Movies

Amber Heard lost what may have been her best argument for a new trial ... because the judge has just slammed the gavel on her claim that one of the jurors committed fraud.

Amber's legal team had filed docs claiming one of the jurors actually took the summons from his father -- who shared the same name -- and got himself fraudulently empaneled. The father and son live together.

The judge didn't buy what Amber was selling, ruling there was no fraud because the summons did not include a birth date. What's unclear ... does the son's name have anything distinguishing him from his dad, like a "junior" or a "II" at the end. Whatever ... the judge said there was no fraud, suggesting either the father or son could have shown up for jury service.

What's more ... the judge said Amber's motion was sour grapes ... she could have made it much earlier, but the only reason she's doing it now is that she lost the case. In other words, she sat on her hands, so she gets no judicial relief.

Amber also argued the $10 million compensatory damage award that Johnny Depp received was excessive. No surprise here, the judge turned thumbs down on Amber. There was testimony Johnny lost way more than that after his movie roles were pulled in the wake of Amber's defamatory Op-Ed in the Washington Post.

Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello are selling their old digs in Beverly Hills for something bigger and better in the same area ... but first, they're looking to sell their current spectacular estate for close to $20 million.

The "America's Got Talent" judge and her hubby just put their 7-bedroom home, complete with a brand-spankin' new chef's kitchen on the market for $19.6 million ... a nice possible profit for the pair considering Sofia bought the place for $10.6 million in 2014.

Our real estate sources tell us Joe and Sofia put a bunch of money into renovating the home, which features over 11,000 sq ft of living space, and has soaring ceilings and hardwood floors throughout.

Not to mention, it's got a full-sized gym, pool with a spa, movie theater and even a wine room to store plenty of bottles.

As for their plan moving forward ... we're told the couple's been renovating a bigger home in the area for a couple years now that's almost at completion, so that'll be where they call home next.

Mickey Rourke stands in strong defense of his pal Johnny Depp after his legal war ... saying he's been in the same position as him, and he thinks Amber Heard is nothing but a gold digger.

Mickey joined Piers Morgan for an interview on Britain's Talk TV Tuesday, admitting he knows what it feels like to go through what Johnny did, claiming he's also been blamed for something he didn't do.

He says he went through a costly battle, giving him a bad reputation, and it wasn't until he'd lost tons of work that the "truth came out" ... allowing him to land roles once again.

Unclear exactly what Mickey feels he was blamed for -- he didn't get specific -- but it is true he seemed to be blacklisted in Hollywood in the '90s.

As for Amber Heard, MR says he sees right through her -- he refers to her as "some gold digger" ... Piers asks if he truly believes that, to which he responds, "Abso- f***ing-lutely."

As we reported, Amber filed legal docs last week claiming one of the jurors in the defamation trial was fraudulently empaneled -- saying a man was summoned to be a juror for the trial, but his son appeared instead. She believes that's grounds to throw out the verdict and have a new trial.

American actress and fashion designer Michael Michele was 36 years old when she was cast as Judy Spears -- the smart and sassy advertising representative who mysteriously attempts to humiliate and set up her coworker -- in the 2003 romance/comedy film "How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days."

Michael shared the big screen with big stars including Kate Hudson as the independent and intelligent journalist, Andie Anderson, Matthew McConaughey as the hot advertising guy, Benjamin Barry, Kathryn Hahn as the desperate girlfriend, Michelle Rubin and Adam Goldberg as one of Ben's sidekicks, Tony.

Chris Rock's new relationship with actress Lake Bell is heading for new waters, quite literally ... the two are on a romantic trip overseas.

Chris and Lake were living it up in the town of Trogir in Croatia Tuesday ... holding hands as they walk along the boardwalk -- as massive yachts dock nearby. Unclear if the trip was for work, pleasure, or a combo of both ... but we're told the two were definitely enjoying each other's company.

We've seen the couple get pretty close as of late ... hitting up baseball games, getting dinner and even taking a nice romantic stroll on the beach.

We spoke with Chris' brother, Tony, at LAX this week, who jokingly told us he's happy his bro's love life is finally the talk of the town.

Q'orianka Kilcher has been charged with insurance fraud over what officials claim was improper collection of disability benefits over 2 years ... amounting to tens of thousands.

The actress -- who's appeared on 'Yellowstone' lately -- was slapped with 2 felony counts of workers' comp insurance fraud after an investigation by the California Department of Insurance.

The agency says Kilcher started making claims back in 2019, and allegedly raked in north of $90,000 in disability benefits.

According to CDOI -- Kilcher had reported a work-related neck and shoulder injury she allegedly suffered in October 2018 while filming 'Dora and the Lost City of Gold,' for which they say she sought treatment a few times that year ... only to stop and start back up again a year later, when she apparently told her doctor the pain had returned and she wasn't able to work due to the neck pain.

That turned out to be BS, at least according to the Dept., because it claims she actually had been working right before she told the doctor the pain was too severe to do her job -- filming 'Yellowstone' between July and October of 2019. According to records, she started getting benefits just 5 days after last working on the show.

Johnny Depp is scoffing at Amber Heard's move to set aside his jury verdict on grounds it was excessive ... firing back that the $10 million judgment reflects the loss he actually suffered after she defamed him.

Johnny's lawyers say there's clear evidence that after Amber's Op-Ed appeared in the Washington Post back in 2018, he had no work ... he didn't appear in a single studio production until October, 2020. That alone, the lawyers say, supports the $10M verdict.

In fact, Depp's legal docs refer to one of Johnny's reps negotiating a deal for the 6th installment of "Pirates of the Caribbean" for $22.5 million. Just prior to the Op-Ed being published, the producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, was all in, saying he really wanted Johnny.

As you know, after the Op-Ed, Johnny was persona non grata on the production.

The lawyers say Johnny proved with experts during the trial his actual loss came to far more than $10M ... it was more than $40 million.

Short story ... Johnny's lawyers say Amber is grasping at straws.

Leonardo DiCaprio wanted to help Pete Buttigieg with his delivery ahead of a debate during his 2020 presidential campaign ... but the offer fell through Pete's hands!

Lis Smith, political strategist and former senior communications director for Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign, tells TMZ ... Leo offered a private coaching session with Pete ahead of a nationally televised debate, but Buttigieg's pop culture knowledge was lacking and he didn't recognize what he had in front of him.

We're told Leo extended the offer back in October 2019, during a swanky private fundraiser for Pete at a Los Angeles mansion, which was crawling with some of Hollywood's biggest stars ... including Paris Hilton, Ashton Kutcher, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom.

It's funny ... Lis says Pete appreciated the Hollywood support, and the millions of dollars in donations that came pouring into his campaign, but he was never one to closely follow pop culture and barely recognized the celebs.

While we're told most celebs, like Paris, just took selfies with Pete and exchanged pleasantries, Leo went a step further ... giving Buttigieg the ultimate offer during a convo in one of the mansion's back rooms.

Leo's pitch went like this ... he would help Pete with his speaking style and coach him up on the best way to deliver his talking points at the upcoming debate.

Obviously, Leo's played all kinds of roles in Hollywood ... though he's not especially known for being spontaneous ... remember, Leo's never even hosted 'SNL,' but he's still talented as hell.

Lis says she was ecstatic when Pete told her about Leo's offer, but when she asked if he got DiCaprio's digits, Buttigieg said he didn't. Lis says she was beside herself, but chalked it up to Pete not fully grasping the significance of Leo's offer ... because he's not a big pop culture guy.

Ultimately, Pete handled the debate well without Leo's help ... with Lis calling it a turning point in Pete's campaign, sending him toward the top of the polls in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Lis spills more political tea in her upcoming book, "Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story" ... but this Buttigieg nugget isn't in the copy.

The newest 'Thor' movie crushed it at the box office this weekend -- but as far as how people actually feel about it ... well, it seems much of the internet thought it was trash.

The numbers are in, and per estimates ... "Thor: Love and Thunder" raked in a whopping $143 million domestically, landing as one of the highest-grossing openings in the MCU. That's all fine and good for Disney, we're sure, but general reactions to the film aren't great.

For starters, critics gave it a relatively low score -- just 68% on RT -- which is a drastic drop  compared to other Marvel movies, historically ... most have held up much better over the years under professional scrutiny, but that's not the case with 'L&T.'

Not only were the pros unimpressed ... it sounds like "Film Twitter," as it were, also found the movie to be absurdly bad -- especially compared to other 'Thor' entries. Sooo, what's their beef exactly??? It ain't hard to tell ... people seem to have found it to be juvenile.

Scroll through some of the "Thor" trends and you'll see -- it's either folks crapping on the movie, or a bunch of others piling on those same people while trying to defend 'Love and Thunder,' with their argument being ... it's a freaking comedy, turn off your brains and enjoy!

That might be true, but it looks like a good majority aren't thrilled with the direction 'Thor' is going under the watch of Taika Waititi -- who helmed the last beloved installment, "Ragnarok," and who apparently did more of the same in this new one ... perhaps too much.

Many say 'Love and Thunder' relies too heavily on gags and punchlines rather than savor in the heavy stuff -- and some feel like the character/franchise has jumped the shark.

There's also people saying Christian Bale's bad guy character, Gorr, doesn't get enough screen time -- nor does Natalie Portman, it seems, based on some of these recaps. In short, there's a good handful of viewers who felt the movie was all over the place and uneven.

The Rotten Tomatoes audience score is at just 81%, which might sound okay for a regular movie -- but for Marvel, that's fairly awful. To be honest, we haven't seen it yet ... so it's difficult to say if there's any validity to all this criticism -- or if it's overblown/exaggerated.

Florence Pugh is firing back at people who opined on what they thought of her body -- specifically, her breasts -- when she bared it all in a see-through dress this weekend.

The actress was in Rome Friday for a Valentino Haute Couture fashion show, where she donned a pink getup on the red carpet that was about as sheer as it gets ... especially upstairs. Indeed, her chest was on full display -- and FP decided to go braless for the night.

It turned heads in the moment, no doubt, but it also apparently got a major reaction online ... especially from men, who Florence is now putting on blast for what she says were chauvinistic and disgusting comments -- some of which sound like frat boy talk.

Florence took to IG Sunday with three BTS photos of herself in the gown, and added a lengthy caption. She says she knew what she was doing and that the dress would get a reaction of some sort -- but that she didn't care, and wasn't nervous about it at all.

Then, she adds ... "What's been interesting to watch and witness is just how easy it is for men to totally destroy a woman's body, publicly, proudly, for everyone to see. You even do it with your job titles and work emails in your bio?"

FP continues, "It isn't the first time and certainly won't be the last time a woman will hear what's wrong with her body by a crowd of strangers, what's worrying is just how vulgar some of you men can be. Thankfully, I've come to terms with the intricacies of my body that make me, me. I'm happy with all of the 'flaws' that I couldn't bear to look at when I was 14."

Some of the vulgar words used, apparently, had to do with guys telling her/rhetorically asking her if she was embarrassed by her "tiny t***" or by the fact she was so "flat-chested."

To that, Florence asks ... why are you so afraid/bothered by breasts??? She goes on to describe that she grew up in a household of women who owned every curve of their bodies, and that she feels the same now ... taking pride in flaunting conventional beauty standards.

The documentary about Donald Trump that Congress subpoenaed has finally aired -- but there doesn't seem to be too much hard-hitting evidence that wasn't already known.

Filmmaker Alex Holder's 3-part movie, "Unprecedented," debuted publicly on Discovery+ Sunday ... but from the reviews recapping what was actually shown as it relates to Jan. 6 -- it sounds like no smoking gun exists in the footage, or at least in what Holder put out.

Congress seized 11 hours worth of film -- and also had AH testify behind closed doors as well -- but ya gotta figure anything truly damning would've been included in the final cut ... and so far, it doesn't seem like Trump said or did anything we haven't heard before.

Several outlets which have watched the doc have done thorough recaps, and as far as Jan. 6 is concerned -- it appears Holder only got Trump/his family on camera after the fact.

None of his kids opted to discuss it, but DT himself reportedly said this in the movie ... "Well it was a sad day, but it was a day where there was great anger in our country."

He adds, "People went to Washington primarily because they were angry with an election that they think was rigged. A very small portion, as you know, went down to the Capitol, and then a very small portion of them went in. But I will tell you they were angry from the standpoint of what happened in the election because they're smart and they see and they saw what happened. And I believe that that was a big part of what happened on Jan. 6th."

Aside from that, there doesn't appear to be much else about Trump's mindset during the actual day itself ... but frankly, everyone has seen what he said publicly that day -- and there's also been testimony during these hearings that have shed some damaging light.

What Holder did make good on was his promise to us that his doc would expose that Trump's campaign laid the groundwork for this whole mess right on election night ... when they started rolling out an insidious strategy to try and keep Trump in office, at any cost.

Security guards for Selena Gomez are earning their keep, because some weird stuff's been going down at her house ... including a fan getting on her property early Sunday morning.

LAPD sources tell us officers arrested the guy as he tried to stroll away from her L.A. home, but Selena's security team had already caught him in the act. We're told the suspect jumped a fence around 1 AM, and security called cops.

The guy tried to flee, but we're told responding officers found him wandering around the neighborhood, and he said he just wanted to meet Selena.

That seems low-key compared to an incident a few weeks ago at the "Only Murders in the Building" star's house. Our sources say security also called cops when a man allegedly wrote Selena's name on a mattress, using what appeared to be blood ... and then lit the mattress on fire!

We're told her security says that guy didn't make it onto the property -- it all went down just outside her gate. Selena wasn't home during either incident, but still ... super creepy.

L.Q. Jones -- a versatile character actor whose career dates back to the 1950s -- has died.

His death was confirmed by his family, who says he passed of natural causes in the Hollywood Hills surrounded by loved ones ... this according to Variety.

Jones had over 160 acting credits to his name, with his first several coming in the year 1955 -- when he starred in military-inspired flicks like "An Annapolis Story," "Battle Cry" and "Target Zero." He also appeared in a few episodes of the western-themed TV show "Cheyenne."

From there, LQJ was on a roll ... with acting in a number of films and TV series like "Annie Oakley," "Gunsight Ridge," "Operation Mad Ball," "Buchanan Rides Alone," "The Naked and the Dead," "Jefferson Drum," "Men of Annapolis," "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin" and more.

Flip-flopping between war and westerns, Jones stayed busy in the '60s. Some of the more popular titles he was in ... "Lassie," "Klondike," "Laramie," "Perry Mason," "Route 66," "Wagon Train," "Rawhide," "The Virginian," "Gunsmoke" and "The Big Valley" ... just to name a few.

Other hit shows in which he had guest-starring roles included, "Hawaii Five-O," "Charlie's Angels," "Ironside," "Kung Fu," "CHiPs," "Columbo," "Cannon," "The Runaways," "The Dukes of Hazzard" and lots of others. He even starred in "The Incredible Hulk," "Walker, Texas Ranger," "The A-Team," "Renegade," "The Yellow Rose" and more throughout the '80s/'90s.

He'll also probably be remembered for his work on "The Wild Bunch," "Major Dundee," "Ride the High Country" and "A Boy and His Dog" -- the latter of which he wrote and directed.

Jones also had a memorable scene in Martin Scorsese's "Casino." While the guy certainly had already carved out a name for himself before the turn of the century, millennials might actually recognize him as well thanks to a cult classic from the late '90s.

Indeed, Jones plays the Legendary Three-Fingered Jack in "The Mask of Zorro" -- where he had a scene-stealing moment in which he was shot and killed mid-air ... this after being ejected from a mineshaft cart and flying toward a group of bad guys with a pickax.

Jones was 94.

Anthony Mackie is set to take up the mantle as the new Captain America in his own movie, but on speculation over whether Chris Evans might reprise the role ... he says, no chance.

News about Mackie starring in a forthcoming 'Captain America 4' flick surfaced this week, with director Julius Onah reportedly attached to direct. This, of course, comes on the heels of Mackie's Disney+ show -- which ends with him accepting the CA shield.

You'd think that conclusion -- which was made very clear on the show, this after Evans' character, Steve Rogers, had already passed the torch at the end of 'Endgame' -- wouldn't be up for debate ... but apparently, among some fans, it is. And, THR alluded to that in a thread.

In response to uncertainty about Evans' possible involvement with the new movie and the character, CE himself weighed in Saturday ... writing, "Sam Wilson is Captain America."

The reason that's a big deal ... it seems to shut down trolls who, to this day, aren't cool with the idea of Mackie carrying on as the titular superhero -- a controversy that's been brewing since 2019 when he was officially tapped as Chris Evans' successor.

A lot of the pushback over AM has been straight-up racist ... with many saying a Black guy simply shouldn't be allowed to assume the role (even though that happens in the comics).

Now, Chris appears to be confirming he's done with 'Captain America,' and that Mackie will exclusively continue as the character ... without Chris's involvement going forward. Frankly, that makes sense logistically -- Evans is depicted as an old dude in the final 'Avengers' movie ... so to jam him into the plot, beyond just a cameo, feels unlikely/unnecessary.

BTW, Mackie as the new Captain America carries a lot of weight. It's revealed on the show -- based on an earlier comic series, which is canon -- that the fictionalized history behind Captain America is dark, with the U.S. government testing/perfecting the super serum giving him his powers on Black soldiers while Cap was under ice. So, technically, Captain America was built on the backs of Black people ... a metaphor to our own real-life history, some say.

Britney Spears is again bemoaning the fact that she's been the subject of documentaries and TV specials of late -- saying she considers it grade-A bullying by Corporate America.

The pop star posted lengthy thoughts about this on Saturday, which she's addressed before. She writes, in part ... "I feel like America has done a wonderful job at humiliating me," going on to explain that when she was in the conservatorship ... she'd apparently be forced to walk to her car from the airport, on purpose, so that paps could get a ton of shots of her.

Britney's words here are a bit all over the place, but her gripe seems to be with old paparazzi photos -- some of which she thinks are unflattering -- being resurfaced in docs and specials that have aired in the past couple years ... including on Hulu, Netflix and CNN.

On the issue of so much coverage of her now, she adds ... "I've never felt more bullied in my life in this country it's insane ... and come on seriously is it honestly legal to do that many documentaries about someone without their blessing at all??!"

Then, Britney invokes some celebrity names as examples of people who never get this amount of press and analysis without their permission or participation -- including Will Smith, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lopez and Halle Berry.

She also says the idea these specials are "helping her" are misguided, suggesting that rehashing this ancient history is embarrassing. BS also appears to believe that most of these docs focus on what led to the conservatorship rather than what she went through while actually in it ... the reality of which she says was far worse than what's been depicted.

The weird thing ... the above-mentioned outlets seem to be the only ones with big docs/specials that have been done about Britney, and the last one came out in fall of last year -- so it's unclear why Brit's talking about this now and what might be triggering her.

What Britney also doesn't seem to understand is this ... her story isn't over, as she and her legal team are continuing to go after her dad, Jamie Spears, and seem dead set on holding him accountable for what they say he put her through during the conservatorship.

Plus, she hasn't done a proper sit-down with anyone yet ... so the intrigue isn't going away anytime soon, especially as she continues to make headlines with her personal life.

Of course, Britney might just be biding her time to fully tell her story in her own words ... probably until she can finish her tell-all book, which she reportedly struck a deal to write to the tune of at least $15 million. In light of that, we're sure she'll speak up eventually.

Armie Hammer is indeed working as a timeshare salesman in the Cayman Islands ... the actor was heard pitching the benefits of owning property in the beautiful vacation spot.

Armie is very much in salesman mode ... you see him sitting with a couple and going over pricing for a unit.

A prospective buyer in the office says Armie was outlining a plan that would cost $2,020 per week ... or, as the "Social Network" star put it, only about $21,000 for 10 years of vacations!

Armie delivered that sales pitch last month. Vacationing couples were enticed to go to the timeshare office through a flyer that promised discounts for excursions on the island.

As we reported, Armie was spotted outside the office in late June after reports he was working there ... Armie's rep told us he had a friend who worked at the resort, but didn't know whether or not Armie was showing or selling timeshares.