Burn Flares Up, Flames Out

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."

Daniel Radcliffe makes post-Hogwarts debut

(NEWSER) - The boy wizard is back—but this time, he's a 19th-century gentleman. Daniel Radcliffe is generally successful playing a spooked lawyer in The Woman in Black, a throwback haunted house thriller. What the critics are saying:

• The film "makes the most of its old-fashioned virtues," writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times . It "isn’t especially scary, but it keeps you on edge, and without the usual vivisectionist imagery." For his part, Radcliffe "has the haunted eyes of the eternal mourner."

Because if you're going to dream, dream big

(NEWSER) - Today's dispatch from the Modesty Department: Newt Gingrich was asked a very classic question on a radio show yesterday, as reported by TMZ : If someone decided to make a film about the life of Newt Gingrich, who would play Newt Gingrich? The former speaker's answer: "Brad Pitt ... why not?" Gingrich did admit that there isn't really a resemblance. "He's thinner, he's better looking, he's younger. But ... why not go for Brad Pitt? You gotta relax and just, you know, let your imagination soar." Your Newser editors' imagination soared straight to Andy Richter as perhaps a better fit (with Patricia Clarkson as Callista; images in the gallery). Try to best us with your own suggestions in the comments area. More»

Liam Neeson stars in survival thriller

(NEWSER) - The Grey, a survival-in-the-wilderness thriller starring Liam Neeson, is earning a wealth of literary comparisons. The film tells the story of a group of men stranded in the snow after a plane crash, and critics are mostly impressed.

• In the New York Times , AO Scott applauds the "fine, tough little movie, technically assured and brutally efficient, with a simple story that ventures into some profound existential territory without making a big fuss about it." The film is "as blunt and effective—and also, at times, as lyrical—as a tale by Jack London or Ernest Hemingway."

Kids pushing him and Angelina to tie the knot

(NEWSER) - Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie seem to spend most of their time telling magazines that no, they're still not married , but in a new interview in the Hollywood Reporter , Pitt sings a slightly different tune. "We’d actually like to" get married, Pitt admits, "and it seems to mean more and more to our kids. We made this declaration some time ago that we weren’t going to do it 'til everyone can . But I don’t think we’ll be able to hold out. It means so much to my kids, and they ask a lot. And it means something to me, too, to make that kind of commitment." More»