Blogger Nikki Finke Stays One Step Ahead

(NEWSER) - Few people in Hollywood have ever seen the hermit-like Nikki Finke, but they fear her anyway, David Carr reports in the New York Times. Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily blog has become essential reading for tinseltown players, a source of scoops and gossip that afflict the powerful. "In a town where people often secretly hope for the worst, Ms. Finke delivers wish fulfillment," notes Carr. “She gave me a nervous breakdown,” said one executive. Quothe another, “She terrifies me.” More»

Admits 'mistakes' in Will.i.am debacle

(NEWSER) - Perez Hilton has gone from “celebrity watcher” to “quasi-celebrity.” Public scuffles with Carrie Prejean, Dustin Lance Black, and Will.i.am have thrown the bitchy blogger into the spotlight—but who is he really? He’s happier than ever, on a quest to get healthy, and “gay. I’m very gay. And I like sucking cock. A lot. Put that on your cover!” he tells Benoit Denizet-Lewis for a profile in the Advocate. More»

Movies disappoint, but rarely go the way of Ishtar

(NEWSER) - It's rare these days to see a big-studio movie truly bomb, and that's a shame, laments Tom Shone of Slate . Sure, we get our share of misfires like Jonah Hex or The A-Team , but few reach the depths of those glorious financial busts of yesteryear like Ishtar, Waterworld, and Cutthroat Island—"the swashbuckler that derailed the careers of Renny Harlin, Geena Davis, and Matthew Modine—and the last film to actually force a movie studio to close, Heaven's Gate-style." More»

'America's greatest actress' shattered glass ceiling for older women

(NEWSER) - Who says older women don't belong in Hollywood? Meryl Streep, who appears on the January cover of Vanity Fair, proves that bit of conventional wisdom—and others—dead wrong. Need evidence? "Mamma Mia! has grossed $601 million worldwide, despite some cringe-worthy reviews (for the movie, not its much-lauded heroine)," Leslie Bennetts writes. The Devil Wears Prada earned more than $300 million. More»

New studio heads place bets on 'branded entertainment'

(NEWSER) - In previous downturns, the corporate owners of America's movie studios would cut Hollywood some slack. Not anymore: these days, the corporate suites of LA look like the aftermath of a slasher flick, with old hands kicked out at Disney, Universal, MGM, and Paramount. With DVD sales down 25% and easy financing a thing of the past, "there's been more change in the last 18 months than in the preceding 18 years," one exec tells the Los Angeles Times. More»