Got a real movie buff on your gift list—the kind who’s always going on about how the movies that you and everyone else you know watch are worthless Hollywood crap? (Kind of like what my family has to deal with.) DVDs aren’t always the best idea; do you really want to run the risk of buying them something they’re likely to sneer at behind your back after struggling to look grateful to your face?

Instead, why not take them out to a movie of their own choosing? The best thing is that you don’t even have to go with them! Gift certificates from the locally-owned Dipson Theatres mean that cinephiles stand a better-than-average chance of using them to see something they’ll actually like. The Dipson Theatres, which specialize in independent and foreign fare, include the North Park, Amherst, and Eastern Hills Mall theaters. They can also be used at the more mainstream Market Arcade and McKinley Mall cinemas, in case your giftee is only pretending to have better taste than you but really plans to see every new Steve Martin movie the day it comes out. Available singly and in books of five or 10 admissions at all Dipson locations or online at www.DipsonTheatres.com.

Also consider a gift certificate from the Toronto International Film Festival Group. These can be used at next September’s edition of the massive film festival a short hop to the north. They can also be used year-round at the Cinematheque Ontario, which programs a regular feast of new and classic world cinema in Toronto. Available online at www.tiffg.ca, or call 416-968-FILM.