Roberts Brings Dirty, Dirty Mouth to Tom Hanks Tribute

Julia Roberts stars as evil queen in Snow White spectacle

(NEWSER) - The latest retelling of Snow White (before June's Snow White and the Huntsman) is a lot like its vain queen: visually stunning, but kind of shallow. Critics aren't particularly impressed with Mirror Mirror:

• Though director Tarsem Singh "knows how to make performers and sets look good, he has trouble putting them into vibrant, kinetic, meaningful play," notes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times . That "effectively means that he’s a better window dresser than a movie director."

Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks movie doesn't live up to promise

(NEWSER) - Critics are finding plenty to laugh at in Larry Crowne, just not much of what writer/director/star Tom Hanks planned on. With a 36% rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes , the romantic-comedy co-starring Julia Roberts is about a middle-aged man making huge changes, but there's little you haven't seen a thousand times before. Its blandness even has some mourning the death of vintage-style movie stars . More»

Starring Tom Hanks

(NEWSER) - DC detective Alex Cross was once played by Morgan Freeman; now, the role’s going to Tyler Perry, the cross-dressing comedian and Madea star. The Daily Beast recalls 10 other embarrassing casting decisions:

1. The Da Vinci Code: Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon. He’s no “Harrison Ford in Harris tweed”—and he has no chemistry with his love interest.

Cancer-causing material spreads through wells

(NEWSER) - A toxic plume of chromium continues to trouble the California desert town that Erin Brockovich put on the map—and the pollution is getting worse, reports the AP . High levels of the material, which can cause cancer, have spread through wells near Hinkley. “Because of the widespread nature of the lower concentration chromium, it's difficult to capture the contamination,” said a water quality official. More»

Men prefer Clint, women like Johnny Depp in Harris poll

(NEWSER) - Americans love Clint Eastwood—he's the nation's favorite movie star for the fourth time in the annual Harris poll. Eastwood topped the men's list, as well being the favorite of Republicans and Independents. Democrats preferred Denzel Washington, while women liked Johnny Depp. The overall winners, not broken down by gender or politics, from Entertainment Weekly : More»