Surrogates: Silly But Suspenseful

JJ Abrams directs Kyle Chandler, Elle Fanning in sci-fi flick

(NEWSER) - Super 8 is a fun summer blockbuster about kids, monsters, and filmmaking—but don’t expect a classic.

• Director JJ Abrams is “clever and sincere,” notes AO Scott in the New York Times , “but still, at least on the big screen, more student than master. Like his previous features, Super 8 is an enticing package without much inside.”
• Claudia Puig applauds the film in USA Today . “Super 8 packs the emotional punch of vintage Steven Spielberg with the spectacular effects and sense of mystery at which writer/director J.J. Abrams excels.

Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan star in Duncan Jones' sci-fi film

(NEWSER) - Source Code stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a military pilot placed into another man’s life using a secret program called Source Code—where he's forced to repeat the same eight minutes perpetually in order to catch a bomber. It’s pulse-pounding but deeply human:

• It’s “the first film in a while to have a decent heart while quickening your pulse,” writes Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News , calling it a "top-shelf B-movie." Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan “pull off the human moments within this intricate mousetrap—and never get lost in the puzzle.”

Humans are still being asked to risk their lives

(NEWSER) - Japan has built robots for all kinds of distinctly human tasks—from playing instruments to officiating at weddings—but none have been used in this nuclear mess, notes Reuters . Instead, humans are still being asked to risk their lives. Robots are common elsewhere in the nuclear industry, so what gives? Part of the reason may be cultural, writes Jon Herskovitz: "While Japan is renowned for its cutting edge technology, it also maintains an anachronistic element in its society that relies on humans for tasks that have given way to automation in many other parts of the world." More»

Machine could theoretically self-replicate, make Lego-Terminators

(NEWSER) - Could this be the first step toward a robotic apocalypse? A software engineer has created a machine made of Legos that builds objects made of Legos, based on 3D models. The MakerLegoBot (see video in gallery) takes advantage of the brand's new Mindstorms set, which incorporates motors and moving parts. With modifications, the gizmo could theoretically replicate itself, notes Wired . 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.