Movies

Jason Momoa purposely hurled his phone into the open ocean to prove a point -- he's not just an actor, man ... he's a real-life Aquaman.

Momoa lived up to his superhero alter ego in the water off Honolulu. Looks like he was playing a game of chicken with his phone -- tossing it and then flaunting his skills by diving in to retrieve it.

No proof from the pics that he pulled off the rescue, but we'd bet on Jason.

He had been filming reshoots for "Aquaman," which comes out later this year, but looks like this stunt was pulled during his off time.

Liza Minnelli typically slams or boycotts movies associated with her mom, but Lady Gaga's role in "A Star Is Born" could totally change Minnelli's mindset ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Liza tell us she absolutely adores Gaga, and it's likely she'll actually go and see the singer play the role her mother, Judy Garland, once filled. If you didn't know -- and if you're under 55, that's likely -- Judy starred in the 1954 version of the movie.

Liza's said she rarely, if ever, watches reboots of Garland flicks ... out of respect for her mother.

The trailer for the new film dropped Wednesday and there's a ton of buzz. We're told Liza and Gaga are friends who admire each other's work ... so, that's why she's considering breaking her Garland rule.

The latest 'Star' is actually a remake of a remake of a remake. It goes all the way back to 1937 when Janet Gaynor had the lead, then Garland's version, then Barbra Streisand in 1976 ... and now Gaga.

The last of the Lollipop Guild might have fallen this week with the death of 'Wizard of Oz' star Jerry Maren -- but there are still living Munchkins out there ... 'cause we talked to one.

Joan Kenmore was cast as one of the Munchkins in the 1939 film, but didn't have a speaking role in the "We Wish to Welcome You to Munchkin Land" scene ... when Dorothy met Jerry and all the other Munchkins.

She says she heard about Jerry's failing health last year from author Stephen Cox, who chronicled the little actors' on-set memories in his book, 'The Munchkins Remember.'

Technically Joan wan't a member of the Lollipop Guild -- she's not a little person, she was just a little 6-year-old during filming. She's a spry 86 now, and says her kids still get a kick out of watching her brief appearance in the timeless classic.

TMZ broke the story ... Jerry passed away over a week ago at a San Diego nursing facility. He was the last living dwarf actor from the movie.

6/8 -- An attorney for Suzanne Todd tells TMZ, "We've reviewed the complaint filed against Ms. Todd. The claim is ridiculous and will be defeated in court."

"Bad Moms" producer Suzanne Todd pulled a super bad move by straight-up stealing parts of the script from a popular series of books ... or so claim the coauthors of those books.

Amy Nobile and Trisha Ashworth say they pioneered the literary genre of comedic openness about motherhood. They're suing Suzanne claiming she worked with them for 3 years and then ran off with their plot ideas and character sketches to make "Bad Moms."

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, the authors were contacted by Todd in 2008 about working together and over the years they shared concepts in private meetings and emails ... always with the understanding they were working together to develop a film or TV show.

The authors say they were shocked to see "Bad Moms" premiere in 2016, chock-full of their ideas. The movie grossed more than $180 million worldwide, and spawned a sequel ... "A Bad Moms Christmas" and the spinoff, "Bad Dads."

The world's oldest living 'Wizard of Oz' munchkin, Jerry Maren's organs were shutting down and he was fighting severe senility when he died ... TMZ has learned.

According to his death certificate ... Jerry's official cause of death was cardiopulmonary failure. However, he also suffered from cachexia -- a break down of the body's systems from chronic ailments -- and senile degeneration of the brain. As we first reported, Jerry suffered from dementia.

The doc, obtained by TMZ, says Jerry, real name Gerard Marenghi, died May 24 in San Diego County. He was buried this past Saturday in Hollywood. His occupation is listed as an actor with 75 years of experience. No mention of the Lollipop Guild.

Jerry Maren, who was the oldest living "Wizard of Oz" munchkin, will be commemorated with free whiskey ... if ya simply drop his name at an L.A.-area hotel with ties to 'Oz.'

The Culver Hotel tells TMZ it's giving away a free shot of Grant's whiskey to anyone who comes in Wednesday, and mentions Jerry's name.

We broke the story ... Jerry passed away more than a week ago, and was buried last weekend.

Jerry and some of the other munchkins stayed at the Culver Hotel while filming the 1939 classic right around the corner at MGM's Culver City studio. Legend has it, the little guys threw epic ragers while staying there.

Mira Sorvino says Harvey Weinstein's wasting precious time and money -- taxpayers' money -- with his "not guilty" plea ... because he's guilty as sin and everyone knows it.

We got Mira in NYC Wednesday outside NBC, and asked what she thought of his arraignment this week. Remember, Mira says Weinstein sexually harassed her multiple times while she was acting in his films back in the '90s.

Mira's said she won't feel at peace until Weinstein's convicted, and it's clear in this clip ... she wants a quicker path to that end -- so, his not guilty plea ain't sitting well with her.

We know this ... Mira's dad, Paul Sorvino, might be the only person who wants Weinstein to pay more than her.

Kenny Loggins is ready to ride into the "Danger Zone" again, but he doesn't necessarily want to do it alone.

Loggins recorded the classic "Top Gun" theme song back in the '80s and it was a monster hit. To put it into perspective the "Top Gun" soundtrack ended up being the best-selling soundtrack of 1986.

The sequel, called "Top Gun: Maverick," is shooting down in San Diego with Tom Cruise back in the pilot seat and, when we got Loggins at LAX Tuesday, he told us he'd put some feelers out for the 2.0 version of the song.

Loggins wouldn't reveal who he's got in mind, but gave a bunch of clues. He also says he's cool with them taking the reigns on the song.

Jerry Maren -- the world's last living 'Wizard of Oz' munchkin -- is now somewhere over the rainbow ... TMZ has learned.

We're told ... Jerry died over a week ago. His funeral was held over the weekend at Forest Lawn in Hollywood. The cause of death is unknown, but we're told he suffered from dementia. He passed away at a San Diego nursing care facility.

There were multiple reports he died back in March 2016 after a battle with pancreatic cancer ... but a close friend of Jerry's told us those reports were not true. Jerry still had a couple of years left in him.

Jerry had a bunch of small roles in Tinseltown ... but being a member of the Lollipop Guild was his most memorable.

Jerry was 98.

Tyrese just got slapped with a lawsuit for owing a ton of cash to American Express.

American Express sued the singer and, according to the docs obtained by TMZ, he owes an unpaid balance of $61,071.35.

TMZ broke the story ... Tyrese said he was having huge money problems back in November stemming from his ongoing feud with his ex-wife, Norma Gibson. Tyrese had filed docs claiming he pulls in $105,686 per month, but has monthly expenses of $107,576.

According to docs he filed at the time, Tyrese said he had nearly $900k in the bank and had real property worth close to $2 million.

Harvey Weinstein cracked a smile as he walked into court before pleading not guilty to rape and criminal sex act charges.

The disgraced movie mogul -- flanked by his attorneys -- entered his plea in a low, gravely voice Tuesday morning in an NYC court. He struck a serious tone throughout the hearing ... looking straight the entire time. He's free on $1 million bail.

As we reported ... Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. announced last week the grand jury handed up charges of rape in the first and third degrees, as well as committing a criminal sexual act in the first degree.

Vance said the indictment brings Weinstein "another step closer to accountability for the crimes of violence with which he is now charged."

Weinstein's lawyer, Ben Brafman, had previously said he thinks prosecutors have "unfairly denied access to critical information about this case."

Iran's dictator went off on Israel by calling it a "malignant cancerous tumor" ... but Israel took the pop culture route and responded with an EPIC "Mean Girls" GIF.

A Twitter account believed to belong to the Ayatollah tweeted to its nearly 500k followers, saying Iran's stance against Israel is the same as always. The Ayatollah spewed a bunch of political stuff -- we'll spare you the details -- but what caught our attention was the Embassy of Israel's official Twitter account clapping back.

BURRRRRRRRN!!! Dialing up the classic 2004 chick flick for the clapback heard 'round the world? Not something you see everyday. Politics. Gotta love it.

The Ayatollah doesn't have many fans in Hollywood. As we reported ... "Shahs of Sunset" star Reza Farahan wished death to the Iranian dictator and his family last month after the reality star shockingly said he agreed with Trump's decision to pull out of the Iranian nuclear deal.

Mark Chapman -- the guy who arguably saves Rose's life in "Titanic" when she grabs his whistle off his dead, frozen body -- was arrested for allegedly choking his girlfriend after she dumped him.

The incident went down back in March after Tara Pirnia says she ended their 5-year relationship. She also claims Mark -- same guy who lets Cal on the lifeboat with his pretend daughter as the Titanic's sinking -- flew into a violent rage after she asked him to delete intimate material of her on his cell phone ... this according to an affidavit from the Travis County Sheriff's and obtained by TMZ.

In the docs, Tara says Mark, who is 20 years her senior, threw her on the ground and used both hands to grab her around the neck and squeeze her throat. She claims he told her, "bitch f*** you, I want you dead."

Tara says she bit his hand and he let go. She says he moved to California the next day, but she reported the incident to cops because she fears he's going to kill her and then himself.

People usually say WTF gratuitously ... but in this case, WTF!!!

"Cruel Intentions" co-stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair went to a Pink Concert Friday night at The Forum in L.A. ... and it just doesn't seem real.

Sarah is 41 and Selma is 45, which just doesn't track with the pic.

The 2 women, who clearly coordinated their outfits, took their daughters to the concert.

11:25 AM PT -- Benjamin Brafman tells TMZ ... neither he nor his firm ever met with Thompson or any of the other women named in the suit. He says if Alex Spiro met with any of the women he did so on his own time, and not while working with him. Brafman also says Spiro never met with Weinstein while at his firm and had no connection with their representation of Weinstein.

Harvey Weinstein turned a woman's sales pitch into a full-on sexual assault -- which was captured on video -- and followed it up by raping her in his hotel room ... according to an explosive new class action lawsuit.

Melissa Thompson claims she had a meeting with Weinstein at his New York office in September 2011 to pitch her tech company's new video platform to use in the movie biz, but almost immediately he started harassing her. She says there's video evidence of this because her computer's video camera was on for the pitch.

According to the suit ... Weinstein at one point reached down and began caressing her leg and moved his hand under her dress and mumbled, "It's fun when you do this." Thompson claims she ignored it and carried on, fearing he would become angry and aggressive if she rebuffed him.

Thompson says she went to a follow-up meeting with Weinstein at the Tribeca Grand Hotel later that day hoping to secure the video deal, but the meeting quickly moved to his hotel room ... where he forced himself on her. She claims she escaped and went to the bathroom, but when she came out he was naked from the waist down.

According to the suit ... Weinstein tried to force her to perform oral sex on him but she refused, so then he pushed her flat on the bed and raped her. Thompson claims he then masturbated on the bed next to her ... then acted like nothing happened once he was finished.

Thompson claims she felt "dirty and ashamed."

Drake should NOT stoop down to Pusha T's level in their war of words, because it's not worth his bottom line ... so says Damon Wayans Jr., who also admits he's enjoying the HELL outta their beef.

We got Damon Thursday at LAX, and he had a strong take on Drake vs. Pusha. Specifically, whether Drake should fire back after Pusha's brutal diss track about Drake's ethnicity, his childhood and his alleged secret son.

He's confident Drake's got it in him to be just as savage ... IF he chooses to respond to Pusha's "Story of Adidon." However ... Damon says there are millions of reasons (or dollars) why it's not a good idea.