Do It. Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Need another vacation already? How about a weekender to Palm Springs? The desert haven is usually reserved for trips to see grandparents or the stop before Coachella, but this weekend's got something special: the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

And this isn't just some locals-only, small film festival. It's a pretty big event, including the "largest selection of foreign language Oscar submissions of any film festival in the world." How about that? Beyond that are a plethora of other critically-acclaimed films, including Mike Leigh's Another Year, the Lance Bangs-directed and Spike Jonze-produced documentary The Lazarus Effect (for free!), and a retrospective on filmmaker Monte Hellman. Also look for a number of cool documentaries, films from up-and-coming filmmakers, and selections from past festivals. And even the stars come out -- Variety will be honoring Mark Wahlberg with its Indie Impact Award at the fest this weekend, and Michael Douglas will be receiving an Icon Award from the fest next Thursday.

It's definitely worth the trek if you're a film fan and can't make it to Sundance, and hey, you can't beat the Palm Springs weather, can you?

The Palm Springs International Film Festival begins today until Jan. 17. Check here for more details.

-- Chau Tu

Photo credit: Visit Palm Springs