Once Acting Gods, Now Mere Mortals

Producer: "This is an event in world history."

(NEWSER) - They were both in Godfather II, but never on-screen together. They teamed up for Heat, but only for a few scenes. Now Robert De Niro and Al Pacino are finally going to tear up the screen together for a whole movie. "This is an event in world history," says one producer, without irony, unveiling the project at the Cannes Film Festival. More»

Turning away from stardom 'common sense,' says actor

(NEWSER) - Bad boy Sean Penn is at it again. The eternally angry actor is blasting celebrity as an "obscene disease." "I don't think it's an overstatement to say that it's an obscene disease of celebrity that's taken over far too much of the life we live. I think it's a disease that's diminished the quality of life," Penn told the Huffington Post in an interview plugging his latest movie. "It's clearly something that I've been compromised by. But for the culture at large, there is this kind of herd commitment. I think it's just become cheap." More»

He'll be 80 when baby daughter is 12

(NEWSER) - If a 68-year-old woman had a baby, nearly everyone would scream. But there's not a peep about Robert De Niro's brand-new baby daughter Helen Grace with his 56-year-old wife, Grace Hightower, via surrogate, grumbles Sasha Brown-Worsham in The Stir . Let's get real: He's too old to have a baby now, she notes. He's old enough to be the infant's grandfather, and already has a 40-year-old kid to prove it. Even if the actor lives to be 90, his youngest (of six) will be only 22, and he likely won't be taking her on any ski trips after, say, the age of 80. "Really, it is a factor of time. New babies take enormous energy and time and they also want to know their parents as long as they can," sniffs Brown-Worsham. Click to read her entire argument . More»

Daniel Radcliffe, other big names miss out on nominations

(NEWSER) - Last year's Tony Awards saw a plethora of Hollywood winners— to the annoyance of some —but this year looks to be a different story. Quite a few big names were skipped over when nominations were announced today, most notably former frontrunner Daniel Radcliffe for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Others who missed out: Robin Williams, Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Kiefer Sutherland, James Earl Jones, Kathleen Turner, and more. More»

Action flick less than the sum of its all-star parts

(NEWSER) - Sylvester Stallone directed and co-stars, alongside a Magnificent Seven-style roster of action-film legends—Bruce Willis, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, and Jason Statham—but critics have some issues with The Expendables.

• James Verniere (and a friend), Boston Herald : "Hulk like Expendables. It SMASH. Guns go BANG-BANG. Things go BOOM. Fire EVERYWHERE. Cars crash and make even MORE FIRE. HA-HA-HA. Hulk no like Rourke, though. Rourke NUTS."