Movies

Ben Affleck did something that shocked us -- even more than "Gigli" -- but, more importantly, he opened the door for everyone in the TMZ newsroom to get some sweet revenge ... on Harv!

Lindsay Lohan screwed up again ... no-showing at an important voice-over session for her upcoming movie ... and now the screenwriter is BLASTING her for being a flake.

Bret Easton Ellis -- who wrote Lindsay's new flick "The Canyons" -- claims Lohan missed her Automatic Dialog Replacement session on Wednesday ... and posted a tweet, saying he sent his bloodthirsty character from his 1991 book "American Psycho" over to find her ass.

Here's the tweet -- "Patrick Bateman has just headed over to Lindsay Lohan's hotel to confront her as to why she missed her f**king ADR on 'The Canyons' today..."

Of course, punctuality hasn't always been Lindsay's strong suit ... she has a history of running late to things like movie sets, made-for-TV-movie sets, "Glee," court dates, community service, airports, alcohol education classes, birthday parties ... and lunch.

Actor Mike Epps personally reached out to Richard Pryor's widow before agreeing to play the comic legend in a new movie, TMZ has learned -- and it might've been the smartest thing he's ever done.

Jennifer Pryor tells TMZ, she was touched by the gesture -- saying, "That was very sweet and respectful that he called me first. I am happy that they picked him. He is a real good guy."

FYI -- Epps is slated to appear as Pryor in the new film about jazz legend Nina Simone.

But Mike Epps wasn't just being polite, he also made a real smart move ... because Jennifer tells us, thanks to Epps' courtesy call, she's now considering the comedian to play Pryor in an upcoming Richard Pryor biopic.

The Pryor movie is still in development, but Jennifer -- who's acting as a producer on the film -- says she believes Epps is one of the few actors capable of an "authentic portrayal" of Pryor.

As for the one person she does NOT want to play Pryor ... his name rhymes with Schmeddy Burphy.

Jennifer tells us, "Having Eddie Murphy play Richard Pryor would be like having Al Jolson play Malcolm X." (Jolson is an early 20th century white actor known for his blackface performances.)

It's widely regarded as the WORST MOVIE OF ALL TIME -- and even Lea Thompson, star of the 1986 catastrophe, agrees ... "Howard the Duck" was a steaming pile of animatronic crap.

The 51-year-old actress was out in NYC yesterday when we asked about the cult classic -- and she bit her tongue, telling TMZ, "I'm happy that people like it, but I don't think it was a great movie."

No kidding, it won the 1987 Razzie Award for Worst Picture ... and critics PANNED the George Lucas-produced movie for years thereafter.

Then again, Lea did that incredible underwear scene...

The new woman in Mel's life is Ashley Cusato ... an actress and stuntwoman who's actually been featured as a stunt double for big stars like Emily Deschanel and Denise Richards.

Sources close to the actor tell us ... the two have been dating for about a month -- and things are going so well, Mel has already introduced her to several members of his family.

In fact, sources close to la familia Gibson tell us ... they LOVE her and are convinced she's gonna be around for a long, long time.

One of the guys who played a key role in "Iron Man" and "Iron Man 2" and "The Avengers" has made a shocking confession ... HE'S NEVER ACTUALLY WATCHED ANY OF THE MOVIES!

Paul Bettany -- who got paid TONS of cash to provide the voice for Tony Stark's computer J.A.R.V.I.S. -- dropped the bombshell to Digital Spy ... admitting he has absolutely no interest in the story and has never even read the full script for any of the 3 movies.

Bettany even joked that he feels like he's ripping off the movie studio -- "I walk in, I say some lines on a piece of paper for two hours, and then they give me a bag of money and I leave and I go about my day."

Not only that, he says it makes fan encounters a bit awkward, adding "I'm plagued by fanboys who love J.A.R.V.I.S. ... They come up and I've got no idea what they're talking about."

So check out the clip (below) and see Bettany's hard work pay off ...

Rob and Kristen were spotted leaving a restaurant with a group of friends Monday afternoon -- never holding hands ... but standing mere feet from each other.

This was the 2nd time in 24 hours they were seen together around L.A. ... just 3 months after Kristen admitted cheating with director Rupert Sanders -- but, even more telling, exactly one month before the release of the last "Twilight" movie. Hmm ...

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart were at an L.A. restaurant last night, exactly 1 month to the day before "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 2" premieres ... and it's feeling like a total set-up.

The two had drinks at Ye Rustic Inn in a hipster area of Los Feliz. There was enough of a crowd to ensure someone was going to notice.

So here's the question. Did they honestly repair their relationship and the timing is purely coincidental? Are they really NOT together but doing it for the movie? Or were they always together and the "split" was all PR BS?

So we gotta ask ...

Lindsay Lohan will continue her chatty streak (following her appearance on TMZ Live this week) and will sit down for a one-on-one interview with the legendary Barbara Walters ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Lindsay tell TMZ she has been close to Walters for years and that Barbara reached out to her about doing an interview when it was announced she'd be playing Liz Taylor in the upcoming "Liz & Dick" biopic.

We're told LiLo has been hesitant about sit-down interviews because she fears being asked questions she's not prepared for. But our sources say Lindsay trusts Barbara not to take things too far.

According to our sources, Lindsay and Barbara will sit down sometime in the next few weeks. We're told the interview will focus on the parallels between the lives of Lindsay and Liz Taylor -- things like child stardom, a rough childhood, living life in the public, and also dealing with addiction.

Brad Pitt is pretty confident -- even though his days of drug use are LONG GONE, he thinks could land in any city, at anytime and score some dope ... just give him 24 hrs.

Pitt is promoting a new film he executive produced called "The House I Live In," a documentary that takes a hard look at the war on drugs, which Pitt believes is floundering.

According to The Huffington Post, Pitt introduced a screening of the film by telling the crowd, "My drug days are long since passed but it's certainly true that I could probably land in any city in any state and get you whatever you wanted ... Give me 24 hours or so."

Pitt believe the fact that drugs being so accessible -- even for someone long out of the game like himself -- is why the so-called drug war isn't working.

The original voice behind Charlie Brown is pissed Hollywood is attempting to remake the classic comic strip "Peanuts" into a movie -- telling TMZ, it's a "horrible idea" comparable to a "knock-off band."

56-year-old Peter Robbins -- who voiced Charlie in the 1960s "Peanuts" specials -- telling us, "What's the point? If it's to reintroduce the character of Charlie Brown to a new generation, it's been passed on successfully for 46 years. That's the beauty of it."

Robbins -- famous for voicing Charlie's trademark "AAUGGGHH!!" -- says, "If they were so creative why don't they come up with some new characters."

He adds, "It just seems to me they're trying to steal the thunder of these great classics, and from what I can tell, they're not qualified."

"It's perfect the way it is."

But not every former member of the "Peanuts" gallery is a hater -- the original voice of Pig-Pen (Geoffrey Ornstein) tells us, he can't wait to see it.

Leo O'Brien, one of the stars of "The Last Dragon" ... has died in NYC, TMZ has learned.

Leo played Bruce Leroy's little brother Richie Green in the 1985 cult classic film.

Details surrounding O'Brien's death are unclear ... but law enforcement sources tell us the actor passed away Wednesday morning, and an autopsy is scheduled for today.

Leo's "Dragon" co-star Taimak (Bruce Leroy) says family members believe O'Brien had been in failing health recently.

As TMZ first reported ... O'Brien survived two gunshot wounds just over a year ago in Harlem. Police arrested a suspect who was charged with attempted murder.

O'Brien was 41 years old.

Quincy Jones III -- the filmmaker behind the 2009 documentary "The Carter" about Lil Wayne -- insists he did NOT steal the rapper's music to make the movie ... and now, he wants Weezy's lawsuit thrown out of court.

Quincy -- son of the legendary music producer -- just filed legal docs, responding to Lil Wayne's copyright infringement lawsuit against him, in which Wayne claims he never gave Quincy permission to use his music in the film.

It didn't help that Wayne also HATED the movie -- calling it a "scandalous portrayal" of him -- and then gave Quincy's lawyer hell in a hilarious deposition.

But Quincy's insisting he had the right to use several Weezy songs in the documentary -- including "Lollipop”, “A Milli” and “Don't Get It" -- under the "fair use" doctrine because the music was necessary to tell the Lil Wayne story.

Quincy wants Wayne's lawsuit dismissed asap. He also wants Wayne to pay his attorney's fees.

Ben Affleck spent years crapping out bombs while his buddy Matt Damon was killing it at the box office -- but now it looks like it's Ben's turn to feast ... in Hollywood, or his car. Whatever.

Looking even more emaciated and gaunt than before, a frail Matthew McConaughey was barely recognizable as he -- with the help of his mother Kay -- left a church in Austin this weekend.

As TMZ previously reported, the normally buff and shirtless 42-year-old is wasting away to play Ron Woodruff in the movie "The Dallas Buyer's Club," the true story of a man who contracted HIV through drug use in the '80s and has to smuggle life-saving medications from Mexico.

Giovanni Ribisi KNOWS one house in L.A. just ain't enough -- the actor dropped $3 million on a sweet new pad in the Hollywood Hills ... just 5 miles down the road from his OTHER sweet, new pad.

Ribisi's recent purchase is 3,756 square-feet of awesomeness -- it boasts 5 bedrooms, 5 baths, a library, lagoon style pool, cascading waterfall ... AND sits right next door to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (awesome?).

All in all, the crib set Ribisi back a cool $2.95 million.

It's house numero dos for the "Ted" actor ... 3 months ago he dropped $1.4 million on a sick new 2-bedroom, 2.5-bath house in Atwater Village complete with an artist's studio -- only a few miles away.