Much like adolescence itself, the new coming-of-age drama The Perks of Being a Wallflower contains moments of beauty and insight drifting in a sea of melodrama. Adapted by author Stephen Chbosky from his 1999 YA novel of the same name (a book I must confess I haven't read), this is the kind of movie that my 14-year-old self probably would have fallen head over heels for, as it effectively transplants the '80s John Hughes model of teenagers with more heart than good sense talking endlessly about their problems to my old stomping ground in the early '90s. Twenty years removed from that time period (not to mention that version of myself), it's still easy to be pulled into the movie by the tug of nostalgia, but I can also see through the story's cracks more clearly, in the same way that whenever I re-watch The Breakfast Club nowadays, I actually find myself sympathizing with Assistant Principal Vernon for having to waste a whole Saturday babysitting a bunch of naval-gazing, back-talking teenagers.

Still piecing your mind back together after having it blown by The Cabin in the Woods this weekend? Keep your obsessions about the film alive by picking up the photo-heavy, information-dense tome The Cabin in the Woods: The Official Visual Companion, from Titan Books. Here are five good reasons to add this to your bookshelf:

Everyone knows that Tom Selleck was going to be Indiana Jones before his Magnum P.I. commitment passed the fedora and bullwhip along to Harrison Ford instead. But were you also aware that an early draft of the screenplay for the film that would become Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull featured cameos by such characters as Sallah, Willie and Short Round? That's one of the many fun pieces of behind-the-scenes trivia you'll learn in David Hughes's, Tales From Development Hell, which explores the fortunes of some of the greatest movies never made. An updated version of his 2004 tome of the same name, this new edition, which hits stores today, reveals what happened to such high-profile, development hell stranded projects as Paul Verhoeven and Arnold Schwarzenegger's medieval epic, Crusade, Darren Aronofsky's gritty Batman reboot Year One and the multiple big-screen versions of Neil Gaiman's beloved Sandman comic. We won't spoil all of the secrets that this enjoyable, well-researched book has to offer, but here are a few choice tidbits sure to whet movie lovers' appetites.

This week Marvel Studios is releasing Captain America: The First Avenger, a period superhero adventure starring one of their most recognizable characters. But it's also a prelude to the company's next feature, which will be a kind of comic-book movie that hasn't been attempted on the big-screen before: a team-up adventure that unites some of Marvel's biggest heroes -- including Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans) and The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, taking over from Ed Norton and Eric Bana) -- to combat a global threat. The title, of course, is The Avengers, the same name of the Marvel supergroup that's been battling bad guys in the four-color pages of the company's comics since 1963. Geek icon (and part-time comics scribe) Joss Whedon is writing and directing the film, which also stars Samuel L. Jackson as the group's leader, Nick Fury, Scarlett Johansson as the leather-jumpsuit clad spy, the Black Widow and Jeremy Renner as the ace archer, Hawkeye. Naturally, a project as ambitious as The Avengers didn't come together overnight. Marvel has been laying the groundwork for this film since the first Iron Man hit theaters in 2008, slipping in visual and verbal references to Avengers-lore in all their standalone superhero features. Here's a film-by-film guide to some of the Easter Eggs that have pointed the way to The Avengers

The excellent comic book review and discussion web site iFanboy recently released a vlog interview with Marvel comics Godfather and mascot Stan Lee. One of the questions asked of Lee, creator of such heroes as Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four, was what one creation of his, and long-time partner Jack Kirby, surprised even him with its level of success? His answer begrudgingly was The Hulk.

In most ways a comic book movie is like any other movie: If you have a good story with good acting and good direction, then the film will be good. But let's say your story is about Superman crusading for nuclear disarmament (in the '80s no less), or you've cast Ben Affleck in the lead, or, God forbid, Brett Ratner sits at the helm of it with his giant diamond encrusted megaphone...not good.

The essential part of making a good movie that is based on a comic book is, simply put, to get it right. Getting it right means you nail the hero, the costume and the story so well even Jeff Albertson can't complain. For the studio that means a movie supported by both the mainstream cool kids and comic book schlubs like me -- the multitude of multiple ticket-buying nerds who feed the hype machine and then clamor for more.

So I thought since there are so many new comic book movies on the horizon, and I have such a unique perspective being part nerd and part mainstream cool kid, I would bridge this demographic gap by judging new comic book movies according to my four touchstones of authenticity. Consider me the Obama-figure of unimportant difference, straddling the divide like the Colossus of Rhodes.