Emporium Short on Wonder

Critics wonder: Why did Jim Sheridan need to do this remake?

(NEWSER) - Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman, and Jake Gyllenhaal deliver solid performances in Jim Sheridan's war movie Brothers, but the film doesn't measure up to the 2004 Danish original, say critics:

• Peter Howell, Toronto Star : "It's still a film worth seeing, if only for the performances, but it seems to be something far short of a labor of love by Sheridan."
• Chris Hewitt, St. Paul Pioneer Press : "There's no indication what Sheridan thought was special or moving about this movie or why he thought it needed to be made. ... It feels oddly sterile."

Historical soap opera adds spice to the Tudor court

(NEWSER) - The Other Boleyn Girl is anything but a dry history lesson about the 16th century, critics say—don't take it too seriously, and you'll be all right. It "probably shouldn't be the way in which high-school kids learn about Henry VIII and his court, but it's a fun movie," writes Bill Goodykoonts in the Arizona Republic. Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson star as Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary. More»

Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones return for alien flick

(NEWSER) - Sure, no one was that desperate for a Men in Black 3—but it's actually a pretty good summer movie. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are back defending the planet from aliens, and this time, Josh Brolin's along for the ride as a young Jones.

• The movie "turns out to be so much fun," writes AO Scott in the New York Times . While it "carefully fulfills its blockbuster imperatives—with chases and explosions and elaborately contrived plot twists—it swerves into some marvelously silly, unexpectedly witty, and genuinely fresh territory."

Johnny Depp stars in Tim Burton film

(NEWSER) - Critics aren't thrilled with Tim Burton's latest offering, inspired by the late-1960s cult TV show of the same name and starring Johnny Depp as an 18th-century vampire who is buried alive, only to be accidentally dug up in 1972. The film isn't sure what it wants to be:

• Dark Shadows "tries to serve too many masters," writes Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News . "Initially it’s an epic valentine to the show. Then it’s a vamp-out-of-water story. Soon it’s a gung-ho comedy. Finally it's a monster flick." Still, it "unearths enough fun."

Joss Whedon directs Robert Downey Jr. in superhero blowout

(NEWSER) - Sure, it's an effective moneymaking scheme: release movies about individual superheroes, then one about all of them. But with Joss Whedon at the helm, The Avengers really works. What critics are saying:

• "Even if you don't particularly like comic-book adaptations, this film just might make a believer of you," writes Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times . "Whedon is the key reason why this $220 million behemoth of a movie is smartly thought out and executed with verve and precision."