The Informant! Is 'Devilish Fun'

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."

Group of employees files lawsuit

(NEWSER) - A group of FDA scientists and doctors says that their personal emails were monitored by the agency after they acted as whistleblowers, and that the information gleaned from the surveillance led to their harassment or dismissal. The employees had complained internally, beginning in 2007, about approved or soon-to-be-approved cancer-screening devices that they believed posed risks to patients. Ultimately, they told Congress, the White House, and the Health and Human Services inspector general about their concerns, the Washington Post reports. 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."

Vatican confirms letters penned by whistleblower, calls reports 'banal'

(NEWSER) - Italy is reeling from news last night that a high-ranking official of Vatican City who tried to blow the whistle on corruption was ignored and was forced to transfer positions, reports Reuters . Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who was the No. 2 man at Vatican City in charge of maintaining the city-state's infrastructure from 2009 to 2011, sent letters to Church leaders, including Pope Benedict, warning about fraud and millions of dollars in waste. More»