Movies

Jonathan Majors' new movie at Sundance has already gotten off to a rough start with the judges, who'll decide if it's a winner ... 'cause it couldn't accommodate Marlee Matlin.

The actress, who's deaf, is part of a 3-person jury this year that'll vote in the U.S. Dramatic Competition that's underway at the film fest in Park City, UT. However, because she couldn't make out what was happening onscreen for Majors' flick, 'Magazine Dreams,' she and the other 2 jury members walked out of the screening Friday night ... this according to Variety.

The outlet reports that a captioning device had been given to Matlin before the movie started, but it seems it was malfunctioning ... so rather than delay the screening further -- it had already been pushed back 45 minutes -- the jurors collectively walked out in protest.

Apparently, this is part of a larger issue at Sundance ... which came to a head during Majors' movie. Variety says, citing sources, that a letter had been sent to the participating filmmakers this year pertaining to closed captioning -- imploring them to submit cuts of their films that included it so hearing-impaired viewers could enjoy without hiccups like this one.

It read in part, "As a jury our ability to celebrate the work that all of you have put into making these films has been disrupted by the fact that they are not accessible to all three of us."

Variety reports some Sundance filmmakers have been hesitant to include CC -- as they supposedly feel it could make their movies harder to shop, not to mention the added costs and time that would come in including a completely different copy just for the festival.

Jeremy Renner just revealed the full extent of his injuries from his snowplow accident ... saying he shattered more than 30 bones in his body!!

The actor took to Instagram Saturday morning to give fans an update on his condition ... and that's when he dropped the bomb.

He said, "Much love and appreciation to you all. These 30 plus broken bones will mend, grow stronger, just like the love and bond with family and friends deepens."

Renner added that his daily routine has been impacted as a result of what happened, particularly his morning workouts. He gave an example by posting a photo of himself doing leg stretches in bed as part of his physical therapy.

As we reported, Renner jumped out of his snowplow to help a family member whose car was stuck in the heavy snow near Jeremy's home in Tahoe, Nevada, on New Year's Day. The 7-ton plow then started to roll ... Renner tried to get back into the driver's seat to gain control over the plow, but he was crushed underneath it.

Alec Baldwin was in no mood to talk Friday as he arrived back at his NYC apartment building ... mum over the announcement he'll be prosecuted for involuntary manslaughter in connection with the fatal "Rust" shooting.

Baldwin shielded his face as he beat a hasty retreat inside. His lawyer has made it clear ... Baldwin will fight the charges, saying his client relied on professionals on the set and therefore the criminal charge is a gross miscarriage of justice.

Baldwin has some support from his fellow actors. Douglas Stewart, who shot a scene for "Rust," says in all of his experience in show business, actors have never been the ones to inspect the chamber of a gun. In fact, he says it's routinely prohibited ... and the actor's union has cosigned on that procedure.

Baldwin could face years in prison if convicted, but the D.A. hedged the other day when asked if prison time would be appropriate ... merely saying she wanted "accountability."

Baldwin is being charged both as an actor and an executive producer. But, Douglas Stewart told us Baldwin's E.P. title was really in name only, so he could get paid on the back end -- he did not have day-to-day responsibility over the set, which clearly had problems.

There's a lot of criticism over the charges, although Matthew Hutchins, the widower of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins who was fatally shot, is down with the prosecution.

Naughty By Nature's Treach and his "New Jack City" stage play costars are well aware of the real-life violence in hip hop today, and hope their production of the classic '90s film can scare the genre straight.

We got Treach, Gary Dourdan, Flex Alexander and the one and only Big Daddy Kane Friday in Burbank, CA -- they're putting on the play all weekend at L.A. Orpheum Theater, and they say the production doesn't shy away from violence ... even with the recent string of tragic headlines about slain rappers.

Treach says 'New Jack' highlighted the brutality of the '80s crack epidemic, and delivered the message "that wasn't the route to take." He's hoping today's generation will take that lesson and apply it to the rap game.

Flex says most of the cast has known each other for several decades, so it's been easy to mesh ahead of their live performances -- there's no "take 2" in theater -- and they all credit director Je'Caryous Johnson for getting them game-ready months in advance.

We recently got BDK 1-on-1 back in NYC, where he told us having Allen Payne -- who's reprising his role as Gee Money from the film -- was the cheat code the rest of the cast needed to stay in line with the original.

Speaking of those NYC shows, Gary tells us another OG star, Ice-T, showed up to put his stamp of approval.

For fans of the movie ... Treach plays Wesley Snipes' lead character Nino Brown, Gary steps into Ice's role of Scotty and Flex is Chris Rock's Pookie.

"Rust" actor Douglas Stewart is adamant about who's in charge of firearms on film sets, and says Alec Baldwin's getting a raw deal ... because actors are not typically responsible for gun safety.

Douglas shared his thoughts Friday on "TMZ Live" about the announcement Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the "Rust" set.

Douglas says whenever he's been on a set with guns there have been strict procedures in place -- procedures that clearly state a stage manager or armorer is responsible for preparing and handing guns to actors.

As an actor, he says he's never been allowed to check a gun or open the chamber ... whether for TV, film, or stage play.

Most importantly, Douglas also says that's the industry standard -- that actors trust the professionals when it comes to firearms.

If so, that could become a crucial part of Baldwin's defense, should his case go to trial.

As for Baldwin's role as an executive producer ... Douglas says his understanding is that he was not involved in safety or day-to-day production in a hands-on way -- instead, he thinks Baldwin's title was more about finances and his compensation.

Douglas also told us the charges against Alec won't change his approach on film sets -- he still won't take it upon himself to check a weapon, but will ask the armorer to double-check in front of him.

He says he simply has no choice, but to be super cautious.

The filming of "Rust" with AB and the rest of the cast is set to resume this month with Halyna's widower Matt Hutchins now listed as an EP -- one of the terms of the settlement of his wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin.

Dakota Johnson is no fan of Armie Hammer, and made that perfectly clear when she dropped jokes about his cannibalism allegations ... and while the Sundance crowd seemed amused, she's also getting some backlash.

The actress took a few digs at Armie while presenting an award to "Call Me by Your Name" director Luca Guadagnino at the famous Park City, UT film festival.

Armie starred in the 2017 movie and Dakota joked ... "Luca had asked me to play the role of the peach, but our schedules conflicted. Thank God, because then I would have been another woman that Armie Hammer tried to eat."

In the movie, Timothee Chalamet's character performs a sex act on a peach, which Armie's character later discovers.

Dakota wasn't done there, she also told the crowd, "It's been 5 years since that film premiered here, and Luca hasn't stopped taking us to exciting places. Who knew cannibalism was so popular?"

Luca's latest film, "Bones and All," stars Timothee and it's about cannibalism ... and Armie's infamously been dogged by allegations he gets off on cannibalistic fetishes, which he vehemently denies.

Also relevant, is the fact LAPD has investigated some of those allegations for more than 2 years now, and Hammer has not been charged with a single crime. Dakota's getting online backlash from people who support Armie, and also from those who believe his accusers. The criticism is she was unfair to him, legally speaking ... or insensitive to the women.

A classic lose-lose.

Pete Davidson's love for Chase Sui Wonders is universal ... as in, he couldn't stop kissing his new girlfriend on a date to Universal Studios.

The "Bodies, Bodies, Bodies" stars hit up Universal Studios Hollywood on Thursday ... and TMZ obtained video of the two smooching on an escalator.

Pete and Chase seemed to be trying to keep their outing low-key, he was wearing a hoodie, hat and sunglasses, but they couldn't resist a little PDA between rides.

The costar couple enlisted a private guide to whisk them around the theme park -- and they picked a good day to go -- Universal's previewing its new Super Nintendo World.

Pete going to theme parks with his love interests has become a theme as of late.

Remember, Pete and Kim Kardashian went to Knotts Berry Farm with a big group back in October 2021, right before their romance really ratcheted up.

The NFL Pro Bowl captains have been announced ... but they're not superstar athletes like Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes -- it's Pete Davidson and Snoop Dogg!!

TMZ Sports has confirmed ... the "Saturday Night Live" alum and rap legend will be going head-to-head when the festivities go down next month near Las Vegas ... with Pete representing the NFC, and Snoop leading the AFC.

It's unclear what exactly their roles will be ... but we're assuming they'll be working alongside Peyton and Eli Manning, who were named the coaches for each conference.

Of course, Eli and Pete (a massive Giants fan) have built a tight friendship recently -- they even share a joint Instagram account -- so we take it their chemistry will certainly be a plus when the competition goes down.

As for Snoop, he's always had ties to the sport ... and he even has his own youth football league. On top of that, he gave a helluva performance at Super Bowl LVI last year.

Snoop spoke about his captaincy in a statement to People ... saying, "I'm comin' back to the NFL field, but this time, instead of performing, I'm going head-to-head with Pete and competing for the title of The Pro Bowl Games Champion."

"The competition is going to go off, but we all know that Peyton and our AFC squad are gonna do some big things. We'll end up on that podium."

Davidson kept it short and sweet ... adding, "I'm doing this to impress my Uncle Mike."

Sequels to beloved hip hop classics are typically frowned upon, but not the new "House Party" ... so says one of the OG film's stars Christopher 'Kid' Reid, and he's giving LeBron James props for keeping the brand strong.

We caught up with Chris out in Santa Monica, where he joked about his cameo in the reboot being a bit on the "Where's Waldo?" side.

That aside, Chris notes how LeBron -- whose SpringHill Company acquired the rights for "House Party" -- has always shown love to his iconic group Kid 'n Play.

Back in 2009, LeBron and Rich Paul starred in a State Farm commercial based around RP's car getting burglarized, with the crooks leaving only a Kid 'n Play CD ... setting the stage for LeBron and the State Farm agent to do the group's iconic dance from the original film.

And then in 2013, LBJ gave his sons Bronny and Bryce the trademarked Kid 'n Play haircuts shortly before they were basketball phenoms in their own right.

The first "House Party" dropped in March 1990 -- paving the way for loads of hip hop cinema. Chris tells us the new generation of actors is doing a bang-up job carrying the torch ... and gave us his best Whitney Houston impression to hammer home his point!!!

Chris also revealed his famous high-top fade only cost him $25 back in the day -- a far cry from $1k, $500, and $420 that Diddy, Kanye, and Lil Baby are reported to be paying their barbers.

Alec Baldwin will be prosecuted for the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on his "Rust" movie set.

Prosecutors in Santa Fe County, NM made the announcement Thursday morning that Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter. The film's head armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was also charged with involuntary manslaughter. Both face a maximum of 5 years in prison if convicted.

The Assistant Director, Dave Halls, has agreed to a plea deal for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon. He will get a suspended sentence and 6 months probation.

Interestingly ... no charges will be filed in connection with the non-fatal shooting of director Joel Souza, who was hit in the shoulder by the same bullet that killed Halyna.

Attorney Brian Panish, who represents the Hutchins family, tells TMZ, "We want to thank the Santa Fe Sheriff and the District Attorney for concluding their thorough investigation and determining that charges for involuntary manslaughter are warranted for the killing of Halyna Hutchins with conscious disregard for human life."

Panish goes on ... "Our independent investigation also supports charges are warranted. It is comfort to the family that, in New Mexico, no one is above the law. We support the charges."

It's interesting ... Halyna's widower, Matthew Hutchins, settled with Baldwin and the production and actually became an Executive Producer on the film.

In announcing the charges, the special prosecutor, Andrea Reeb, who was appointed by the D.A., said, "The evidence clearly shows a pattern of criminal disregard for safety on the 'Rust' film set. In New Mexico, there is no room for film sets that don't take our State's commitment to gun safety and public safety seriously."

Reeb said, "If any one of these three people - Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls - had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It's that simple."

Alec has all along denied any wrongdoing, insisting all he did was follow instructions during a rehearsal where he was practicing how to position the pistol for a "cross draw" scene in a chapel ... as director Joel Souza and Halyna figured out camera angles.

He's also repeatedly said Halls, the assistant director, handed him the prop firearm (something Halls denies) and said it was a "cold" gun ... meaning it was unloaded and safe.

While Gutierrez-Reed, the lead armorer, was not in the chapel ... Alec has suggested she bears some responsibility, as it was her job to prepare and check the props.

Alec was visibly torn up on set immediately after Halyna was shot. However, in subsequent interviews he went on the defensive, saying it was a tragic accident for which he bore no responsibility. He also insisted he did NOT actually pull the trigger on that fateful day.

The FBI disagreed with Alec's assertion ... after testing the weapon, it issued a report which concluded the pistol would not fire without someone pulling the trigger.

Halyna's death was eventually ruled to be accidental -- the medical examiner found no intent to cause harm in their official report.

Still, Halyna's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Alec and others involved in the production, saying he directly caused her death and that he was negligent in his handling of the gun -- not to mention safety protocols on the set.

They ultimately settled the lawsuit in October, and agreed to complete filming "Rust."

Alec also sued four crew members -- Gutierrez-Reed, Halls, Sarah Zachry and Seth Kenney - claiming they failed to safeguard the film set.

Julian Sands, a British actor with dozens of movie and TV credits over four decades in Hollywood, is missing ... and he was last seen hiking a mountain outside Los Angeles.

Law enforcement identified Julian as the missing hiker who vanished after going for a hike in the Mt. Baldy area, which is currently blanketed in snow and ice.

Search efforts are underway to find Julian, but severe winter weather on the mountain is making it difficult for rescue teams.

Julian's family reported him missing Friday, but he wasn't publicly identified as the missing hiker until Wednesday -- several inches of snow fell on the mountain since he disappeared.

The 65-year-old was born in England but now calls North Hollywood home ... and his acting career dates back to the 1980s, with appearances in movies like "A Room With a View," "Arachnophobia," "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Warlock."

Julian was also on episodes of "Dexter" and "Smallville" ... and he had a role in "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo."

Jeremy Renner was moaning in pain in the background of the 911 call from his snowplow accident ... with his neighbor telling the operator he'd been "crushed" by a Snowcat.

In audio of the emergency call, obtained by TMZ, the actor's in agony as one of his neighbors frantically explains Jeremy's injuries ... including damage to his ribs, chest, torso and head, resulting in "a lot of blood."

The neighbor tells dispatchers Jeremy was on the ground in front of their house after being run over and having his ribs crushed by a Snowcat. The caller says Jeremy's breaths are getting shorter and begs for help to come immediately.

The audio makes it clear Jeremy was in need of life-saving measures ... he's screaming in agony for over 15 minutes, with his neighbor explaining JR was conscious but in "a lot of pain."

TMZ broke the story ... the 911 emergency log notes Jeremy was having "extreme difficulty" breathing after being "completely crushed" by the Snowcat and was experiencing heavy bleeding from his head.

As we reported, Nevada officials say Jeremy was helping a family member get their car out of heavy snow on New Year's Day, with the actor stepping out of his snowplow to chat with the family member when the Snowcat started to roll. Officials say Jeremy tried to get back into the driver's seat but was crushed by the 7-ton snowplow.

Jeremy was ultimately airlifted to a local hospital from the scene of the accident, which was on a private road in an area blanketed by tons of snow.

"Justtttttt a bit outside."

Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, and Tom Berenger reunited, almost 34 years after the first 'Major League' movie hit theaters, with the three actors hitting up a sports collectors convention in Houston (feels like it should've been Cleveland) ... where they signed autographs and took pics with a gang of fans.

It's one of the first times the three stars of the movie have been together since the movies were released decades ago. "Major League" came out in 1989 ... and "Major League II" in 1994. There was a third movie, without Sheen and Berenger (Bernsen appeared in the film), but we won't talk about that.

Sheen portrayed the movie's most notable character, Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn ... a flame-throwing pitcher with bad eyesight and questionable control.

Berenger played Jake Taylor ... a former All-Star catcher whose body -- particularly his knees -- broke down from all the innings behind the plate.

Bernsen played Roger Dorn ... the team's prima donna star third baseman.

If you haven't seen the movie, shame on you ... it's hilarious.

Jeremy Renner is still on the road to recovery after his nasty snowplow accident ... but at least that road's led him back home to continue recuperating.

The "Hawkeye" star tweeted Monday night, "Outside my brain fog in recovery, I was very excited to watch episode 201 with my family at home" -- referring to the season 2 premiere of his show, "Mayor of Kingstown."

Needless to say, his concerned fans were thrilled by Jeremy's unexpected update ... as he was flooded with messages congratulating him on making it home with his family, and at least one added, "We are still praying for you everyday and will continue to do so."

This is a big step forward for Jeremy -- as we reported, he was in critical condition at the beginning of the year after getting "completely crushed" by the Snowcat, according to the 911 emergency log. It also stated the right side of his chest collapsed.

Cops investigating the incident said Jeremy was working to get a family member's vehicle out of the snow when it happened.

He was rushed to the hospital and had undergone surgery, but doctors were optimistic -- he even shared a pic from the ICU, thanking the healthcare team for all their help.

Tyler Perry isn't just concerned with including more Black people in TV/film, he's also worried about pollution in Black neighborhoods ... and he's willing to drop several million for a federal building to prove it.

The media mogul says he's considering buying the Forces Command building, a former U.S. military training complex adjacent to Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. The building's currently tagged to become an FDA laboratory, but TP's seen the proposed plan and has deep concerns about potential fumes ... according to ATL news blog, Saporta Report.

The building was reportedly approved to be sold to Easterly Government Properties in 2019 for $17M -- and the current plan is to lease to the FDA, which would have it up and running by 2025.

Tyler already offered to buy it for the same $17 mil, but the feds sold it to Easterly, instead.

He's not giving up that easily, because Tyler says he's willing to pay a premium for the property now, if that's what it takes to block the lab. He told Saporta, "To allow someone to put a laboratory in the heart of this development with smokestacks is not okay with me. They would not do it in Buckhead, so why would they do it here? It feels like environmental racism.”

An FDA official says Tyler's description of the lab's "smokestacks" is not accurate, and the facility's actually designed to clean all emissions. The building sits right next to land where Tyler's expanding his studio.

The 28th annual Critics' Choice Awards went off without a hitch Sunday night ... and while celebs were takin' home gold all night long, they were having loads of fun when the cameras WEREN'T rolling,

Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan hugged it out behind the scenes, marking another emotional get-together for the 2 since last working together in 1992's "Encino Man." They both were winners of the night -- Brendan for "The Whale" and Ke for "Everything Everywhere All At Once."

Award season frontrunners Austin Butler and Cate Blanchett -- who won for Best Actress -- buddied up for the camera backstage, too!

Angela Bassett, who took home the award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," was all smiles at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in L.A.

It was a 'Big Lebowski' reunion, too -- as good buds John Goodman and Jeff Bridges were cheesin' hard together ... as you know, John had the honor of presenting Jeff with this year's Lifetime Achievement Award.

ICYMI -- Brendan gave an incredibly emotional acceptance speech for his win, breaking down while telling the crowd he was recently "in the wilderness," and is grateful to have been rediscovered. What followed those remarks was just as powerful.