A-List Potential, F-Grade Agents

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»

Lindsay Lohan's rotting teeth, and 44 other items

(NEWSER) - As the year draws to a close, it's hard not to reflect on the events that have made 2011 the glorious year it was. Well, almost. Writing for Buzzfeed , Dave Stopera, argues that there are about 45 things from the past year we should forget, while toasting to "a much less trashy 2012!" in the process.

1. The ton of people ready to vote for Donald Trump for president

Binging, smoking crack, playing twins, and more

(NEWSER) - James Franco's self-amputation (using a blunt pen knife, no less) in 127 Hours is apparently so realistic that audiences are fainting and vomiting at the sight of it. How'd Hollywood pull that off? At first, by using makeup to create a decaying arm, explains one of the film's makeup artists. But when the arm actually gets severed, prosthetic arms and tons of movie blood came into play. The Daily Beast spills the beans on a dozen other cinematic secrets: More»

'The Dark Knight Rises' is lame ... but far from the worst

(NEWSER) - Drum roll, please: The sequel to The Dark Knight will be named ... The Dark Knight Rises. "How thoroughly underwhelming," complains Katie Calautti for Newsweek —while acknowledging it could be much, much worse. She runs down the 10 most pathetic attempts at creativity in the last 20 years of cinema:

1. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010): So it ... takes naps? What does this even mean? "Is greed better when it’s been awake for a solid 72 hours?"

Tying him to the bed is not a good idea

(NEWSER) - Everything we need to know about life we can learn from studying the repertoires of Katherine Heigl and Hugh Grant, right? Maybe not. Cracked points out six romantic acts that are a staple of cinema—and can saddle get real-life imitators jail time.

1. Tearing through the airport: It worked in Love Actually, but bust past security to go after your one true love could get you 18 months in the slammer. Crazy enough, this happened in January.