Orphan: Devastated by a miscarriage, Kate & John (an unfortunate choice of names) finally decide it’s time to add another member to their family via adoption, so they immediately head to the local orphanage and get suckered in by Esther’s big brown eyes, long curls and creepy two-centuries-ago clothes. The catch? If you don’t know already, Esther has something really, really, really wrong with her. Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard are pretty awesome as the initially clueless ‘rents with a history of their own issues, and 12-year-old Isabelle Fuhrman does an amazing job of giving you the wigs. In short, Orphan is wayyyy better than it has any right to be. A decent scare – rent it for Halloween:

[Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPFQ8I04bvE]

High School Record: A teenage mockumentary mixing comedy and angst, this made-for-$6,500 Indie flick from LA filmmaker Ben Wolfinsohn follows four High School Seniors through their everyday embarrassments, which sounds like your typical “troubled teen” flick, but this one stands out a bit by channeling some realism and by placing the setting in a performing arts school with band members from No Age, Mika Miko, Lavender Diamond, and Minutemen in the starring roles:

[Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To6zxai8cIk]

Whatever Works: Woody Allen’s latest cynical romantic comedy about an older, eccentric New York male who falls for a beautiful young female (Evan Rachel Wood). We all know Allen can write this stuff and write it well, so this is definitely worth a watch – plus he switched it up a bit by having Larry David play what’s usually his part. Throw in Patricia Clarkson (who I love in EVERYTHING forever and ever) and Michael McKean and you’ve sold me on it:

[Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VeTEP3xoXo]