Adjustment Bureau a Sci-Fi Sizzler

Jason Segel, Emily Blunt star in truthful romantic comedy

(NEWSER) - The Five-Year Engagement clocks in at over two hours, which is a bit too long for many critics. But its honesty about relationships makes the Jason Segel-Emily Blunt rom-com stand out from the pack.

• "Because it's so willing to drill down into Tom and Violet's misery, The Five-Year Engagement involves a higher grim-to-grin ratio than its fluffier brethren," writes Ann Hornaday in the Washington Post . "But there's an unmistakable ring of truth to the couple's conflicts and mixed feelings."

Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet star in Steven Soderbergh film

(NEWSER) - Critics applaud Steven Soderbergh’s latest effort, Contagion, a deeply disturbing imagining of a global pandemic that features an all-star cast (Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne):

• It’s “easily the scariest of the disaster films” since 9/11, writes Lou Lumenick in the New York Post . What’s more, it “takes great pains to present its situations realistically, and includes a lot of intelligent speculation about what sort of political, economic, and ethical questions would be raised by such a disaster.”

Remake features a star turn by 13-year-old Hailee Steinfeld

(NEWSER) - True Grit, the Coen brothers’ latest, updates a John Wayne classic—though it may stick closer to the original novel than the first film. Critics are impressed, with the Rotten Tomatoes score currently at 95%:

• In the New York Times , Manohla Dargis applauds the film’s 13-year-old star, Hailee Steinfeld, who gives a “memorably ferocious performance” as a “character whose single-minded pursuit of vengeance has unmistakable resonance.”

Actress carries a film that does not depart from genre conventions

(NEWSER) - Whether they find the film delightful costumed fluff or a dreary museum piece, most critics agree Emily Blunt is lovely as The Young Victoria. Some takes:

• "Winningly played" by Blunt, Keith Phipps writes for the Onion AV Club , Victoria is "a bright, vivacious, willful, and sometimes rash monarch-in-the-making," a welcome antidote to the familiar dour characterizations of the monarch.

Franchise's third film fails to match second installment

(NEWSER) - Critics tried to slash its tires, but Rush Hour 3 still raced to the top of the box office this weekend. The Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker vehicle gauged $50.2 million according to studio estimates, though falling short of the franchise’s second installment Rush Hour 2, which earned $67.4 million in its debut weekend. More»