After a summer crammed with blockbuster after blockbuster, autumn brings an opportunity to stay in, snuggle up against the chill and watch new movies you missed or catch some classics you've never seen.

With the help of local film experts, movie buffs and the INtake staff, we're offering you plenty of recommendations for what to rent. With all these options, you'll never have to go blindly searching for flicks.

We also look at various options for getting movies into your home in an age when digital technology is changing the way we're entertained at home.

So pop up some buttered corn and pour yourself a Coke. It's movie time.

Renting in person

While the city still abounds with neighborhood video stores, most are part of national chains. Overnight new-release rentals, for example, run $3.49 at Blockbuster or $2.59 at Family Video.

Redbox DVD vending machines, located at local grocery stores and McDonald's locations, offer new releases for $1 per night. Customers can go to redbox.com to see what's available and register to have DVDs held at the location of their choosing. The movies can be returned to any Redbox kiosk.

Meanwhile, independently owned Mass Ave Video at 922 Massachusetts Ave. continues to succeed with its more than 15,000 titles that all rent for $3.75 for two nights.

Movies in the mail

Even smaller operations like Mass Ave Video are moving toward offering films as legal online downloads. Mass Ave owners Rick Cook and Keith Washington already offer adult films by download on their site, massavevideo.com. They plan to soon offer regular films that way, too.

In the meantime, several national services offer ways to get movies through the Web.

Netflix

Currently the most popular way people rent videos online, customers pay from $4.99 to $23.99 per month to be able to choose from 85,000 titles. Netflix mails the DVDs, and the customer watches and mails it back in provided pre-posted envelopes. Within a day or two, the next movie on the customer's list arrives in the mail.

*Blockbuster Online *

The main competition for Netflix, Blockbuster adds a new wrinkle to the Netflix system by allowing customers the option of returning movies received by mail to stores and exchanging them on the spot. That way people don't have to wait at all. Rates are $9.99 to $17.99.

Intelliflix

While several other companies offer services on the Netflix / Blockbuster Online model, Intelliflix is the only other provider with a huge selection of movies (about 60,000). And, unlike Netflix and Blockbuster, it also offers adult films. Rates are $3.99 to $19.95 per month for regular films and $5.99 to $27.95 for adult DVDs.

Peerflix

Another online service, Peerflix doesn't really offer rental. Instead, it is an organized way for individuals to trade DVDs online and send them through the mail.

The Peerflix interface makes the connection between its members (there are more than 250,000) and charges 99 cents plus postage for this service.

Log on and watch

Netflix is also offering, as part of its regular membership, streaming movies that can be watched on home PCs. This service, which is not compatible with Macs, is easy to use and simple to set up. Different membership levels offer more or fewer hours of PC viewing.

Since these movies aren't downloaded, there's no concern about hard drive space or long download waits.

But Netflix is just one company in the online movie business. Here are some others to check out:

CinemaNow

Offers more than 4,000 titles from the top studios and TV shows for rental download or streaming viewing. Most rentals are $2.99 to $3.99 for pay-per-movie rental. This service, which also offers HD and adult films, doesn't work with Macs. It offers movies that can be downloaded and, for some, burned to DVD from $8.99 to $19.99.

Movielink

With more than 1,000 films and television programs, this service offers movies for rent from 99 cents to $4.50 and download options.

Amazon Unbox

First a bookstore and now just about everything else, Amazon partnered with the movie database site IMDB and its movie download service, Unbox. It requires its own video player, which users must download, and works with TiVo DVRs. Rentals start at $2.99 and movies start at $14.99 to buy.

Apple iTunes

Located at the same place where music is available for download at 99 cents a song, TV shows cost $1.99 and most movies are $9.99 or $14.99. These movies can be viewed on the computer, iPod or on a TV monitor.

The least expensive way to get these on the TV is to attach an AV cable to the headphone jack of a video iPod and connect to the component input on a TV.

Apple also sells an Apple TV system ($299-$399) that allows video to stream to your TV wirelessly from the computer. It even offers a cool function that lets you sit on the couch and search for and watch YouTube videos.

Local film aficionados give suggestions of what to watch

Stephen Conway, President of the Indiana Film Society

Cult Classic

"Lost Skeleton of Cadavra." A dedicated scientist, aided by his clueless wife, rolls up his shirtsleeves and tries to save the world in this sendup of the best of the B movies of the 1950s.

Action/Adventure

"District 13." Set in the ghettos of Paris in 2010, an undercover cop and ex-thug try to infiltrate a gang in order to defuse a neutron bomb.

Animated

"A Scanner Darkly." An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result.

Suspense/Thriller

"The Machinist." An industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his sanity.

Comedy

"Idiocracy." To test its Hibernation Project, the Pentagon picks the most average Americans it can find -- an Army private (Luke Wilson) and a prostitute (Maya Rudolph) -- and sends them to the year 2505 after a series of freak events. But when they arrive, they find a civilization so dumbed-down that they're the smartest people around.

Independent/Art House

"The Fountain." Spanning more than 1,000 years and three parallel stories, "The Fountain" is a story of love, death, spirituality and the fragility of existence.

Foreign

"Tampopo." In what is billed as the first Japanese "Noodle Western," Goro and Gun are truck drivers passing through town when they meet Tampopo, who runs a small noodle shop called Lai Lai. Business is grim, so Goro recruits a group of specialists to help devise the perfect bowl of noodles and make her shop the leading Ramen den in town. (In Japanese.)

Horror

"Mothman Prophecies." Reporter Richard Gere is plunged into a world of impossible terror and unthinkable chaos when fate draws him to a sleepy West Virginia town whose residents are being visited by a great winged shape.

Sci-fi

"Donnie Darko" (director's cut). Troubled teen, Donnie Darko, has a vision that the world will end in 28 days.

Romantic Comedy

"Mostly Martha." In a German restaurant, chef Martha Klein is the undisputed supreme ruler of the kitchen staff and woe to any customer who would dare criticize her cooking. All that changes when her sister dies in a car accident, leaving behind her headstrong 8-year-old daughter, Lina. (In German.)

Drama

"The Constant Gardener." A widower is determined to get to the bottom of a potentially explosive secret involving his wife's murder, big business and corporate corruption.

Documentary

"Genghis Blues." Blind blues musician and composer Paul Peña makes a pilgrimage to far away Tuva to learn from the masters and compete in a throat-singing contest.

Recent release

"Stardust." In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he'll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm.

*What are some things you do to make watching movies at home a more enjoyable experience?*

Turn the lights down and turn the phone ringers off. Nothing worse than a shrill ring during a quiet or dramatic moment!

*Where do you normally get the movies you watch?*

Netflix. Their catalog and service is second to none.

Pamela E. Powell, Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival director

Cult Classic

"Easy Rider."

Action/Adventure

"Sin City."

Animated

"Mononoke-hime"

Suspense/Thriller

"Reservoir Dogs," "The Killing."

Comedy

"Serial Mom."

Independent/Art House

"High Art," "Dancing Outlaw."

Foreign

"Cidade de Deus (City of God)," "Run Lola Run."

Horror

"Repulsion."

Sci-fi

"Donnie Darko."

Romantic Comedy

"Benny & Joon," "But I'm a Cheerleader."

Drama

"Cool Hand Luke," "Empire of the Sun."

Recent release

"Stardust."

*What are some things you do to make watching movies at home a more enjoyable experience?*

Watch with friends and cocktails.

*Where do you normally get the movies you watch?*

Mass Ave Video or Netflix.

Brian Owens, Indianapolis International Film Festival executive

Cult Classic

"Beyond the Valley of the Dolls," directed by Russ Meyer from an infamous script by Roger Ebert. Whether it was intentional or not -- some claim it's the biggest joke every played on a major studio -- it's hilarious. Wrong in every way, but hilarious.

Action/Adventure

"The Seven Samurai" by Akira Kurosawa. It's really the template for so many action movies to follow.

Animated

"Spirited Away" by Hayao Miyazaki. I got to see the North American premiere of the film at Toronto with Miyazaki present. There's no more beautiful strange head trip out there.

Suspense/Thriller

"The Wages of Fear" by H.G. Clouzot. It's like an anti-action movie, but you can't have a more intense setup. Three desperate men are hired to transport nitroglycerine across the mountains without the proper equipment to make it safe. I've never been so nervous about a truck traveling at 3 mph.

Comedy

There have been so many great comedies over the years, but I'd have to go with "The Philadelphia Story." It's never gotten old and I laugh out loud every time I see it.

Independent/Art House

I'm going to go back a few years and grab "You Can Count on Me." Ken Lonergan's script is realism defined and Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo are two of my favorite actors and this movie is the reason why.

Foreign

Well, since half of mine are foreign, I'll choose a current foreign release (and one we featured at the festival in '06) "U-Carmen eKhayelitsha," a South African take on Bizet's "Carmen." Pauline Malefane as Carmen is a diva in the truest sense of the word.

Horror

"The Eye" by the Pang Brothers. Lions Gate is releasing an English-language remake next year. Don't wait for it. Turn the lights out, rent the original Thai film and prepare to get creeped out. Scarier than "The Ring" by a mile.

Sci-fi

"The Day the Earth Stood Still." Brilliant parable and eerily timely still today.

Romantic Comedy

"Annie Hall" by the Woodster. I saw this film for the first time probably 20 years ago and I still quote lines from it. Woody Allen at his peak, and how can you not fall in love with Diane Keaton?

Drama

I'll go recent on this one and recommend "Away From Her" by Sarah Polley. Julie Christie is devastating as a woman diagnosed with Alzheimer's. It sounds depressing, but Polley handles the film with such grace and the characters are all treated with such dignity.

Documentary

"Hoop Dreams" by Steve James and crew. Just watch this movie and especially watch for what's really going on. This may be the greatest basketball movie ever made. Sorry, "Hoosiers," you're a close No. 2. Whittling more than five years of footage down to the final three hours is an amazing filmmaking feat.

Recent release

"The Graduate" is out in a special 40th-anniversary edition. I love this movie so much that I seriously think I'm going to go watch it again tonight.

*What are some things you do to make watching movies at home a more enjoyable experience?*

You have to turn the lights out and you have to know the movie. Some movies require having friends over -- comedy or horror, for instance; others, you want to curl up on the couch all by yourself and just get lost in it.

*Where do you normally get the movies you watch?*

More and more I get the recent stuff via On-Demand. The classics I either rent at Mass Ave Video or through GreenCine.com. It's like Netflix for those who love the arts and classics. I seriously recommend it.

**Scott Grow, Member of Indianapolis International Film Festival selection committee**

Cult Classic

"Dune," "Flash Gordon."

Action/Adventure

"Adventures of Robin Hood," "Excalibur."

Animated

"Akira," "Iron Giant," "Princess Mononoke" (or any other film by Hayao Miyazaki).

Suspense/Thriller

"The Usual Suspects," "The Thin Man."

Comedy

"Animal House," "Harvey," "Dazed and Confused."

Independent/Art House

"The Taste of Tea," "8 Women."

Foreign

"La Dolce Vita," "Contempt."

Horror

"Alien," "The Shining," "Cemetery Man."

Sci-fi

"Solaris" by Andre Tarkovsk and "Thing From Another World."

Romantic Comedy

"Down With Love," "Holiday" (1938).

Drama

"A Face in the Crowd," "Cool Hand Luke."

Documentary

Michael Apted's "Up" series.

Recent release

"Sunshine," "Inland Empire."

*What are some things you do to make watching movies at home a more enjoyable experience?*

Make it a weekly event with friends along with drinks and snacks.

*Where do you normally get the movies you watch?*

Laser's Edge (in Carmel), borrow from friends, Netflix or purchase online.

**Maryann M. Koopman, Film and research coordinator, Heartland Truly Moving Pictures**

Cult Classic

"A River Runs Through It." While not your typical "cult classic," this film definitely has a loyal following and is one of the most beautifully shot and moving true-to-life tales I've ever seen.

Action Adventure

"Back to the Future."

Animated

"Toy Story 2." This was a very hard choice for me because I love animated films, but it won out because I love the story so much.

Suspense/Thriller

"Rear Window." How can you not choose a stunning combo like Alfred Hitchcock, Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly?

Comedy

"Some Like It Hot." They don't make them like this anymore!

Independent/Art House

"In America." I'm always surprised at how few people have seen this amazing film.

Foreign

"Chungking Express." It's quirky, but the characters and their antics will stick in your mind for a long time.

Horror

"Pan's Labyrinth."

Sci-fi

"Signs" from M. Night Shyamalan. Since this isn't my favorite genre, I look for something in the story that pulls me in, and while this film had its flaws, I found the performances and plot very engaging and very moving.

Romantic Comedy

"Stranger Than Fiction."

Drama

(Tie) "Finding Neverland" and "A Beautiful Mind."

Documentary

"The Hip Hop Project."

Recent release

"Stardust." I love Claire Danes, but Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer absolutely steal the show.

*What are some things you do to make watching movies at home a more enjoyable experience?*

Get rid of the noise. Turn off fans and cell phones and no talking! I also like having Hawaiian pizza and Newcastle if I'm at home. And, of course, the best kind of movie-watching experience is spent sitting next to a loved one (as long as he doesn't talk).

*Where do you normally get the movies you watch?*

Netflix, Movie Gallery or Best Buy.

*Dylan Griffith, Film director, "Red Harvest" *

Cult Classic

"Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer," directed by John McNaughton.

Action/Adventure

"The Killer" by John Woo.

Animated

"Perfect Blue" by Satoshi Kon.

Suspense/Thriller

"Thesis" by Alejandro Amenabar.

Comedy

"Top Secret" by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker.

Independent/Art House

"Ganja and Hess" by Bill Gunn.

Foreign

"Europa" by Lars von Trier.

Horror

"Black Christmas" (the original) by Bob Clark.

Sci-fi

"Brazil" by Terry Gilliam.

Romantic Comedy

"Better Off Dead" by Savage Steve Holland.

Drama

"In the Mood For Love" by Wong Kar-wai.

Documentary

"F for Fake" by Orson Welles.

Recent release

"The Descent" by Neil Marshall.

*What are some things you do to make watching movies at home a more enjoyable experience?*

With more people watching movies at home I think there is a greater potential for split-attention viewing; the phone rings, someone comes over, I have to send a really important e-mail, etc. And that sucks. I watch them late at night when there are no distractions or social obligations. Sometimes with pizza and beer.

*Where do you normally get the movies you watch?*

My collection, my friends' collections, Mass Ave Video.

Rick Cook, One of the owners of Mass Ave Video

Cult Classic

"El Topo / Holy Mountain."

Action/Adventure

"The Lookout."

Animated

"Renaissance" or "A Scanner Darkly."

Suspense/Thriller

"Breach" or "Perfume."

Comedy

"Blades of Glory" or "Year of the Dog."

Independent/Art House

"Broken English" or "Inland Empire."

Foreign

"The Lives of Others," "Take My Eyes," "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" or "Volver."

Horror

"The Abandoned."

Sci-fi

"The Host."

Romantic Comedy

"Griffin & Phoenix" or "The Holiday."

Drama

"Away From Her."

Documentary

"Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film," "A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash," "Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus."

Recent release

"Heroes" TV series.

Joe Shearer, INtake movie reviewer and correspondent

Cult Classic

I just saw "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song." Very interesting movie.

Action/Adventure

"Die Hard" is still the standard.

Animated

"The Incredibles," dynamic action, great heart, family-friendly.

Suspense/Thriller

"Jaws" is NOT a horror movie. Great film, though.

Comedy

"The Jerk" or "Sideways."

Independent/Art House

"Boys Don't Cry." Just a heartbreaking film.

Foreign

"Oldboy" is wicked cool.

Horror

"The Shining" remains one of the most terrifying movies ever made.

Sci-fi

"Starship Troopers." A lot of people didn't get that movie. The humans were Nazis, folks!

Romantic Comedy

"Knocked Up" is the best in a long time.

Drama

"The Hustler." No, "L.A. Confidential." Ooh, ooh! "Jackie Brown."

Documentary

"Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer" and the companion "Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer."

Recent release

Gotta go with "Superbad."

*What are some things you do to make watching movies at home a more enjoyable experience?*

Turn on the surround sound!

*Where do you normally get the movies you watch?*

I buy a lot, or rent from Blockbuster -- even though they'd rather have 25 copies of "Are We Done Yet?" than one copy of "The Host."