Cowboys & Aliens a Bore

Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara star in David Fincher's adaptation

(NEWSER) - David Fincher's adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a mostly faithful retelling of Stieg Larsson's novel: A young hacker and a journalist team up to solve the mystery of a girl's disappearance. The film is visually impressive, and Rooney Mara is compelling—but the movie as a whole isn't particularly profound.

• In Slate , Dana Stevens calls the film an "insurmountable ziggurat of featureless prose, a run-of-the-mill serial-killer whodunit spiked with generous doses of nasty sexual violence." Sure, "Fincher is a master of mood and atmosphere, but this chilly, efficient movie never transcends the shallowness of its source material."

Alleged assailant in Harry Potter T-shirt may face serious charges

(NEWSER) - A dispute before a Comic-Con panel discussion ended with one attendee in police custody and another in the hospital being treated for a stab wound near the eye, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The alleged assailant was armed with a pen and wearing—look away, kids—a Harry Potter T-shirt. "The room was very crowded and the males argued over one male sitting too close to the other," a police officer told CNN . More»

Robert Downey Jr. saves flashy sequel, say critics

(NEWSER) - Iron Man 2 is clunkier than its predecessor and its self-destructive hero has succumbed to boozy overconfidence, but Robert Downey Jr. saves the film, not to speak of the world, say critics.

• This movie is "bigger, louder and dumber than its predecessor" but still plenty of fun, writes Bill Goodykoontz at the Arizona Republic , praising Downey's "enormously entertaining" performance as the Marvel Comics superhero.

Despite Harrison Ford and Brendon Fraser, it's small-screen fare

(NEWSER) - Medical drama Extraordinary Measures is well-intentioned and reasonably compelling, say critics, but most of them agree that it's TV-movie rather than big-screen fare.

• The first release from CBS films doesn't go beyond its "genotype as a disease-of-the-week telepic," writes Rob Nelson at Variety , "despite the star power of Brendan Fraser as the desperate dad and Harrison Ford as an eccentric, ornery researcher."

Cast is having more fun than the audience in marital-strain rom-com

(NEWSER) - New Vince Vaughn romantic comedy Couples Retreat takes a terrific cast and puts them in a stunning South Pacific location, say critics, but it's marooned them there with an unfunny script.

• "Four unlikable couples gather at an all-inclusive marriage-counseling resort in this predictable rom-com," writes Ande Dagan at E! Online, but the premise and cast is "wasted by the sheer emptiness and lack of motivation in their one-dimensional characters."