Movies

It's a story we've heard a hundred times: Boy and girl hate each other but are forced to work together and eventually fall in love. The new film "Step Up" takes that premise and adds in a little dance flavor, forming the love child of "Save the Last Dance," "The Cutting Edge," and "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights."

Hotties Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan do their best Sean Patrick Thomas and Julia Stiles imitations as a hip-hop and ballet dancer, respectively, who are forced to be partners and learn each other's styles.

At the film's premiere director Anne Fletcher explained her vision of the film saying, "Music makes us move. We have the spirit of dance within us. I just wanted to cover an array of dance and how similar they are and how different they are. When they merge together, what does that look like?"

Elisha Cuthbert's new film, "The Quiet," has the blonde starlet in her darkest role yet. Cuthbert stars as Nina, a girl who plots to kill her abusive father.

"It's about a lot of things, this movie dabbles with some secrets in this suburban life," says Cuthbert, "It's about a family who basically adopts a mute, deaf girl and she comes in and unravels all of our secrets."

The actress, whose credits include "24," "House of Wax" and "The Girl Next Door," is definitely branching out and director Jamie Babbit said she was the perfect choice for the role.

"We'd never really seen her do this kind of role before and she is just an amazing actress," says Babbit of her leading lady, "and she has a lot of anger and she has a sexuality to her and those were things that I felt were really important for the Nina character."

Minnillo was in Sin City over the weekend to celebrate the release of "John Tucker Must Die" at Pure Nightclub in Caesar's Palace. The film's leading man, Jesse Metcalfe, was also there.

The former Miss Teen USA appeared to be having a great time as she sang and chatted with the crowd, took pictures of herself with fan's cameras and downed what looked like a shot -- which she did not seem to enjoy.

With Nick no where to be found, the stunning brunette spent the evening with girlfriends laughing and dancing the night away.

Being Beyoncé Knowles' younger and less-successful sister must suck. While B is making platinum albums and starring in high-profile films, her sister Solange barely gets to step into the spotlight.

B's younger sis got her moment yesterday finally at the premiere for the second direct-to-DVD sequel to "Bring it On" which was held in Houston, the Knowles family's hometown. Of course, the attention quickly shifted to Beyoncé once the Grammy winner and her Destiny's Child bandmate Kelly Rowland walked the carpet.

The slither-marketing of "Snakes on a Plane" on the Internet continues unabated: This afternoon, "SoaP" studio New Line Cinema and community-retailing pioneer CafePress.com tell TMZ that they're announcing a licensing deal that lets CafePress users customize t-shirts, mugs, trucker hats, and other merchandise with a "Snakes on a Plane" theme -- in whatever way they like.

Upending the traditional movie licensing deal, wherein a manufacturer or retailer or fast-food joint gets to use images and characters from a film to make action figures or baseball caps or kids' meals under strict regulations from the studio, today's deal between New Line and CafePress doesn't give the site's users any pre-made graphics or images to use in their creations.

"Within two minutes Will Ferrell has his tongue stuck halfway down my throat," says "Da Ali G Show" star Sacha Baron Cohen about his first day of shooting for "Talladega Nights."

The film, which stars Cohen as a gay French race car driver, has many scenes of improvisation. Cohen joked that Ferrell's come-ons didn't end on set, saying, "Later on that night I get a knock on the door, I hear the words 'Room service,' open it up it's Will Ferrell, stinking of booze, only with his underpants on."

Sacha, whose fianceé is "Wedding Crashers" scene-stealer Isla Fisher, says his first same-sex lip-lock took place during the filming of this movie and that he prefers Andy Richter's lips to those of Ferrell. "If you close your eyes you can imagine that he's a woman 'cause he's got quite a good chest on him and not much down below," says Cohen of Richter.

It's official -- Jennifer Lopez has backed out of the movie version of the 1970's hit TV show, "Dallas."

La Lopez was set to star as Sue Ellen, the alcoholic wife of JR Ewing - played by John Travolta.

However, Lopez's rep, Leslie Sloane, confirms to TMZ that the actress has opted not to go through with the project.

This is not the first bump that the film has hit.

Earlier this year, "Legally Blonde" director Robert Luketic, who ironically also directed J.Lo in "Monster-in-Law", quit the project citing "creative differences" and was reportedly unhappy with casting choices.

Cage was given a cross made of steel from the rubble of the World Trade Center by 9/11 survivor John McLoughlin.

When "Veronica Mars" hottie Kristen Bell thinks she's the ugliest person in a movie, it's safe to say you're in for some great eye candy -- and Bell promises her new horror flick, "Pulse," delivers the goods.

The actress, who's sexy in her own right, says she was initially intimidated by the model looks of co-stars Ian Somerhalder and Christina Milian.

"Christina Milian is one of the most beautiful people I've seen up close...I actually was angry when the producers first hired Ian. I was like no no no no. Throughout history, the girl has been the pretty one in the movie ... They were like, we'll ugly him down, we'll ugly him down. It didn't work."

Her latest film, which centers on the dead using the Internet as a means to take life from the living, definitely heads into scary territory, something Bell was nervous about.

"I've never done a horror movie before and I'm always very, very wary of scary things ... Literally, if you were to jump out from behind a corner I would instantly be in tears ... I saw the preview for 'Leprechaun' and I still have dreams about that guy."

Andre has already played roles in two 2005 films such as "Be Cool" and "Four Brothers," and Big Boi acted in 2006's "ATL." Still, this is the first movie to feature both performers as well as new music by the band.

Why have we had to wait so long? "We didn't have enough Q scores," says Andre, referring to the industry measure of popularity and name-recognition. "I guess our weight wasn't up, you know? Didn't have enough popularity I guess."

Hard to believe, since the break-out hit "Hey Ya!" seemed like the official song of the summer of 2003.

After a scathing letter from the studio head of her latest movie, detailing her lack of professionalism, one would think the starlet would stop, or at least slow, her partying ways. Lindsay proved everyone wrong though by heading to Vegas this weekend and hitting up Hollywood hot spot Hyde last night, continuing her streak of late nights.

Lindsay was spotted in the club's parking lot, hugging and talking with friends. She later drove away in her black Mercedes with an unidentified male in the passenger seat.

Lohan and current flame Harry Morton were in Vegas on Saturday for the final Beacher's Madhouse event at the Hard Rock. Morton was executive producuer of the show which was housed the casino his father once owned.

James G. Robinson, the CEO of Morgan Creek Productions, in a letter to Lohan that was leaked to the press, called her "...discourteous, irresponsible and unprofessional" and went on to say that her actions are those of a spoiled child which has caused her co-workers to feel alienated and "has endangered the quality of this picture."

UPDATE: Our inside sources tell us that Lindsay showed up on time today. Actually, she showed up a tad early for today's call time. Our source also said that Lohan had in fact missed two full days of shooting.

Rumors are swirling that Lindsay Lohan's hard-partying ways have been taking their toll on the filming of her latest film "Georgia Rule." Her recent visit to the hospital due to dehydration only added flames to the fire. Now Lohan is catching hell from her own producer, who's fed up with her behavior.

The Smoking Gun has obtained a letter from James G. Robinson, the CEO of Morgan Creek Production, to Lohan in which he calls her action "...discourteous, irresponsible and unprofessional." He goes on to say that her actions are those of a spoiled child which has caused her co-workers to feel alienated and "has endangered the quality of this picture." The letter concludes by urging Lohan to be on time and act professionally, otherwise "action" will be taken in order to preserve the integrity of the film.

Easy to work with, that is. According to Scarlett Johansson, the set of Woody Allen's new comedy "Scoop" was great. Says the starlet: "working with Woody is always easy because he likes to make his dinner reservations at, like, 7:30".

"Deadwood" star Ian McShane has his own story of Woody's no-fuss style. He tells of his audition- which basically amounted to a few minutes of talking about the weather, and then "The next day I got the script, 'would you like to do it?' I went back to England and said yes."

For those not up on their Hollywood balance of power, it's the Hollywood talent agency equivalent of Iran announcing it's got nukes.

Says the Hollywood Reporter, "The deal was finalized Thursday after roughly five months of under-the-radar negotiations between the two agencies. As part of the merger, Jeff Berg remains chairman and CEO of ICM, with BWCS founding partner Robert Broder becoming vice chairman. BWCS managing partner Chris Silbermann will become co-president of ICM alongside Ed Limato. Agency veteran Nancy Josephson, daughter of ICM co-founder Marvin Josephson, will leave her post as co-president of ICM."

Broder was always a Hollywood anomaly: Unlike talent shops that employ talent agents like "Entourage's" Ari Gold, Broder eschewed representing actors, instead focusing its efforts on signing writer/directors and producers in TV and film. Despite being unable to "package" projects for studios and networks (pairing actors with writers and directors in one big, fat commission-able bundle), Broder has thrived: It represents creators and executive producers on several series, including "Grey's Anatomy," "My Name is Earl," "Law and Order: SVU," "Scrubs," "Two and a Half Men" and "King of Queens."

We're thrilled that this happened at ICM, because quite frankly, everyone in Hollywood's talent community has been nervously kicking the tires of rivals, eager to bulk up against that school yard menace, Creative Artists Agency.

(Or as most talent agents not employed there call it, "The Death Star." You know: The one that pledged to reach 100% market share at a recent corporate retreat? Gulp.)

More, everyone in Hollywood had been pissing on ICM, calling it an also-ran, which it wasn't and now, clearly isn't.

Only a month ago, Variety's Mike Fleming publicly pooh-poohed ICM's efforts to get larger.

Viz,

"Is it repeating past mistakes and letting key agents walk out the door with their clients? Seven months after ICM re-capitalized with a $100 million cash infusion, agency watchers are asking: Has ICM squandered the momentum that could have come with a restructuring?"

Well, I suppose the answer to that question is now pretty clearly a resounding "No." And, in the meantime, the Hollywood agents' anthem is "Hollywood Agencies Unite! You Have Nothing to Lose Except Your Fear of CAA!"

We fully expect to see a merger between Endeavor and UTA, or UTA and ICM, or William Morris and UTA, or what-have-you.

Well, Pam -- Meg Ryan recently arrived back on the mainland after spending time in Hawaii with her children -- Jack Henry, her son with actor Dennis Quaid, and newly adopted daughter Daisy. Her time away comes just in time, as she has finished filming for the movie "In the Land of Women," a flick about a broken-hearted man who skips town to be with his ailing grandmother living in Detroit. While in Detroit, he befriends a family of women living across the street who, in turn, help him through his trials.

The exact release date is yet to be set, but expect to see it out next year.

Click here for photos of more celebs who get away to Hawaiian hotspots!

Is Lucy Liu dating? She's never photographed with a boyfriend.

Joe, Lucy Liu was seen a while back taking a stroll through the park accompanied by her dog and a male companion. Now although it appears as if the two could be an item, there is no substantial proof to confirm that they aren't doing more than just walking dogs. Time will have to tell.

Besides working out her pooches, Liu has also been working on her professional life. Expect to see her in several movies in the near future, "Code Name: The Cleaner" among one of them, set for release early next year.

And for the latest in other movies, check this out.

Is Colin Farrell really the playboy he's made out to be?

Last year this time, Jackie, we would have said yes -- Colin Farrell really is the playboy he's portrayed as being. However, it seems as if he may be attempting to turn over a new leaf. And much in part to his two-year-old son James. After leaving rehab, he now knows that it is his son's future he wants to be chasing... not the ladies.

As for his rumored relationship with Lake Bell, Colin has shot down the gossip letting everyone know there is no "significant other" in his life and that he's perfectly content being on his own during this time.

Click here to watch Colin and co-star Jamie Foxx talk about their new movie "Miami Vice," which hits theaters tomorrow.

What happened to K-Fed's other two children with Shar Jackson? Have Kevin and Britney totally blown them off?

Amanda, this is a question we're all dying to know. Fortunately for him, K-Fed was recently spotted with his first two children Kori and Kaleb earlier this month. And he made sure to make the time special as it was just the three in tow. Ex-girlfriend Shar Jackson recently spoke with People magazine giving an interview in which she defended the wannabe rapper's fatherly reputation. "He's an amazing dad," she told the magazine adding that not being around his kids "hurts his heart."

Last year Britney and Kevin celebrated the birthdays of Federline's first two children, Kaleb and Kori, after failing to the year before.

Click here to see how K-Fed makes sure to tend to his professional life.

What ever became of Michael Fishman who played DJ on "Roseanne"?

A sure blast from the past, Jeffrey! Michael Fishman is currently married and the proud father of two children. Sources close to Fishman also tell TMZ that he is presently focusing on his career as a college student, but makes time to coach high school baseball on the side. While he does plan to return to acting in the future, his studies are his priority right now.

One of the last times we saw little DJ, he was playing an extra in the Haley Joel Osment movie "Artificial Intelligence: AI." And prior to that, an episode of "Seinfeld."

Click here for the "Roseanne" photo gallery

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