Lindsay Lohan to Play Teen in Manson Family

Filipino watchman thought actor was real gunman

(NEWSER) - An overzealous village watchman in the Philippines shot and killed an actor he mistook for a real gunman. Police say the guard—who had been informed that reports of gunmen in the area were probably linked to film production—jumped on the actor's motorcycle and shot him in the back after the director shouted "Action," AP reports. More»

Movies disappoint, but rarely go the way of Ishtar

(NEWSER) - It's rare these days to see a big-studio movie truly bomb, and that's a shame, laments Tom Shone of Slate . Sure, we get our share of misfires like Jonah Hex or The A-Team , but few reach the depths of those glorious financial busts of yesteryear like Ishtar, Waterworld, and Cutthroat Island—"the swashbuckler that derailed the careers of Renny Harlin, Geena Davis, and Matthew Modine—and the last film to actually force a movie studio to close, Heaven's Gate-style." More»

Female directors lack 'male gaze,' author says

(NEWSER) - Bret Easton Ellis is likely to find himself scratched from a few Christmas card lists over a MovieLine interview in which he insists women aren't made to be good movie directors. "There’s something about the medium of film itself that I think requires the male gaze," said the American Psycho author. "We’re watching, and we’re aroused by looking, whereas I don’t think women respond that way to films, just because of how they’re built." More»

Kal Penn leaves Obama administration to resume acting

(NEWSER) - Kal Penn is done with politics: The actor will resign as President Obama's associate director of public engagement to return to show business, starting with a new Harold & Kumar movie that begins shooting in June. The film will see the two buddies reunited at Christmastime under the direction of Todd Schulson, and may be shot in 3-D, reports Entertainment Weekly . Expect to see a lot of freaked-out stoners in theaters come holiday 2011. More»

(NEWSER) - John Forsythe, a versatile actor who gained lasting fame as Blake Carrington on the pioneering prime-time soap Dynasty and as the voice of the mysterious Charlie on Charlie's Angels, died yesterday in California. He was 92. Best known at the time as the affable star of Bachelor Father, Forsythe played a villainous judge in the 1979 Al Pacino vehicle And Justice for All, demonstrating he had the chops to channel the scheming Blake Carrington. More»