In the days leading up to the 85th Academy Awards, FilmBuffOnline will be offering profiles on all the nominees in the major categories. Some may be well known, others might be new to you, but if you need a refresher on these talented nominees, here it is.

Amy Adams

Nominated for: Playing the wife of the leader of a philosophical movement in The Master.

Other honors for this role:

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, 2013 BAFTA Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards.

Won, Best Supporting Actress, Chicago Film Critics Association Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, 2013 Critics’ Choice Awards.

3rd Place, Best Supporting Actress, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards.

Nominated, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, The 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

Won, Supporting Actress of the Year, Hollywood Film Festival

Nominated, Supporting Actress of the Year, London Critics Circle Film Awards.

Won, Best Supporting Actress, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards.

Won, Best Supporting Actress, National Society of Film Critics Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Online Film Critics Society Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, San Diego Film Critics Society Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Toronto Film Critics Association Awards.

Won, Best Supporting Actress, Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Washington DC Area Film Critics Association.

Where you might know her from:

Adams has appeared in a diverse array of films ranging from Enchanted to The Muppets to the forthcoming Man of Steel.

History with Oscar:

Amy Adams has three previous nominations.

2006: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Junebug (Lost to Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener).

2009: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Doubt (Lost to Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona).

2011: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, The Fighter (Lost to Melissa Leo, The Fighter).

Sally Field

Nominated for: Playing Mary Todd Lincoln in Lincoln.

Other honors for this role:

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, 2013 BAFTA Awards.

Won, Best Supporting Actress, Boston Society of Film Critics Awards

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actor, Chicago Film Critics Association Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, 2013 Critics’ Choice Awards.

Won, Best Supporting Actress, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards.

Nominated, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, The 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

Nominated, Supporting Actress of the Year, London Critics Circle Film Awards.

2nd Place, Best Supporting Actress, National Society of Film Critics Awards.

Won, Supporting Actress of the Year, New York Film Critics Circle Film Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Online Film Critics Society Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards.

Nominated, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, 2013 Screen Actors Guild Award.

2nd Place, Best Supporting Actress, Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Washington DC Area Film Critics Association.

Where you might know him from:

After getting her start on television as Gidget and The Flying Nun, Field has carved out a much honored film career. Notable roles include the Smokey and the Bandit franchise, Absence of Malice, Steel Magnolias, Mrs. Doubtfire, Forrest Gump and The Amazing Spider-Man.

History with Oscar:

The Academy likes Sally Field. They really like Sally Field. Two nominations, two wins.

1980: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Norma Rae (Won)

1985: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Places in the Heart (Won)

Anne Hathaway

Nominated for: Playing the doomed Fantine in Les Miserables.

Other honors for this role:

Won, Best Supporting Actress, Austin Film Critics Association.

Won, Best Supporting Actress, 2013 BAFTA Awards.

Won, Best Supporting Actress, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards.

Won, Best Supporting Actress, Central Ohio Film Critics Association.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Chicago Film Critics Association Awards.

Won, Best Supporting Actress, 2013 Critics’ Choice Awards.

2nd Place, Best Supporting Actress, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards.

Won, Best Supporting Actress, Florida Film Critics Circle Awards.

Won, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, The 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

Won, Best Supporting Actress Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards.

Won, Best Supporting Actress, Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards.

Nominated, Supporting Actress of the Year, London Critics Circle Film Awards.

3rd Place, Best Supporting Actress, National Society of Film Critics Awards.

2nd Place, Supporting Actress of the Year, New York Film Critics Circle Film Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Online Film Critics Society Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, San Diego Film Critics Society Awards.

Won, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, 2013 Screen Actors Guild Award.

Won, Best Supporting Actress, Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Toronto Film Critics Association Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards.

Won, Best Supporting Actress, Washington DC Area Film Critics Association.

Where you might know her from:

Getting her start on television and teenage fare such as The Princess Diaries and Ella Enchanted, Hathaway has grown into an actress that is as comfortable in popcorn fare such as Get Smart and The Dark Knight Rises as she is in serious films such as Brokeback Mountain and Love and Other Drugs.

History with Oscar:

Anne Hathaway has one prior Oscar nominations.

2009: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Rachel Getting Married (Lost to Kate Winslet, The Reader).

Helen Hunt

Nominated for: Playing a professional sex therapist in The Sessions.

Other honors for this role:

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, 2013 BAFTA Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards.

2nd Place, Best Supporting Actress, Central Ohio Film Critics Association.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Chicago Film Critics Association Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, 2013 Critics’ Choice Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards.

Nominated, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, The 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Female, Independent Spirit Awards.

Nominated, Supporting Actress of the Year, London Critics Circle Film Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Online Film Critics Society Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, San Diego Film Critics Society Awards.

Won, Best Supporting Actress, San Francisco Film Critics Circle.

Nominated, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, 2013 Screen Actors Guild Award.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Washington DC Area Film Critics Association.

Where you might know her from:

Even with a sterling acting career to her credit, Helen Hunt is probably best remembered for the TV series, Mad About You.

History with Oscar:

Helen Hunt is one for one when it comes to Oscar.

1998: Best Actress in a Leading Role,  As Good As It Gets (Won).

Jacki Weaver

Nominated for: Playing a stressed out wife and mother in Silver Linings Playbook.

Other honors for this role:

Outside of inclusion on ensemble cast honors, this is Weaver’s only major individual nomination for this role.

Where you might know her from:

Weaver is known primarily for her work on Australian television. Her limited American film work includes The Five-Year Engagement

History with Oscar:

This is Weaver’s second Oscar nomination.

2011: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Animal Kingdom (Lost to Melissa Leo, The Fighter).

It’s hard to believe that we are less than half a year away from the release of Zack Snyder’s Superman film Man Of Steel and we have yet to see a picture of Amy Adams as indomitable reporter Lois Lane.

That is until now, courtesy of the Spanish website Desdehollywood.com (via Superman Homepage). While we have a tablet computer substituting for the traditinoal reporter’s notebook, Adams definitely fits the bill as far as Lois looks. We’ll see how well she acts like Lois on June 14, when Man Of Steel hits theaters.

There was a bit of an Internet kerfuffle over the fact that the brunette Lois Lane will be played by the redhead Amy Adams in The Man of Steel. Well, brace yourselves, another kerfuffle is coming because it appears that the redhead Jimmy Olsen will not only be a brunette, but also…a woman! Batten down the hatches, prepare for the Internet outrage.

The whole ball got rolling this morning when Digital Spy noticed something in the cast listing on the IMDB page for the film. While the film features notable minor characters from the comic book Superman mythos such as Pete Ross, Kenny Braverman, and Steve Lombard, there was no Jimmy Olsen. There was, however,buried deep in the cast list, a Jenny Olsen, played by a brown-eyed, brunette actress named Rebecca Buller (that’s her to the left).

To say that Jimmy Olsen is a popular part of the Superman mythos would be an understatement. He is one of Superman’s longest-running supporting characters (officially debuting in 1941), and was popular enough to not only get his own series, Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen, but also to have it run for 163 issue over almost 20 years.  So, the idea of a Superman film without Jimmy Olsen would be almost unheard of. So, this Jenny Olsen HAS to be the female version of Jimmy right?

The website uses the trailer to further sell the idea that Jenny has been switched in for Jimmy. There is a scene in the trailer, screencapped for you at the right, where Perry White is fleeing a destroyed Daily Planet. As you can see, he is holding on to a female employee who looks remarkably like Buller. Is that an I.D. lanyard around her neck…or is it a strap for a camera? And who else would Perry take such an interest in making sure that they are safe than Jimmy…er…Jenny Olsen?

Of course, this is all conjecture based on a single IMDB listing, and IMDB isn’t exactly the most accurate website around. Numerous news sites have tried to reach Warner Brothers for a comment, but as of yet they have not spoke on the matter.  But until they do, fans will proclaim their outrage on message boards and comment pages around the Internet.

Many casual fans of Superman might ask, “What’s the big deal? Why should this bother them so much?” And, speaking as a rather involved Superman fan, the film presentation of Jimmy/Jenny Olsen shouldn’t bother us too much. What makes the comic book incarnation of Jimmy Olsen so great, and this will be a gross simplification of the character’s 72 -year history, is that he gets himself into trouble that only Superman can get him out of. That quality will never translate over into a 2-hour Superman film where Jimmy is only a supporting character. This characterization at best will only be briefly touched upon, as we saw in Richard Donner’s first Superman film. Add to that the fact that Jenny Olsen is so far down on the IMDB cast list that she is likely to be an extremely minor character to begin with, so even if she was still Jimmy, it wouldn’t be close to the comic book Jimmy anyway.

However, while every cinematic appearance of Jimmy Olsen ends up being a essentially just a nod to the character’s comic book origins, it was at least a nod. This is at least the fourth break from comic book continuity that The Man of Steel has shown us, and the one that seems most arbitrary and hardest to explain away.

Yes, the redhead Amy Adams is playing the typically brunette Lois Lane and the African-American Laurence Fishburne is playing the typically Caucasian Perry White, but both are great actors with sterling resumes–complete with award nominations–and will bring a lot to the part (but, seriously, Amy, you couldn’t pick up a bottle of Lady Clairol for just this film?). The same really can’t be said for Buller, whose only other credit on her remarkably sparse IMDB page is one episode of The Playboy Club.

And while Pa Kent’s recommendation to Clark that he should have left the school bus full of kids die is extremely out of character, the quote very well could have been taken out of context or simply been Pa thinking aloud. There’s no mistaking the break from the original characterization that is Jenny Olsen. Making the character a female changes whatever dynamic existed between the character and Superman. Instead of the goofy little brother, you have a little sister. Think about how your relationship with your male friends differs from your female friends and you’ll get the idea. Granted, as I mentioned above, the character might not be in the film long enough where this dynamic comes into play, but if it does, it will not be the dynamic comic book fans expect or want to see.

And the change is completely arbitrary. If you wanted a goofy female character to work at the Daily Planet, you could have named her Jenny Coulson, Jenny Dogin, or Jenny Hogan. It would work just as well for the filmmakers and Jimmy Olsen fans would be a lot less ticked off.

Yes, this on the surface seems like much ado about nothing. But in the larger sense it is indicative of the problems Warner Brothers has adapting its DC Comics properties to the big screen. The Marvel films all have changes from the original source material, but no change is arbitrary, no change completely contradicts what makes the original text so popular, and more often than not the changes are an improvement. Changing Jimmy Olsen to a woman just for the sake of making the character a woman is an example that Warner Brothers really doesn’t have the same respect and understanding about its comic book properties that Marvel does. And until they can overcome this mental block in this area, they are never going to have the success that Marvel has.

It used to be that the red-head in Superman’s life was his pal Jimmy Olsen. But for Zack Snyder’s upcoming The Man Of Steel, Lois Lane will be sporting strawberry blonde locks as well.

Some set photos taken at the film’s location filming in Indiana have surfaced and they distinctly show actress Amy Adams at work with her natural hair color. As you can see form the pictures and the video here, there’s no brunette wig for Adams to bring her appearance more in line with the classic look of the character from the comics.

Will this cause consternation for some fans? Of course it will. This is an even bigger non-issue than the casting of Laurence Fishburn in the role of Perry White and that still kicked up a minor crapstorm online when that casting was announced last month.

But with very few exceptions, I’ve never really found that hair color to be an important factor that contributes to a film character’s makeup. If Adams gives a good portrayal of Lois, I won’t care if she does it as a red head, a blonde, a brunette or while wearing a multi-color afro clown wig. OK, maybe I will care about that last one a little bit. The point here is that Lois Lane was never defined by her hair color and it would be stupid to start trying to do so now.

Via CinemaBlend and Superhero Hype.

It appears that we’re getting to see a lot of the upcoming The Muppets movie this week. This weekend saw the release of the film’s first full on trailer and now Disney has released six new photos from the film. Click on each photo below for a bigger view.

Here’s the studio’s official synopsis of the film -

On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds. To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino tribute band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate. With secret, signature, celebrity cameos, “The Muppets” hits the big screen Nov. 23, 2011.

Normally, I don’t write much about romantic comedies unless there is something really extraordinary about them. And let’s face it, there aren’t that many extraordinary rom coms out there. But this one, starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams, has something special, which the trailer reveals about mid-way through. Even if you don’t like romantic comedies, I implore you to give this one a look. You’ll think me for it. And when you’re done, click on the poster below and take a good look at the high def version.

Three-time Academy Award nominee Amy Adams has been cast as journalist Lois Lane in director Zack Snyder’s Superman franchise reboot for Warner Brothers.

The Los Angeles Times‘ Hero Complex blog broke the news that Snyder had telephoned the actress personally to offer her the part earlier on Sunday.

In an interview with the blog, Snyder described the role of Lois Lane to be a “lynchpin” to the movie he is planning.

It goes back to what I’ve said about Superman and making him really understandable for today. What’s important to us is making him relevant and real and making him empathetic to today’s audience so that we understand the decisions he makes.  That applies to Lois as well. She has to be in the same universe as him [in tone and substance].

As Snyder has ramped up casting for his Superman film, a number of actresses have been mentioned as being under consideration for the role including Dianna Agron, Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell, Jessica Biel, Rachel McAdams, Kristen Stewart, Olivia Wilde and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

Adams will be joining a cast which features Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman with Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as his adoptive parents Jonathan and Martha Kent.

Stop me when this starts sounding familiar- A young man growing up in an economically distressed area find that the only way out of his situation is to become a boxer. But the odds are stacked against him. He struggles to get noticed by the big promoters and is held back by his family. However, with the love and encouragement of a good woman and a couple lucky breaks, he eventually becomes world champion.

The Fighter is similar to just about every boxing film in history. Sure, there are enough differences to make it unique, but if you’ve seen Rocky, Cinderella Man or any other boxing movie, you’re not going to be that surprised.

So, why should you see it? You should see it for the acting. It features a number of the most underrated actors working to date putting on a acting clinic.

The film is based on the life of boxer Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg). Ward went into boxing, following in the footsteps of his half-brother, Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale). Eklund’s claim to fame is that he knocked Sugar Ray Leonard down in a nationally televised fight. But Dicky is now a crack addict at the very bottom of his downward spiral. But don’t tell that to the boys mother, Alice (Melissa Leo), who hampers Micky’s more promising career in favor for a comeback for Dicky that will never happen.

Dicky and Alice are the kind of real-life, over-the-top bombastic characters that actors dream for. They are also the kind of characters that actors can easily slip in scenery chewing and parody with. Bale and Leo never do so. Both actors fully immerse themselves in the characters making them almost unrecognizable in their roles. But with all the characters tics and showy character flaws, neither allows their performance to slip away from the human and into the cartoon. Oscar nominations are a given for Bale and Leo, and I’d be hard pressed to see anyone steal the statues away from them.

The bravura performances by Bale and Leo make me feel sad for Wahlberg and Amy Adams. Wahlberg does his usually stoic performance as Micky, who is essentially the lead in the movie yet completely overshadowed Bale’s Dicky. And Adams plays well against type as the foul-mouthed barmaid who becomes Micky’s paramour, but her role is essentially “the girlfriend” part.

David O. Russell does show flashes of brilliance in his direction, especially during the fight montages. And the anachronistic rock soundtrack really brings home the fact that the characters are living in the past.

You would not be wrong to say that The Fighter is your prototypical sports Cinderella story. But the strength of the acting rises it above the rest of the genre.

It’s that time of year again. This Tuesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the nominees for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.

Every year there are snubs and surprises, thrills and controversies. There is no way of knowing who will be nominated, but we here at FilmBuffOnLine, who believe the day nominations are announced should be a National holiday, are going to try and handicap the process for you.

We will try to tell you who we think are Almost Certain to get a nomination, who Definite May Be nominated, and whose nomination is a Outside Shot in the major categories (the four acting categories, Best Director, and Best Picture). We are trying to cover all bases, but don’t come to us if you lose money on your Oscar Nomination pool.

Best Actor:

Almost Certain:

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart; George Clooney, Up in the Air; Colin Firth, A Single Man;  Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Definite May Be:

Morgan Freeman, Invictus;

Outside Shot:

Robert Downey Jr, Sherlock Holmes; Matt Damon, The Informant!; Tobey Maguire, Brothers

Four of the five spots should be locked up, as Clooney, Firth, Bridges, and Renner have been nominated for all the other awards this season and have pretty much split up the winnings. Freeman should be nominated, but could also have some backlash headed his way. Downey Jr. won the Golden Globe for comedy acting, and there is some buzz for Damon.

Best Actress:

Almost Certain:

Sandra Bullock, The Blindside; Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire; Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia

Definite May Be:

Helen Mirren, The Last Station; Carey Mulligan, An Education

Outside Shot:

Amy Adams, Julie and Julia; Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria; Ellen Page, Whip It; Hilary Swank, Amelia

Bullock seems to have set off a siren with critics and her fellow actors as per her acting ability. Sidibe’s debut won raves and that should make her a lock for a nomination, Mulligan has won her fair share of awards, but will Oscar nominate two relative unknowns in the same year? The Academy should just make a rule that Streep is automatically nominated whenever she puts a movie out. Julia and Julia seem more Oscar worthy than It’s Complicated. But I wouldn’t be surprised if her co-star from the former gets a nod. Amelia was a poorly received Oscar bait, but the Academy seems to like Swank.

Best Supporting Actor:

Almost Certain:

Christoph Waltz,Inglourious Basterds

Definite May Be:

Matt Damon, Invictus; Woody Harrelson, The Messenger; Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones

Outside Shot:

Ben Foster, The Messenger; Christian McKay, Me and Orson Welles; Christopher Plummer, The Last Station

It’s Waltz’s Oscar to lose, so he’s pretty much guaranteed a nomination. Damon, Harrelson and Tucci have received enough acclaim elsewhere that they should be nominated. Plummer has received a number of nominations, but Foster and especially McKay were strong in their roles and could surprise.

Best Supporting Actress:

Almost Certain:

Mo’Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire

Definite May Be:

Penelope Cruz, Nine; Vera Fermiga, Up in the Air; Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air; Samantha Morton, The Messenger

Outside Shot:

Mariah Carey, Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire; Diane Krueger, Inglourius Basterds; Julianne Moore, A Single Man; Sigourney Weaver, Avatar

Like Supporting Actor, Mo’Nique is enough of a front runner that a nod is a given. However, her performance isn’t the only surprisingly good one in the film, so a nod for Mariah Carey is not outside the realm of possibility. Both women from Up in the Air should be nominated, but Kendrick has the edge if they only choose one. The Academy loves Cruz, so she should get a nomination for a poorly received movie. And I can’t see Avatar not getting one acting nod, and the most likely candidate is Weaver.

Best Director:

Almost Certain:

Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker; James Cameron, Avatar; Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

Definite May Be:

Lee Daniels, Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire; Clint Eastwood, Invictus; Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Outside Shot:

Tom Ford, A Single Man; Pete Docter & Bob Petersen, Up

The big three of Bigelow, Cameron (who were once married to each other–keep an eye on each other’s face if the other wins) and Reitman should get nods. Daniels and Tarantino have other nominations to their credit and the Academy loves Eastwood. But Docter and Petersen are more than worthy.

Best Picture:

Almost Certain:

Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire, Up in the Air

Definite May Be:

An Education, Inglourious Basterds, Invictus, A Single Man, Up

Outside Shot:

(500) Days of Summer, The Blindside, Crazy Heart, District 9, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Hangover, Julie and Julia, The Messenger, Nine, A Serious Man, Star Trek, The Young Victoria

Since this is the first time in decades that more than five films will be nominated for Best Picture, this has become one of the most unpredictable categories. Any film nominated for Best Director should have a good chance at making the ten, but what about sci-blockbusters like Star Trek and District 9? How about comedies like The Hangover? Do poorly received films like Nine and The Blindside have a chance? This all adds up to a test year for the new system and the list of nominees being anybody’s guess.

1.Daybreakers (Lionsgate, 2,523 Theaters, 98 Minutes, Rated R): Vampires are all the rage these days, but only the ones that sparkle and pitch woo to bad actresses. Let see how a more aggressive vampire does at the box office.

This film takes place in 2019 and vampires are the dominant species on Earth. The humans that remain are food. And food is getting scarce. Now, two sets of vampires aim to preserve the human race. One because it is the right thing to do, the other, to keep the food supply coming.

This film has the possibility to be satiric and biting (no pun intended). However, the trailers seem to indicate that they are going for more of a straightforward horror.  Satire would be fun to see, but hey, what do I know?

2.Leap Year (Universal, 2,511 Theaters, 97 Minutes, Rated PG): Wow. Great cast, goofy concept.

Frankly, this kind of wacky romantic travelogue comedy seems to be beneath a two-time Oscar-nominee such as Amy Adams.

She plays and American woman who flies to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend. Of course, getting to her boyfriend isn’t that easy as she experiences setbacks along the way. She is helped in her quest by an Irish man played by Matthew Goode, who tries to help her reunite with her boyfriend in order to propose. Naturally, they fall in love along the way, causing a dilemma for her when she finally meets up with her boyfriend.

Yeah, the “trying to get to my mate, paired with a complete opposite for the trip, finds more in common with travelling companion that mate” plot has been done before. The actors are good, so maybe they’ll rise above the material, but still. Shouldn’t they be holding out for something more?

3.Youth In Revolt (The Weinstein Company/Dimension Films, 1,873 Theaters, 90 Minutes, Rated R): I just want to point something out to everyone out there. Michael Cera is 21 years old. Which means that he is going on four years past his teenage years. Remember all the jokes they used to make about the cast of Beverly Hills 90210? I’m going to start making them about Cera very soon.

Cera plays a nerdy teen who falls in love with a free spirit. The only way he could ever compete for her affections is to develop a suave alter ego named Francois. Of course, doing this causes chaos and destruction in his small town

I do admire bring a dose of weirdness to the typical sex comedy, but this might be just a little bit too obscure. It might have worked in the original novel, but seems kind of cramped in a film format. 

4. The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus (Sony Pictures Classics, 400 Theaters, 122 Minutes, rated Pg-13): I usually only cover films that are in 1,000 theaters or more in this column, and this film is only expanding to 400, but it is one of my editor’s favorites. I wouldn’t dare cut the film from this week’s list. He knows where I live and knows how to get here.

Obviously, the biggest story about this film is that it is Heath Ledger’s last film role, as he died before shooting completed. It took three no-name actors—I think their names were Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell. I’m not sure because their not, like, international superstars or anything—to replace him. Luckily, the plot allowed these actors to step in and it make sense.

The film involves a carnival owner making deals with the devil for immortality and youth. The deal made gives Mr. Nick his first born daughter on the the day she turns 16. He is trying to avoid this at all cost, but the only way to avoid condemning his daughter is to win one last wager with Mr. Nick.

Terry Gilliam is an acquired taste, but even those who don’t list him as a favorite must recognize that he does handle fantastic themes very well. This film appears to be right in his ball park.