King Features Syndicate via AP

"Family Circus" was never the hippest newspaper comic strip out there, but hearing that cartoonist Bil Keane had died was very sad news. He felt like the uncle you were always fond of, even if you didn't see him much anymore.

I still remember owning a much-read and loved collection of battered "Family Circus" paperbacks. I don't remember buying them or asking for them, but they showed up anyway, because "Family Circus" was definitely a mom-approved read. No, it wasn't the place for sharp social commentary, but like "The Brady Bunch," it was a simple look at a family that loved each other and never went to bed angry.

In its small round panels we were reminded that what's important isn't what the rest of the daily newspaper chronicled. It doesn't really matter in our lives if Kim Kardashian stays married, or if Tim Tebow throws an interception. What matters is family, parents who care enough to love each other and raise their kids to be decent people, too.

The constants in the strip are well known. "Not Me" and "Ida Know," the little ghosts responsible for the actions that get Dolly, Billy, Jeffy and P.J. in trouble. Dotted lines show a kid's path through the house or neighborhood. Occasional strips are "drawn by Billy," who doesn't quite have his dad's artistic skills yet. Grandpa's ghostly spirit watches benevolently (and a little creepily) over the family. The consistency is so beloved that it was even big news when mom Thel updated her hairdo (fans definitely need to read how that came about.)

"Family Circus" also carved out its own place in pop culture. A now-removed website called The Dysfunctional Family Circus mixed "FC" panels with raunchy captions. The Nietzsche Family Circus places quotes from philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche under the familiar panels. The 1999 movie "Go" delivered a harsh judgment of the strip, with a character saying "It's always there, in the lower right hand corner, just waiting to suck." For a while, Amazon.com reviews of the "Family Circus" books were hilarious too -- readers would write reviews comparing Keane to Shakespeare and other literary lions and piling elaborate praise on the simple books.

That was kind of the whole point. "Family Circus" never wanted to be Shakespeare, but thank the heavens, it wasn't a one-note-joke like "Garfield." (Did you know that cat likes him some lasagna?) The kids goofed off, they even got in innocent kinds of trouble, but in their little world, everything would always be OK. Today we need that stability just as much as we ever did.

Rest in peace, Bil Keane. Thanks for making us part of the "Family."

Did you read "Family Circus"? Tell us in the comments.

Related content:

• 'Family Circus' creator Bil Keane dies at 89
• From the archives: 'Peanuts' at 60
• From the archives: Aack! 'Cathy' ends
• Bookmark our new Entertainment blog

Mark Seliger

TMI, George?

Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney graces the cover of the new Rolling Stone and inside he talks candidly about sex, politics and fame. RS says the actor and director reveals that he's actually a pretty ordinary guy despite his looks, success, charm and fame. Well, sorta.

Clooney sheds some light on his first orgasm, when he lost his virginity and the tweets of new girlfriend Stacy Keibler.

Oh, and by George, he loves farts, too!

Read the full story here.

Jordan Strauss / Getty Images

Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro might want to audition for a role in the "Twilight Saga" considering how often he is photographed with his shirt off. Tuesday night, Navarro and his mates played the launch party for a new video game in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, in other sightings, Brad Pitt mingled with Japanese baseball players in Tokyo during the "Moneyball" premiere there; Clint Eastwood brought his new film, "J. Edgar," to the Newseum in Washington; and Taylor Swift walked the red carpet in Nashville, Tenn., for the BMI Country Awards.

Check out the slideshow.

Universal Pictures

Kristen Stewart stars in "Snow White and the Huntsman," due out in June 2012.

This is not your mother's "Snow White." Nor your grandmother's, or the version your daughter's preschool class might go see at the children's theater.

The first large photo from "Snow White and the Huntsman" was released Tuesday, and this is a princess from a whole other universe.

Kristen Stewart of "Twilight" fame has left Edward behind but remained in the supernatural realm as Snow White in the fantasy film, which will hit theaters in June 2012. And from the poster, she's one tough princess. Reportedly the plot has her not just running away after the huntsman sent by the Evil Queen refuses to kill her, but training with him and learning to fight back.

That's Chris "Thor" Hemsworth as Eric, the Huntsman, and an elegantly spooky Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen. Instead of a poisoned apple, she seems to be armed with one heckuva blade. And the role of the tree creature behind Hemsworth appears to be played by a leftover prop from "Alien."

While no dwarves are in sight, we've already heard that they will be in the film, but not with the Sleepy-Happy-Bashful naming convention of Disney days. Instead they have names like Caesar and Tiberius, and are played by actors including Ian McShane and Eddie Izzard. Fairest of them all, indeed.

Will you see "Snow White and the Huntsman"? Can Kristen Stewart make a name for herself in movies outside of "Twilight"? Tell us in the comments.

Related content:

• Forget Edward, 'Twilight' needs Team Carlisle
• Know a baby Bella? 'Twilight' may be reason
• Slideshow: Kristen Stewart's roles

By Verena von Pfetten, Styleite

Marc Jacobs' ads have a tendency to make us blush, but we never thought they were racy enough to get banned. However, the British Advertising Standards Authority disagrees: They have just shut down an ad for the Jacobs' fragrance Oh, Lola, featuring 17-year-old Dakota Fanning.

In the ad, Fanning is shown holding an oversize bottle of the fragrance, placed right between her legs. Earlier this summer, many criticized Marc Jacobs for what they deemed a provocative and inappropriate ad.

Marc Jacobs

Too grown up? Dakota Fanning is the new face for Marc Jacobs' new perfume, Oh, Lola!

The ASA told the Telegraph:

"We noted that the model was holding up the perfume bottle which rested in her lap between her legs and we considered that its position was sexually provocative. We understood the model was 17 years old but we considered she looked under the age of 16. We considered that the length of her dress, her leg and position of the perfume bottle drew attention to her sexuality. Because of that, along with her appearance, we considered the ad could be seen to sexualise a child."

Coty, the makers of the fragrance, defended the ad, calling it "provoking, but not indecent".

It's certainly provocative — that bottle placement was no accident and Jacobs, at the time of launch, admitted to WWD he was making a conscious Lolita reference, saying, "I knew [Dakota] could be this contemporary Lolita, seductive yet sweet" — but does it cross a line?

More from Styleite: Marc Jacobs Gets Naked To Sell New Cologne
 Marc Jacobs Isn’t Mad We Leaked Photos Of His New Fragrance Campaign
Unapologetically Racist Nivea Ad Seeks To ‘Re-Civilize’ Black Men

ABC, 20th Century Fox, Paramount

Leonardo DiCaprio moved from "Growing Pains" through more adult movie roles but never lost his youthful appearance.

It's hard to look at Leonardo DiCaprio, even under the heavy makeup that takes him well into J. Edgar Hoover's 70s in "J. Edgar," and not see the little kid he was.

He's our most babyfaced actor, not just because he still looks boyish, but in past because he grew up onscreen. If you don't remember him as a  regular on "Growing Pains," you may know him from "This Boy's Life" or "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" He's the same age as Kate Winslet, his "Titanic" co-star, but you'd be forgiven for thinking she was robbing the cradle in that movie. His Jack Dawson just seemed like a spirited boy rather than a young man.

But I'd argue that his youthfulness is only an asset. Yeah, sure, everyone wants to be young in Hollywood, hence all the plastic surgery and shooting botulism into stars' eyebrows. But DiCaprio isn't playing Kim Kardashian here, he's playing a U.S. Marshal ("Shutter Island"), Howard Hughes ("The Aviator") and J. Edgar Hoover. He's playing men with gravitas, guys who you have to be a little afraid of. You'd think his babyfaced appearance might be a detriment in those roles.

But as I watched "J. Edgar" Monday night, I found the opposite to be true. Sure he gets slathered in old-guy makeup, his hands all liver-spotted up, but you can't hide his essential look. Not only does he appear physically young, but he looks likable.

Some actors just have that look and never lose it. It's especially beneficial for comedians -- think Will Ferrell, Steve Carell and Jim Carrey. But DiCaprio makes it work in dramas too. It's not that you'd blindly like his characters because the portrayer appears young, but it allows him to carry an innocence and an uncertainty into his roles. Even his tough-guy characters feel human, like they could fail at any moment.

What's DiCaprio's best role? Tell us in the comments.

Update: Funny or Die has a hilarious video spoofing  "J. Edgar" and making it all about DiCaprio's failed quest for an Oscar.

Related content:

• Slideshow: DiCaprio's come long way from 'Growing Pains'
• Review: 'J. Edgar' is fascinating, frustrating
• Video: Will DiCaprio direct in the future?

Warner Bros.

Leonardo DiCaprio portrays J. Edgar Hoover from his 20s to his 70s in "J Edgar."

Start with the question everyone asks: Yes, at one point in "J. Edgar," Leonardo DiCaprio as FBI director J. Edgar Hoover does put on a dress.

But it's hardly the flamboyant cross-dressing swashbuckle you may have expected. Here he's mourning the death of his controlling mother (scarily played by Judi Dench, so good in everything) and dons her beads and dress in some misguided way to pull her close once again. The understated scene isn't really surprising, but it feels a little like director Clint Eastwood threw it in as a sap to viewers who may know little more about Hoover and expect to see the rumor addressed.

Indeed, it's hard to walk into "J. Edgar" without expectations. Hoover's life is fascinating, juicy stuff and Eastwood and DiCaprio are A-list Hollywooders. If anyone can tackle this topic, they can. Yet there's more than one movie roiling under the surface here, and sometimes you wish Eastwood and DiCaprio would just pick one and run with it. "Hoover and the Lindbergh Baby," perhaps, or "Hoover and His Secret Files." The film throws in all those wannabe films and underlies them all with "Hoover Is Probably Gay But Will Stay In The Closet Until Someone Rips The Doors Off."

DiCaprio, 36, portrays Hoover from age 24 to his death at age 77, bobbing and weaving through decades and major events in the director's life. The excuse for doing so is Hoover dictating his memoirs to various handsome young agents. But the shifts can be jumpy, and returning to the room with another new typist slows things down.

The audience gets the feeling early on that not everything Hoover is dictating is the way events actually happened, but there's no doubt it's the way he sees it. DiCaprio plays him as a man who's supremely confident in his job, but a mother-dominated possibly closeted gay man at home. Armie Hammer plays Clyde Tolson, Hoover's longtime co-worker and possible lover, and isn't it about time Hammer gets his own lead role in a movie? He's excellent here, although the old-man makeup he's slathered with for half the film is more Halloween masky than realistic. (DiCaprio's makeup job is better, but Hammer resembles a burn victim.)

The history may be touch-and-go, but DiCaprio's Hoover is well-played. His supreme confidence on the job is completely absent in his social life. In an early scene, stuttering Hoover takes co-worker Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts, understated but strong) to the Library of Congress on a date. It's not exactly "Taxi Driver's" Travis Bickle taking his date to a sex film, but it's almost as awkward.

In the context of Hoover's personality, though, it makes sense — he's more comfortable showing off how quickly he can find a book from the card catalog than he is dancing or flirting. Throughout the entire film, he never gains that social confidence, and it helps explain why he's so desperate to keep the upper hand, threatening presidents and other leaders with the reveal of their secrets.

Here's hoping no high-school students try and use "J. Edgar" to write a history paper on the man, because they'll get a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and their teachers will be wearing out their red pens urging them to outline their material. But it's still a thoughtful and intriguing offering from two of the most talented men working in film today.

Do you have any interest in seeing "J. Edgar"? What do you think of the casting of DiCaprio in the role? Tell us in the comments.

Related content:

• Opinion: DiCaprio's baby face is an asset
• Slideshow: DiCaprio's come long way from 'Growing Pains'
• Video: Will DiCaprio direct in the future?
• Powerwall: Casting historical figures

The end is near! The end of the “Twilight” series, that is, which is what brought “Twilight Saga” star Taylor Lautner to the TODAY Show Plaza Wednesday morning. TODAY’s Ann Curry got right to the heart of the discussion by noting that the actor is shirtless approximately “three minutes” into the movie.

Lautner says he wasn’t shy about doing that; adding “I was lucky in this one, because I’m shirtless a lot less than (co-stars) Rob (Pattinson) and Kristen (Stewart).”

But as he noted, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Pt. 1” is “different from any of the others,” so fans be warned: “My character grows up in this one and becomes a lot more mature.”

But not so mature that he feels compelled to keep his shirt on. Good to know.

“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Pt. 1” opens in theaters on Nov. 18.

Related content:

• Video: Watch the "Breaking Dawn" trailer
• Slideshow: 'Twilight mania lights up Hollywood

Adam Taylor / ABC

Nancy Grace forgot part of her choregraphy during her instant jive with pro partner Tristan MacManus on Monday.

Bravo, fans of “Dancing With the Stars”!

Viewers voted to advance to this season’s semifinals round the four hopefuls -- J.R. Martinez, Ricki Lake, Hope Solo and Rob Kardashian -- who have shown the most improvement and best moves in the ballroom bash. (Let us not discuss singer Chynna Phillips, who should still be in the competition were it not for the fact that she had one – ONE– subpar dance, while others have had several.)

That, of course, means head judge Len Goodman called it Monday night when he said it was time for HLN host Nancy Grace “to go home.” Not only did she deliver two dances that lacked the sharpness and technique required at this point in the competition, she has landed at or near the bottom of the judges’ leaderboard quite a bit.

Despite having a big fan base, the former prosecutor couldn’t conquer the 7-point gap between her well-deserved last-place finish on Monday and fourth-place contestant Kardashian. Both hopefuls were left standing under the spotlights of shame on Tuesday, but as co-host Brooke Burke Charvet pointed out, Kardashian wasn’t necessarily in the bottom two. (Hmmm. Could soccer star Solo have had the second lowest set of combined judges/viewer scores?)

Prior to her elimination, Grace was shown in backstage clips saying that she loved her tango with pro partner Tristan MacManus, but wished for better scores for both that first effort and her flawed instant jive. (A 20 for the latter was already pretty generous for Week 8, considering she got lost on the choreography numerous times.) “We’ve been down before and not out!” she noted.

Alas, she couldn’t stick around this time, and was gracious in her exit speech. “I am so proud, but I really cannot take the credit,” Grace said of her time on the competition. “It’s been all Tristan from the get-go.”

MacManus, who is a new pro this season, was equally sweet in his farewell, thanking fans for giving the new guy such a great shot. (“Dancing” powers that be, please bring him back next season!)

What do you think of the final four? Should “DWTS” bring Tristan back in the spring? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page!

Also, don't forget to join me and your fellow "Dancing" fans for a live chat during the Monday night performance shows at 8 p.m. ET! And on Tuesdays at 3:30 p.m. ET, join me and my fellow "Dancing" expert Ree Hines to debate who might get the boot that evening.

Related content:

• Bergeron: Maybe 'Dancing' should be just once a year
• Hope Solo: 'I almost quit' 'Dancing'
• Should 'DWTS' judges get the ballroom boot?
• See how readers scored Monday's dances
• More on 'Dancing' in The Clicker

Platinum-selling rapper Heavy D died Tuesday of as-yet unknown causes after being rushed to a Los Angeles hospital. He was 44. According to theGrio.com,  he suffered from a yet to be identified infection.

"RIP. Heavy D. i can;t believe that. I can't. Was just in London w him. WTF," tweeted Estelle.

And the outpouring of tributes continued, proving that Heavy D truly was a man of the people.

Just a few weeks ago, the old-school favorite performed a medley of his greatest hits, including "Nuttin' But Love," "Is It Good to You," "I Want Somebody" and "Now That We Found Love," at the 2011 BET Hip-Hop Awards.

He also appeared Oct. 8 at the Michael Jackson tribute concert in Cardiff, Wales.

"Man. I was just with Heavy D recently in London," tweeted Ne-Yo. "Had I known it'd be the last time I'd see him, I woulda told him he was truly great. RIP..."

Born Dwight Arrington Myers in Jamaica, the hip-hop artist scored his biggest hits in the late 1980s and 1990s as part of Heavy D and the Boyz. The group's sophomore album, Big Tyme, and Nuttin' But Love in 1994 hit No. 1 on the U.S. R&B chart.

Heavy D posted his last tweet just 16 hours ago, writing, "BE INSPIRED!" About an hour before that, he had written, "SMOKIN JOE FRAZIER..RIP.. truly one of the best heavyweight champs that ever lived.. GODS SPEED,MR FRAZIER!"

From E! Online: Chris Brown Big Winner at BET Hip-Hop Awards

"R.I.P Rap legend Heavy D One Of The Most Influential Rappers Of The '90s Era... Smh Another Sad Day For Music You Will Def Be Missed Man," tweeted Sean Kingston.

"Last tweet of the day: Rest In Paradise to a GOOD FRIEND & legendary hip hop icon Dwight Arrington 'Heavy D' Myers. Damn life sometimes !!!" wrote the rapper Game.

"RIP Heavy D......you were one of the greats an will not be forgotten," tweeted Uncle Kracker.

"RIP HEAVY D! He was a really nice man! Sending my condolences to him and his family!" wrote Ciara.

"Ahhhh RIP Heavy D. SO Sad :( I grew up on his music....," added reality-TV star Shanna Moakler.

From E! Online: Nicki Minaj, Ellen DeGeneres and More Tweet Reax to Michael Jackson Verdict

"Ahhh man! Heavy D?! Dwight wz a dear friend. Fond memories of a truly cool brutha," tweeted Samuel L. Jackson.

"Heavy D gave me advice when I was pregnant. He said, 'Cherish every single moment. It goes by way too fast'. Rest in peace, Heavy D," wrote Alyssa Milano.

In addition to his work with the Boyz, Heavy D also recorded the theme songs to In Living Color and MADtv and, before topping the charts with Nuttin' But Love, appeared on the TV shows Roc, A Different World and Living Single.

The actor-rapper also had roles on the big screen in the Eddie Murphy comedy Life, Big Trouble and The Cider House Rules, and has a cameo as a security guard in Tower Heist.

Per TMZ, which first reported Heavy D's death, a 911 call was made from his Beverly Hills home at 11:25 a.m. reporting an unconscious man on an outside walkway, and he was pronounced dead at 1 p.m. Police are conducting a routine investigation and so far do not suspect foul play.

GALLERY: Celebrity Deaths in 2011

Jaap Buitendijk / Warner Bros.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" topped Tuesday's People's Choice Awards nominations announcement with nine nods. Pop star Katy Perry and the Fox musical "Glee" are both up for seven trophies.

The fan-favorite ceremony takes place Jan. 11.

Read the full story.

Apologist Bieber on Tumblr

Flanked by a SWAT team in full body armor, Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler of New York City's Special Victim's Unit swarmed Tumblr's Manhattan offices, armed with a warrant demanding the identification of the user of the popular blog platform who graphically threatened the life of Justin Bieber's ex girlfriend.

That’s how it happens in my "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" spec script anyway.

It didn’t go down like that in real life, obviously. Everyone knows Det. Stabler took early retirement last season after shooting that one girl in the line of duty. Alas, the real Bieber story — as with so many things on the Internet, especially things posted on TMZ — is actually kind of depressing.

Threats to skin alive Caitlin Beadles in her bed, accompanied by statements that the perp had cameras on the singer/actor 24/7, apparently came from a 14-year-old developmentally disabled girl living in Kentucky, TMZ reports.

Her identity was discovered after the Los Angeles Police Department issued a warrant to search Tumblr for the IP address associated with threats posted under the Tumblr user name, KILLSGANDCB. (TMZ helpfully points out that the nom de plume no doubt means kill Bieber’s current squeeze, Selena Gomez and ex, Caitlin Beadles. At least Mariah Yeater's initials can breathe a sigh of relief — the warrant’s Sept. 22 date occurred before Yeater publically accused the Biebs of being her Baby Daddy.)

Before you judge this girl harshly, remember: It’s common knowledge that the 10 percent of the Internet not composed of cats is made entirely of Justin Bieber-inspired death threats.

Over the summer, Bieber's defenders took to Twitter to threaten bodily harm against someone — maybe a cop, possibly a "crazed fan" — who allegedly brutally attacked the Canadian idol or something outside Macy's Herald Square in Manhattan, where the kid was shilling his new Bieber-branded stink juice, "Someone." 

Before that, Kim Kardashian, Selena Gomez, Esperanza Spalding (who foolishly beat out Bieber for the"Best New Artist" Grammy), Greg Leuch (the dude who made ShavedBieber, the Firefox extension that blocks Bieber on the Internet) and that one girl who foolishly tore up the Justin Bieber poster on YouTube, were all briefly targets of Bieber-fan ire.

Why, if warrants were issued to investigate every Bieber-fueled death threat on the Internet, there’d be no official left to allegedly pepper-spray protesters at any of the Occupy movements nationwide. As it is, TMZ reports that the LAPD contacted KILLSGANDB’s mom, “who is now closely monitoring her Internet activities.”

Would that parents of adolescents everywhere do the same!

More on the annoying way we live now:

• Justin Bieber's 'attacker' dead ... if tweets could kill
• Bieber fans go on Grammy-fueled Wikipedia rampage
• Justin Bieber army invades Instagram
• Teen survives Justin Bieber-inspired death threats

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitter and/or Facebook. Also, Google+.

Candlewick

Anything can be turned into a movie. Video games, characters from classic books, old toys, vegetables, school supplies, 1970s songs, stuff that's sitting in your junk drawer, whatever. If a noun is somehow involved, Hollywood can script and CGI and 3-D something around it.

We should have realized that around the time it was announced that View-Master and Stretch Armstrong are getting films of their own, but somehow it took this latest announcment to really drive it home for me.

"Where's Waldo?" is going to be a big-screen, live-action film, the Hollywood Reporter notes.

"Where's Waldo?" is, of course, a book series where kids look for the red-and-white-striped character on pages crammed full of distraction. I get the appeal of that in book form.  But only Alfred Hitchcock really pulled that off in a movie, hiding himself in many of his films.

I suppose there are many ways you could keep the "hiding in plain sight" concept going, but if I know Hollywood, the whole Waldo concept doesn't really matter. They've latched onto a phrase that people know, and now they can make any movie they want about it. Waldo could be on the lam, hence the title! He could be a world traveler, a la Carmen Sandiego (getting its own movie, naturally)! He might not even BE in the movie, since he's missing. (But if he is, Scoop columnist Courtney Hazlett suggests he be played by Zachary Levi, which would be awesome. He's got both nerdy and lanky down.)

The movie idea reminds me of one of my favorite-ever tweets, from comedian Jason Mustian: "'Not Waldo, Not Waldo, Not Waldo, Not Waldo, Not Waldo, Not Waldo, Not Waldo, Not Waldo, Waldo, Not Waldo.' --Where's Waldo Audiobook."

Any thoughts on a "Where's Waldo?" movie, or Hollywood's tendency to turn anything and everything into a film? Tell us in the comments.

Related content:

• Bookmark our new Entertainment blog
• Is a Princess Diana movie a terrible idea?

Jason Merritt / Getty Images

Jessica Chastain may play Princess Diana in a movie about a romance the ex-royal had before her death.

Is there any insight that a big-screen movie can bring to the life of the late Diana, Princess of Wales?

Indiewire reports that Jessica Chastain ("The Help," "Tree of Life") may play Diana in "Caught in Flight," a proposed film about her relationship with Pakistani heart surgeon Dr. Hasnat Khan. Diana's butler, Paul Burrell, said that the couple once planned to wed, but they had broken up just months before the princess was killed in a car crash in 1997. (Khan's Muslim family reportedly expected him to marry someone from their culture, not a divorced Christian princess.)

Indiewire reports that the script does not make the princess out to be an angel, saying "she is shown as a damaged person who stalks the doctor after he ends the affair." (Burrell says, however, that it was Diana, not Khan, who ended things.)

Much of the publicity has centered around whether Chastain is right for the part. But to me, the real question is whether Diana's life is a match for the big screen.

On the pro side: 2006's "The Queen," with Helen Mirren as Diana's former mother-in-law Queen Elizabeth, was stellar.

On the con side, Diana has never been understood or treated well by moviemakers, and neither has her poor daughter-in-law. The Lifetime movie called "William & Kate" that aired earlier this year is an absolute juicy guilty pleasure. (Don't miss the scene where Kate dives out of a boat fully clothed to swim to shore and talk to Wills.)

Diana's life was no doubt fascinating. Whatever you think of her, or the royals, there are juicy plots for a scriptwriter in her history, and many people find her life after Charles, including her landmine-awareness work and of course her romances, to be of interest.

Queen Elizabeth has gravitas and Mirren played her so well. My feeling is that Diana won't get that same treatment, that even an independent film would be tempted to focus on the lurid and tabloidy. "The Queen" made viewers feel they had a little bit deeper understanding of the women who wears the British crown. Learning that Diana was sadly, desperately in love with a man she couldn't have seems only like a cheesetastic recipe for disaster.

Would you see a Princess Diana movie in the theaters, or should she be allowed to rest in peace? Tell us in the comments.

Related content

• Bookmark our new Entertainment blog
• Slideshow: Duchess Kate's royal style
• Powerwall: American cast as Diana

Updated at 5:44 p.m. PT

By now most everyone's heard that after a Nov. 4 screening "Tower Heist" at L.A.'s Arclight Cinemas, director Brett Ratner came out for a Q&A, and when asked by the moderator whether he prepares and rehearses with his actors before shooting a scene, Ratner waved his hand and said, "rehearsal's for fags." New York mag's Vulture blog was among the first to report this, culling sources and Twitter feeds, and by the end of the day Monday, the story had gone viral and Ratner issued an apology.

D Dipasupil / Getty Images file

He told The Wrap, “I apologize for any offense my remarks caused. It was a dumb way of expressing myself. Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t have a prejudiced bone in my body. But as a storyteller I should have been much more thoughtful about the power of language and my choice of words.”

Forget for a moment that Ratner just recently said that he "banged" Olivia Munn, but "she wasn't Asian back then" -- something he later said he lied about, and then apologized for. Even without that context, the notion that you can still be colossally dumb, to use Ratner's own word, not to mention outrageously insensitive. As Marc Harris so eloquently wrote in his blog, "There’s not really a long, nuanced debate to be had about this. If he had used an equivalent racial or religious slur, the discussion would go something like, 'You’re fired.' Apology or not. The same rule applies here. You don’t get a mulligan on homophobia. Not in 2011."

For as silly as the Oscars can seem at times, it's still a show that's meant to represent the best that the film industry has to offer. Ratner in no way fits that bill. He stepped down from producing the Oscars on Tuesday. "He did the right thing for the Academy and for himself," Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said in a statement.

Related content:

• Ratner resigns as Oscars producer

Getty Images

Led Zeppelin members, from left, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant in 1973.

Forty years ago today, British rock juggernaut Led Zeppelin released their magnum opus, "Led Zeppelin IV." Rife with flourishes of haunting folk, gritty blues and rafter-shaking rock of the heaviest order, "IV" swiftly became the band's defining album, largely thanks to the epic 8 minutes and 2 seconds of the fourth song on the LP, "Stairway to Heaven." Rock music hasn't been the same since.

Arguably classic rock's preeminent ballad, "Stairway to Heaven" is a multi-tiered suite that segues from lilting acoustic delicacy into feral rock 'n' roll abandon and back again. It's inspired legions of aspiring guitarists and spawned droves of ham-fisted imitations, but has never been equalled in its bombastic rock pageantry. Its lyrics are steeped in enigmatic allusions to the conflict between spirituality and earthly materialism, although a few of its verses have left even the most scholarly rock fans scratching their heads. "If there's a bustle in your hedgerow don't be alarmed now/It's just a spring clean for the May queen" (which, when played backwards, delivers a very different message indeed to some ears) is just mysterious enough to sound deeply meaningful, even when sung by a quartet of tight-trousered hellions.

But for all it's mystical allure and unparalleled guitar sorcery, "Stairway to Heaven" has become a virtually unsalvageable casualty of rock 'n' roll cliche. Beaten into submission by classic rock radio (it's not like Zep don't have other great songs, by the way) and famously banned from many a long-suffering guitar shop for being slavishly overplayed, "Stairway to Heaven" is in dire need of a vacation. It sits at the head of the table in a pantheon of classic rock anthems that could sorely stand to be retired for the next decade or two. Let's give it a rest, remove it from the sports bar jukeboxes and take it out of regular rotation.

While we're at it, here are four more rock warhorses that, like "Stairway to Heaven," could stand being put out to pasture ...

1.  "Light My Fire" by The Doors
While it was doubtlessly thrilling upon its incendiary (sorry) 1967 debut, the Doors' signature tune hasn't exactly aged like a fine wine. Iconic vocalist/self-styled shaman Jim Morrison's provocative use of the adjective "higher" might have given the staff of the The Ed Sullivan Show cause of alarm when Morrison brazenly sang it on the air that same year, but 44 years later, the Lizard King's somewhat remedial rhyme scheme -- paired with robustly-sideburned keyboardist Ray Manzarek's organ-noodling -- now feels more like being trapped in an indulgent poetry slam at an ice hockey rink.

2. "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" by Billy Joel
Lyrically ping-ponging between an indecisive protagonist’s ongoing quandary over what type of wine to order with dinner and the star-crossed marital travails of the infamous Brenda and Eddie, Billy Joel’s late '70s paean to the perils of growing older strives for the same sort of poignance found in any number of Springsteen opuses, but somehow cloyingly falls short. With the jaunty yarns of youthful shenanigans "on the village green" bookended by melancholy washes of sentimental strings and soppy saxophones, “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” assaults its listener with all the finesse of a grand piano falling down a flight of stairs. Pick a vintage already.

3. "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Leant an incalculable amount of stirring prescience by the tragic deaths of band members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines in a 1977 plane crash, Southern rock powerhouse Lynyrd Skynyrd’s sprawling masterpiece "Free Bird" (originally dedicated to their fallen comrade Duane Allman) has nonetheless been robbed over time of said significance by becoming a laborious punch line any time a band retakes a concert stage for an encore. While originally featured on their 1973 debut, it's the rendition of "Free Bird" from their 1976 live double-album, "One More from The Road" (lengthened to 13 minutes and 40 seconds of treacle and frenetic guitar soloing) that has prompted many a divey rock club to ban any invocation of the song's name.

4. "Hotel California" by The Eagles
There’s something richly ironic about a thinly-veiled cautionary tale about excess coming from a band renowned for their appetite for same, but that hasn’t prevented the Eagles’ “Hotel California” from becoming a tireless staple of classic rock radio. Through a po-faced thicket of allegory, drummer/vocalist Don Henley paints a “Twilight Zone”-ish narrative of Hollywood’s hotbed of vice and temptation, closing the Faustian deal with the portentous intonation, “You can check out any time you like/BUT YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE.” Even only halfway through the marathon of fret-strangling that follows (courtesy of dueling guitarists Don Felder and Joe Walsh) it feels like Henley’s ominous statement has already come true.

Heard enough of any of these songs, or is one of your all-time favorites listed here? Is there a classic rock radio staple that makes your ears bleed? Let's hear it in the comments below. Oh, and rock on!

Al Seib / AP

Dr. Conrad Murray listens as the jury returns with a guilty verdict in his involuntary manslaughter trial Monday, Nov. 7 in a Los Angeles courtroom.

In an interview scheduled to air Friday as part of an MSNBC documentary, Dr. Conrad Murray insists that Michael Jackson “begged and pleaded” to get propofol, an anesthetic drug Murray administered to Jackson to help him sleep. “He asked me, ‘Please, please Dr. Conrad ... I need some milk so that I can sleep. If I don't get any sleep today, I cannot perform, I cannot do anything.’”

“Michael Jackson and The Doctor,” which premieres on MSNBC Friday at 10 p.m. ET, chronicles the trial from the points of view of Murray and his defense team. Murray, who chose not to take the stand during the trial, talks about the day Jackson died and shares details of his relationship with the pop star.

On the morning of the day Jackson died, Murray says that Jackson appeared “hysterical.” “He looked to me like the ‘Thriller’ image,” said Murray, referring to Jackson’s costume in the 1982 music video.

Murray says Jackson considered him his “one friend.”

“I think in many ways, there were some mirror images in our lives,” says Murray. “I’ve seen him cry so many times. He lived a life greater than a hundred years of pain of any human.”

Related content:

• Murray could spend just months in jail
• Jackson's doctor found guilty of manslaughter 

Adam Taylor / ABC

J.R. Martinez nailed his waltz with pro partner Karina Smirnoff, then an instant jive later.

It was a night of ups and downs on “Dancing With the Stars” Monday, as each of the five remaining celebrities attempted to prove they were worth a spot in the final four. In the end, some succeeded, one completely failed and another firmly established himself as the true contender poised to win the ballroom bash.

Of course, J.R. Martinez is the man with the mirror ball trophy almost in his reach. The war hero’s been a favorite since the earliest days of the competition. But after his most recent routines, it seems hard to believe that even his closest competition could stop his inevitable sweep. After all, he just scored the first perfect 30 of the season — twice!

Read the full recap.

If you ask Matthew Fox, she was the one to commit the party foul, not him.

Our pals at E! Online are reporting that the former "Lost" and "Party of Five" star is firing back with a countersuit against a female bus driver who sued Fox in September for allegedly socking her in her groin when she denied him entry onto a party bus outside a Cleveland bar.

Read the full story.

Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's personal physician, was convicted Monday afternoon of involuntary manslaughter in the singer's June 25, 2009, death.

The seven-man, five-woman panel had to be unanimous on their decision to either convict or acquit Murray of the charge. They began deliberating Friday and did not meet over the weekend. Overall they deliberated for about nine hours.

After the verdict was announced, Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor lifted the gag order that had been imposed during the trial.

The Houston cardiologist, 58, faces a sentence of up to four years in prison. He could also lose his medical license.

Read the full story.

AP file

Michael Jackson in 1993

In the end, the music is all that remains.

Dr. Conrad Murray has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson. Whether he serves years in jail or just days, nothing can bring the singer back. There seems to be no doubt that both Jackson and Murray made some incredibly dumb decisions.

You feel for Jackson -- pushing himself to take on a 50-date concert extravaganza, and with dreams of opening the world's largest children's hospital. He must have felt there weren't enough hours in the day. No wonder he couldn't sleep, and no wonder he became increasingly desperate to somehow force his body to do so, even if it meant taking the surgical anesthetic propofol.

Murray is a little more of a mystery. He must have thought he'd landed the job of a lifetime, the job of anyone's lifetime, being asked to serve as the personal physician to the legendary singer, earning a reported $150,000 per month. Did that make him think that he had to give the singer anything he asked for?  Surely he figured that if he didn't provide the magic "milk," an increasingly desperate Jackson would simply fire him and hire someone else who would.

That's understandable, but it's not forgivable. Personal assistants can do what it takes to fulfill the requests of their celebrity clients, but we hold our doctors to a different standard. Time and time again during the trial other doctors took the stand and said that, in Murray's place, they would have told Michael Jackson "no." No, I can't give you propofol to sleep, it's a drug used for operations, not to be given in one man's bedroom. No, I realize you think it's what you need, but we're going to have to find another way.

No one but Jackson and Murray were in that room on June 25, 2009, and the real story of what happened there will never be known. Those of us who are just onlookers, merely fans of Jackson's incredible career, don't have to live daily with the pain that his three children do. Sure, they're rich and famous and set for life, but the son known as Blanket isn't even 10 yet. Would many of us trade a lifetime with our father, however many years we were allotted, for luxury goods and cash?

The Murray trial will soon slip into history, like Jackson's earlier court cases and headlines. It'll forever be a part of his life story, but it'll never outshine the real legacy, his music. Walk away from a television covering the Murray trial and find a radio or a CD or MP3 player playing Jackson's music. The hypnotic opening beats of "Billie Jean," the haunting notes of "Thriller," the jazzy tune of "Black or White," the soaring notes of "Man in the Mirror."

Turning on Jackson's music after hearing more of the endless details of the Murray case is like walking into a cool lake after a slog through a mud puddle. For those of us who grew up with it, our own life memories flash through our head when we hear it. School dances choreographed to "Thriller," dramatic breakups spent humming "She's Out Of My Life," the early days of "Rock With You" and even "ABC." They're a part of our culture, almost inescapable. Whatever Jackson did with the rest of his life, he gave us that.

Related content

• Verdict reached in trial of Jackson doctor
• Slideshow: See fans at the L.A. courthouse
• Bookmark our new MSNBC.com Entertainment blog

Reuters is reporting that Justin Bieber will take a paternity test to counter claims that he fathered a baby boy with a young California woman after a brief backstage encounter last year, a source close to the singer said on Monday.

The Canadian singer also is contemplating legal action against the woman for defamation, his spokesman said.

Read the full story.

Phil Bray / Getty Images

Anthony Hopkins played Hannibal Lecter in the films, but the character reportedly will now have a TV show.

Pass the fava beans and chill the Chianti: Deadline.com reports that NBC has bought a new hourlong drama based on Thomas Harris' famed Hannibal Lecter character. Bryan Fuller of "Pushing Daisies" fame is reportedly writing the script, and then the network will decide if the series will be picked up.

(TODAY.com is powered by msnbc.com, which is a joint venture between Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

Sadly, it won't be a cooking show, but we're wondering just what kind of show it will be. The early life of Lecter was tackled in "Hannibal Rising," the 2006 Harris novel and 2007 movie, and it didn't do well. (He turned bad, apparently, because Nazis ate his little sister -- not making that up.)

Will this show catch up on the years in between that book and Lecter's re-emergence in "Red Dragon" and "Silence of the Lambs," or will it involve him after the events of 2001's "Hannibal"? When we last saw him, if I have the movie timelines right, he was letting a kid sitting next to him on an airplane eat some of Ray Liotta's brain.

In fact, wasn't the point of Lecter always a combination of his brilliance and his cold cruelty, mixed in with numerous shocking scenes, such as wearing a guard's face in order to escape? How can that work on network TV? Networks like FX ("American Horror Story") and "The Walking Dead" (AMC) have had some luck with horror-based shows, maybe that's the idea here.

I'm also concerned about casting. Who can play Lecter other than Anthony Hopkins? Whoever it is, unless he's distinctly at a different age than the Lecter we know from movies, he'll always be compared to the elegant and creepy actor.

We'll have to wait and see, but for now, apparently the lambs have not stopped screaming.

Related content

• Slideshow: Horror-movie icons
• Bookmark our new Entertainment blog

Getty Images (3), EPA

The A-list was out in force on Sunday night for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Art and Film Gala honoring Clint Eastwood and John Baldessari. We've assembled a sample lineup of some of the actresses in attendance. They are, from left, Olivia Wilde, Kate Hudson, Jennifer Garner and Reese Witherspoon.

We're always a little partial to Witherspoon and the classic simplicity of her style. Us Weekly also took special notice of her topknot hairdo. But props to Garner -- who is expecting her third child -- for rocking the red carpet, too.

Do you have a favorite in this bunch? Let's hear your fashion critique.

Related content:

• Celebrity sightings slideshow
• Bookmark our new Entertainment blog