Movies

Here's a shocker ... someone other than Lana and Andy Wachowski wants credit for the awful sequels to "The Matrix" -- and now, the man is suing the filmmakers for $300 MILLION, claiming they jacked his ideas.

Thomas Althouse filed the lawsuit against the sibling producers, claiming they lifted ideas for "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions" from his script "The Immortals."

Althouse says he submitted "The Immortals" to Warner Bros. back in 1993, but never heard back.

In the suit, Althouse says he finally came across the 'Matrix' movies in 2010 and immediately recognized similarities to his own work -- including plugs in the back of characters' necks, robot-like "agents" dressed in suits, and characters trapped in a train station.

Althouse is suing the Wachowskis, Warner Bros., and producer Joel Silver for copyright infringement. By the way, the $300 million he's demanding is a tiny fraction of the Matrix franchise which is valued at about $2 BILLION!!

LL Cool J must know he bears a striking resemblance to accused killer Christopher Dorner, but he wants NO PART of a movie about Dorner ... at least not yet.

Outside Katsuya in Hollywood last night, we asked the Grammy host/rapper/"NCIS: Los Angeles" star about possibly doing a biopic, but he quickly nixed the idea.

LL told us, "That's not even something to really talk about because there are families that suffered, people that died. And because of that, I think it would be disrespectful to them to ... have this conversation about a film when people's lives were on the line."

Always classy.

It's been 5 years since former NFL MVP Shaun Alexander hung up his cleats ... but now, TMZ has learned the ex-Seattle Seahawks star is exploring a new career ... in Hollywood.

Sources tell us ... Shaun -- along with 21 other past and present NFL players -- are participating in the NFL Pro-Hollywood Boot Camp in March -- a training program to help players transition to another line of work after their playing days are over.

We're told ... stars like Phillip Buchanon, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Derek Hagan, Justin Fargas and Hank Baskett are all signed up to learn about several facets of the entertainment industry -- from writing to production and even film financing.

In fact, sources say "Friday Night Lights" director Peter Berg will lead one of the training sessions -- along with "Meteor Man" star Robert Townsend and Legendary Pictures honcho Thomas Tull ... who produced all of the Christopher Nolan "Batman" movies.

The mother of a 9/11 victim who died in the World Trade Center says she NEVER gave permission for "Zero Dark Thirty" producers to use a voicemail left by her son during the attack.

Mary Fetchet has lashed out to several media outlets ... saying she was shocked and upset when she heard her son's voice featured in the dramatic opening moments of the Oscar nominated movie.

Fetchet's son, Bradley, left the voicemail for Mary while he was on the 89th floor of the World Trade Center.

The studios behind the movie released a statement calling the movie a "tribute" to the victims -- and saying they "initiated contact with a number of families."

When Kevin Costner wants to know what's going on in his nasty lawsuit over "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" ... there's only one man he turns to for answers -- the all-knowing TMZ photog!!!

Costner was arriving at LAX with his family yesterday when we asked about his legal war with Morgan Creek -- which Costner claims screwed him out of millions in profits from the 1991 flick.

"I know that they owe me money," Costner said ... adding, "I think you just live with the deals you make ... and if that was the deal that was made, I'll live with my deal, they should live with theirs."

"They should pay the price."

Costner claims Morgan Creek pulled all sorts of shady stunts to hide profits so it wouldn't have to pay him ... and an L.A. County Superior Court judge just ruled that Kevin has enough of a case to move forward with his lawsuit.

But at LAX, it seems Costner may not have known about the judge's latest ruling ... 'cause he's been in France ... so he asked our photog to fill him in on the latest developments.

The family of "Selena" star Lupe Ontiveros is incredibly upset she was left out of last night's "In Memoriam" presentation at the Oscars ... despite appearing in dozens of major films over the past 30 years.

Ontiveros -- who passed away in July 2012 -- had roles in "Real Women Have Curves", "As Good as it Gets", and "The Goonies" ... but is best known for her role as Yolanda Saldívar, the woman who murdered Selena.

Ontiveros' son Elias tells TMZ ... the whole family gathered to watch the awards show -- and was "disappointed" Lupe wasn't given her proper due -- especially considering some lesser-known people were honored over his mom.

You'll recall, George Clooney did warn some artists might be left out when introducing the tribute, saying, "For for those friends who are on this list tonight, and many others who aren't, we thank you for the memories."

Other celebs snubbed along with Ontiveros -- Andy Griffith, director Gore Vidal, Sherman Hemsley, athlete-turned-actor Alex Karras, and Sylvia Kristel.

Fun Fact: Did you know "Pedro" from the 2004 hit "Napoleon Dynamite" has a twin brother?

Not So Fun Fact: "Pedro" threatened to sue his twin brother for more than $10 MILLION for impersonating him without permission ... and now the bros don't speak.

It all came to a head in 2008, when Efren Ramirez (the real Pedro) sent a cease-and-desist letter to his brother Carlos Ramirez ... warning him to stop making public appearances as "Efren."

We spoke to Carlos ... who tells us he only started impersonating Efren at his brother's request, when Efren was "too busy" to make the appearances himself.

But Carlos admits he took things too far ... saying, "I did attend an event without his knowledge as I was being immature and wanted to get back at him for a personal matter which involved the girl I was dating at the time."

Carlos says the rift between the two got so bad, Efren's lawyer fired off a letter instructing Carlos to stop "interfering with [Efren's] personal and professional life" ... or else Efren would sue his brother for more than $10 million.

Carlos says he got the message loud and clear ... and started focusing on his own acting career.

Now Carlos is determined to put the past behind him and wants to salvage his relationship with his bro ... telling TMZ, "I would love to talk to Efren. Maybe even work together in the future. His support would be amazing."

He also says, "I think it's safe to say the magnitude of 'Napoleon Dynamite' and everything that has come along with it, has ruined my relationship with my twin."

"Twilight" star Michael Welch spent his Valentine's Day doing something special with his estranged wife -- THEY FINALLY FILED FOR DIVORCE .... how romantic!

TMZ has learned ... Welch -- who played spiky haired Mike Newton in the first three "Twilight" flicks -- filed a joint petition for divorce with his soon-to-be ex-wife Marissa Lefton.

The two were married back in 2008 ... and according to the docs, filed at L.A. County Superior Court, they separated in December 2011.

Should be an easy parting of ways ... 'cause according to the legal papers, they have no community property to split up ... and no kids either.

Diane Lane is divorcing Josh Brolin -- which is not great news for the ex-couple ... but is a great excuse to remind us why we love Diane so much. Roll those killer sex scenes!

A producer who is Lindsay Lohan adjacent is accused of scamming an investor out of $110,000 -- the amount the producer claimed was necessary to insure LiLo on "Liz & Dick."

Michael Braun claims in 2012 ... he was approached by a Hollywood producer named Rick Schwartz, who said he was trying to drum up money for the upcoming "Liz & Dick" production. Braun claims in his lawsuit ... Schwartz told him he needed $110,000 to get an insurance policy for the high-risk actress.

After some discussion, Braun claims he anted up the cash.

Fast forward to completion of the film, when Braun asked Schwartz to repay the loan. Braun says in the lawsuit it quickly became obvious... Schwartz had scammed him -- that Schwartz had NOTHING to do with the film and he was just out to fleece an unsuspecting rich guy.

Braun says after confronting Schwartz, he got back a measly $36,313.67. Now he wants the rest, plus punitive damages for alleged fraud.

Director Michael Moore is outraged ... claiming his friend -- a Palestinian director whose film is nominated for an Oscar -- was detained at LAX last night because officials didn't believe the man was REALLY in town for the Academy Awards.

Moore tweeted a play-by-play of the incident ... claiming his friend, Emad Burnat -- whose film "5 Broken Cameras" is nominated for Best Documentary Feature," was held for an hour-and-a-half while officials grilled him about his visit.

Moore tweeted, "Emad, his wife & 8-yr old son were placed in a holding area and told they didn't have the proper invitation on them to attend the Oscars."

He continued, "Although he produced the Oscar invite nominees receive, that wasn't good enough & he was threatened with being sent back to Palestine."

"Apparently the Immigration & Customs officers couldn't understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee. Emad texted me for help."

"I called Academy officials who called lawyers. I told Emad to give the officers my phone # and to say my name a couple of times."

"After 1.5 hrs, they decided to release him & his family & told him he could stay in L.A. for the week & go to the Oscars. Welcome to America."

"'It's nothing I'm not already used to,' he told me later. 'When u live under occupation, with no rights, this is a daily occurrence.'"

Moore concluded ... "He was certain they were going to deport him. But not if I had anything to do about it."

"I'll be back" ... "You can't handle the truth" ... "Dude, where's my car?" ... some of the best movie lines in the history of cinema -- but Aaron Sorkin says the #1 quote is straight out of the '70s.

Sorkin -- the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of "The Social Network" ... and the guy who penned "A Few Good Men" ... was leaving the Chateau Marmont yesterday when our photog dropped the "best line ever" question on him.

He played an Oompa Loompa on the big screen ... and Kenny Powers' violent Mexican nemesis on TV ... but now, Deep Roy is cornering a new market ... STREET RAP!!!

The 55-year-old actor got straight up funky outside of Ocean Ave. Seafood in Santa Monica last night ... dropping some rhymes ... and even a few dance moves LIKE A BOSS!!

"Oh yeah ... uh huh ... Oh yeah ... uh huh."

Anthony Anderson isn't afraid to play a psychotic cop killer in a movie -- telling TMZ, he'd happily accept the role of Christopher Dorner in a film about the accused murderer's life ... as long as the script is good.

Anderson was leaving Mastro's Tuesday night alongside Don Cheadle and the vaporizer-carrying George Lopez when our photog asked if he'd be open to the role ... given Anderson's resemblance.

Anderson replied, "I'm always up for a good role, brother."

So ... you buyin' it? Our vote's still for LL Cool J.