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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."

Helen Mirren stars in John Madden thriller

(NEWSER) - The Debt, starring Helen Mirren, tells the story of a trio of Mossad agents whose adventure in Cold War-era Berlin has consequences far into the future. It could have been a thought-provoking thriller, but it doesn’t quite live up to its promise:

• What begins as a “finely observed study of desire under duress gives way to a breathless and pedestrian globe-trotting thriller,” writes AO Scott in the New York Times . As it “grows more complex and suspenseful, it also becomes more literal, losing some of its dramatic intensity.”

Or, Natalie Portman: From Black Swan to Thor

(NEWSER) - This year has seen many an Oscar winner in less-than-deserving films, from Tom Hanks in Larry Crowne to Frances McDormand in Transformers. Over at Grantland , Lane Brown averaged the Rotten Tomatoes scores of all an actor’s films since the Oscar victory—first through 2010, then through this year. The difference—measured in “cubas” (sorry, Mr. Gooding)—reveals how much the actor tainted his or her Oscar this year. And the winners are: More»

Mirren, Freeman, Willis, Malkovich fire away in graphic novel adaptation

(NEWSER) - A bunch of aging Hollywood icons team up for a graphic novel adaptation—Red sounds fun, right? Some critics thought this movie about retired CIA operatives forced to get back in the game was a blast, others thought it was trying too hard. Perhaps it depends on how much you love comic books. And old people. And guns.

• "This is fast-paced, high octane entertainment for the AARP crowd," writes James Berardinelli at Reelviews . Because of the high-quality cast—which includes Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and even 93-year-old Ernest Borgnine—"there's no need to feel guilty about praising such an inherently silly motion picture," he writes.

Action flick less than the sum of its all-star parts

(NEWSER) - Sylvester Stallone directed and co-stars, alongside a Magnificent Seven-style roster of action-film legends—Bruce Willis, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, and Jason Statham—but critics have some issues with The Expendables.

• James Verniere (and a friend), Boston Herald : "Hulk like Expendables. It SMASH. Guns go BANG-BANG. Things go BOOM. Fire EVERYWHERE. Cars crash and make even MORE FIRE. HA-HA-HA. Hulk no like Rourke, though. Rourke NUTS."