Week of March 30th

18th & 19th Century England

With Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson, Guy Ritchie brings us Sherlock Holmes this week, parlaying the adventures of the famous sleuth into summer blockbuster fare. As the pair close Watson's final case, ending in the arrest and hanging of the murderous Lord Blackthorn (Mark Strong), Watson leaves to be married and Holmes slinks into his vices. When Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) offers Holmes a new case, all of the clues point to Blackthorn plotting from beyond the grave... so Watson's final case is re-opened, and the reunited duo have to explain supernatural mysteries and resurrections that seem unsolvable by Holmes' means of reason and logic. With Eddie Marsan as Inspector Lestrade. On DVD and Blu Ray.

Caught and sentenced to death for grave robbing, Arthur Blake (Dominic Monaghan) spends his final night telling the tale of his sordid history to an interested priest (Ron Perlman) in I Sell the Dead. Though his story begins as a boy, when Larry Fessenden takes him on as an apprentice, the priest is more interested in his later career, as the graverobbers expanded into more unusual corpses, and he starts to tell the tales of vampires, zombies, and the other usual corpses that led them both to their last days.

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1961

Written by Nick Hornby and set in England in the early 60s, An Education is the coming of age story of Jenny Mellor (Carey Mulligan), and the two paths she sees open to her: the first is to study the cello, English literature, French, and Latin, and attend Oxford; the second is offered by David (Peter Sarsgaard), the charming older man who offers her parties, art, music and trips to Paris. While her father (Alfred Molina) only wants her to be provided for and well connected, Jenny is torn between the fate of her Cambridge educated (but boring) teacher (Olivia Williams) and the high society (but dishonorable) life of the ignorant and ditzy Helen (Rosamund Pike), the consort of David's unsavory business partner (Dominic Cooper).

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How to spell "Sequel"

Continuing the story from the first Alvin & the Chipmunks, Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel reunites Alvin, Simon, and Theodore (Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gruber, and Jesse McCartney)... though Dave (Jason Lee) gets injured and sets the trio loose on L.A. The chipmunks think their stardom will give them the run of the town, but their old manager (David Cross) finds a way to top them and get his revenge: the Chipettes (Amy Poehler, Anna Faris, and Christina Applegate). On DVD and Blu Ray.

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Cultural Uprisings

The origin story of the RAF, Germany's anti-imperialist group that fought against what they saw as a growing fascist state in the 1970s, The Baader Meinhof Complex dramatizes the group's beginnings in 1969, as Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck) and Andreas Baader (Mortiz Bleibtreu) rebelled against a conservative government, declaring that the country's attempt at denazification had failed, and attacked the financial, police, and military institutions in Germany throughout the 70s and 80s. With Narja Uhl.

The documentary Rhyme & Reason is a historical overview of hip hop, featuring almost every star (rappers, MCs, beatboxers, breakers, artists) in the movement. The film recounts the birth of the movement in the Bronx, to the development of gangsta' rap, and the development of the culture as a money maker for major record labels.

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Compassion via fisticuffs

Stuntwoman Diana Lee Inosanto, with countless stunt credits (including Sarah Michelle Gellar's body double in Buffy the Vampire Slayer), writes, directs, and stars in The Sensei. Set in the height of the AIDS panic in a small town in 1985, she is snubbed by her martial artist family because of her gender. When her family's school refuses to help a harassed and abused gay student defend himself, she sees the same kind of prejudice that influenced her own life, and helps the boy to defend himself, body and soul, against an intolerant town.

Mourning the death of his friend and failing at school, Yosuke stops when he sees the beautiful Eri sitting alone, but when he stops to talk to he, she's attacked by a giant, supernatural, chainsaw wielding monster in Negative Happy Chainsaw Edge. Fascinated by Eri, Yosuke accompanies her, night after night, as she travels to fight the same monster over and over again... but if the monster only battles Eri, and neither ever seems to win or lose, the mystery soon becomes about why she chooses to seek out a neverending battle with an indestructible monster.

[X]David Cross:
Mr. Show, Arrested Development

[X]Jason Lee:
Dreamcatcher, The Incredibles

[X]Justin Long:
Jeepers Creepers, Strange Wilderness

[X]Matthew Gray Gruber:
500 Days of Summer, How to Be a Serial Killer

[X]Jesse McCartney:
Pizza, Horton Hears a Who

[X]Amy Poehler:
Southland Tales, Spring Breakdown

[X]Anna Faris:
The House Bunny, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

[X]Christina Applegate:
Anchorman, The Rocker

[X]Martina Gedeck:
The Good Shepherd, The Lives of Others

[X]Mortiz Bleibtreu:
Speed Racer, The Walker

[X]Narja Uhl:
What To Do In Case of Fire, Cherry Blossoms

[X]Nick Hornby:
About a Boy, High Fidelity

[X]Carey Mulligan:
Brothers, Public Enemies

[X]Peter Sarsgaard:
Garden State, Elegy

[X]Olivia Williams:
Rushmore, Flashbacks of a Fool

[X]Alfred Molina:
Chocolat, Silk

[X]Dominic Cooper:
The Duchess, History Boys

[X]Rosamund Pike:
Surrogates, The Libertine

[X]Dominic Monaghan:
The Lord of the Rings, Lost

[X]Larry Fessenden:
Session 9, The Brave One

[X]Ron Perlman:
The Devil's Tomb, City of Lost Children

[X]Louis Mandylor:
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Necessary Roughness

[X]Guy Ritchie:
Snatch, RocknRolla

[X]Robert Downey Jr:
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Chaplain

[X]Jude Law:
Gattaca, Breaking & Entering

[X]Rachel McAdams:
Red Eye, The Lucky Ones

[X]Mark Strong:
Sunshine, Stardust

[X]Eddie Marsan:
21 Grams, Hancock