Ah, blockbuster season, how I’ve missed you. I’d almost forgotten how barren a world can seem without an endless barrage of candy-colored ogres, wisecracking dogs, and hormonal vampires. (Shrek Forever After, Marmaduke, and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.)

Or, if those aren’t hitting the mark, blockbuster season, you kindly provide some great alternatives, letting me choose from a repurposed video game, a rehashed ’80s TV series, and a 3-D piranha eat-em-up. (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The A-Team, and the imaginatively titled Piranha 3D.) Did I mention that that last one is also a remake?

It’s times like these that make sane people call into question the entire Hollywood enterprise. I mean, Marmaduke? Marmaduke? One can’t help but wonder how many millions were spent on what was a grade-C comic strip to begin with—when I was kid, it wasn’t even on the comics page, for crying out loud. It was always pasted into the classifieds somewhere, dumped in with the used lawnmowers, Tank McNamara and snow tires.

Back then I felt a twinge of pity for the Great Dane, but this is obscene. So if you, too, are looking for something a little more thoughtful than the usual fare, here are a few options you won’t hear much about during commercial breaks.

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Coming to Amherst Cinema for a Tuesday night screening is The Jazz Baroness, a documentary that probes the remarkable life—and sudden disappearance—of filmmaker Hannah Rothschild’s great aunt. The results are astounding: following a passion for jazz, the married Baroness Pannonica “Nica” Rothschild not only left her family behind and took up with jazz icon Thelonious Monk and his wife, but also became one of the art form’s most unlikely patrons. Helen Mirren gives voice to the Baroness’ words, while musicians and nobles alike share their (sometimes scandalous) memories of a remarkable woman. Screening as part of the WFCR Jazz Series with Jazz ? la Mode host Tom Reney, the 7 p.m. show includes a short live concert prior to the film and a discussion afterward.

Also at Amherst is ShineFest 2010, a youth cinema series showing at 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 6. Celebrating a decade of work from Act Now!—the organization aims for “empowerment through improvised movie-making” and focuses on the teen years, when girls often feel pressure to tamp down their natural voice—the event features two world premieres, a retrospective of work from the last 10 years, and a talk with the young filmmakers, moderated by local media personality Kelsey Flynn.

Jack Brown can be reached at cinemadope@gmail.com.