Oscar Winner Sydney Pollack Dead at 73

Even Hollywood can make movies for the non-'lily-livered:' Nile Gardiner

(NEWSER) - "Hollywood may well be a bastion of liberalism, but it does continue to occasionally produce major films that advance conservative principles," Nile Gardiner writes in the Telegraph . His best of the aughts:

1. Master and Commander, 2003: The Peter Weir flick starring Russell Crowe is "an epic tale of heroism and love for country in the face of incredible odds, and a glowing tribute to the grit and determination that forged the British Empire."
2. Black Hawk Down, 2001: Critics may have called it an "anti-war film," but Gardiner doesn't buy it. Instead, it's "an extraordinarily powerful and deeply patriotic tribute to the heroism and bravery of the US military."

Roger Corman, Gordon Willis, John Calley share the spotlight

(NEWSER) - A mere 65 years after her unforgettable screen debut, Lauren Bacall has won an Academy Award. The honorary Oscar was a high point of a ceremony last night in Los Angeles that also celebrated the careers of filmmaker Roger Corman, cinematographer Gordon Willis, and producer John Calley. "I can't believe it, a man at last!" the 85-year-old Bacall joked as she hoisted her new hardware. More»

Gibson aims for rehabilitation, but Mad Max is 'gone'

(NEWSER) - Mel Gibson appears to be making an effort to revive a career stalled after his 2006 arrest and accompanying anti-Semitic tirade, but “it seems unlikely he can ever really come back,” writes Roger Friedman for Fox News. “Like Tom Cruise, Gibson has sent himself into a weird purgatory from which his reputation can never fully recover,” Friedman notes after watching the actor/director chat with Jimmy Kimmel. More»

(NEWSER) - Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, one of the giants of cinematic storytelling, died today at 89 after a career spanning more than half a century and over 50 films. Bergman's films scanned the dreary but often resplendent landscape of the human condition, one deeply conditioned by his native country. More»

Hollywood's man in Washington pioneered ratings system

(NEWSER) - Despite being neither movie star nor studio exec, Jack Valenti was one of Hollywood's most influential figures. An era ended Thursday when the longtime president of the film industry's trade association died at his home in Washington. The veteran lobbyist, who also served in the Johnson administration, was 85 and had suffered a stroke in March. More»