Movies

In a stunning move, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences turned thumbs down to "Straight Outta Compton" -- the only nom it got were the screenwriters -- a white guy and a white woman.

It's amazing ... not only did the movie get overlooked for best pic, only 8 movies were nominated and there could have been 10, but clearly they didn't think the biopic passed muster.

The Academy was under a microscope for this one ... a lot of people thought this would clearly show if they were bias against black movies.

Alan Rickman -- perhaps best known for playing Professor Snape in the 'Harry Potter' films -- passed away, his family announced Thursday. He was 69.

Rickman had been suffering from cancer and was surrounded by family, they said.

The British actor's first major role was playing Hans Gruber opposite Bruce Willis in "Die Hard."

Rickman took home a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his lead role in the 1996 HBO movie "Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny."

Brian Grazer and Ron Howard think we're absolutely crazy for even raising the question ... Would Obama take a job running a studio after he leaves office ... but if he's interested, they're hiring.

Brian and Ron appeared on "TMZ Live" Wednesday, and Brian made it clear ... the Prez is overqualified for the job.

BTW, Brian, the exec producer of "Empire," would absolutely offer Obama a role on his show, but being a Lucious hack won't cut it.

The Dallas Cowboys aren't using their stadium anymore (4-12) ... but it's still being put to good use -- with Michael Bay transforming it into a giant movie theater for the world premiere of '13 Hours.'

Mike D from the Beastie Boys was duly impressed J.J. Abrams gave an oblique shout-out to his group in the new 'Star Wars.'

The director named character Ello Atsy after the Beastie Boys album "Hello Nasty," and his helmet appears to have "Born to Ill" emblazoned on it.

It also seems another character, BB-8, may be a vague reference to the number of albums the group has recorded.

The daughter of Olympic legend Jesse Owens says the family had final script approval for the upcoming biopic "Race" -- and actually REJECTED certain scenes to ensure the movie was 100% authentic.

Cuba Gooding Jr. had a goood time after the Golden Globes -- partying, shadow boxing, razzing Uber drivers and cutting Sylvester Stallone a break for forgetting to thank black people.

We got Cuba leaving the post-Globes bash at the Sunset Marquis, and he was wound up and ready to go! You've gotta see this celebration ... we know he's playing O.J. Simpson in the upcoming 'American Crime Story' -- but looks like he wants to play Sugar Ray Leonard after that.

Cuba even offered an explanation for Sly forgetting to shout out Michael B. Jordan and "Creed" director Ryan Coogler during his Globes speech.

Watch, it's just fun ... especially the parting shot as his Uber sped off.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is still in theaters -- but we already have major clues about "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," a prequel to the original, 1977 'Star Wars.'

TMZ has obtained pics of what appear to be a classic X-Wing -- the Rebel fighter plane Luke Skywalker famously used to destroy the Death Star.

The new film will reportedly follow a group of resistance fighters attempting to steal plans for the Death Star.

Check out the pics ... this X-Wing has 4 engines, just like the original planes. The X-Wing featured in 'The Force Awakens' is a newer plane with 2 engines.

The pics were snapped at Pinewood Studios where the 'The Force Awakens' was also filmed.

'Rogue One' will be released December, 2016.

Seth McFarlane's go-to set o' gonads belong to one Tom Brady ... as we learned when Seth dropped some "Ted 2" trivia on us.

Before he was Finn in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," John Boyega was just the suave dude repping the minority in a bunch of educational stock photos.

Boyega copped to taking the gig with Getty Images back in the day after someone shared them on his Twitter page. He says he used the money for a pair of Nike Air Force 1s and drama school ... so money well spent.

Everybody starts somewhere, kids.

J.J. Abrams had a big "thank you" dinner Thursday, no doubt heaping gratitude on Steven Spielberg ... the dude who got him the 'Star Wars' gig.

The most famous directors in the world dined at Craig's in WeHo, where J.J. no doubt profusely thanked the "Jurassic Park" director for singing J.J.'s praised to 'Star Wars' producer Kathleen Kennedy, saying he was a must hire.

Keegan-Michael Key -- one half of comedy duo "Key & Peele" -- is cutting ties with his wife of 17 years, Cynthia Blaise.

Key filed his divorce docs on December 31 ... a popular move in Hollywood. He and Cynthia got married in Dec. of 1998.

According to the docs, they separated back in November 2015. They have no kids, and he's asking the court to figure out spousal support down the line.

Cynthia works behind the scenes in Hollywood -- she's been a dialect coach on big movies like, "Bad Teacher," "8 Mile" and "Miami Vice."

We're guessing Keegan did NOT quote one of his best skits when he broke the break-up news to her.

Jill Whelan, who hit it big played Capt. Stubing's daughter on "Love Boat," has fallen on hard times ... she's getting divorced and has no source of income to support herself.

Whelan, who also hilariously played the little girl with the IV tube in "Airplane!" is in the middle of a divorce and filed legal docs showing she's basically broke -- $5k in assets.

Jill married Michael Chaykowsky and moved to New Jersey in 2004. She says he pulls in $126k a year and lives in the lap of luxury in a 10 bedroom mansion on 14 acres.

For her part, Jill just started a podcast but is not making any money. The 49-year-old actress acknowledges the opportunities for an actress her age are few and far between.

She's asking for spousal support for herself and child support for their 10-year-old son.

Jerry Heller has already made it clear ... "Straight Outta Compton" is defamatory, but if it gets an Oscar nod it will bring his rage to a new level.

Jerry will be on "TMZ Live" Thursday and he unloads about the flick, saying the Oscars puts the movie on a world stage so everyone will see the portrayal of him which he says is pure fiction.

Jerry says Cube, Dre and Eazy-E's widow are the ones who engineered his portrayal, and he thinks it's simply a case of African American anti-Semitism, at the very least on Cube's part and he suggests the sentiment goes beyond Cube himself.

By the way ... check out the video and hear him talk about a plot to kill Suge Knight.

Samuel L. Jackson says there's no way around it ... Donald Trump's 100% lying about never having played a game of golf with him.

Jackson brushed off Trump's diss at LAX Wednesday. The presidential candidate panned the actor earlier in the day -- denying they ever played golf together at his golf club and trashing his acting.

The whole thing started when Jackson said in an interview he played a round with Trump and accused him of being a cheater on the links.

"Blackish" actor Anthony Anderson jumped to Jackson's defense, saying he'd been part of the golf outing and the two even enjoyed shrimp and hot dogs with The Donald!!

Jackson tells us he's not trying to bring Trump down, but he can't ignore the lie ... saying there's even a trail of proof, including a receipt from the lunch.

Former rival pop stars Jessica Simpson and Christina Aguilera had a chance to reignite their battle during an epic party ... but only one of 'em made it to the stage.

The singers and their husbands hit up Linda Perry's L.A. party to celebrate the music she wrote for the new movie "Freeheld" -- and it turned into a major jam session.

Christina performed a bluesy cover of John Lennon's "Mother." Juliette Lewis, Courtney Love and Perry also took the mic. Even Jess' lil sis, Ashlee Simpson, performed.

Jessica did NOT sing, and instead chose to just chill at the event. Props to her though ... she did not need assistance leaving the party this time.