Tom Waits Wows Film Critics, Ticks Off His Mom

Andrew Garfield will play Peter Parker in 2012 reboot

(NEWSER) - Andrew Garfield has been chosen to play Spider-Man in the sequel that will reboot the franchise in 2012, Zap2it reports. Garfield, 26, who appeared most recently in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, beat out actors like Jamie Bell, Logan Lerman, and Josh Hutcherson in a grueling casting process. Director Marc Webb said Garfield has "a rare combination of intelligence, wit, and humanity. Mark my words, you will love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker." 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."

Jason Segel, Emily Blunt star in truthful romantic comedy

(NEWSER) - The Five-Year Engagement clocks in at over two hours, which is a bit too long for many critics. But its honesty about relationships makes the Jason Segel-Emily Blunt rom-com stand out from the pack.

• "Because it's so willing to drill down into Tom and Violet's misery, The Five-Year Engagement involves a higher grim-to-grin ratio than its fluffier brethren," writes Ann Hornaday in the Washington Post . "But there's an unmistakable ring of truth to the couple's conflicts and mixed feelings."

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."

Taylor Kitsch stars in Martian epic

(NEWSER) - John Carter was burdened by production drama and bad press about its giant budget; now critics are getting a chance to see what the fuss was all about. It's no great work of art, but the story of a Civil War veteran turned Martian hero is reasonably exciting, they say:

• In Slate , Dana Stevens calls the film "a strange, at times misshapen, but somehow lovable thing: a movie that keeps trying to be smaller and simpler than its $250 million special-effects budget will permit." Its best moments are simply as a "bare-bones space western," but there aren't enough of those moments.