Can Anyone Explain What the Hell Despicable Me Is?

So there's this movie called Despicable Me coming out. There are some commercials making the rounds on TV, and a few posters have popped up here and there. It appears to be animated and in 3D, and Steve Carell's involvement is noted. I think Universal is the studio, but I can't be sure. In fact, beyond the aforementioned citations, I can't be sure of anything with this one. Am I the only one completely in the dark about this movie? If so, why? And if not, can you please explain it, starting with the title?

I'm not trying to be glib or snarky for snark's sake, either: Despite having made no efforts to avoid it, I sincerely have no idea what this movie is about, who's in it or when it's even being released. Sure, call it a job fail -- a professional lapse or, at best, a grave case of pop-culture user error. But that's kind of the point. If a film-beat regular doesn't have a bead on a major studio's summer tentpole, then how are the millions expected to turn out for opening weekend supposed to know? And: When is opening weekend, anyway? See, this is a problem.

Again, I could research all this online, but let's perform an experiment instead. How many of the following questions can you answer about the film without looking the answers up?

· What is the film about?

· Who else is in it?

· Is Despicable Me really the best -- i.e. clearest, grabbiest -- title for a movie apparently targeted at families?

· Those little yellow creatures in the goggles -- who are they and what do they do?

· Is it based on a comic book or a video game or something?

· Has anybody seen it? Is it any good?

Seriously, help Movieline help you. Or just move on to Inception and be done with it.