Ebert Ready to Review Again

Paul Rudd stars in Jesse Peretz comedy

(NEWSER) - Our Idiot Brother is the story of a sweet-natured fool who depends on his three sisters to get his life back on track. It’s good for a smile, if not big laughs:

• In the New York Times , AO Scott calls it a “thin, unconvincing movie made likable by the charm and skill of its cast and by a script peppered with wit and insight.” The humor, however, comes from “obvious, picked-over places.”

Fans surf web for trailers, ignore esteemed critics

(NEWSER) - Gone are the days when film critics swayed the culture and sparked serious debate, Anne Thompson laments in Variety. None of her college film students can name a critic besides Roger Ebert, though all are intense cinematic aficionados. Instead, most turn to review roundup sites, or “get their movie info straight from the studio marketing departments.” More»

Juno , I'm Not There , and No Country take top spots

(NEWSER) - Film critics offer their top picks for 2007, ranging from quirky dramedy (Juno) to drama (Michael Clayton) to foreign fare (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly). Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times:

1. Juno
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

1. There Will Be Blood
2. No Country for Old Men
3. I'm Not There

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."