Notorious Aims Too Small

Task force investigating new leads, say sources

(NEWSER) - Thirteen years later, the murders of rappers Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur remain two of the music industry’s highest-profile unsolved mysteries—but that could soon change. Police “reinvigorated” the Notorious BIG murder case months ago, sources tell CNN , and they are actively looking into leads and new information related to the 1997 crime. The task force investigating the case includes the LAPD, FBI, and the LA County DA’s office. More»

Dakota Fanning-Kristen Stewart vehicle divides critics

(NEWSER) - Critics praise the performances in The Runaways, about Joan Jett's seminal '70s band, but whether the flick succeeds is up for debate. Some takes:

• "Say what you will about the Runaways," Peter Travers writes in Rolling Stone , but "they never played it safe. The movie does." He wants more out of the verboten relationship between Dakota Fanning's Cherie Currie and Kristen Stewart's Jett. Still, "Fanning scores a knockout."

Hefty entertainer to portray the far more notorious BIG

(NEWSER) - His debut album was shelved, but Jamal “Gravy” Woolard still has a shot a fame, the New Yorker reports. The rapper, who notoriously took a bullet in the butt outside a radio studio in 2006, killed his music career with what was widely perceived to be a publicity stunt. But he’s since been cast to portray the even more Notorious BIG on the big screen. 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."