Movies

Adam Sandler can gun for the greatest western/comedy of all time, but he's gonna come up short ... according to the legend who DID make the greatest western/comedy of all time!

We got Mel Brooks in Bev Hills and asked what he thought about Sandler's new flick, "Ridiculous Six." Mel didn't just stand up for his classic, "Blazing Saddles" ... he made a bold declaration about the 1974 movie's place in history.

He did wish Sandler the best of luck with 'Ridiculous,' but c'mon ... you don't need no stinking badge to know it can't possibly match 'Saddles.' Even Adam knows that.

Tipsy Elves, the comically ugly sweater company that made MILLIONS after scoring a "Shark Tank" deal 2 years ago, just cashed in again ... with Seth Rogen.

Tipsy Elves struck a deal with Seth Rogen and Sony Pictures to license and mass produce the yuletide gear Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony Mackie sport in "The Night Before."

A rep for TE tells us they're projecting sales of $2 million just from the movie exposure. They already hauled in $390k from the debut weekend! And if you're wondering ... Rogen's Hanukkah sweater is the top seller, so far.

Sorry, Black Santa.

Actor Robert Loggia -- who played drug kingpin Frank Lopez in "Scarface" -- is dead.

Loggia, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for "Jagged Edge," died at his home at noon Friday.

Loggia's wife, Audrey, tells TMZ her husband was struggling with Alzheimer's for the last 5 years. She says things took a drastic turn for the worse Wednesday, he seemed to rebound and then died suddenly and peacefully at home.

Audrey says she and their daughter Cynthia were at Robert's bedside when he passed. The couple had 4 kids. They've been married for 33 years.

She says, "He was an awesome husband and an awesome father."

Variety first broke the news of Loggia's death.

RIP

Elijah Wood's opinion on the inherent nature of Gollum from "The Lord of the Rings" could help a Turkish man avoid a two year prison sentence.

It's a crazy story ... a guy named Bilgin Ciftci is actually in danger of getting tossed behind bars for a couple years because he compared Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the 'LOTR' character.

We asked Elijah if he'd be willing to be a character witness for Gollum -- and he obliged.

Frodo's defense is pretty straightforward ... although, he is NOT among the experts who the Turkish court is actually asking to determine if Gollum is good or bad.

And you thought our justice system was quirky.

Ben Affleck showed up to "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Wednesday night to debut the new "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" trailer ... having darkened his hair and shaved off his grizzly beard.

Hey, it's the Dark Knight ... not the Grey Knight.

One of the real life guys who advised Jordan Belfort ... the 'Wolf of Wall Street' ... has been found dead in West Hollywood.

Barry Gesser was tight with Belfort and also consulted with the film's director Martin Scorsese and co-star Jonah Hill. TMZ has learned Gesser's body was found Wednesday afternoon.

Law enforcement sources tell us they don't suspect foul play in the 52-year-old's death at this time. It's also unclear if it was a suicide. Cops are still on the scene investigating.

Gesser pleaded guilty to fraud and got 3 years probation for the stock fraud and racketeering plots depicted in the Oscar nominated movie.

Gesser made headlines earlier this year when his new wife, actress Stacey Alysson, caught him in bed with a NY socialite. They'd only been married for 15 days.

4:20 PM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell us Gesser's housekeeper found him, and called 911. There were no obvious signs of trauma or suicide. We're told Gesser has a history of drug use, but there was no paraphernalia or pills found on the scene.

Scott Eastwood held on for way longer than 8 seconds while riding a mechanical bull at a San Diego bar ... so long it's actually pretty impressive.

Clint's son has had some practice ... he played a pro bull rider in the chick flick, "The Longest Ride." And, of course, his dad played a cowboy in a ton of his flicks, so it's no surprise really Scott's a natural.

If the movie thing doesn't work out ... bull ridin' might be another calling.

Vanilla Ice's admiration for Adam Sandler runs deep ... so deep it might have cost his driver a ticket.

We talked to Ice about his new role in the Sandler flick, "The Ridiculous 6" ... only problem is we got him at LAX, as he was getting into his chauffeur driven SUV.

If you've picked up anyone at the airport, you can guess what happened next -- parking enforcement showed up, of course!

Leonardo DiCaprio is NOT raped by a bear in a scene from his latest movie -- that's the bizarre statement FOX Studios just released.

FOX felt compelled to shut down widespread Internet rumors about a controversial scene in "The Revenant" where Leo is attacked by a bear. For some reason (we haven't seen the movie) someone thought the bear raped the star ... twice.

A spokesperson for FOX told EW, "The bear in the film is a female who attacks [Leo] because she feels he might be threatening her cubs ... there is clearly no rape scene with a bear."

Case closed. No bear rape. It's still unclear why anyone saw the attack as sexual in its nature.

Yes, Leo wants an Oscar, but we're guessing he doesn't want it THAT badly.

Cuba Gooding Jr. got his Rod Tidwell on in a crowded bar ... stealing the spotlight as he put on a dance clinic.

Cuba hit up the very British pub Ye Olde King's Head in Santa Monica, and got loose to Kanye West's "Gold Digger." You gotta see him dance battle a chick -- who gives him a run for his money -- all while wearing his shades in the dark club.

Yes, he was THAT guy.

Joshua Shintani -- best known from his cameo in "Shallow Hal" has died at the age of 32 ... TMZ has learned.

Joshua's mother says she took him to an emergency room early last week on Kauai, and doctors discovered he was battling an advanced case of pneumonia. Joshua died on Wednesday.

He had became a local legend in his native Hawaii after landing the memorable scene with Jack Black ... where Joshua strummed a ukulele and played, "Never Forget Where I'm From."

Peter Farrelly was on vacation in Hawaii when he discovered Joshua, a high school senior at the time, strumming his uke outside a public library. He signed him up for the movie on the spot.

'Hal' was the only movie Joshua ever did.

A rep for the Farrelly brothers tell us Joshua, "had a soul that glowed like a lighthouse. We feel honored to have known him."

It's curtains on his career ... but the timing couldn't be better for a Kobe Bryant MOVIE -- so says Michael B. Jordan.

Mickey Mouse, Elsa and some superheroes are in a Venezuelan standoff (like a Mexican one, but further south) with a company accused of putting on a bootleg live Disney show.

Disney says it fired off a cease and desist letter last year to the producers of “Aventura Congeladas” (translation: “Frozen Adventure”) ... demanding they kill all marketing and promotion of the show because it jacked mouse house characters.

The producers complied at first, but in a new lawsuit Disney says the show eventually started up again under a new name -- "Vacaciones de Aventuras" (translation: "Adventure Holidays") -- and added Marvel heroes like Spider-Man and Captain America.

Of course, Disney owns Marvel, so for them that's no bueno ... hence, the lawsuit.

Check out a clip of the live production -- Iron Man, Thor, Princesses Elsa and Anna, Olaf and many more make cameos. Disney's lawsuit demands millions for use of its trademarks.

They won't dejalo ir! (That's "let it go" for the gringos.)

'Hangover' actress and former 'Real World' cast member Jamie Chung got flooded with some seriously threatening emails -- and it got so bad, the LAPD had to track down the sender.

According to law enforcement Chung received 100 harassing emails from two separate Gmail accounts ... all in just one week, back in August. They ranged from simply "annoying" to threats to kill her.

Cops believed both accounts were owned by the same person because the emails were identical. Using the email info, cops tracked the sender and obtained a search warrant.

The #1 album isn't the only thing Adele scored this week -- she got a free meal courtesy of her celebrity friends ... TMZ has learned.

As we told you, Adele did dinner with Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone Monday night at Cosme NYC ... a Mexican restaurant in the Flat Iron District, and the big question's been -- "Who paid?"

Our sources tell us when the bill came ... Adele was told her money's no good here -- and Emma, J Law and a 4th non-famous diner split the tab.

As for what they ate -- we're told they went for duck carnitas, blue shrimp a la veracruzana, corn husk meringue, and beets with corn salsa and cheese.

Fancy. And pricey ... the duck alone goes for $59!

It's a fight of the flawless!

Here's a shady looking 51-year-old Brad Pitt (left) flashing a smirk while posing for a photo with a stoic 35-year-old Ryan Gosling (right) at the NYC premiere of their movie "The Big Short."

Neither of 'em has come up short. Ever.

So, the question is ...