Michelle Williams Shines as Marilyn

Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams wow, but not everyone's convinced

(NEWSER) - Some critics are raving over Blue Valentine, a harrowing tale in which Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams play a couple ripping apart at the seams. But not everyone is impressed with the film (whose infamous oral sex scene has gotten plenty of press).

• “This wrenching story of a marriage that rides a roller coaster for six tumultuous years is not to be missed,” writes Peter Travers in Rolling Stone . “Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams give two of the most explosive and emotionally naked performances you will see anywhere.”
• "This is the kind of movie about marriage Americans don't usually make," writes Dana Stevens for Slate . "Although the violence is almost entirely emotional, you walk out as devastated as if you'd seen a war picture."

Sex thriller a 'slow case of déjà vu'

(NEWSER) - Deception is a twist-filled thriller, but critics say the cloak of deceit will be paper-thin to anybody familiar with the genre. Ewan McGregor stars as a dull accountant whose life gets spicier after an attorney, played by Hugh Jackman, introduces him to a secret sex club. Soon after, the thriller cliches roll out, and "it's genre time," writes Desson Thompson in the Washington Post. 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."

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."

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."