Spidey's Franco Earns Hasty Pudding Honors

Star of bad movies turns to better fare with Pineapple Express and Milk

(NEWSER) - James Franco is an apologetic guy. He’s sorry for being mean to Annapolis co-star Tyrese (“If he had a bad experience working with me, I was probably a jerk”) and for talking too much (“I am just rambling”), Chris Heath observes in a GQ profile. But with hit Pineapple Express and Oscar-material biopic Milk under his belt, the “young-leading-man-in-bad-movies” finally won’t have much to apologize for. More»

Twilight star Kristen Stewart has two breakout films

(NEWSER) - With the Sundance Film Festival under way in Park City, Utah, the Daily Beast takes a look at the ones generating the loudest buzz:

• Howl: James Franco turns in a Milk-caliber performance as counter-culture poet Allen Ginsberg as he faces obscenity charges in 1957.
• Kristen Stewart: Gets well beyond Twilight as rocker Joan Jett in The Runaways, and wows as “a young prostitute who finds an unlikely father figure in a depressed, broken man, portrayed by James Gandolfini,” in Welcome to the Rileys.

Actor asked for, got part on long-running soap

(NEWSER) - James Franco—yes, that James Franco—is joining the cast of General Hospital in November for at least a few weeks. In fact, Franco—whose movie credits include Pineapple Express, Milk, and all three Spider-Man flicks—asked the soap’s producers for a role, reports Soapnet. They were only too happy to accommodate. No details yet on the role. More»

'I'm not going to Yale,' says Brit actor

(NEWSER) - Harry Potter muse Emma Watson has turned positively witchy, trashing statements that she's headed to Yale, reports the Boston Globe. Turns out a Twitter note gushing "I got into Yale!" wasn't posted by Watson. In fact, she doesn't have a Twitter account, according to her website. Now fans are buzzing that the brainy Brit is going to Harvard after Watson was spotted visiting. Watson has applied to "several" US universities, she said last year. More»

But feisty actor still has fightin' words for Russell Crowe, critics

(NEWSER) - Louisiana prosecutors have agreed to drop all charges against Josh Brolin and Jeffrey Wright for a July barroom brawl the two allegedly got into while filming Oliver Stone’s W. Brolin and Wright, along with five members of the film’s crew, faced misdemeanor charges from the fight, People reports. More»