Don’t complain to me about how there are never movies to see. There are always movies. Always.

Let me explain.

Of course, there are some better times of the year than others to see a good film.

You have the ubiquitous crapshoot of summer movie time, consisting of big-budget action thrillers and semi-pretentious indie films, which always excite audiences.

But now in December, we cinephiles are in “pre-Oscar” mode, where studios have been known to spit out over-stylized and under-achieving films.

Fear not, however. What is so magical about the cinema (and where we live) is that there are always options, and if you are in the film going mood, you don’t necessarily have to let a couple of weird movie titles and unusual theaters keep you at home.

I am urging you guys to take a chance at the cinema. In fact, this time of year is quite possibly the best time to do so.

Now is the time to seek out early Oscar contenders at independent theaters.

Now is the time to ignore dreadful films such as “The Warrior’s Way” and “Skyline.”

And most importantly, now is the time to catch up on the films you missed; the cinematic equivalent of turning lemons to lemonade.

Let us take a look at some alternatives filmgoers can check out.

First of all, if any reader has not been to a film at either Garden Cinemas in Norwalk or the Community Theater in Fairfield, please do so immediately.

A lot of the time, these theaters produce some of the most enjoyable and watchable movies while offering a lower ticket price and smaller venue.

Recently, I had the pleasure of catching the film “127 Hours” at Garden Cinemas.

The film was quite possibly the best American film of the year, and I was able to seek it out before the rest of the world had the chance to.

It’s not like the film was an incredibly high-brow or pretentious experience either. In fact, the movie stars A-list actor James Franco and was directed by Danny Boyle, whose last movie was “Slumdog Millionaire,” a film that received an immense amount of praise.

Like I have said in nearly all of my columns, I truly care about the movies my readers see.

Nothing gets me more upset than when people come up to me and tell me how they spent the worst two hours of their lives watching “Life As We Know It.”

As we head deeper into this tundra of pre-Oscar cinema, I want people to recognize that we can still go to movies, and in fact see a film that we would never have chosen to watch in the first place.

If you’re aching for a bellyful of oversalted, buttery popcorn and a bunched-up pair of jeans, don’t settle for Netflix. Go the theater, I promise you will enjoy it.