Another relatively quiet release week means I don’t have that much to write about in the new NOW — though I did take a look at the Human Rights Watch festival, which starts up next Tuesday at the Lightbox, and then there’s the obligatory Oscar piece.

And yeah, about the Oscars: You might want to keep an eye on my Twitter feed for the next couple of days, as that’s where I’ll be providing details of any TV hits that might be scheduled at the last second. I’ll also be live-tweeting the ceremony from NOW’s Twitter account Sunday night, so you should probably go ahead and follow that now, just to be on the safe side. UPDATE: Never mind that, keep your eye on @wilnervision for my Oscar commentary.

Yay, Oscars! Where the rules are made up and the points don’t matter!

Despite the above-and-beyond efforts of the critical community — I actually told a stranger in a coffee shop not to bother with it yesterday — A Good Day to Die Hard earned $25 million to easily win its opening weekend, certifying that even the possibility of total extinction couldn’t put people in a place to consider maybe not seeing a terrible, unnecessary sequel.

Well, fine. Let the people have their mediocrity. I’ll be over here grousing about the sorry state of cinema in a corner of the coffee shop. Oh, wait, I was doing that already.

Also, the utterly reviled Identity Thief took second place with $23.4 million. Fuck it, bring on the asteroid.

This week’s big guns — Beautiful Creatures, A Good Day to Die Hard and Safe Haven — came out blazing yesterday, but there’s still plenty of stuff opening today. Shall we flip through the slate?

The Berlin File: A North Korean superspy finds himself a moving target when his cover is blown in Ryoo Seung-wan’s extremely — and, some might say, unnecessarily — complicated espionage picture.

Escape from Planet Earth: Brendan Fraser, Rob Corddry, Sarah Jessica Parker and Ricky Gervais lend their voices to this animated adventure, which looks like Monsters vs. Aliens collided with Planet 51. Not screened for press. Uh-oh.

A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III: In which we discover that Roman Coppola cannot be trusted to work on his own, or with Charlie Sheen. I still like CQ, though.

Grave Encounters 2: You didn’t know there was a Grave Encounters 1? Join the club. But John finds plenty to like in John Poliquin’s out-of-nowhere horror sequel.

Shadows of Liberty: Jean-Philippe Tremblay’s breathless documentary warns us, as stridently as possible, that corporate ownership of media will lead to the death of independent journalism. I agree with the thesis, but not the manner of delivery.

And that’s everything! Enjoy the long weekend, folks! Unless we all get killed by that asteroid, of course.

In this week’s NOW, I have a quick chat with a snowbound Emmy Rossum about her supporting role in Richard LaGravenese’s surprisingly okay Beautiful Creatures — which is one of several films opening today in the hopes of capturing Valentine’s Day date-night audiences.

Its competition: A Good Day to Die Hard, which kinda sucks, and Safe Haven, a new Nicholas Sparks joint which Rad sees for the product it is. But really, you should go see Warm Bodies if you haven’t yet. It’s genuinely romantic, even with the brain-eating.

Also in this week’s issue: My list of Bruce Willis’ Top 5 performances, and a look at this year’s TIFF Next Wave festival. So, there. Plenty of stuff to go around!

Despite most of the northeastern United States and large chunks of Canada getting slammed by a blizzard over the weekend, people still turned out to see Identity Theft in droves, pushing it to a $36.6 million opening. And this is a picture that’s been getting even more vicious reviews than Movie 43.

Well, whatever, right? No one listens to critics anyway. And at least Warm Bodies came in second … well, a distant second, earning just $11.5 million. (Steven Soderbergh’s swan song Side Effects was close behind with $10 million.) But seriously — and say it with me — this is why we can’t have nice things.

Hey, look, everybody! It’s Friday again! Want to see a movie or something? Assuming you can leave your homes, of course. Kinda snowy out there today.

All in Good Time: East is East and West is West screenwriter Ayub Khan-Din puts an East Indian spin on the 1966 comedy The Family Way, with Reece Ritchie and Amara Karan as newlyweds in search of a little alone time. Susan is not terribly impressed.

Identity Thief: Horrible Bosses star Jason Bateman and director Seth Gordon enlist Bridesmaids‘ scene-stealer Melissa McCarthy for a comedy that, from the tone of my Twitter feed after Wednesday night’s screening, does not seem to be making anyone happy. It’ll probably rule the weekend.

Lunarcy!: Simon Ennis’ documentary explores the strange attraction the moon holds for certain members of the human race. Certain … obsessive members. If you’re in the mood for something weird and charming, you’ll definitely want to check it out.

Middle of Nowhere: Ava DuVernay was hailed as a major new talent when she brought her feature debut to Sundance last year, winning Best Director. I’ll allow that she’s very good with actors, but I’m not quite feeling the movie as a whole.

Side Effects: Steven Soderbergh, why you gotta go out like this? I mean, there are so many other genres to subvert … don’t make any harsh decisions, is all I’m saying. Nice work with Jude Law and Rooney Mara, though.

Tchoupitoulas: Three teenagers and a dog spend a night wandering New Orleans in this evocative documentary from Bill and Turner Ross. Andy loved it at Hot Docs, and loves it still. (Opens Saturday at the Bloor for a limited run.)

Oh, and Portrait of Wally opens at the Bloor on Tuesday. It’s pretty good too, as is Only the Young, which screens there tonight, tomorrow and next Thursday. I’m throwing that a little love in today’s NOW Daily column, to which I’ll link later this afternoon.

And now you’re fully prepared to go out and see something! Again, if you’re not buried under a snowbank somewhere.

In this week’s NOW, I try to put Steven Soderbergh’s career into some sort of auteurist context with a Top 5 of his most experimental works — yes, Solaris is in there — and I take a look at the first Toronto Black Film Festival, though I don’t find much there to love.

Couldn’t actually speak to Soderbergh himself, which is a shame. But over at MSN, you’ll find me chatting with Bruce Greenwood about his complex role in Robert Zemeckis’ Flight — a movie I still don’t much like, but one that treats its actors very well indeed.

I’ve got a couple of other interviews going up on MSN in the next couple of days … keep an eye out, you may find them interesting.