Seagal Is Back, and This Time It's Personal

Arranged wiretaps, transcribed tapes for Hollywood's Pellicano

(NEWSER) - A former assistant to Anthony Pellicano, improbably named Tarita Virtue, told a packed courtoom yesterday that she transcribed many wiretapped conversations for the Hollywood private eye, Variety reports. She explained Pellicano's wiretapping process step by step, and described the detective's security system, including punch-code locks on every room and files protected with the password "Omerta." More»

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»

FBI takes in members of Colombo, Gambino, 5 other families

(NEWSER) - It's not a good day to be a mobster: The FBI has arrested nearly 130 in what it's calling the biggest mob bust in New York history. The raids, which began yesterday and continued into the early morning, reeled in "basically the whole administration of the Colombo family," a source tells the New York Post . The raids also hit the Gambino syndicate, as well five other mob families in New York City, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, notes the New York Times . Charges include extortion, racketeering, drug trafficking, and murder. 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."

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»