Movies

Wyoming-native Thomas Wilson Brown was 17 years old when he hit the big screen as the dreamy next-door neighbor, Little Russ Thompson -- not to be confused with his dad, Big Russ Thompson, played by Matt Frewer -- in the classic 1989 mini-movie "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids."

Thomas Wilson Brown played the pint-size part alongside a cast of microscopic stars including Jared Rushton, as his punk little brother, Ron Thompson ... and Amy O'Neill as the neighbor crush, Amy Szalinski, and her nerdy little brother, Nick Szalinski, played by Robert Oliveri.

Joaquin Phoenix is getting huge Oscar buzz for "Joker," but the movie's big opening weekend has some folks thinking about polishing a different kinda hardware.

For some reason, certain enthusiastic "Joker" fans decided to search for related content in the porn world. According to the good folks at Pornhub, they got a massive spike in such searches over the weekend ... just as director Todd Phillips' dark take on the Batman villain was breaking box office records.

According to Pornhub's metrics -- yes, they're tracking your fantasies -- there were more than 741,000 searches involving the word "joker" in the first 4 days following the film's release.

The biggest surge came Sunday when Pornhub saw 291,628 searches for a clown getting down.

Pornhub honchos tell us they've seen similar trends with comic book movies. For instance, when "Suicide Squad" dropped in 2016, it wasn't Jared Leto's version of the Joker that lit up adult film searches ... it was Joker's GF, Harley Quinn.

Tyler Perry's taking the high road in his old rift with Spike Lee by putting his name on a soundstage at Tyler's new studio complex -- which is no small gesture, considering their rocky past.

We had the movie and TV mogul on "TMZ Live" Monday to talk about the incredible grand opening event at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. The party brought out Beyonce, Oprah, Whoopi Goldberg, Samuel L. Jackson, and many more A-listers ... including Spike.

Check it out ... TP says any bad blood between them had to take a backseat to honoring Spike for paving the way for black filmmakers. Remember, Spike once referred to Tyler's 'Madea' franchise as "coonery and buffoonery."

Liam Hemsworth's busting out the big guns ... in wake of his ex, Miley Cyrus, publicly flaunting her new man, Cody Simpson, and his glorious abs.

Liam's ripped arms and huge biceps were on full display Monday as he filmed some action scenes in a sleeveless tee for his upcoming new TV series, "Dodge & Miles."

Though Hemsworth hasn't commented on Miley apparently moving on with Simpson -- who's Australian just like him, by the way -- he's letting his guns do the talking for now.

We broke the story ... Miley and Cody were seen kissing last week at an L.A. eatery, and she confirmed their "morning make out session" and fawned over him and his abs on Instagram.

50 Cent is producing a new docuseries covering a wide range of celebs ... and the most interesting story on the docket is the rise and fall of Tekashi 6ix9ine.

Production sources tell TMZ ... Fiddy's scripted series will focus on Tekashi, Snoop Dogg, music producer Scott Storch, former NBA stud Rafer Alston and 50 himself.

The docuseries is called "A Moment in Time" ... and it will have 6 to 8 hour-long episodes dedicated to each subject. The project will be produced through 50's G-Unit Film & Television company.

Our sources say 50 is framing Tekashi's story around his brief but controversial rap career. As you know, 69 rose to fame by incorporating the Nine Trey Bloods gang into his music, only to be busted by the feds and turn into a snitch.

The famous house used in the first "Scream" slasher film is going out with a bang ... with a Halloween party offering die-hard fans their last chance to get scared by Ghostface ... for a price.

Anthony Masi and Nate Ragon are the masterminds behind Screamoween -- located near Santa Rosa, CA -- and they're hosting one last recreation of the rager at the actual home where the movie's classic ending went down.

The party's set for Halloween night, and fans can drop $199 for a ticket to the shindig ... but you better move fast, there's only 150 tickets available. We're told the owners of the property want their privacy, so the upcoming party will be it.

"Hustlers" is making bank at the box office, but the real-life stripper behind Constance Wu's character is slamming strip club owners for shorting dancers during movie filming.

Rosie Keo, the stripper-turned-madam Constance plays in the flick, tells TMZ ... Show Palace in New York's Long Island City should have demanded more cash from movie producers to compensate strippers when the club was shut down for shooting, because lost wages are hell for sex workers.

Show Palace is taking tons of flak for turning its back on its strippers when "Hustlers" rented out the establishment for a week of filming -- effectively cutting off their cash flow -- and Rosie says the least owners could do was scrap the house fee dancers pay when they were allowed back for work.

DeWayne Jessie is best known for playing the "Shama Lama Ding Dong" and "Shout"-singing Otis Day (of Otis Day and The Knights) in the beer-chugging, toga-wearing, float-crashing comedy masterpiece, "National Lampoon's Animal House."

DeWayne Jessie partied in the college classic alongside legends like Tim Matheson as the ladies man, Eric "Otter" Stratton, Peter Riegert as the frat-bro BFF, Donald "Boon" Schoenstein ... and, of course, John Belushi as the Jack Daniels chugging Greek God, John "Bluto" Blutarsky.

Keep your ears to the ground because Jessie still performs live as Otis Day and The Knights.

Comedian Rip Taylor -- who served up over-the-top gags for decades -- has died.

Rip's publicist, Harlan Boll, confirmed the news, saying he passed away Sunday in Beverly Hills. No cause of death was released.

Dubbed the "King of Camp and Confetti" and "The Crying Comedian," Rip got his start by appearing on "The Ed Sullivan Show," "The Merv Griffin Show" and lots of other variety talk shows as a comic in the '60s, going on to star on several different game shows as well.

He's perhaps best known for his brief stint hosting "the $1.98 Beauty Show," which had guests compete for the title of the "1.98 Beauty Queen" in a pageant, talent-show format.

"Joker" screenings were met with angst this weekend -- but what do you do when the actual Clown Prince of Gotham himself crashes your sesh??? Ask him to laugh, of course!!!

That's exactly what happened Saturday evening at a movie house in the San Fernando Valley -- with none other than Joaquin Phoenix himself coming out to greet ticketholders after the credits rolled for a 5:15 PM showing out at Pacific Theaters in Chatsworth.

The actor was making the rounds at different L.A. cineplexes, apparently -- posing with fans and shaking hands -- but at this one ... he got a little stage fright when asked to do his tormented Joker laugh from the film. If you haven't heard it yet ... ya gotta go see it.

Watch ... Joaquin seems to almost half-attempt it here but pulls back -- saying he just can't do it and then asking the audience member to do his own version. The guy couldn't either.

Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern and director Noah Baumbach's new movie, "Marriage Story," has several ties to famed divorce attorney Laura Wasser ... who thinks the film can have a huge impact on American families.

We got Hollywood's "disso queen" in NYC Saturday night, outside The Polo Bar, and asked her about the film ... especially Dern's character, which is -- as they say -- "loosely based" on Wasser.

Laura says she hasn't seen the movie yet -- it will be released in December -- but she's heard good things about Dern's portrayal of the divorce attorney in the middle of the splitting couple, played by Scarlett and Adam Driver.

There's plenty of reason for Wasser to pay close attention to the movie. Check this out -- she's represented Johansson, Dern, and Baumbach's ex-wife, Jennifer Jason Leigh in their previous divorce proceedings.

"Boy Meets World" star Maitland Ward doesn't believe the so-called stigma associated with doing porn ... insisting her move to the adult film industry is actually a savvy business move.

We got Maitland -- who rose to fame playing Rachel McGuire in the 90s ABC sitcom -- at Kings Road Cafe, and she tells us porn is opening the door to loads of new opportunities.

Maitland just appeared in her first porno that premiered on Friday, "Drive," at age 42 ... and she says her debut's been met with tons of support from her former "Boy Meets World" cast members, like Trina McGee.

Instead of being shunned, Maitland says she's getting pats on the back from Hollywood actresses ... who all tell her the same thing.

Beto O'Rourke believes we have a gun problem in the U.S. -- it's as simple as that -- and deflecting blame onto movies, video games and mental health is part of the crisis.

The presidential hopeful and major proponent for gun control is in L.A. Friday as concern and controversy swirls around the release of "Joker" ... so we asked him about it.

Beto tells TMZ he hasn't seen the film yet to speak on whether he thinks it's dangerous, but he's met with families of victims of the 2012 Aurora, CO mass shooting ... and supports and understands their issues with it.

The Texas politician says we all have a responsibility to address gun violence, but people keep trying to go about it the wrong way ... when the problem is clear as day.

Beto says bluntly ... Americans have too many guns and it's too easy to buy "weapons of war" and use them against one another -- even without a background check.

He says that problem has nothing to do with violent movies or TV shows, or mental healthcare access challenges, because as he points out ... other countries have those too.

Diahann Carroll -- the iconic, pioneering actress for African-Americans -- and star of the groundbreaking sitcom, "Julia," died Friday from cancer at her home in Los Angeles.

Diahann -- who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 -- was a native New Yorker, born in the Bronx, who first made it big on Broadway. She won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical in 1962 for her role in "No Strings."

Her huge break in Hollywood came as the star of NBC's "Julia" ... the first network series to have a black actress as the lead character. Diahann played a widowed nurse who was raising a son. The show premiered in 1968 and ran for 3 seasons -- and Diahann earned an Emmy nomination and won a Golden Globe for the role.

Kevin Garnett put on a SHOW off-camera on the set of the new Adam Sandler movie, "Uncut Gems" -- hooping out of his mind during a pick-up game ... and it was AWESOME!!

KG has a major role in the flick, which is about a degenerate sports gambler who gets into major problems when his debts spiral out of control.

Garnett plays himself ... and we had heard that during downtime on the set, he stayed in his role and just murdered people on a basketball court they used in the movie.

So, when we saw "Uncut Gems" director Josh Safdie at the Alice Tully Center in L.A. on Thursday, we asked him about the rumors ... and yeah, it's all true, baby!!

"Kevin doesn't know how to do anything but play at 100%," Safdie told us.

No, Sandler didn't play in the game with Garnett ... but Safdie says they all sat on the set and watched KG go off.

Stan Lee's high-rise condo in San Francisco has just hit the market ... no super-spidey powers required to get up there.

The estate belonging to the late comic book god is unloading his pied-à-terre inside the luxurious Four Seasons. The 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom pad is a cozy 792 square feet ... call it your weekend getaway place, assuming you can plunk down the $1.35 million asking price.

The east-facing unit features expansive windows so you can really enjoy picturesque, unobstructed views of downtown. The condo may be cozy ... but it feels massive, thanks to high ceilings and opulent finishes.