When the Academy Award nominees for Best Animated Feature were announced, the world collectively scratched its head when Coraline, Up, Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Princess and the Frog were joined, not by 9 or Ponyo or even Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, but the out-of-nowhere Secret of Kells. Having only had a limited qualifying run in December, it doesn't even open wide until this month, when everyone will finally be able to see exactly what makes it so great. And what that is, is a dazzlingly stylized form of hand-drawn animation that is unique among the nominees but reminiscent of older styles that will be quite familiar to fans of the genre.

Marvel Studios is getting ready to move on their Captain America movie, but first they need to figure out who'll play Steve Rogers, the 98-pound weakling who gets injected with a super-soldier serum that turns him into an American hero during World War II. A list of young American actors who will be screen-tested for the role has been leaked, and it's an interesting mix of square-jawed heartthrobs, teen-playing pretty-boys and Jim Halpert. Two other actors, Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) and Garret Hedlund (Friday Night Lights film), have been removed from consideration due to scheduling conflicts, but these remaining seven all have the potential to be punching Nazis by fall. Or do they? We broke down the pros and cons of having each of them play the First Avenger.

Cop Out, the Kevin Smith-directed -- but not Kevin Smith-written -- buddy cop parody movie starring Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis, comes out this week, and for some reason, the studio is allowing reviewers to see it beforehand. Which is brave, because this movie is so bad I was embarrassed for Bruce Willis. Who I love, but I mean, Bruce Willis makes bad movies constantly, and I've never felt explicitly embarrassed for him before. Hell, I'd even say I was embarrassed for Kevin Smith, and Kevin Smith is insufferable. That's how bad this movie is.

No big blockbusters today, but a few entertaining comedies, a couple of interesting documentaries, and a couple of lackluster thrillers. And Erica Durance in what we can only assume is her finest role, given what we've seen of the others.

It could be argued that many of Martin Scorsese's most famous characters are raving lunatics. Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver. Jake La Motta from Raging Bull. Jimmy Conway from Goodfellas. Max Cady from Cape Fear. Basically, anybody played by Robert De Niro. I kept hoping for a De Niro cameo in the prison for the criminally insane that provides the setting for Scorsese's latest movie, but alas, no. I had to make do with other cameos, namely several all-too-short appearances by the amazing cast of character actors Scorsese has assembled to populate the 1950s nightmare world he's created. The story itself is a real potboiler, as well, but the plot is less important than the look of the film and the (often brief) performances Scorsese gets from his cast, not to mention the startling fact that Max Von Sydow is still alive. How old is this guy?

Four action-movie franchises have been in the news recently with good news -- all of them will be getting new installments in the near future. Daredevil, Riddick, Superman and Mission: Impossible's Ethan Hunt will all be returning to work, and they all have some big decisions to make. Besides M:I, which already reinvents itself stylistically with every film, they're all coming off of what could have been franchise-killing movies, so they're all going to have to follow M:I's lead. Here's some advice to the producers on what we want to see in each potential re-boot.

It happens all the time: we grow to adore a talented young actor over the course of a beloved series and then when it ends, their career quickly takes a turn for the depressing with bad project choices -- not to mention the insurmountable competition of young Hollywood -- relegating our formerly emerging star to crappy, clichéd, stupid and/or direct-to-DVD credit after credit after credit. This is most famously exemplified in Kristen Bell, and now it's sadly becoming true of Alexis Bledel.

Some future cult classics go on sale today, because no movie is a cult classic right when it comes out. It has to age, like a fine wine. Cults don't just pop up overnight.

As Universal Studios has updated each of their monster pictures over the past decade, they've necessarily changed them from pure horror films into more spectacular fare. The Mummy films have become more and more action-heavy, as was Van Helsing, although that one also buried itself in a steaming pile of camp. And while The Wolfman has its action scenes, it mostly hews very close to its classic horror roots, by which I mean that the story is fairly predictable and packed with cliches and cheap scares. However, since a scary mask isn't enough to scare anybody these days, the gore level has been elevated to match current audience tastes. This movie is rated "R" for a reason.

There is no bigger exercise in futility than writing a negative review of a jumbo-sized romantic comedy starring over a dozen very famous people -- it's a bad movie, yes, but everyone expected it to be a bad movie, and everyone's still going to go see it anyway -- but I shall do my best. And while Valentine's Day is indeed a bad movie, it is far from the worst romantic comedy I've ever seen. I'd even say it's far from the worst romantic comedy I've seen in the past 12 months (Ugly Truth and He's Just Not That Into You are tied for that prized crown), which might make you feel a little better about being dragged to it this weekend.