AN EDUCATION PG-13, 2009, $28.96; Blu-ray, $38.96 The basics: In this coming-of-age tale set in 1960s Britain, an innocent teen- ager (Carey Mulligan) learns about life the hard way when she falls in love with a handsome older man (Peter Sarsgaard). The lowdown: Screenwriter Nick Hornby and director Lone Scherfig ('Italian for Beginners') adapted Lynn Barber's memoir to create a near-perfect drama that took the top audience prize for foreign film at Sundance last year. And the movie's three Oscar nominations _ Best Actress, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay _ were no fluke: Mulligan shines in this bittersweet drama, which also stars Alfred Molina and Emma Thompson, and Hornby's script is by turns witty and heartfelt. The extras: The special features include your run-of-the-mill interviews with the cast and crew; deleted scenes; and commentary with Scherfig, Mulligan and Sarsgaard. THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW JERSEY: SEASON ONE Unrated, 2009, $29.95 The basics: The New Jersey version of Bravo's popular reality series, the fourth in the 'Housewives' franchise, follows four Jersey girls who make Carmela Soprano seem downright demure. The lowdown: It's all relative, but these gals are arguably the best and most entertaining of the 'Housewives' bunch. Somehow, even with their big hair and breasts, excessive spending and Botoxed brows, they seem more real than, say, the Orange County crew. Don't miss the episode titled 'The Last Supper,' in which Teresa upends the dinner table, sending the Chianti flying. The third season begins May 3. The extras: The two reunion specials, additional footage, season finale director's cut and an 'Are You a Real Jersey Girl?' quiz. SHERLOCK HOLMES R, 2009, $28.98; Blu-ray, $35.99 The basics: Director Guy Ritchie ('RocknRolla') puts his modern, rough-and- tumble mark on the classic Arthur Conan Doyle tale to mixed effect. The lowdown: Ritchie's approach, which a producer calls 'the Guy Ritchie way _ down and dirty,' may bother purists, but the movie does have genuinely exciting set pieces, and Robert Downey Jr.'s interpretation of Sherlock, for which he won a Golden Globe, is charmingly off-putting. The extras: A featurette titled 'Sherlock Holmes: Reinvented' includes interviews with the actors, crew and director (Ritchie says he became enamored of the Doyle stories as a young boy in boarding school), and behind-the-scenes footage in the studio and on the London set. 