RIP John Hughes: 'Our Generation's Salinger'

Even Hollywood can make movies for the non-'lily-livered:' Nile Gardiner

(NEWSER) - "Hollywood may well be a bastion of liberalism, but it does continue to occasionally produce major films that advance conservative principles," Nile Gardiner writes in the Telegraph . His best of the aughts:

1. Master and Commander, 2003: The Peter Weir flick starring Russell Crowe is "an epic tale of heroism and love for country in the face of incredible odds, and a glowing tribute to the grit and determination that forged the British Empire."
2. Black Hawk Down, 2001: Critics may have called it an "anti-war film," but Gardiner doesn't buy it. Instead, it's "an extraordinarily powerful and deeply patriotic tribute to the heroism and bravery of the US military."

Roger Corman, Gordon Willis, John Calley share the spotlight

(NEWSER) - A mere 65 years after her unforgettable screen debut, Lauren Bacall has won an Academy Award. The honorary Oscar was a high point of a ceremony last night in Los Angeles that also celebrated the careers of filmmaker Roger Corman, cinematographer Gordon Willis, and producer John Calley. "I can't believe it, a man at last!" the 85-year-old Bacall joked as she hoisted her new hardware. More»

(NEWSER) - John Hughes was the undisputed king of '80s teen comedy writes Time in a look at the late producer/director's most classic moments.

• Ferris Bueller's Day Off, "Bueller...Bueller...Bueller?": Matthew Broderick's direct address to the audience on how to fake a sick day, followed by an empty desk and a teacher droning Bueller's name, is a perfectly paced scene many 30-somethings can still probably recite verbatim.

Blockbusters that will make the summer even hotter

(NEWSER) - In Hollywood, May flowers don’t bring Pilgrims; they bring summer blockbusters. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the season’s most promising flicks:

• May 21: Christian Bale stars in Terminator Salvation, a prequel that tries to hew closer to the first two hit films instead of taking cues from the third, a real clunker.

Gibson aims for rehabilitation, but Mad Max is 'gone'

(NEWSER) - Mel Gibson appears to be making an effort to revive a career stalled after his 2006 arrest and accompanying anti-Semitic tirade, but “it seems unlikely he can ever really come back,” writes Roger Friedman for Fox News. “Like Tom Cruise, Gibson has sent himself into a weird purgatory from which his reputation can never fully recover,” Friedman notes after watching the actor/director chat with Jimmy Kimmel. More»