The 'no stars thing' is because the photos were taken in 'daytime' on the moon. The sun is out in full force on the astronauts. This is the same reason why you don't see stars during the daytime on earth.

Most sci-fi flicks depict stars is space because it's a better visual. The same reason why Star Wars movies always include sound blasts when they depict space battles even though "in space no one can hear you scream." It's simply a better movie that way. Imagine a silent space war.