Entertainment

‘It’s a Wonderful Life.” “Miracle on 34th Street.” “Holiday Inn.” “A Christmas Story.” “Elf.” Turn on your TV at any point during the holiday season and any of these movies are bound to show up at some point. As great as they may be, you start to crave a little more variety every time an angel gets its wings or Natalie Wood tugs on Kris Kringle’s beard. Christmas is as much about tradition as anything else, which is why we tend to watch the same movies every year. But for anyone looking for something a bit different, here are eight cinematic offerings that might help you put together a more offbeat Christmas film festival. These films may have tinseled trees, guys in big red suits and snow as far as the eye can see, but they’re certainly not traditional and, with the exception of a couple, are best enjoyed after the little ones go to bed.

“The Armstrong Lie” is about as angry and confrontational as documentary titles get, but filmmaker Alex Gibney has good reason to feel aggrieved. One of the top documentarians working today, with films such as “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” and the Oscar-winning “Taxi to the Dark Side” to his credit, Gibney was finishing a Lance Armstrong film with a very different, more upbeat title, “The Road Back,” when the evidence became indisputable that the cyclist had used performance-enhancing drugs.

For 12-13-2013

Dylan Thomas taught us all we ever need to know about old age, death and dying: “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Woodrow “Woody” Grant makes his rage a quest. He’s 80ish. He’s gotten a letter in the mail that tells him he “may have already won” a million bucks in a magazine sales sweepstakes. And by God, he’s going to get from Billings to Lincoln, Neb., to collect it.

Spokane is on a lot of lists. Hard to believe that one of them is No. 1 most mispronounced city. It’s SpoKAN, not SpoKANE, people. Nevertheless, the Lilac City is apparently a friendly, outdoorsy, inexpensive, giving place to live with only a couple of drawbacks. “If it’s something good, that catches our attention,” said Kevin Dudley, Greater Spokane Incorporated’s marketing coordinator, whose organization uses the rankings to help promote the city to businesses.

Five Spokane drivers have ignored the city’s parking laws with abandon, each collecting more than 200 tickets. The sum of all those violations exceeds $30,000 in fines.

1 ‘The SantaLand  Diaries’ This comedy, written by David Sedaris and adapted by Joe Mantello, centers on a surly slacker who takes a job as an elf at Macy’s.

Known as the hilarious woman with a million voices or the surreal comedian with a million anxieties, stand-up comedian and voice-over artist. When: Saturday, 9 p.m.

As unlikely as it seems, “Elvira,” the country crossover hit from 1981, has a Spokane connection. That’s according to one of the men behind the song, Oak Ridge Boy Richard Sterban.

“Fruitvale Station” Based on the true story of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Rated R. Showings Friday at 7 and 9:30 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. University of Idaho, Student Union Building Ballroom, Borah Theater, 709 Deakin Ave., Moscow. Free. (208) 885-7251. “Into the Mind” Ski and board film by Sherpa’s Cinema. Friday, 7 p.m., Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave., Sandpoint. $15. (208) 263-9191.

Gallery glance What: Von Holt is an internationally recognized teacher and painter of Sumi-e, an Asian art form featuring painting with ink.

For 12-06-2013