“Do you know the great literature of your daaaaaaaaaay? Do you know the great paintings of your daaaaaaaaay? Do you know the great poetry of your daaaaaaaaay?

Journalists Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger are no strangers to reporting from the front lines. What we consider dangerous and hostile combat territory, they call a day at the office. On assignment for Vanity Fair, the pair found themselves in Afghanistan reporting on the war. The result is Restrepo, a documentary that chronicles the one-year deployment of a platoon of American soldiers at an outpost in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan.

The crown is under contention in mid-12th century England, a time known as The Anarchy. King Stephen is in power but the forces of Empress Maud are closing in. Fierce and ruthless, Maud is determined to reclaim the throne as the only legitimate royal heir now that her brother, William Adelin, has been lost with the sinking of the White Ship. As the last in the paternal bloodline of William the Conquerer, Maud is primally irked at the usurper king who sent her into exile — and she’s out for blood. When Starz set out to cast the role of the lionhearted queen for their epic, 8-hour miniseries, “The Pillars of the Earth” — based on the novel by Ken Follett about the battle-ridden construction of a cathedral in a small market town — the network was tasked with finding a young actor skilled and seasoned beyond her years. A 20-something who could believably garner the loyalty of a nation and humble the likes of “Deadwood”’s Ian McShane. Alison Pill was their pick and she does not disappoint.

Ejiofor was born in London to Nigerian parents who emigrated to Europe after the Biafran war and he’s been living in Los Angeles for the last two years. Having taken stage and screen by storm, he’s won the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for the title role in “Othello,” and showcased his formidable acting chops in films like Steven Spielberg’s Amistad (1997), Dirty Pretty Things (2002) with Audrey Tautou, Love Actually (2003) with Keira Knightley, Woody Allen’s Melinda and Melinda (2004), Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men (2006), Talk to Me (2007) with Don Cheadle, David Mamet’s Redbelt (2008), and this summer’s intensely awaited action thriller, Salt, with Angelina Jolie and Liev Schreiber.

Of all things associated with the word Smurf, let alone a woman who has known the gift of being a mother, few are as awful as the ever-smiling matron who rules Australia’s Animal Kingdom. Just don’t mistake the grandmother who gave birth to its criminal brood as being some machine-gun toting Ma Barker. For in writer-director David Michod’s brutal, and brilliantly realistic debut film about the family woes of ex-gang life, Grandma Smurf (i.e. Janine Cody) hides her killer instinct beneath a calm, Cheshire-cat-grinning façade. She’s a woman who’d sip afternoon tea with the same calmness as ordering a hit, turning a blind eye to the murder and mayhem that go on under her roof.

Eddie Redmayne radiates an infectious enthusiasm. The Tony-winning actor’s cheerful passion about his work has a way of pulling you in, and as we chat with him we realize that this strength of emotion is what makes his characters so compelling. The rapidly ascending stageand- screen performer takes on intense personalities whose thoughts and feelings are racing even in silence. In “The Pillars of the Earth,” Starz Entertainment’s grand 12th century tale of the building of a cathedral, the London-born talent plays Jack Jackson, who begins as a mute 17-year-old living in a cave with his mother. Though he doesn’t talk for much of the two-hour premiere episode, the fire behind his eyes speaks volumes. As his skills as a sculptor come to light, he begins to share with the outside world the storm of creativity he’d long kept to himself — but it’s no easy task for the outcast, illegitimate son of a fugitive mother (Natalia Wörner) accused of sorcery to get on in a society steeped in mistrust and superstition. And falling head over heels for Aliena (Hayley Atwell), a young woman of royal birth who’s vowed above all else to reclaim her family’s title, throws his life into chaos. Slowly but surely, however, his apprenticeships to his stepfather, master mason Tom Builder (Rufus Sewell), and to devoted monk Prior Philip (Matthew Macfadyen),

lead Jack to become the story’s flawed and unlikely hero. The eight-hour miniseries is based on the 1989 novel by Ken Follett, and co-stars Ian McShane as the villainous Waleran Bigod and Donald Sutherland as Bartholomew, Earl of Shiring.

In Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, a romantically challenged guitarist (Michael Cera) must face off against seven formidable members from The League of Evil Exes if he’s ever to get the woman of his dreams (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) — let alone have the chance for an uneventful date with her. Old fogey moviegoers might have the same feeling when it comes to escaping the super villainy of Edgar Wright, who continues to squeeze their demo from the multiplex. For when it comes to filmmakers who embody the videogame-age generation that’s ruling the theaters, then Edgar Wright likely places number one in the League of Film Geek Directors.

The film industry, like most of then world, was introduced to 33-yearold Piper Perabo when the Dallas, Texas, native was cast as Violet Sanford in the 2000 Jerry Bruckheimer- backed blockbuster, Coyote Ugly. Engaging, likable, and beautiful, Perabo was a natural fit for the career path she followed over the next 10 years, moving from lighthearted family fare like Beverly Hills Chihuahua, to Cheaper By the Dozen 1 and 2 with Steve Martin, to indie romantic comedies like the charming Imagine Me & You with Lena Headey, and Perfect Opposites alongside Martin Henderson.