Movies

The VERY last song Whitney Houston ever recorded has finally been released ... a duet with Jordin Sparks ... which Whitney performed just 4 days before her death.

The song is called "Celebrate" -- from her upcoming movie "Sparkle" in which she plays Jordin's mother.

After Whitney died, officials found evidence of hardcore drug use in her hotel room and in her system ... but producer Harvey Mason Jr. didn't seem to think her addiction had an affect on the quality of her performance.

Mason Jr. told People.com, Houston was "really positive" during the recording ... saying, "We ended the session dancing around the control room while she said 'Turn it up! Turn it up!' She was so fun-loving."

The new Jesse McCartney horror flick "Chernobyl Diaries" is a slap in the face to the 400,000 victims of the real-life nuclear disaster ... so says a Chernobyl recovery organization.

For those unfamiliar with the Chernobyl disaster ... (shame on you if you're one of them) ... scores of people were killed or disfigured when the nuclear power plant exploded in the Ukraine in 1986.

Now, the Friends of Chernobyl Centers U.S. tells TMZ ... it's furious with the plot of the new movie -- in which several people who were mutated in the blast hunt down unwitting tourists.

"It is terrible that such a tragic event as Chernobyl is being sensationalized in a Hollywood horror film," a rep for the org tells us.

"Thousands of people have died and over 400,000 people were evacuated from their homes. Today over 5 million people still live on contaminated land. The horror is not mutants running around, the real horror is the effect that Chernobyl continues to have on the lives of millions who have been devastated physically, emotionally and economically."

Lindsay Lohan's finally looking the part -- trying on some crucial Elizabeth Taylor-inspired outfits for her new movie ... and TMZ has obtained pics of the wardrobe action.

Sources close to Lindsay tell TMZ, the actress is dead set on nailing Liz Taylor in her upcoming Lifetime movie "Liz and Dick" -- so she's spending countless hours trying to pick out the PERFECT outfits for the role.

We’re told Lindsay has final say on all wardrobe decisions for the film and has been giving major input into how to perfect Liz’s looks.

As we reported, Lindsay's been obsessing over Liz trying to get into the Hollywood legend's head, studying her constantly for the last few months.

The photos were snapped earlier this week during a wardrobe fitting. The first outfit was selected to recreate a famous photo shoot from Elizabeth's teenage years. The second is based on a Valentino dress Liz once wore.

"Liz and Dick" is scheduled to start shooting next month.

Jackie Chan's fighting days are OVER ... at least on camera ... 'cause the legendary actor says he's giving up action movies so he can become "the Asian Robert De Niro."

The 58-year-old was promoting his 100th flick, "Chinese Zodiac" earlier today -- when he told reporters, "This will be my last action movie."

He explained, "I tell you, I am not young any more ... I am really, really tired."

Chan -- who has famously performed his own stunts for decades -- added, "The world is too violent now. It's a dilemma because I like action, but I don't like the violence."

He continued, "I don't just want to be an action star ... I want to be a true actor. I want to be an Asian Robert De Niro."

"I want to get rid of my image. So, for the last ten years I've done other films like 'The Karate Kid' where I'd rather play an old man. I want the audience to know I'm not just about fighting or comedy, also I can act."

Chan has suffered countless injuries on the sets of his movies ... and FUN FACT -- he appeared as an uncredited prison thug in the Bruce Lee classic, "Enter the Dragon" back in 1973.

"What to Expect When You're Expecting" divas Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz both put on their glamour faces at the film's premiere in Hollywood on Monday.

Question is ...

Which star from "The Hangover 2" -- not named Bradley Cooper -- would you want to sit next to in business class? Gotta be that scene-stealing monkey ... unless you're name is Harvey.

File this under AWKWARD ...

"Battleship" director Peter Berg was doing a promotional interview for his new movie with an Israeli reporter recently, when he decided to wax philosophically on the political situation with Iran ... and things got weird.

After spelling out his grim take on the situation in the Middle East ... and dropping a few f-bombs in the process ... Berg asks the 25-year-old reporter if he ever served in the Israeli military ... a requirement for Israeli citizens.

When the reporter replied "No," Berg was SHOCKED ...saying, "What?! How did you get out of that? Are you a draft dodger?"

Berg added, "You better join the army motherf**ker!!!"

When Berg presses ... asking if and when the reporter ever plans to serve, the reporter awkwardly replies ... "ummm ... we're not having this conversation."

The chick featured in this photo is NOT in "Men In Black 3" ... but she showed up to the premiere in Germany anyway ... and ABSOLUTELY NOBODY complained.

Sporting a necklace ... and some garbage bag strips attached to other garbage bag strips ... German bikini model Micaela Schaefer walked the same red carpet as Will Smith and Josh Brolin on Monday.

Wearing a black turtleneck, jeans and New Balance sneakers, Ashton Kutcher was spotted in full character as Steve Jobs as he made his way to the set of the late Apple CEO's biopic in L.A. on Friday.

The 34-year-old "Two and a Half Men" star plays the visionary businessman during his younger years in a movie tentatively titled "Jobs: Get Inspired."

While Kutcher definitely looks the part, it remains to be seen if he can nail the role of a complicated man -- part hippie, part driven businessman, part brilliant, and part crazy.

Brendan Fraser claims the producers behind a new 3D movie about William Tell have screwed him out of more than $2 million in acting fees -- and now, he's suing for every penny ... plus more.

Brendan filed the lawsuit in L.A. County Superior Court -- claiming producer Todd Moyer hired him to act in "The Legend of William Tell: 3D" in early 2011, promising to begin shooting in October of that year.

Brendan claims he fully committed to the schedule -- passing up several other lucrative acting jobs to remain available for the William Tell gig.

But according to the lawsuit, Moyer couldn't stay on schedule due to financing problems -- relegating the William Tell project to development hell. The movie is still listed in pre-production on IMDb.

Brendan says his contract guarantees a payout of $2.25 million whether the film shoots or not -- and now, he wants all that money ... plus additional damages. All told, Brendan wants more than $3 million.

Todd Moyer tells TMZ, "This is the first I have heard of this lawsuit. As we told Mr. Fraser’s reps, we are ready, willing and able to make the movie for the September 3rd start date. [Producer] Julius Nasso and I have the movie fully financed."

"Wedding Crashers" babe Isla Fisher showed she has her husband Sacha Baron Cohen's back ... by wearing a t-shirt of his new movie on her front.

The 36-year-old rocked "The Dictator" swag while in Central Park with her daughter on Monday.

You may not have realized it when you were in the theaters this weekend, but "The Avengers" is not a movie ... it's a guerrilla marketing campaign for the shawarma industry!!! We'll explain ...

At the end of the "film," a scene within the credits shows the movie's stars eating lunch at an undisclosed location (not a secret lair or anything, they just didn't say). The meal of choice was shawarma ... a callback to something Robert Downey Jr.'s character had said earlier in the movie.

TMZ spoke with several different fine eating establishments all across Los Angeles ... and they all say sales of shawarma went through the roof this weekend.

At Ro Ro's Chicken -- a famed Lebanese joint in Hollywood -- the manager says shawarma sales jumped 80% in the days after the movie opened. We're told the same thing happened a few years back when a baba ghanouj joke was featured in "You Don't Mess with the Zohan."

Look out Scarlett Johansson ... Woody Allen has a new buxom, young muse in his sights ... and that muse is Lindsay Lohan.

The unlikely duo was spotted out in NYC last night at fancy-schmancy Philippe restaurant -- and we're told this isn't their first spin on the friendship bicycle.

Sources close to Lindsay tell TMZ ... Allen and Lilo have been friends for years now and he's one of her biggest supporters -- never jumping on the judgment bandwagon.

We're told there are no projects officially on the books right now, BUT sources tell us they've been throwing around the idea of Lindsay being in one of Allen's future films -- which would be huge for Lilo, since his last flick, "Midnight in Paris," was nominated for a bunch of Academy Awards.

We're also told Lindsay has nothing but respect for the quadruple Oscar-winning director and would LOVE to work with him.

Universal Studios claims its new big budget movie "Battleship" is in jeopardy -- all thanks to a low budget straight-to-DVD knockoff that's coming out ... and now, it's suing.

Universal filed the lawsuit against The Asylum -- a production company that makes low-budget straight-to-DVD "mockbusters" with similar titles to their big budget inspirations ... i.e. "Titanic 2," "The Terminators," and "Transmorphers." Just look at its IMDb page.

Now, according to the lawsuit, Asylum's up to no good once again -- releasing a DVD called "American Battleship" on May 22nd ... just 4 days after the big budget "Battleship" is set for theatrical release in the U.S.

According to the lawsuit, Universal spent $100 million producing its film ... and $30 million promoting it in the U.S. alone -- and Asylum's trying to piggy back on its hard work.

To prove its point, Universal points out the laundry list of ways "American Battleship" is a rip-off -- including the plot ... and the hilariously similar movie posters (above).

According to the lawsuit, Universal is the exclusive licensee of the film rights to the classic naval combat board game -- and Asylum's stepping all over its business. (Universal also calls its movie "highly anticipated," but wishing doesn't make it so.)

In the midst of a nasty divorce with his allegedly racist wife, Terrence Howard somehow found time to tackle ANOTHER legal dispute -- this time with an ousted ex-manager, who claimed Howard owed her mega bucks in unpaid commission.

The manager -- a woman named Victoria Fredrick -- filed a lawsuit against the actor last year, claiming Terrence owed her $137,500 for work she did while he starred in "Winnie" and "Fightin," for which Terrence earned a combined $2.75 million.

Fredrick also claimed Terrence owed her residuals from some of his biggest movies -- "Hustle and Flow", "Get Rich or Die Tryin", "Iron Man" -- PLUS over 100 future movies not even made yet.

But Howard furiously shot back -- claiming Fredrick was a "personal manager" only insofar as she answered phones and ran errands ... she did NOT help babysit his movie career, or have a stake in future projects.

Terrence said he paid her adequately while he employed her -- including some commission -- but any money demands she made beyond that were BS.