"For your consideration," the year's best movies: "Moneyball," "The Artist," "The Descendants," "The Help," "Puss in Boots," yadda yadda. Do MinnPost readers really need yet another year-end list of ad-campaigning Oscar hopefuls?

Didn't think so. Instead, here are 10 great 2011 releases that you may not have seen or even heard about — along with instructions for how to catch up with them ASAP.

1. "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" (Thailand/France/Germany/Spain/U.K.)
The director's name is Apichatpong Weerasethakul — but we can just call him "Joe." (Seriously.) Justly feted by the Tim Burton-led jury at Cannes, Joe's latest has everything you could ever want in a movie — redemption, reincarnation, Bigfoot-like creatures with red-glowing eyes, sexually magical fish (!) — and yet it remains a mysterious object, exhilarating but ethereal. Long may it cast its crazy spell. Available via Netflix (HD streaming, DVD, and Blu-ray).

Courtesy of Strand Releasing

"Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives"

2. "Film Socialisme" (Switzerland)
Eightysomething auteur Jean-Luc Godard's latest and hopefully not last head scratcher makes sense only in relation to its maker's 50 preceding years of provocations — and not necessarily then. Two screenings of the movie at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival were thrilling, but hardly enough. Ask me what it means in … about 50 years. Available via Netflix (DVD only).

Courtesy of Kino Lorber

"Film Socialisme"

3. "Margaret" (U.S.)
Writer-director Kenneth Lonergan's great success with his debut feature, "You Can Count on Me" (not to mention his friends in high places), evidently wasn't enough to get this weird, wonderfully unpredictable comedy with Anna Paquin released for more than a week or two in New York. A local film programmer asked me whether it's "worth getting up in arms about." In a word: yes. Available, or so one hopes, by Twitter petition (#teammargaret); for more info, click here and here.

Courtesy of Fox Searchlight

"Margaret"

4. "Mysteries of Lisbon" (Portugal/France)
Prostitution, murder, romance, war and spiritual malaise — all in a mere four-and-a-half hours from the late, great Raul Ruiz ("Time Regained"). Available Jan. 17 via Netflix and/or Amazon.com (DVD and Blu-ray).

Courtesy of Music Box Films

"Mysteries of Lisbon"

5. "Project Nim" (U.S.)
Never mind Spielberg's "War Horse": This documentary biopic of the '70s chimp picked to endure an "experiment" in simian sign language and general neglect pulls human heartstrings as wrenchingly as any creature feature in the 45 years since "Au Hasard Balthazar." Available Feb. 7 via Netflix and/or Amazon.com (DVD and Blu-ray).

Courtesy of Roadside Attractions

"Project Nim"

6. "The Sleeping Beauty" (France)
Following "Bluebeard," director Catherine Breillat's second tweaking of a classic fairy tale is even more dreamy. Available via Netflix (streaming and DVD).

Courtesy of Strand Releasing

"The Sleeping Beauty"

7. "Meek's Cutoff" (U.S.)
Michelle Williams may well get an Oscar soon for playing Marilyn Monroe, but she's even better in this gritty revisionist Western from writer-director (and Walker Art Center guest of honor) Kelly Reichardt. Available via Netflix (HD streaming, DVD, Blu-ray).

Courtesy of Oscilloscope

"Meek's Cutoff"

8. "The Interrupters" (U.S.)
"Hoop Dreams" director Steve James returns to his native Chicago for another sprawling documentary look at the struggles — and the resilience — of the city's African-American underclass. Available Feb. 14 via Amazon.com (DVD only).

Courtesy of Cinema Guild

"The Interrupters"

9. "Higher Ground" (U.S.)
"The Departed" proved that Vera Farmiga can act; this engrossing drama of religious faith (and doubt) proves she can direct as well. From where I sit, "Higher Ground" is right up there with "Household Saints" — and that's no faint praise. Available Jan. 10 via Netflix and/or Amazon.com (streaming, DVD, Blu-ray).

Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

"Higher Ground"

10. "Go Go Tales" (Italy/U.S.)
Four years ago in Cannes, apropos of this portrait of the artist as a strip-club owner (Willem Dafoe), director Abel Ferrara asked me, "Whaddya love about it so much?" For the answer, click here — or, better yet, peep at the pic yourself. Available via Amazon.com (Italian import DVD only; requires region-free player).

Courtesy of Bellatrix Media

"Go Go Tales"

Honorable Mentions (alphabetical): "A Dangerous Method," "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "Hall Pass," "Hugo," "Martha Marcy May Marlene," "The Other Woman," "A Separation," "Shame," "The Skin I Live In" and "The Tree of Life."

Well Worth Seeing in 2012 (alphabetical): "The Deep Blue Sea" "Duch, Master of the Forges of Hell," "4:44 Last Day on Earth," "Hors Satan," "Killer Joe," "Miss Bala," "This Is Not a Film," "The Turin Horse," "Union Square" and "Without."

R.I.P.: Robert Breer ("Eyewash"); Vittorio De Seta ("The Time of the Swordfish"); Tim Hetherington ("Restrepo"); Leonard Kastle ("The Honeymoon Killers"); George Kuchar ("Hold Me While I'm Naked"); Richard Leacock ("Happy Mother's Day"); Sidney Lumet ("Network"); Raul Ruiz ("Mysteries of Lisbon"); Ken Russell ("The Devils"); and 309 Oak St. SE, Mpls.