For Fake Presidents, Competition Is Fierce

'Saturday Night Live' guest host can't live up to debut but fits in well

(NEWSER) - Jon Hamm's Saturday Night Live debut was an instant classic, which meant hopes were high—perhaps unrealistically so—for last night's second effort. The Mad Men star has no trouble taking off his shirt and "obviously enjoys doing comedy, and so was game for a few silly bits," writes Claire Zulkey of the Onion A.V. Club . The episode didn't hang together well, but in a disappointing season, "it was much stronger than most of the stuff we've seen." More»

Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones return for alien flick

(NEWSER) - Sure, no one was that desperate for a Men in Black 3—but it's actually a pretty good summer movie. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are back defending the planet from aliens, and this time, Josh Brolin's along for the ride as a young Jones.

• The movie "turns out to be so much fun," writes AO Scott in the New York Times . While it "carefully fulfills its blockbuster imperatives—with chases and explosions and elaborately contrived plot twists—it swerves into some marvelously silly, unexpectedly witty, and genuinely fresh territory."

Federal spending is rising at slowest rate since '50s, report finds

(NEWSER) - Republicans are trying to fool the country into believing that they are the party of fiscal responsibility, President Obama told a fundraiser yesterday. "I’m running to pay down our debt in a way that’s balanced and responsible. After inheriting a $1 trillion deficit, I signed $2 trillion of spending cuts into law,” he told donors in Denver. "My opponent won’t admit it, but it’s starting to appear in places, like real liberal outlets, like the Wall Street Journal," he quipped. "Since I’ve been president, federal spending has risen at the lowest pace in nearly 60 years. Think about that.” More»

He was napping as set closed down for the day

(NEWSER) - Maybe he should have blown the bloody doors off? Michael Caine spent an uncomfortable night locked in the attic of an empty theater in New Orleans during the filming of heist movie Now You See Me, a production source tells the Mirror . The 79-year-old actor went to a makeshift dressing room for a quick nap, but failed to hear directors calling a wrap and was locked in by crew members who thought he had gone to his trailer. More»

But he does know all about Kim Kardashian's marriage

(NEWSER) - If you feel like you can’t leave your house without hearing about Jessica Simpson’s new baby, perhaps you just need to run for president of the United States. President Obama, appearing on The View today, was given a pop quiz on pop culture—and he revealed that he had no idea Simpson had recently given birth. He did, however, answer correctly when asked which Kardashian was married for just 72 days. More»