The Proposal a Charming Cliché

Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively star in Martin Campbell's film

(NEWSER) - Green Lantern is chock-full of special effects, but they’re not enough to rescue this superhero flick. Critics complain:

• “Green Lantern is bad,” writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times . It’s "impeded by lame jokes; evocations of better movies; an ugly-bruise palette of black, green, and purple; and a formulaic script that mechanically switches among story threads as TV shows often do.”

Football chick flick lacks suspense, delivers happy ending

(NEWSER) - The Blind Side lacks inherent suspense—it's based on the true story of Michael Oher, a rookie offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. But the tale of a homeless African-American teen adopted by big-hearted white yuppies, at bottom a Sandra Bullock vehicle, goes over big in football country.

• Writer-director John Lee Hancock "manages to turn a movie that could have been about nothing more than 'white guilt' into something that surprisingly defies expectations and can be downright inspiring," writes Roger Moore in the Orlando Sentinel .

(NEWSER) - Sandra Bullock made a name for herself in romantic comedies but “can’t stand” them now, America's Sweetheart tells the Wall Street Journal. “I always read scripts and go, ‘I want to change the role of Sam to Samantha because it’s written better,’” Bullock says, citing the genre’s penchant for underselling female roles. And that’s what makes her new film The Proposal stand out. 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."