Movies

Paul Ruebens has been riding high since the re-airing of his acclaimed children's show "Pee Wee's Playhouse" on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.

So high, in fact, that in a recent Time magazine interview Ruebens says he is about to make two more Pee Wee movies and the first one going into production early next year!

Ruebens said "In the TV series Pee Wee almost never left the Playhouse. The movie script is just the opposite. This is a road picture, an epic adventure story where all of the characters leave the Playhouse when one of them disappears."

Rapor/actor/producer Snoop Dogg unveiled his new movie -- "Hood of Horror" -- at Comic-Con is San Diego last week.

In the film, Snoop plays a host and narrator called the Hound of Hell and, as he says, "I actually connect all three parts of the story together."

Snoop also serves as a producer on the film that "is sort of like a scary movie, but it has a little bit of comedy and reality in there."

As for which he thinks is easier, rapping or acting, Snoop says, "I think rapping is harder, because the rap fans fall off quick. If you make a good movie you are in there for ever. They want a good record every time you come out."

Sometimes, the techie headlines of the day are so bizarre, we feel the need to lie down.

Go ahead, squeeze the Sharman: Sharman Networks, parent of file-sharing software Kazaa, has agreed to pay more than $115 million in restitution to record labels and a lesser, undisclosed amount to Hollywood's film studios.

Not satisfied with simply walking the red carpet, Will Ferrell and co-star John C. Reilly showed up to the "Talladega Nights" premiere in race cars, driving them down the red carpet.

Though Ferrell's character in the film, Ricky Bobby, is a racer who embraces risky driving, Ferrell himself said he is anything but.

"I'm a fearful driver. I'm not very much like Ricky himself. I'm pretty much a little old granny out there in my little Toyota Prius. But I'm saving the environment. So there."

For Leslie Bibb, most known for the short-lived WB show "Popular," working with someone as funny as Will was intimidating. "It was just like being at comedy boot camp and I felt like the really slow kid who got the AP class, and I was like, if nobody notices I'll keep the job, somehow it worked out."

Colin Farrell has never really been one for tact and when promoting his new film, "Miami Vice," he held little back when talking about filming sex scenes with Gong Li.

"It was a great day at the office...I got to kiss Gong Li and be somewhat naked with her," said the Irish actor between cigarette drags. Farrell also took a jab at actors who skirt around press questions about shooting this type of scene, saying "You try to respect the other person...f*** that, respect is overrated."

Farrell's co-star Jamie Foxx has a sex scene of his own with "Pirates of the Caribbean" hottie Naomie Harris, which required him to wear next to nothing. "I wore a sock with a bow on it, just to lighten the mood for Naomie because she was a little nervous."

Big Boi and Andre 3000 showed up in London to promote their new album and movie both named "Idlewild".

The album is OutKast's first release in 3 years, and features 80 minutes of music and lots of love for their fans. They also talk about their new film, set in America in the 1930's. The film chronicles the lives of two friends brought together by music. Hmmmm sound familiar?

On the evening of June 29, Levine approached Harrelson outside LA nightclub Element and, as video footage showed, Harrelson made contact with Levine's camera and grabbed the cameraman's neck with one hand. Levine suffered a laceration as a result of the physical contact, and his camera was damaged.

Deputy District Attorney Alisanne Scolnik Augusta wrote that the incident "doesn't reveal a clear intentional breaking of the camera by the suspect" and that "the force used is not to the level that would cause great bodily injury" in her explaining her decision not to pursue the matter further.

Click to see the D.A.'s Charge Evaluation Worksheet.

Director Oliver Stone and Actor Nicolas Cage discuss their new film "World Trade Center."

The film chronicles two New York Port Authority officers who were trapped in the rubble of one of the collapsed World Trade towers for 12 hours on 9/11. Cage discusses how it is hard to find meaningful roles and Oliver Stone talks about telling the story from the blue collar guy's point of view. "I just like working class people, ordinary people," he says.

"Desperate Housewives" hunk Jesse Metcalfe makes his big screen debut this weekend in "John Tucker Must Die" and dons a (sexy?) g-string for the role.

"Stepping out in that thong in front of these four beautiful girls and in front of 50 extras... It was a little nerve wracking," says Metcalfe of the revealing scene, "but it was kind of a rush and I think it came off well."

His "Desperate" co-star Eva Longoria was at the film's premiere last night to offer moral support.

"We've formed such a great friendship and I'm just so proud to see him move on from 'Desperate Housewives,'" said Longoria, "A lot of people really sit on their asses and not do anything but he is a really hard worker and I'm looking forward to seeing him back next week on the set."

Suit yourself, Jason, but it's not hard to do. Watch this: "Speed" meets "D.O.A." See, wasn't that easy?

"Speed" is about a bus that can't go below 50mph or it blows up. "D.O.A." is about a man who's been poisoned and has only a few hours to find his killers before he kicks. Both plots are so juicy they spawned sequels and remakes, but nobody ever thought to put them together.

John Travolta strips down to his bathing suit during the filming of his latest flick -- and the results aren't pretty.

The star -- whose bod is far from his ripped self in "Staying Alive" more than 20 years ago -- was in New Mexico filming the aptly named "Wild Hogs," about a group of suburban biker wannabes.

In one scene, Travolta and co-stars William H. Macy, Tim Allen, and Martin Lawrence go skinny-dipping in a local watering hole, only to be confronted by a naked gay man who tries to entice them into a game of marco polo.

Travolta isn't the only member of the cast who looks like he could use a Bally's membership -- check out Allen and Lawrence.

25 years ago Richard Donner was removed from the helm of "Superman 2." Hot on the heels of "Superman Returns" release and after the persistence of comic book and Superman fans, his version of the Superman sequel will finally see the light of day.

Donner was famously removed from the movie after not getting along with the producers. British director Richard Leslie was brought on board and they cut out enough of a percentage of Donner's footage to not credit him in the final version of the film. The movie went on to great success, much to the chagrin of Donner.

Now it seems Donner will have the last laugh. 15 minutes originally exorcised from the original movie and banished to the "phantom zone" will be added, including footage of Gene Hackman and the late Marlon Brando in the upcoming "Superman ll: The Richard Donner Cut."

Quentin Tarantino, creator of such esteemed art house date films as "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction," was on a panel at Comic-Con this weekend to discuss his and Robert Rodriguez's upcoming double film "Grindhouse" when he told the audience that he wanted to do not one but two "Kill Bill" prequels.

One prequel will cover Bill's back story and would feature Pai Mei, Esteban Vihaio, sword maker Hatori Hanzo and, of course, Bill.

The second will be the further adventures of Uma Thurman's character The Bride, possibly working as an assassin for Bill.

The real kicker about this announcement was Tarantino wants the films to be anime-inspired, not unlike the Oren-Ishii sequence in the first "Kill Bill" film. This news alone should have Tarantino and anime fans salivating.

Of course, Tarantino is known to throw out ideas that either don't come to fruition or take years to make. We're still waiting for the "Inglorious Bastards."

We realize the futility of this mission, but we're undertaking it anyway: Everyone needs to stop wasting time with ridiculous movies like "Lady in the Water" and "Pirates" and go see "My Super Ex-Girlfriend."

We'll leave aside that Ivan Reitman directed "Stripes" and "Ghostbusters," films that already belong in the canon of comedy. (Lineage is hardly a reason to go see a film. Just look at "Poseidon" or "Alexander" for proof.)

Nor should you see "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" because screenwriter Don Payne, late of "The Simpsons," wrote one of the funniest scripts in years. (Lots of scripts get marred by inept direction, natch.)

No, the real reason you oughta go see "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" is that it is everything "Pirates of the Caribbean" should have been: Uproariously funny, clever and utterly original. Ribald, but not coarse.

In a word, fun - something I was starting to doubt you could have at a summer movie.

Consider the lugubrious "Superman Returns": "You wrote that the world doesn't need a savior, but every day I hear people crying for one..."

Well, um, yes. Save us from these torpid summer movies with ponderous dialog and no fun whatever!

And then along comes "My Super Ex-Girlfriend," stuffed with laughs and smarts. Does it push the envelope of special effect like "The Matrix"? No, and it's not supposed to: It's a Spandex send-up, and an ingenious and enjoyable a comedy as I've seen in years.

Why'd it go so wrong? Box Office Mojo offer this assessment: "[a] combination of romantic comedy and superhero antics, handled awkwardly in the marketing, proved a turn-off for followers of either genre - there's never been a successful superhero comedy (outside of family movies) and the sub-genre is characterized by such failures as Mystery Men and Blankman. Making matters worse, "Ex-Girlfriend" star Uma Thurman's titular character was presented as unhinged and cruel and, hence, not relatable."

(Or, given some of the women my pals have dated, all too relatable?)

Please, Uma's not the problem. Maybe I do have a soft spot for the brilliantly, unapologetically crazy and needful turn by Uma Thurman. But more than likely, it's that adult movie-goers have been so trained to fear over-serious superhero movies that they finally rejected the only one worth seeing this summer.

Whatever. Just don't treat misguided marketing and a lousy opening weekend as Kryptonite; go see it.

"Snakes on a Plane" is shaping up to be the most buzzed about movie of the summer and Samuel L. Jackson couldn't be happier. Already achieving cult status with the classic "Pulp Fiction," Jackson is ready to be recognized for something different."

"If people can stop yelling do I know what a quarter-pounder with cheese in France is called and start yelling get these motherf***ing snakes off the motherf***ing plane, I'll be fine, I'll be great."

The premise of the film is simple. Jackson's character is an FBI agent transporting a convict when the plane he's on gets attacked by poisonous snakes. Though the film doesn't open until August 18th, Jackson is already contemplating a sequel.

The latest comic book character to get a big screen make-over is "Ghost Rider" starring avid comic book fan, Nicolas Cage. The Oscar winner showed up looking like he hasn't slept in weeks.

Cage was at the huge comic convention, Comic-Con, in San Diego this weekend promoting the movie which he says is very close to his heart.

Based on the popular Marvel Comics series, "Ghost Rider" stars Cage as stunt motorcycle rider Johnny Blaze who makes a deal with the devil in order to save his mentor from cancer.

The film also stars Latin beauty Eva Mendes as Roxanne Simpson a go-getting reporter and love interest to the "Ghost Rider."