More Booze Than Plot in Rum Diary

Johnny Depp stars in Tim Burton film

(NEWSER) - Critics aren't thrilled with Tim Burton's latest offering, inspired by the late-1960s cult TV show of the same name and starring Johnny Depp as an 18th-century vampire who is buried alive, only to be accidentally dug up in 1972. The film isn't sure what it wants to be:

• Dark Shadows "tries to serve too many masters," writes Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News . "Initially it’s an epic valentine to the show. Then it’s a vamp-out-of-water story. Soon it’s a gung-ho comedy. Finally it's a monster flick." Still, it "unearths enough fun."

Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz star in Rob Marshall's film

(NEWSER) - The latest Pirates of the Caribbean is more of the same, and it’s getting stale—but Captain Jack Sparrow remains somewhat compelling, critics say.

• It’s “exactly like what you'd expect: overlong (two hours and 20 minutes), overstuffed (with at least four separate beats that could count as endings), and extremely loud,” writes Dana Stevens in Slate . Plus, “I liked these movies better when you thought Capt. Jack Sparrow was gay.”

'Mesmerizing' documentary tells story of Hunter S. Thompson

(NEWSER) - There’s a “fascinating history lesson” in the documentary Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson, “a lively collage of interviews and found materials,” writes A. O. Scott in the New York Times. The film cements the journalist's “place in the great American parade of cranks, renegades and sages,” Scott adds. It's “all you could wish for in a doc about the man,” notes Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times. More»

Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones return for alien flick

(NEWSER) - Sure, no one was that desperate for a Men in Black 3—but it's actually a pretty good summer movie. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are back defending the planet from aliens, and this time, Josh Brolin's along for the ride as a young Jones.

• The movie "turns out to be so much fun," writes AO Scott in the New York Times . While it "carefully fulfills its blockbuster imperatives—with chases and explosions and elaborately contrived plot twists—it swerves into some marvelously silly, unexpectedly witty, and genuinely fresh territory."

Joss Whedon directs Robert Downey Jr. in superhero blowout

(NEWSER) - Sure, it's an effective moneymaking scheme: release movies about individual superheroes, then one about all of them. But with Joss Whedon at the helm, The Avengers really works. What critics are saying:

• "Even if you don't particularly like comic-book adaptations, this film just might make a believer of you," writes Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times . "Whedon is the key reason why this $220 million behemoth of a movie is smartly thought out and executed with verve and precision."