Spacey to Play Jailed Lobbyist Abramoff

Industry blossomed with help from legislation by life-time gamer

(NEWSER) - Life-time gambler John McCain is behind more casino legislation than any other lawmaker, and has helped Indian gambling become a $26 billion industry, reports the New York Times. Though the Arizona senator has called lobbyists “birds of prey,” he has enjoyed close links to casino lobbyists. He once won thousands of dollars as a guest of a lobbyist gambling at a casino he oversaw as two-time head of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. More»

Tells CBS he had once pull with 100 lawmakers

(NEWSER) - Lobbyists still “own” Congress, according to Jack Abramoff, dismissing the “faux reform efforts” passed in the wake of the scandal that landed him in prison . “The system hasn’t been cleaned up at all,” Washington’s most infamous ex-peddler of influence tells 60 Minutes in an interview airing Sunday. “There's an arrogance on the part of lobbyists... that no matter what they come up with, we're smarter than they are and we'll overcome it." More»

Jasons Bateman, Sudeikis star in Seth Gordon's comedy

(NEWSER) - Horrible Bosses is shockingly crude and a bit “uneven,” but it’s also amusing, critics say—because we can all identify with such workplace horrors. (Except maybe Jennifer Aniston as a crude, harassing dentist.)

• The film is “frequently very funny,” writes AO Scott in the New York Times . For one thing, it “does not bother to cut its coarseness with a hypocritical dose of sweetness or respectability,” he notes. “The laughter is mean but also oddly pure: it expels shame and leaves you feeling dizzy, a little embarrassed and also exhilarated.”

He's Mr. Peanut, but his friends call him Iron Man

(NEWSER) - Ever found yourself watching a commercial and thinking, Whose voice is that? The Daily Beast rounds up 15 commercials with very famous actors behind them. Click through a few in the gallery or click here for the complete list. (Sometimes celebs actually get in front of the camera to shill a product— click here for the most cringeworthy results.) 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."