Scorsese to Direct Sinatra Biopic

(NEWSER) - Tina Sinatra would prefer that Martin Scorsese direct her father’s biopic her way, the New York Post reports. "Marty wants it to be hard-hitting and showcase the violent, sexually charged, hard-drinking Frank, but Tina wants to show the softer side of her dad and let the focus be on the music," a source says. A Scorsese spokesperson denies any friction between the director and Sinatra, the film's executive producer. More»

Some raise skeptical eyebrows as UK tabs push rumors

(NEWSER) - Jamie Foxx as Frank Sinatra? It’s all the buzz around Hollywood, the Daily Telegraph reports, after a source told the Daily Express, “Cool is colorblind. Jamie would seem to be born to the role.” Popcrunch wonders, “Are we being punk’d?” while Gawker’s Richard Lawson—who jokingly put out Foxx’s name for consideration last week—pooh-poohs the idea: “The whole thing is obviously bollocks,” but the source claims seriousness. More»

One of cinema's greats shares his favorite scary movies

(NEWSER) - Martin Scorsese wants to give you a Halloween treat: The legendary director, writing for the Daily Beast, lists his top 11 fright-fests.

1. The Haunting: “You may not believe in ghosts but you cannot deny terror!”
2. The Isle of the Dead: "There’s a moment in this picture that never fails to scare me. let’s just say that it involves premature burial."
3. The Uninvited: "The tone is very delicate, and the sense of fear is woven into the setting, the gentility of the characters."

Influential director made 'Bonnie and Clyde,' 'Little Big Man'

(AP) - Director Arthur Penn, a myth-maker and myth-breaker who in such classics as Bonnie and Clyde and Little Big Man refashioned movie and American history and sealed a generation's affinity for outsiders, died last night, a day after his 88th birthday. Daughter Molly Penn said her father (no relation to actor Sean) died at his home in Manhattan of congestive heart failure. More»

Dakota Fanning-Kristen Stewart vehicle divides critics

(NEWSER) - Critics praise the performances in The Runaways, about Joan Jett's seminal '70s band, but whether the flick succeeds is up for debate. Some takes:

• "Say what you will about the Runaways," Peter Travers writes in Rolling Stone , but "they never played it safe. The movie does." He wants more out of the verboten relationship between Dakota Fanning's Cherie Currie and Kristen Stewart's Jett. Still, "Fanning scores a knockout."