Sherlock Holmes
Guy Ritchie might seem like an oddball choice to helm a project about the classic Victorian sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, but it's a combination that works. Ritchie(Snatch, Rocknrolla) is quick to ramp up the action, and along with the quirky performance by Robert Downey Jr., they turn the detective into a sleek, toned, fighting machine who uses his fists just as much as his keen analytical skills.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
I openly weeped for Jason Lee before the previous Alvin & the Chipmunks film, which I'm sure weighed heavily on his mind as it rang up nearly $300M at the box office. The sequel fared just as well, this time doubling down on the rodent quotient by adding the dreaded Chipettes, who I'm surprised to learn are actually from Australia...and have been known to date human boys as well as chipmunks. Those sluts.
Alice in Wonderland
With Tim Burton's recent remake such a huge hit, now's the perfect time to re-release the wonderfully surreal Disney classic. Features deleted scenes that have been in the mysterious Disney vault for years, as well as a new animated short featuring Mickey Mouse himself.
An Education
I think I had this pre-ordered over a month ago. That's how good Carey Mulligan's Oscar nominated performance is that I literally couldn't wait to own it and watch it again and again. Based on a memoir by Lynn Barber and written by the normally guy-centric Nick Hornby(High Fidelity), An Education is the story of a brilliant young woman who falls into a relationship with a slick and mysterious older man(Peter Saarsgard). One of the best films of 2009.
Baader Meinhof Complex
An often brilliant, exciting German film about the rise and flame out of the Red Army Faction, a radicalized group of terrorists who ran roughshod over Germany throughout the 1970s. The first half of the story plays like some of the best American action movies of the last couple years, although at times you'll beg for just a bit more characterization of some of the group's members. Stars my favorite foreign actress of the moment, Joanna Wokalek, who is on a serious roll after starring in my favorite film of 2010, North Face.
