Movies

The select group of web-heads will be given Treo's at the premiere of the Samuel L. Jackson action film, where they can share their take of the movie with the entire internet community almost immediately. The all-in-one Treo smartphone combines a phone, e-mail, messaging, web searching, MP3 playing capabilities and a camera ... the perfect device whether your blogging from the red-carpet ... or have an experience with real snakes on a plane! (maybe send a text to Sam?)

Since being crowned the "Sexiest Woman Alive" in 2005 by Esquire magazine, Jessica Biel admits that not all that much has changed for her.

"Nothing's different, I still live my life the way I always lived my life. It's extremely flattering, it's a lovely honor and it's been really really fun."

Lost in the shuffle of the massive restructuring at Walt Disney's film division is what effect the shake-up will have on one of Hollywood's most prolific producers: Scott Rudin.

Rudin spent years at Paramount before decamping for Disney last year, after longtime Paramount high priestess Sherry Lansing was finally sacrificed on the altar of bad box office. Unfortunately, Rudin appears to be exactly the opposite of what Buena Vista Motion Picture Group chairman Dick Cook says he now wants at Disney:

Said Cook, in an April interview with "Variety,"

"We looked at the whole business, where we were, and felt that we were not taking full advantage of Disney...There has been a refocus or rededication to Disney movies. We are looking to make movies that appeal to audiences..." Disney, Cook says, "is the brand name that travels around the world. So it's very important that we reposition ourselves and move ourselves back in that business."

The injury has put the production of the Disney comedy on hold while they await The Rock's recovery. In the movie, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson plays a professional football player who learns he has a daughter.

As TMZ told you last month, Justin Timberlake's first major big screen role was in the straight-to-video release "Edison Force." Despite starring Oscar winners Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey, the film was a "parade of cliches" according to Variety and "a star-studded dud of a B-picture" according to the Hollywood Reporter.

But TMZ couldn't just take their word for it -- we had to rent it for ourselves. Check out this clip from the bonus features on the disc -- in it Justin explains how he prepared for the role. Theoretically it didn't really matter what he did, since only like 12 people will actually see the film.

Justin is at it again in the movie "Alpha Dog," which opens January 2007 and his second solo album, "FutureSex/LoveSounds," hits stores September 12.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Bruno Kirby, a veteran character actor who costarred in "When Harry Met Sally," "City Slickers" and many other films, has died at age 57, his wife said Tuesday.

Kirby died Monday in Los Angeles from complications related to leukemia, according to a statement from his wife, Lynn Sellers. He had recently been diagnosed with the disease.

"We are incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support we have received from Bruno's fans and colleagues who have admired and respected his work over the past 30 years," his wife said. "Bruno's spirit will continue to live on not only in his rich body of film and television work but also through the lives of individuals he has touched throughout his life."

Kirby was perhaps best known for his roles opposite Billy Crystal in 1989's "When Harry Met Sally" and 1991's "City Slickers."

These days it may be a bit harder to sneak a crate full of snakes onto a plane, but Samuel L. Jackson isn't worried about how heightened security measures will affect his new movie.

"It's unfortunate flying has become such a pain in the butt with the things you can carry with you ... we have to look at our fellow passengers and be like am I going to have to get on your ass or what ... it's just bad but i don't think it has anything to do with this particular film."

Jackson also promises the movie in question, "Snakes on a Plane," is not going to skimp out on any violence or mile-high club antics despite tighter restrictions in real-life flight.

"PG was not the way it's supposed to be, it's a horror film...there's some nudity now, in a horror movie like this people get killed in those situations...this has nothing to do with reality whatsoever."

In their new film "Material Girls," Hilary and Haylie Duff play bratty heiresses on a search for a conscience.

"They are materialistic, they do live this life where they don't care about too much and don't have very much responsibility," says Hilary about their characters which certainly made the two channel their inner Hiltons.

Perhaps taking a jab at Paris and Nicky, Hilary added, "there's a lot of people out there, they don't seem normal either. They just seem like they go about life."

Even director Martha Coolidge admitted "the phenomena of Paris" may have inspired the original writers but for the Duff sisters it was the chance to work together that made them sign on.

"It actually felt really normal and it was really easy for us," said Haylie, "We are really close in real life. We felt lucky that we had the opportunity to do it."

Despite having spent much of yesterday in bed, ailing, aching and kvetching, yours truly rallied at the end of the day and went to his long-scheduled drinks meeting with a one of his favorite Hollywood talent agents.

No names, of course, but our topic of conversation settled on the rather astonishing performance of "Step Up," the Disney release that cost $12 million and made more than $20 last weekend alone.

Per Box Office Mojo,

"Mixing ballet and hip-hop moves, 'Step Up' brought in a lively $20.7 million at 2,467 theaters. Buena Vista's $12 million dance picture delivered the sub-genre's highest-grossing start since the similarly-themed 'Save the Last Dance' in 2001 and showed a considerable improvement on the previous mash-up, 'Take the Lead,' which disappointed this past spring."

And why was my agent pal so spooked?

As he put it,

"If you'd been here in 2001 and said, 'In five years, Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson's careers will be on roller skates.' I, and everyone like me, would have laughed at you. But look at 'Step Up': What's the lesson here? I'm supposed to sign Channing Tatum? Please. That movie had no one in it, and look what it did. The studios don't want to pay big stars anymore, and signing Channing Tatum just means that the studios will find another nobody. It's a scary time for the movie business."

A quick look at the box office suggest he might be right. Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" - with Nicolas Cage in the lead role - cost five times as much, and made $2 million less this weekend, which was solid, but not spectacular. The Tim Allen vehicle, "Zoom," finished dismally, too.

Disney has already signaled that it plans to do more of the above, while Paramount has reduced Cruise's production deal and tossed him off the lot. MGM is essentially a shell company that releases movies other people paid for.

DYERSVILLE, Iowa (AP) -- The corn lining the outfield is tall again this year. The white farmhouse, wraparound porch and picket fence appear unaffected by time. The mythic baseball diamond and lush outfield look just like they did in the film made 17 years ago.

And for a few hours, hundreds of children and parents raced around the bases, played catch or hit soft pitches in the field made famous by 1989's "Field of Dreams." For 10-year-old Alexis Turner, the visit included a brush with Kevin Costner, the movie's star who returned Friday for the first time since filming ended.

If you're wondering what the top dog of the North Korean summer blockbuster season is, it might just surprise you to learn that it's not "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" or "Superman Returns." Rather, it's the somewhat more muted "Diary of a Student Girl" that is packing in the crowds all over the North -- not that the proletariat has much choice -- and its creator is none other than that famously tempestuous missile-wielding auteur himself, Kim Jong-Il.

The North Korean's official news agency KCNA reports that "Diary" -- which conveys the trials and tribulations of a girl and her younger sister as they strive to be scientists -- is screening "before full houses in [the capitol] Pyongyang every day, evoking lively response from people of all walks of life." What's more, KCNA says that the film "embodies the Juche-oriented idea of aesthetics of leader Kim Jong Il," and that Dear Leader found time during his "continuous inspection tour of frontline army units" to work on the script and produce the film, hailed as "a masterpiece of the times." (Juche is the guiding North Korean ideology of self-reliance.)

TMZ has learned that Lindsay Lohan has a stalker who has repeatedly tried to contact her.

A memo from the movie "Georgia Rule" was posted Wednesday at the security gate where Lohan is filming. It reads: "One of our actresses has a stalker." TMZ has confirmed the actress is Lohan.

We're told the alleged stalker has sent several letters to Lohan asking to meet her. The letter ends with his name and phone number. A source connected to Lohan says her "top notch" security is getting in touch with the man in question.

In addition to sending letters, the alleged stalker has sent Lohan flowers at the studio. Security was concerned enough to sound an alarm.

Milian was just spotted last weekend dropping over $2100 in one Beverly Hills boutique. Only TMZ has Milian's itemized receipt from the celebrity boutique Harmony Lane.

Christina walked in to the trendy boutique carrying a black Fendi bag, yet after falling in love with a white LULA by Angelica Cota LoveLike Hobo bag - the star immediately dumped all her belongings from one purse to the next and actually left the store toting her new bag.

Milian shopped with her mother for hours in the store and both left wearing new Vita gold link snake bangle bracelets - Christina picked one in green and pink while her mother chose black and green. Milian also changed her shoes and left in her new white Jilly Swarovski crystal flip-flops.

Christina was reportedly hunting down clothes to take on a press trip for her latest movie, "Pulse" out August 11th. The 21st-century horror film also stars Kristen Bell.

Take a look inside Milian's shopping bags:

Tom Hanks needed a prescription earlier in the week, and TMZ knows what it was for. The "DaVinci Code" star got a script for Vosol HC. So you're wondering? Well, Vosol is used to treat infections of the outer ear and ear canal by reducing swelling and relieving pain and itching in the ear.

Daniels tells AOL Black Voices that he was skeptical of Halle's talents because she was "at her worst publicity-wise. She had just run over somebody- backed up, took off and left them there; done the Flintstones [movie] and was being called a Black Barbie doll. But you know, I'm an underdog and at that moment she was an underdog and I'm always for an underdog"

Luckily, minus the blip known as "Catwoman", Halle's career has never been healthier.

Daniels latest project is the drama "Shadowboxer." As the director on the film Daniels also expressed concerns over hiring Cuba Gooding Jr.

Despite winning an Oscar for his role in "Jerry Maguire", Gooding has seen his once hot career fizzle.

Daniels adds "With Cuba, something wasn't sitting right with me but I remembered him in 'Boyz N the Hood.' That's when I saw the truth and went for him. [With this film], I think he's gangsta. I think he's thug. I think he's honest and good. And I think he's back."

Most people must face a daily grind of working a 9 to 5 job, but if you're an A-list actor like George Clooney, Susan Sarandon and Russell Crowe your job is a whole different ball game.

Right now, some of the big screen's heaviest hitters are shooting what are sure to be next year's mega box office hits. There's definitely nothing lacking in the assortment of quality actors stepping back in front of the cameras for films hitting theaters next year.