Blood Makes Critics Swoon

Grabs best picture, actor, director awards from US film critics

(NEWSER) - There Will Be Blood, a riveting movie about the greed and corruption of oil prospecting in America a century ago, captured several of the highest awards from the National Society of Film Critics yesterday. Director Paul Thomas Anderson's adaptation of a 1927 Upton Sinclair novel earned awards for best picture, best actor for Daniel Day-Lewis and best director. More»

National Treasure: Book of Secrets keeps top spot as Alvin out-sings Legend

(NEWSER) - National Treasure: Book of Secrets shone in the top spot again this weekend as filmgoers kept flocking to the movies, Variety reports. Alvin and the Chipmunks crooned its way into second, humbling I Am Legend, as Mike Nichols-directed Charlie Wilson's War claimed fourth over Juno, an offbeat dramedy that nabbed fifth by soaring 201% over last weekend. More»

Step closer to Oscar at BAFTA

(NEWSER) - In what many see as a prologue to the Oscars, Atonement was named best film at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards yesterday, and Daniel Day-Lewis won the best actor award for his power performance in There Will Be Blood, reports Variety. In a surprise win French actress Marion Cotillard and her portrayal of chanteuse Edith Piaf beat out Julie Christie for the best actress award. More»

But Nicolas Cage seems to get it: critics

(NEWSER) - Critics agree: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is ridiculous. But they're divided over whether the silliness of the sequel, once again starring Nicolas Cage as the devilish superhero, is funny or just bad.

• In the Merced Sun-Star , Roger Moore calls the movie "a profoundly silly mash-up of comic book and quasi-religious 'prophecy' about a motorcyclist who sold his soul to the devil." It beats the original: "This time around, Cage and everybody else on board are in on the joke," and that makes it "almost a great bad movie."

Movie reviews: Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum can't save amnesia romance

(NEWSER) - In The Vow, Rachel McAdams plays a woman who must learn to love her husband again after amnesia wipes her memory. It's no surprise it was released ahead of Valentine's Day: It's pure mushiness, critics say.

• In the New York Daily News , Elizabeth Weitzman calls the film a "down-the-middle, by-the-numbers fantasy, in which no one is too quirky or interesting or challenging in any way." Still, "there’s no shortage of viewers ready to embrace an old-fashioned, guilty-pleasure romance."