Long considered to be overlooked, legendary director Martin Scorsese finally won an Oscar for directing his exciting 2006 cops-and-robbers flick The Departed. For his next narrative feature, Scorsese reunites with star Leonardo DiCaprio for the fourth time to make Shutter Island, a puzzling thriller based on the novel by Dennis Lehane. Previously set to be released last October, the movie now hopes to take advantage of the notoriously lightweight month of February. On a first viewing, however, I must say that the film is rather underwhelming. There is little about this movie that suggests “A Martin Scorsese Picture” and I’ll bet in time only his biggest fans will be giving it that second look.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the new movie Valentine’s Day is the lengthy opening credits. As the movie alphabetically lists one-by-one the names of its stars, one cannot help but be impressed at the sheer volume of popular talent. It appears director Garry Marshall collected just about every attractive person in Hollywood and threw them together in a romantic comedy blender. Some, it turns out, have rather small roles in the film, whereas others may take up a little too much of the movie’s runtime.

The filmmakers behind Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief can talk all they want about keeping Percy unique from its predecessor Harry Potter, but the similarities are too prominent to be ignored. Adding to the comparison is the fact that Lightning Thief is directed by Chris Columbus, the same man who directed the first two Potter films. Still, with the Harry Potter series about to wrap and the vast world of Greek Mythology to explore, Percy Jackson might just be poised to take over the reins from Hollywood’s most beloved series.

Throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s, genre movies dominated Hollywood and each studio had its specialty. MGM made its living on splashy movie musicals, while Warner Bros. practically invented the gangster film. Meanwhile, with films like Frankenstein and Dracula, Universal became a major player thanks to its monster movies. One of its later entries into the genre was 1941’s The Wolf Man . Now, the studio reinvents the classic with Benicio Del Toro in the role made famous by Lon Chaney, Jr. all those years ago.

In real life, John Travolta loves Paris. He was married there. It’s a fact that might escape you when you see him drop into town with his guns-a-blazin’ in From Paris with Love, the new action flick from producer Luc Besson and director Pierre Morel. Morel is hot off of last year’s surprise hit Taken, but whereas audiences were game to follow Liam Neeson’s vengeful dad on his action-packed mission, I don’t foresee the same result for Travolta’s abrasive secret agent.

In the world of subpar movies, there are those that are just bad (Legion) and others that are just plain stupid. With its characters that can’t grasp the obvious, When in Rome certainly falls into the latter category. It is the audience that suffers the real beating in a movie that drags painfully despite its rather light 91-minute runtime. As if things weren’t already bad enough, the movie also features perhaps the worst performance by an extra in movie history. He was much too happy. Well, at least someone got some enjoyment out of this movie.

Edge of Darkness seems to have all the elements in place for a successful revenge thriller. First and foremost, it stars Mel Gibson. Although making his first on-screen appearance since 2002’s Signs, Gibson is a veteran of vengeance seeking roles and a perfect fit. Secondly, the film is based on a popular British mini-series and updated by William Monahan (along with Andrew Bovell), who won an Oscar his The Departed script. Finally, the film is directed by Martin Campbell, who since directing the original mini-series has proved himself a successful action director with films like Goldeneye, The Mask of Zorro, and Casino Royale. Unfortunately, the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts.

One of the first things they teach you in screenwriting classes is that most audience members will decide whether or not they like a movie within the first ten minutes. I find this generally to be true, but I have found a number of exceptions; movies that took their time earning my affection. Tooth Fairy turned me off rather quickly, but could it be one of the exceptions? Unfortunately, it was not. As delightful as some of the supporting characters are, they can’t save this movie from being one worth skipping. The message is sweet and important, but the packaging is stale and dull.

Extraordinary Measures is based on the true story of John Crowley, a businessman whose two younger children are both afflicted with Pompe disease, which carries with it a life expectancy of no more than nine years. As the movie opens, Megan Crowley is celebrating her eighth birthday. Determined to save his children, Mr. Crowley contacts a research scientist in Nebraska who is considered the top mind on the subject and together they form a company dedicated to finding a cure. Their goal is to be in clinical trials within a year, and John wants his kids to be the test subjects. If it sounds like this ought to be on T.V., you’re right.

Walking out of the advance screening of the adaptation of Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones, I overheard a young woman comment: “that was so funny.” I felt it was a rather odd reaction to a movie about a 14-year-old girl who is murdered by a serial killer, but I wrote it off figuring she was talking about a specific scene or moment of humor. Then someone else made the exact same comment and I realized it was the perfect summation of a movie that never seems able to settle on a tone.