Movies

The house where the classic film "A Christmas Story" was shot is officially being opened up to the public as a tourist attraction. For the low price of $5 ($3 for children) you can visit the famous house and its accompanying museum located conveniently across the street. The house has been completely remodeled to recreate the same look that it had in the original flick. As far as souveniers are concerned, the gift shop offers the greatest item ever concieved -- a replica of the leg lamp that Ralph's father won and proudly displayed in the front window of the house (much to the dismay of Ralphie's mother).

Actor Tobin Bell, who plays the Jigsaw killer in the highly successful horror franchise, has donated a vial of his blood to mix with the red ink used in about 1,000 posters. The posters are being sold online for $20 each, except for the first print, which will be autographed by the film's cast and crew and auctioned off. All proceeds from the auction and sales will go to the American Red Cross.

The blood-letting doesn't stop there though. Lions Gate, the distributors producers of the film, will also hold a nationwide Halloween Blood Drive timed with the movie's release with all prodceeds going to Red Cross. This marks the third year of the odd promotion, which has collected more than 14,000 liters of the red stuff to date.

When a press conference starts with the words, "Good afternoon gentlemen and prostitutes. How much? I have dollars," it's sure to be a good time.

Sacha Baron Cohen, in full Borat character, held a press conference in Paris today to promote his new film "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," where he took shots at Uzbekistan, President Bush and American women in general.

Having just toured America, the fictional TV reporter told the press, "We in Kazakhstan admire very much Premier Bush. He is very wise man but not only this, he is very strong," said Borat adding, "Although perhaps not as strong as his father, Barbara. Tough guy. Like John Waynes."

The upcoming movie "Bobby," an ensemble drama about the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy directed by Emilio Estevez, has drawn praise from the former senator's widow and one of his daughters.

"Our family is grateful to Emilio Estevez and the extraordinary cast of 'Bobby' for remembering Robert Kennedy's life and his commitment to social justice, peace and equality," Ethel Kennedy said in a statement released today by the Weinstein Company, the producers of the film.

Kennedy's daughter Kerry, who was 8 years old at the time, said, "To remember Robert Kennedy's life, his commitment to social justice and civil rights, his determination to end war and to make America an instrument of a more just and peaceful world is the purpose of this movie – and for that our family is most grateful to Emilio Estevez, Harvey Weinstein and the cast of extraordinary talents that have made this project possible."

The film features Harry Belafonte, Joy Bryant, Nick Cannon, Emilio Estevez, Laurence Fishburne, Brian Geraghty, Heather Graham, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Joshua Jackson, David Krumholtz, Ashton Kutcher, Shia LaBeouf, Lindsay Lohan, William H. Macy, Svetlana Metkina, Demi Moore, Freddy Rodriguez, Martin Sheen, Christian Slater, Sharon Stone, Jacob Vargas, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Elijah Wood.

Not only is she no longer the "Sexiest Woman Alive," but Jessica Biel's handing over another title - Scream Queen.

With "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" opening today, Jessica Biel relinquishes her crown to Jordana Brewster, who steps into the horror-heroine role for the prequel.

Both babes were at LA's premiere of the slasher flick where Brewster explained the difference between this film and Biel's 2003 blood-soaked remake. "It starts with Leatherface's birth and then it like jump cuts to like 30 years later and then it's the first bloodbath, first killing," says Brewster, "You also get to find out why he is so twisted and why he is a killer."

Andrew Bryniarski, who jumps into Leatherface's chainsaw-wielding shoes for the second time, was at the premiere as well and probably creeped out a few reporters by taking on his on-screen alter-ego. "I don't mess around. If I'm coming you can't stop me. And once you get this close what are you going to do?"

Word of advice - it may be a good idea to avoid running into Bryniarski in a dark alley. "TCM: The Beginning" opens today.

After her split from Nick Lachey, Jessica Simpson has been romantically connected to a handful of men including John Mayer and Maroon 5's Adam Levine -- but Jess doesn't seem to mind.

"I'm just used to it by now, it's just kind of a part of my life," she tells a reporter while promoting her new film "Employee of the Month," adding, "Every guy that gets within 5 feet of me is automatically linked to me."

Dane Cook, who knows a thing or two about being linked to the blonde vixen, jokingly adds, "Yeah, she's been my wife for 2 years now."

Just this week, Page Six spies spotted the "Employee" co-stars "whispering into each other's ears" and added that Dane "kept coming back to her every time he was pulled away." Simpson went home with another man though -- her hairdresser Ken Paves.

"Employee of the Month" opens today.

Matthew McConaughey's bizarre tooth-brushing habits made headlines on Monday and now Matt himself is talking about it.

Cameras spotted the Texan stud polishing his pearly whites as he waited at a stop light, really getting into it. "Ha, ha! I do like clean teeth, man," Matt tells "EXTRA" correspondent AJ Calloway, "they never go out of style."

He adds that there are always photographers around his Malibu home, so they're likely to get some good video from time to time, "they followed me all day and I take my toothbrush in the car and I'm brushing."

Calloway caught up with McConaughey in West Virginia, where his next film "We Are Marshall" was filmed. The movie is based on the true story of what happened after a plane crash killed most of the 1970 Marshall University football. The film opens December 22.

If you ever wanted the shirt off Jake Gyllenhaal's back, you're in luck.

Jake's outfit from "Brokeback Mountain" will be up for grabs at a live auction on Saturday at the Human Rights Campaign's 10th Annual Dinner in Washington, D.C.

From October 13 -20, the entire wardrobe from the Oscar-winning movie will be up for bid in an online auction on the e-commerce site www.seenon.com.

Items like cowboy boots, jeans and hats worn by Jake, Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams will be available, with proceeds benefiting the Human Rights Campaign, which is the nation's largest gay rights organization.

Until we find a way to get our hands on those bike shorts Jake's been sporting lately, this will just have to do.

The Sci-Fi Channel, in conjunction with the Sundance Channel, is launching an eight-week long short film competition to find the world's next great science fiction auteur.

The competition, aptly titled "Exposure," will search for the best 2-8 minute sci-fi, horror or fantasy short. Films will be judged by a committee of Sci-Fi Channel and Sundance Channel experts, who will post the best flicks on the Internet each week. Fans will then vote for eight weekly champions to compete in an on-air special on the Sci Fi Channel. Viewers will vote online to determine the grand prize winner.

Submissions are welcomed from now until November 20th. Online voting will begin October 23rd.

Disneyland's Tom Sawyer Island, one of the attractions personally designed and guided by Walt Disney himself 50 years ago in Anaheim, Calif., might be destined for the wrecking ball in favor of a "Pirates of the Caribbean"-themed area -- replete with an animatronic Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom replacing Becky Thatcher and Huck Finn. According to a report by Disney theme park-watchdog-site MiceAge, the Tom Sawyer Island attraction, full of treehouses, caves, and trails that refer to scenes in Mark Twain's beloved adventures, will be given a $28 million-plus makeover into a full pirate paradise. The original "Pirates" ride, by which the films were "inspired," have been tweaked to reflect Johnny Depp's portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow.

The opening of the new "Pirates" attraction will be timed, says MiceAge, to coincide with the release of the third "Pirates of the Caribbean" film next summer. A source with knowledge of the park's finances and operations tells TMZ that from a financial standpoint, the move is a no-brainer: "That's very valuable real estate [in the theme park], and if you ask a hundred kids who Jack Sparrow and Tom Sawyer are, what do you think they're going to say?" The two "Pirates" films have grossed more than $1.6 billion worldwide.

A Disneyland rep tells TMZ that this was "the first" he had heard of the change, and said that there were no plans to change any of the Tom Sawyer Islands, whether in Anaheim, Calif., Orlando, Fla., or Tokyo.

A friend there sent us the picture below with the following account:

Attached is a picture we took just today at the theater here in Orange City. It appears that someone in the community complained to the theater manager regarding the new "Jackass" movie, so look at how they changed it!!

We're guessing Orange City is the type of city that "Footloose" was based on.

A Jewish organization in the UK says it has had enough of Sacha Baron Cohen's meshuggah Borat act, and is punishing the British-born comic with a £9.000 ($17,000) fine and a ban of six months from any UK synagogue. Or at least that's what it says.

Just as Jews worldwide gathered to observe Yom Kippur, the solemn day of atonement, The Board of Guardians of British Jews made this scathing proclamation on its Web site, www.theboard.co.uk: "We gave Mr Baron Cohen an informal warning over six months ago about the Borat character ... bringing major embarrassment to the Jewish community," says one Harry Greenberg, president of The Board. "Mr Baron Cohen ignored our letters and phonecalls [sic] ... and has been banned from setting foot into any synagogue for six months." Cohen's fake-Kazakh character continually talks about himself and his countrymen abusing and demeaning Jews, jokes that the American Anti-Defamation League and the Kazakh government have rebuked.

Of course, the so-called British Guardians' threats and edicts might be much ado about bubkes. The same organization -- which is not to be confused with The Board of Deputies of British Jews, which is the UK equivalent of the Anti-Defamation League -- put up a posting just after Mel Gibson's DUI arrest and subsequent anti-Semitic tirade in August saying that it had welcomed Gibson to its board as a vice-president, and that, "despite American media trying to imply his is anti-Semitic, Mel is a true lover of all Jews and the Jewish faith." We all know how grounded in reality that is.

Due to Yom Kippur, all parties involved were unavailable for comment or verification.

Admit it... you just can't get enough of "Jackass." You have every episode of the TV show on DVD and you were first in line to see both "Jackass" flicks. Never fear, there's plenty more where that came from.

An insider at Paramount Studios tells TMZ that they have so much video featuring Chris Pontius, Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Bam Margera and the whole crew that they will be releasing never before seen scenes straight to DVD on "Jackass 2.5." The studio was also so thrilled with the huge success of "Jackass Number Two" -- which took in $51.5 million in its first two weeks of release -- that they have greenlighted "Jackass Three" and are speeding up production on that release.

Thank god... and you thought you'd have to wait forever to see Steve-O be used for bait.

While training to play a US Coast Guard in his new film, Ashton Kutcher had one man's body in mind for inspiration -- Brad Pitt.

"I went and saw Troy, I was with my wife and with a friend, and every time Brad came on and he was like naked or whatever, they were like 'Ohh', and I'm like, 'I'm right here, I'm sitting right next to you,'" says Kutcher, "I knew this movie was coming up so I went out and hired Brad Pitt's trainer."

The self-admitted "pack-a-day smoker" who "hadn't really worked out since high school" (damn him for naturally looking so good) had a tough time getting into top shape and admits he's already on a downward spiral since shooting wrapped.

"No. I'm done... I'll train for the next one, it's fine, I'll run a little bit, I'll stay in shape, I can still do some pull-up's and I do some push-up's and stuff but it's just brutal. It's a full time job it keep yourself in that kind of shape, it's no joke."

"The Guardian" and "Open Season," also starring Kutcher, both open this weekend.

Robert Downey Jr. has been tapped to play the Marvel comic book character "Iron Man" in its film adaptation. Downey worked out and grew a goatee in the hopes of convincing the producers that he was the right man for the job.

The complex character of Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) is far more complex then meets the eye. In fact, the similarities to Downey's own life are uncanny, as the character is a man whose life is plagued by substance abuse and chaos.

Marvel Entertainment executive Kevin Fergie said "We cannot think of another actor better suited to bring one of Marvel's crown jewels to the big screen."

Filming will begin in February.

"Marie Antoinette" star Kirsten Dunst traded in her 1780s corsets for some 1980s suspenders.

Kirsten roamed the streets of Hollywood earlier this week sporting suspenders, skinny jeans, flats and amber vision-like sunglasses.

While she didn't dredge up shoulder pads, Kiki wore enough 80s trends to fill an entire season of "Dynasty."