Con men. Those charming devils who smile as they plunge the knife in your back, then make you want to thank them for the privilege. Hollywood, and let's face it, audiences, love 'em.

The film adaptation of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," is, like its source material, at once formula thriller, scathing social commentary and dark history lesson. But it's also a more eloquent work; smartly condensing the novel's sprawl, the feature forgoes prosaic detail for cinematic vigor.

The CW might have been targeting the female demographic lately, but if its two new half-hour "reality shows" are representative, apparently its real goals are to put the entire genre out of its misery.

On the evidence of his brilliant performance in Martin McDonagh's new play, "A Behanding in Spokane," Christopher Walken should have returned to the stage a long time ago.

A potentially fascinating topic is given a disappointing treatment in Felix Moeller's documentary portrait of German filmmaker Veit Harlan and his infamous 1940 anti-Semitic film "Jew Suss."

If there's a lesson to be gleaned from "Stolen," it's that combining two essentially dull stories results in less than the sum of their parts.

Ever wonder whether a distant relative of yours cleaned latrines for Gen. Custer or procured poodles for Marie Antoinette? Me neither, but apparently there is enough fascination with genealogy for NBC to give it an hour every Friday night for seven weeks.

The path to the altar twists predictably through strained high jinks and more convincing sentiment in "Our Family Wedding," a slightly fractured fairy tale that places Latino and black characters center stage.