Hot Sheet: Week of
April 20

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- Earth: You've watched enough Meerkat Manor to know that wild animals are really just like human beings, but with hooves, fur, claws, and the ability to eat the raw flesh straight from their recently murdered prey. Adorable, right? This stunningly photographed documentary is dying to be the next March of the Penguins . Your job is to make it so. And if you feel so compelled to save the earth after watching this film, try to land yourself a green gig at Treehugger.com's job board.

- Fighting: Young attractive guy Channing Tatum (the street dancer from Step Up , remember) joins a fight club and, well, beats up a lot of other attractive young men. The movie is counting on you not pretending that stylized violence isn't sexy.

- The Soloist: When Robert Downey Jr. meets homeless, mentally ill, virtuoso musician Jamie Foxx he does everything he can to help the downtrodden man realize his dream. They thought this was going to be one of 2008's Oscar movies. But then it wasn't. Forewarned is forearmed. Read Los Angeles Times writer Steve Lopez's columns , on which the movie is based.

- Obsessed: It's almost too much excellent information to take in all at once: The very idea that Beyonce is starring as the wronged woman in a remake of Fatal Attraction and that Heroes star Ali Larter is the loony stalker lady is enough, we believe, to warrant taking a sick day just to go to the first screening.

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at Obsessed:

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- Jennifer Miller ( P.S. 122 , New York City): Lesbian performance artist Jennifer Miller, who runs the political street-theater company Circus Amok, mounts a new theatrical extravaganza at the East Village's legendary P.S. 122. Cracked Ice, or Jewels of the Forbidden Skates follows Sybil Liberty and her sister Statua as they wreak revenge on the evil Ponzi schemer who has fleeced them. Music, mayhem, and mistaken identities ensue. The show runs April 25 to May 10. Get tickets here . And if you can't make that show, check out Circus Amok's schedule .

Watch a sampling of Circus Amok's work

- Joe Goode Performance Group ( Fort Wayne Dance Collective , Indiana; Joyce Theater , New York City): San Francisco-based choreographer Joe Goode and his company collaborate with the wizardly puppet master Basil Twist to create a dance-theater piece called Wonderboy . The title character is a shy gay boy who begins as a wood-and-cloth puppet and eventually takes human form as he summons his courage to face the world and investigate his confusing desires. After a one-night engagement at Indiana's Fort Wayne Collective April 18, the show travels to New York to play the Joyce Theater April 23-26. Read an interview with Goode on Advocate.com or, if you want to break out your dancing shoes, check out Goode's schedule for workshop classes .

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- My Maudlin Career by Camera Obscura : Continuing the brilliantly harmonious twee stylings of their 2006 breakthrough album, Let's Get Out of This Country , Camera Obscura is back with another gem of a recording. Juxtaposing Tracyanne Campbell's yearning voice with gorgeously lush yet upbeat orchestration, Camera Obscura stays true to their Glaswegian heritage with some of the best indie pop this side of Belle & Sebastian.

- Yes by Pet Shop Boys : Electronic legends Pet Shop Boys new album, Yes , recalls their greatest pop hits -- and also finds them moving in excitingly creative new directions. As if you expected anything but innovation from these quick-witted queer icons. This time around, they've enlisted the help of ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and out musician Owen Pallett, best known for his innovative violin work with Arcade Fire and his acclaimed solo project, Final Fantasy . Produced by Xenomania -- a team that has done wonders for Sugababes, Annie, and Kylie Minogue, not to mention orchestrating Cher's explosive late '90s comeback -- Yes is the band's catchiest and most inspired release in years.

The music video for "Love Etc." by the Pet Shop Boys

- Feed the Horse by Fagget Fairys : When 19-year-old Bosnian refugee and fashion model Ena met Danish DJ and art-world star Carla Camilla, it was love at first sight. Going against the wishes of Ena's strictly Muslim parents and Carla's then-girlfriend, passion eventually conquered all and the two club kids found themselves in a relationship -- and then a band, Fagget Fairys. Now they're taking the blogosphere by storm, even with an awkward equine allusion in their dance hit -- "Feed the Horse" is actually a cunning ode to women who are "big on the top and big on the bottom too." Lesbian musicians with a sense of humor... Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Lindsay!

- Voltaic by Bjork : Fear not, Bjork fans, who are deliriously shaking in a state of post- Volta withdrawal: Everyone's favorite Icelandic luminary is back, with a deluxe box set chock-full of rarities and live performances to satiate our addiction while we wait for her next album. Containing three DVDs and an audio disc, Voltaic paints an intimate picture of Bjork's unforgettable concert experiences. You don't even have to sell a kidney on Craigslist to feel like you're in the front row. Bjork and the Dirty Projectors will be performing for a show benefiting Housing Works in New York. Tickets have already been sold, but maybe you can bum one of the very few, exclusive tickets from a very generous friend.

Watch the classic Bjork video "Oh So Quiet"

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- A Jihad for Love: We've heard a lot lately about American gays trying to reconcile their sexuality and their Christianity, but Parvez Sharma's new documentary talks to gay and lesbian Muslims who don't want to turn their back on their faith, despite the virulent homophobia aimed at them by a majority of believers. Producer Sandi Dubowski knows this terrain -- his Trembling Before G-d examined queer Orthodox Jews -- and Sharma's powerful film takes us into brand new, exceedingly thought-provoking terrain. Read an essay from Sharma about his own jihad.

- Mulligans : College student Chase ( Dante's Cove ' s Charlie David, who also wrote the film) is spending the summer with his pal Tyler (Derek Baynham), and before summer's over, Chase will not only come out to Tyler but will also wind up having an affair with Tyler's father Nathan (Dan Payne). Thea Gill ( Queer as Folk ) costars as Nathan's wife, but Grace Vukovic steals the movie as Tyler's precocious younger sister.

- Forever: This doc takes us behind the gates of Paris's legendary Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, final resting place of queer geniuses like Oscar Wilde and Marcel Proust, as well as Maria Callas, Chopin, Modigliani, Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, and tourist-magnet Jim Morrison. Meet the locals who tend to the gravestones and the visitors who come from all over the world to pay their respects in this acclaimed film by Heddy Honigmann. Browse a directory and map of this noteworthy cemetery.

- State of Play: As fans run to movie theaters to see Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, and Helen Mirren in State of Play , BBC Films releases the original miniseries on DVD. James McAvoy and Bill Nighy headline the BBC version, a conspiracy theory thriller about politics, murder, and investigative journalism.

- Finding Me: This queer African-American romantic comedy features a protagonist -- RayMartell Moore as Fabien -- whose pursuit of the handsome Lonnie (Derrick L. Briggs) faces the requisite challenges, including a homophobic father, well-meaning friends, and low-down, shady, man-stealing roommates. It's heartening to think that the success of the Noah's Arc movie is opening the door for more movies about gays and lesbians of color.