Only three will be nominated, but it all begins with a nice 15.

The Academy has just announced the 15 animated feature films accepted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for next year's 83rd Academy Awards. 

Here's the list. Which of these would you choose/predict?

“Alpha and Omega”
“Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore”
“Despicable Me”
“The Dreams of Jinsha”
“How to Train Your Dragon”
“Idiots and Angels”
“The Illusionist”
“Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole”
“Megamind”
“My Dog Tulip”
“Shrek Forever After”
“Summer Wars”
“Tangled”
“Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue”
“Toy Story 3”

Well ... this is pretty easy to predict, don't you think? For the three I will say "How to Train Your Dragon," "Megamind" and "Toy Story 3."

The winner? Oh, no, that's too easy. Hint: It has a number in the title, and the number is neither 1 nor 2.

 

Interesting ... I wonder why she dropped out of this project?

It can't have anything to do with Angela Lansbury. I hope not. Angela Lansbury is awesome.

Here's the report from Coming Soon:

"Katherine Heigl has canceled plans to star in the upcoming 'Adaline,' reports Deadline, though the film will still move forward with another actress in the lead.

"A sci-fi/fantasy from director Andy Tennant ('Hitch'), 'Adaline' would have featured Heigl as a woman who, after an accident, loses the ability to age. After spending much of her life alone, she eventually meets a man whose love could cause her to lose her immortality. "Despite Heigl's departure, the film still plans to shoot in mid-March with a search already under way for the actress's replacement.

"Angela Lansbury is also attached to the film, said to be playing the lead character's daughter."
 

Above is the teaser one-sheet for "The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" that debuted this morning.

The movie staring (of course), Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow will find the famed pirate (according to the press release) "on an unexpected journey to the fabled Fountain of Youth when a woman from his past (Penelope Cruz) forces him aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane)."

 

Boo! I thought the highly enjoyable "Unstoppable" would do better than this at the box office. It's a straight forward action picture and working class fantasia that features a charming Denzel Washington and a relentless, impressive train pursuit that, though ludicrous at times, remains exciting, gripping and even quite touching.

And for a Tony Scott picture, it's strangely old fashioned. See it!

Here, from WENN:

"Audiences were in no great hurry to catch this train.

"The Denzel Washington and Chris Pine runaway-train drama 'Unstoppable' scored a far-from-spectacular​ $23 million opening in 3,207 theaters -- not enough to overtake DreamWorks Animation's 'Megamind,' which racked up $30 million in its second weekend.

"Still, Washington performed far better than another aging action hero, Harrison Ford, whose move into romantic comedy territory with 'Morning Glory' proved to be a bust. The $40 million Paramount/Bad Robot production made $9.6 million in 2,518 locations, making the break-even bar a stretch."

Here's the top five movies over the weekend, after the jump:

 

This is what happens when you no longer have to worry about the duties of your job, like, being ... the president of the United States of America.

That's right. Bill Clinton is making a cameo in Todd Phillips' "The Hangover 2."

Here's more from HitFix:

"It appears a coincidental appearance by the former President of the United States has resulted in a very special cameo in 'The Hangover 2.' President Bill Clinton was in Bangkok, Thailand, over the weekend to deliver a speech on clean energy. 

"According to People, Clinton ended up taking time out of his day to shoot a short cameo in Todd Phillips' 'Hangover' sequel.  The highly anticipated comedy will reunite stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Justin Bartha, but it's been the cameos that have been creating a slew of controversy."

 

Judging by the trailer, "True Grit" looks exciting, funny, touching, gorgeously shot, violent, vengeance driven and wonderfully Coen-esque. So it's perfect that the poster for "True Grit" is beautiful, simple and straight to the point.

With that, I can't wait for Joel and Ethan Coen's "True Grit," a movie that could turn out to be one of the best films of the year. Apparently more faithfully adapted from Charles Portis’ brilliant novel than the 1969 John Wayne movie, the story follows young Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), and her involvement with crusty old drunkard, U.S. Marshal Rooster J. Cogburn (Jeff Bridges). Rooster is helping Mattie find her father's killer. Matt Damon and Josh Brolin also star.

 

For Viacom COO Tom Dooley, sequels, to quote Rodgers and Hamerstein's "Carousel," are like  June -- they're busting out all over. Including a sequel to "Zoolander" 10 years after it first came out.

We'll assume that, with all those years on him, Derek Zoolander is a really, really ridiculously frustrated male model at this point. I'm just surprised it wasn't turned into a Broadway musical at this point.

Here's more from The Hollywood Reporter:

"'Star Trek 2' was already known. It has a release date of June 29, 2012, and Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof are hammering out the script as we speak. They're supposed to deliver it by the holidays. J.J. Abrams, who is producing, hasn't committed to climbing back into the director's chair, but the studio definitely wants him. (He's working hard on Super 8, which Paramount has slotted for June.)

"The other projects Dooley mentioned were a second 'G.I. Joe' movie that Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are writing and the Jack Ryan reboot that Jack Bender is directing.

"More surprising, he listed a new 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' movie (the company spent $60 million to acquire global and merchandising rights to the franchise a year ago for its Nickelodeon label). Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes banner have been developing a screenplay with writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway.

 

Angelina Jolie talks to Vogue about life, work, her kids and the reasons she makes certain movies. It's not always for the character -- sometimes it's based on geography.

Here's more of the interview, including the interviewer inevitably being distracted by her beauty (which, if you have seen Ms. Jolie in person, is tough to not discuss. She is dazzling in person).

From Vogue:

"Angelina Jolie is explaining why she took the role of Elise Clifton-Ward, the woman of mystery who captivates Johnny Depp in The Tourist, which opens this month. It's because she plans things. 'I was looking for a very short thing to do before Brad started filming [Moneyball],' she says. "And I said I needed something that shoots not too long, in a nice location for my family. Somebody said there’s a script that’s been around, and it shoots in Venice and Paris. And I said, 'Is it a character I haven’t played before?' And they said, 'Yes, it’s a lady.'" She laughs: Uhhuhhuhhehhehheh.

"Sitting opposite one of the world's most notorious beauties is an experience that requires some processing. Impressions: (1) She has a seriously filthy laugh. (2) She is graceful, straight-backed, head held high. (3) Her photogenic beauty is mesmerizing in real life. Which is quite disturbing, because it makes you 'gaze and gaze' (to borrow Nancy Mitford’s phrase from Love in a Cold Climate)."