deluxe Packages: "The Collected Speed Racer Cartoons" in a white tin Speed Racer-mobile! "The Big Lebowski" in a small bowling ball! The 70th Anniversary "The Wizard of Oz" in a Technicolor box. These special gifts would surely bring some smiles.

New Boxed Sets and DVDs of Interest: Surprise someone with a personally-chosen film; they'll appreciate the thoughtfulness. Our sale films include:

• The Golden Age of Television: Boxed Set including many powerhouse 50's dramas
• Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens
• Lenny Bruce Performance Films
• Jonas Mekas: Walden (Diaries, Notes and Sketches)
• The Astaire-Rogers Collection
• Where the Wild Things Are and Five Other Maurice Sendak Stories
• Anvil: The Story of Anvil
• Valentino: The Last Emperor
• The Prisoner: The Complete Original Series

We can also special order a title for you and have it waiting for you at the counter. Give us a call and let us help!

Upcoming Releases: The end of the year is a bonanza for release of titles new on DVD, including "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "It Might Get Loud," "Julie and Julia," "District 9," "Humpday," "Inglorious Basterds," and "The Hangover (Unrated Version.)"

Hidden Gems: Need some films while wrapping presents or staying in on a chilly night? Check out these titles tucked in with our New Arrivals.

Better Off Ted: It's a small miracle that this supremely silly series has survived the short-attention span of network TV, and I can't recommend it enough. Portia DeRossi does her comic Ice Princess thing to perfection, and Jonathan Slavin shines among many in a terrific supporting cast.

Silent Light: Director Carlos Reygadas continues to develop the new school of Mexican filmmaking that combines stunningly framed images, long takes, and meditations on the flesh in this examination of a Mennonite community. (See also: Julian Hernandez' "Broken Sky")

Funny People: Before this movie came out, I would have told you I'd be the last person in to see it. Though I'd enjoyed Judd Apatow in the past, the choice of Adam Sandler in the lead completely repelled me. So I'm here to say I was wrong. This movie deserved far better reviews and attention than it got. Sandler is terrific (there, I said it) and the film is insightful and layered.

Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic: The Inaugural Concert

Pale Force: Hilarious animated shorts from Jim Gaffigan and Conan O'Brien

Tom's Pick of the Month: They Killed Sister Dorothy
My holiday pick isn't a heartwarming classic, and it's not a quirky Euro-Christmas tale. But when thinking about trees, or churches or the supposed celebration of the birth of a man who radically fought against greed and selfishness... well, I think "They Killed Sister Dorothy" fits. Sister Dorothy Strang gave decades of her life to living with, and fighting for, the people and environment of the Brazilian state of Para. Para, as shown here, is, or was, a lush canopy of rainforest. Poor villagers strive for a sustainable rural life there, but are threatened by a large consortium of ruthless rogue loggers who are out to slash-and-burn the land for quick profit. The gentle, tiny Sr. Dorothy proves to be a formidable champion for the people and forest, and as you might guess, is assassinated. But that's all revealed in just the first 10 minutes of this absorbing documentary. The rest of the film captures the jaw-dropping, fascinating and infuriating trial of her murderers, a trial that gripped Brazil (and was barely reported in the U.S.) Even if you're just a fan of courtroom thrillers or a "Law and Order" addict, this film works: it's got some stunning turnarounds, and truly nerve-jangling moments. There's also the post-Chomsky version of an amoral defense team, a syndicate of loggers that seems to have modeled itself after The Sopranos, and a courtroom audience that needs far more than justice for a fallen prophet. There are several points when that unfurl with equal parts disbelief and rapture; even the background details of the Brazilian trial system can lead to a meditation on the legacy of colonialism. If you've ever gotten fatigued on the issue of preserving the rainforests, this movie may tell you what you didn't know you didn't know and offers a new urgency. In the season's greetings of a sobering year, "Sr. Dorothy" speaks of hard-edged peace, fraying hope, and dangerously righteous joy.