New X-Men Leaked Online

Columnist clarifies he did not download film

(NEWSER) - Gossip columnist Roger Friedman has been officially ousted from Fox News after reviewing a pirated copy of sister-company 20th Century Fox’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. After yesterday afternoon’s meeting between Friedman and Fox News execs, the two parties “mutually agreed to part ways immediately,” according to a statement. Friedman later contacted Gawker to clarify he did not download the film, just streamed it after stumbling upon it online accidentally. More»

FoxNews.com's Friedman to argue for job today

(NEWSER) - The fate of longtime Fox News columnist Roger Friedman is unclear, but one thing is certain: It probably wasn’t a great idea to review a pirated copy of a sister company’s movie. Fox News-parent News Corp. said Friedman was canned after posting Thursday’s positive review of the leaked X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but the Hollywood Reporter notes that Friedman said yesterday, “Reports of my death have been extremely exaggerated.” More»

Camcorder killer coming to a theater near you

(NEWSER) - Movie makers are preparing to launch a major assault on video piracy—in 3-D. In two years, more than 4,000 theaters will be 3-D-ready, and top studios are gearing up to create films in the new format, which can't be recorded off the screen. Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are using it, and James Cameron is filming his first feature since Titanic in the format. More»

Pop star wants to follow in Michael Jackson's footsteps

(NEWSER) - Not content with entrancing Bill O'Reilly , Lady Gaga is planning her next pop-culture triumph: a blockbuster movie. "Gaga wants to emulate what Michael Jackson did during the 80s. You can already see that with her music videos," a source tells the UK tabloid News of the World . "Every one of them is a mini event. So it's only logical she moves that on to the big screen." More»

Really? 'Hot Tub Time Machine' is the best we can do?

(NEWSER) - “2010 very possibly is the worst year in the history of motion pictures,” declares Joe Queenan in a hilarious Wall Street Journal piece bemoaning the downfall of American cinema. You know things are bad in Hollywood when:

• “Shia LaBeouf—who looks a bit like the young George W. Bush” is being passed off “as the second coming of Tom Cruise.”
• The top contenders for Next Big Action Star are Jake Gyllenhaal and Adrien Brody. “None of these are logical heirs to the throne abandoned by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harrison Ford and Sylvester Stallone. They may not even be legitimate heirs to the throne vacated by Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme.”