Movies

Jada Pinkett Smith did something remarkable and powerful Sunday, posting words that could have been delivered by Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver 50 years ago.

Jada -- whose husband, Will Smith, was overlooked by the Academy for his performance in "Concussion" -- says in a super powerful way, "Maybe it's time we pull back our resources and we put them back into our communities, and we make programs for ourselves that acknowledge us in ways that we see fit, that are just as good as the so-called mainstream."

Jada suggested, "We can no longer beg for the love, acknowledgement or respect of any group."

She made it clear ... she won't be attending the Oscars.

You gotta listen to her ... back in the day Eldridge was viewed by the "mainstream" as radical and dangerous. Jada revives the sentiment, and it doesn't sound radical or dangerous at all.

Spike Lee is blasting the Oscars for its lack of "flava" and says he won't attend the "lilly white" ceremony because MLK Jr. would want it that way.

In his scathing message to the Motion Picture Academy, Spike said ... "40 white actors in 2 years and no flava at all. We can't act?! WTF!!"

Spike apologized to his friends involved in the Oscars production this year -- Chris Rock, Reggie Hudlin, and Pres. Cheryl Boone Isaacs -- but said he simply "cannot support it."

He admitted he was purposely unloading on MLK day because as Dr. King said, "There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but he must take it because conscience tells him it's right."

Spike added, the Academy Awards aren't even the real issue. He says Hollywood will remain vanilla until minorities become "the gate keepers" who really decide which movies get made, and ... "The truth is we ain't in those rooms."

Powerful message ... not unlike a crucial scene from Spike's best movie.

Rapper K Camp is pissed the actors and most of the crew for "Straight Outta Compton" got dissed by the Oscars, but thinks Dr. Dre and Ice Cube's snub will help change the game.

K vented to us in a video statement ... saying black filmmakers have to work harder to make it in white Hollywood, yet still end up getting the shaft more often than not.

What's interesting is his positive spin on the future of diversity in the movie industry.

Yes, K Camp's a little biased -- he calls 'Compton' one of "the best f***in' movies" he's ever seen -- but that doesn't negate his theory.

#Silverlining

So much for Ronda Rousey's movie career being D.O.A. -- the UFC superstar just locked up ANOTHER gig ... in a movie based on a catchphrase she created, "Do Nothing Bitches."

Rousey will star alongside Tina Fey -- playing a hard-ass instructor at a camp for pampered rich wives ... according to Deadline.

Seems like the plot will be something along the lines of ... "Do Nothing Bitches Become Do Something Bitches."

Rousey popularized the phrase last year -- saying a "Do Nothing Bitch" is a woman who just tries to be pretty in the hopes some rich guy will take care of her. She later used the phrase on shirts and Beyonce incorporated the quote in her concerts.

Jonah Hill had someone watching over him during a stroll in New York City.

Tyrese expressed his Oscar disappointment in song ... and the scene could have been ripped from a history book describing the civil rights struggle in the '60s.

Tyrese was leaving Katsuya in Hollywood Thursday when our photog asked about the "Straight Outta Compton" snub ... and he waxed poetic.

Fans of Ice Cube and N.W.A. are fired up about the Oscars dissing "Straight Outta Compton" -- and now we know what Cube himself thinks about it.

We just got him in NYC -- a couple hours after his movie was left off the Best Picture nominees list -- and asked, "Are you disappointed?"

So, did he give us a PC Cube response -- or an old school N.W.A.-era Cube rant? We were definitely pulling for one over the other.

Check it out ...

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.