With Valentine's Day fast approaching, I anxiously scanned the week's new Instant Netflix releases looking for wonderful love stories you and your significant other could enjoy together. Then I realized I don't really like those kinds of movies and then other, fun stuff caught my eye.

That's not to say this weeks picks are completely devoid of romance. In fact one of the movies highlighted this week is a delightfully understated tale of masked passions wrapped inside a thriller. The other is a post-apocalyptic mutant cannibal movie with a giant machine used to grind people into pulp. You win some, you lose some. Enjoy!

THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES

One of my favorite films of 2010! This Argentinian Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner relies on silent character moments to drive a tense and thrilling narrative. Benjamin Esposito (Ricardo Darin) wants to write a book about a rape/murder case he worked on 25 years earlier, but his long-standing dissatisfaction regarding the conviction of two men he believed to be innocent leads him to revisit his old boss. Irene (Soledad Villamil) is now a judge and upon their first reuniting it is clear they have a history of unspoken feelings. This begins a back-and-forth narrative, jumping between the facts of the original case and Benjamin and Irene's attempts to reconcile evidence of both the case and their not-so-hidden emotions.

It's a wonderfully adult thriller with supreme attention paid to character work. That's not to say it skips on thrills, it is actually quite engaging on a mystery level and contains at least two of my favorite shots in all of the films I saw in 2010.

MINDWARP

No, this isn't MINDWARP: AN INFINITY OF TERROR, the alternate title of the space horror masterpiece GALAXY OF TERROR. Instead, this movie (also known as BRAIN SLASHER) is an early '90s curiosity set in a post-apocalyptic future. Coming just before the real stampede of virtual reality based films, this movie has the survivors of the nuclear disaster living in the Inworld, where they spend their days hooked to a mainframe, living a computer generated existence. However, a girl named Judy demands that the Systems Operator (Angus Scrimm) let her explore the real world. On the hostile outside she meets a drifter named Stover (Bruce Campbell) and the pair are kidnapped by mutant cannibals and taken underground to their leader, Seer (Angus Scrimm again). They must fight for their lives.

Working on a small budget, "Corman School of Filmmaking" alum Steve Barnett keeps things interesting with creative sets, costumes and gore. Wait until you feast your eyes on the human-grinding machine! It is a bit cheesy, sure, but it's a damn entertaining film that has been hard to find until now. (PS - Does anyone else get excited when these VHS-rip video files show tracking lines?)

The Wildcard - THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF LITTLE DIZZLE

In honor of my excitement for the upcoming film festival here in my humble city of Austin, this week's pick is a SXSW alum. One always runs a risk with odd-looking comedies that premier at festivals. They can either be truly funny, sometimes insightful, or they can turn out to be one of those fest comedies that inspire critics to use that q-word (spoiler: the word is 'quirky' and I don't much care for it).

THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF LITTLE DIZZLE is a film that grabbed me with its title and the fact that I enjoyed hating Marshall Allman's character in True Blood. Then I saw the bizarre trailer and it looks worth the risk. The plot centers around Dory, a young man who loses his job, takes a position as a janitor and soon discovers the company is experimenting on their custodial staff. Outside of that little information I gleaned from IMDb, I really have no other idea what this movie is about. Join me this weekend in finding out! Bonus: Natasha Lyonne! (Available in HD)

If you're looking for more...

Yes, it is rather bad, but I have a soft spot for spectacle movies I can have on in the background while writing or knitting, so I'm going to go ahead and suggest you queue PRINCE OF PERSIA. If you're looking for something with a magnificent and well-executed sense of adventure, though, add APOLLO 13. Laurence Olivier directs Marilyn Monroe in the sweet and funny THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL. The Morgan Freeman classic, LEAN ON ME, is available now. FIREFOX isn't just a browser, it's also an early '80s high-flying action film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. Speaking of high-flying, you can enjoy some teens going AIRBONRE, the best rollerblading movie made in the '90s. Another Clint Eastwood film, MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL, is a solid crime drama. The social-class-crossed-lovers story, ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, is also a rich social satire. You'll find red herrings wrapped inside red herrings in the 1967 mystery-thriller, GAMES! It's hard to argue that LESS THAN ZERO is a particularly good film, but to steep yourself in '80s atmosphere and talent (it has a great cast - Andrew McCarthy, James Spader, Robert Downey Jr., etc.), give it a watch. DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER is a decent Western about a rogue lawman. Finally, with the latest batch of additions, all the POLICE ACADEMY sequels are available- 3: BACK IN TRAINING, 4: CITIZEN ON PATROL and 6: CITY UNDER SIEGE complete the set!