I'm a Celebrity, Now Get Me a Cause!

(NEWSER) - John Forsythe, a versatile actor who gained lasting fame as Blake Carrington on the pioneering prime-time soap Dynasty and as the voice of the mysterious Charlie on Charlie's Angels, died yesterday in California. He was 92. Best known at the time as the affable star of Bachelor Father, Forsythe played a villainous judge in the 1979 Al Pacino vehicle And Justice for All, demonstrating he had the chops to channel the scheming Blake Carrington. More»

Billy Crystal brings the same old stuff

(NEWSER) - Last night's Oscars, like its Best Picture, was a throwback to a different time in film history. And though the show may have topped last year's Anne Hathaway-James Franco fiasco, it was boring and tired throughout:

• "The whole night looked like an AARP pep rally," writes Alessandra Stanley in the New York Times . "For a town that prides itself on tinsel and titillation, the night was pretty tame." "It all looked very familiar," but that "is perhaps necessary when so few of the nominated films are."

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.

Seeks joint custody of twins after 2 years of marriage

(NEWSER) - It's not exactly today's most shocking story: A week after his naked hotel antics, Charlie Sheen has filed for divorce from his estranged third wife, Brooke Mueller, citing irreconcilable differences, ABC News reports. The pair married in 2008; Sheen is seeking joint custody of their 1-year-old twin boys. Sheen and Mueller were separated on Christmas Day 2009, the actor noted in documentation, after he pulled a knife on her. Click here for more. More»

From 'Star Wars' to 'Arrested Development,' something's not quite right

(NEWSER) - It's taboo and generally creepy, but sometimes—under the right cinematic circumstances and with the knowledge that nobody's actually related—incest can be, well, hot. Willa Paskin of New York rounds up fictional couples who have real chemistry:

• Cathy and Chris Dollanganger, Flowers in the Attic: "Nothing can stop the teenage sex drive, not even arsenic poisoning."