Wrestling Dynamo Captain Lou Dead at 76

Salon offers up a mid-year list

(NEWSER) - Now that we're more than halfway through 2011, the Salon staff compiled the best books, movies, music, and TV of the year so far. Among its recommendations:

• Film: Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life is quite good—but Lee Chang-dong's Poetry, about a 66-year-old woman who may have Alzheimer's, is a masterpiece. Another surprising inclusion: Matthew McConaughey-vehicle The Lincoln Lawyer, directed by Brad Furman.
• Books: You'd never know The Pale King, David Foster Wallace's third and last novel, was actually unfinished at the time of his death and pieced together by his longtime editor. Also worth checking out: novelist Andre Dubus III's memoir, Townie.

Did McMahons cut too many corners in building WWE?

(NEWSER) - Linda McMahon, GOP Senate hopeful in Connecticut , vows to bring the "real world experience" of running the wrestling powerhouse WWE to the political arena. Though politics and stunt fighting may seem an amusingly apt fit, the New York Times reports that McMahon's spectacularly successful empire has a seriously dark side, particularly on labor issues. "Boy, there were a lot of bodies discarded in the building of that company,” says an industry source. More»

Poison frontman, 'Celebrity Apprentice' contestant rushed to hospital

(NEWSER) - Bret Michaels is hospitalized in the intensive care unit and in critical condition after suffering bleeding in his brain, People reports. The Poison frontman, a contestant on this season of Celebrity Apprentice, had an emergency appendectomy last week. His doctors "are running several tests," and the 47-year-old's prognosis "will be touch and go for the next few days while he is under intense observation," a source says. More»

Critics split on Jennifer Lopez as host, agree on singer as musical guest

(NEWSER) - The Jennifer Lopez image-rehab train pulled into Saturday Night Live station last night, to mixed reviews.

• "Her appearance on the show—bizarro Hallmark lyric songs included—was a very obvious attempt at rebranding herself as a down-to-earth, un-diva-like sweetheart, but it just came across as weird and overly acted," Hortense writes for Jezebel . Although there were some high points, "overall, it was a pretty craptacular show."

Miley Cyrus-starring tween sensation will end after Season 4

(NEWSER) - The fourth season of Hannah Montana, which begins shooting Jan. 18, will be the show's last. The Disney Channel hit, which made an international star of Miley Cyrus, debuted in 2006 and averages 5 million viewers a week. "We're scheduled to wrap after shooting this new batch of episodes," a network exec tells the New York Post . "Episodes will continue to roll out at least over a full year." More»