Sundance

Move out of the way Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt ... it's Pax's time to shine -- 'cause TMZ has learned their son is following in their movie-making footsteps!

That's right ... Pax, who was adopted by the famed actors in 2007, headed to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah for a private screening of the thriller "Self Custody" over the weekend, where he rubbed elbows with the film's co-directors Fernando Ferro and Garrett Patten.

A source tells TMZ ... Pax is getting into producing movies and has been in discussions with Ferro and Patten on a few future projects. He did not work on the film, but was invited by them and we're told the 22-year-old is doing "extremely well."

Frigid temps?? No problem! This sexy star posted her winter-bod on full display, but can you guess who she is?

She's THE MOMENT -- recently collaborating with other sexy stars like Kylie Jenner and Rachel Sennott!

These snowy snaps are from her latest travel to the Sundance Film Festival ... While we gotcha, see if you can guess the 5-letter movie word ...

Celebs are flocking to Utah for one last take at the Sundance Film Festival before it packs up and moves to Colorado ... and it's not just movie stars wrapping things up.

Seth Rogen, Edward Norton, and Olivia Wilde have boots on the ground in Park City ... along with Giselle Bonilla, Alexander Heller, Will Brill and Rob Lowe.

Billy Magnussen is having a grand ole' time ... and even Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are in the mix.

Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost was assaulted during a private CAA party at the Sundance Film Festival, and the alleged attacker has been arrested.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Park City Police responded to High West Saloon just after midnight Saturday following a report of an assault at the invite-only event. Police say Christian Young unlawfully entered the party after being turned away earlier for not having an invitation.

Once inside, Young allegedly assaulted Rep. Frost and a female guest. Authorities say Young crashed the party by sneaking in through an alternate entrance while CAA was hosting its annual Sundance kickoff for filmmakers, agents, and industry executives.

Robert Redford wanted to "change the world" with the Sundance Film Festival, according to his daughter Amy.

The late actor's daughter appeared on "Today" on Monday and spoke about how her father --who founded the festival in the early 1980s -- wanted the event to keep showcasing new talent.

She said Robert was aware of "so many stories out there that needed to be told that weren't being told," which he wanted to promote through his work in the festival.

Jennifer Lopez is not just famous for her music and movies, but also her voluptuous booty ... just ask the guy who fell under its trance at the Sundance Film Festival.

J Lo looked amazing in her black lace gown as she strolled into the Sunday night premiere of her film, "Kiss of the Spider Woman" in Salt Lake City, Utah -- and, of course, she was the center of everyone's attention, and one fella in particular.

Check out this photo ... which shows the man standing behind J Lo with his eyes laser locked on her shapely butt. The dude definitely had the best view of anyone in the place -- and J Lo seemed oblivious to his attention.

Hollywood is setting up shop in Utah ... because celebs are piling into a small ski town for a famous movie festival.

Sundance kicked off Friday and famous folks like Conan O'Brien and Rose Byrne made some of the first appearances.

"Wicked" star Cynthia Erivo made it to the snow-covered town too ... no word if she rode in on a broom.

Too Short is adding filmmaking to his resume ... and he's already scored some Hollywood heavy hitters for his movie, "Freaky Tales," which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

He spoke to us Monday on "TMZ Live," about the "anthology horror-movie-thriller-comedy" ... which depicts 4 interconnected stories during 1987 Oakland, and heavily features his music.

The film serves as a "love letter to Oakland," and also mirrors Short's experience growing up there in the eighties -- and he tells us his emotional attachment to the project is even more significant because he's an executive producer and narrator for it.

He acknowledges it also means a lot to the others involved -- most noticeably its A-list cast that includes Tom Hanks, Pedro Pascal, Normani, and the late Angus Cloud. It's also directed by "Capt. Marvel" writers/directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden -- which is major.

After the movie's debut, Short took advantage of his time in Park City, UT ... deciding to hit the slopes for his first time.

He tells us he didn't need much convincing to give it a whirl, because he's always been adventurous and agile, even at 57.

Pro-Palestine protesters shut down a street near the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday afternoon ... and a couple famous faces joined their numbers.

About 100 protesters reportedly showed up on Park City's Main Street for a protest organized by "Let Gaza Live" ... with police in the small Utah town shutting down the block to traffic.

Among those protesting ... former 'Scream' star Melissa Barrera -- who was fired for her comments on the war between Israel and Hamas -- and model/actor Indya Moore.

MB kept a low profile with her hood on and sunglasses covering her eyes while IM was more front and center ... at one point using a megaphone at the rally.

BTW, Barrera's been talking a lot about her firing recently ... telling the Associated Press Friday night that getting laid off from the popular franchise was a "big awakening" for her adding she's "grateful" for everything that's happened.

The protest was pretty peaceful all morning ... with videos populating social media of passionate protesters -- though their chants stirred up some controversy.

Some of the protesters used the phrase "From the river to the sea" which is a point of contention between Israel supporters and Palestine supporters ... they're also going right after President Biden calling him "Genocide Joe" and repurposing an old condemnation of Lyndon B. Johnson -- asking him how many kids he's "killed today."

Protesters in support of Israel were also on the streets in Park City ... seemingly mounting a counter-protest and chanting "Bring them home" in reference to hostages taken by Hamas during the tragic October 7 attack.

It should be noted that the protest was not affiliated with Sundance, instead just running near it ... a move other political protesters have used in the past to capitalize on media attention. Thousands of protesters gathered back in 2017 to protest then-newly inaugurated President Trump.

Pauly Shore's Richard Simmons short dropped last night ... and Simmons stans will recognize the moment it's based on -- plus get an idea of what the feature film's gonna be like.

PS premiered "The Court Jester" at Sundance, and he went full Simmons for the role -- he looks a ton like him with the hair, tank top and thigh-high shorts ... and on top of that, Shore picked a viral moment from Richard's life. While the screening took place during the festival it was not an official Sundance selection.

The short -- not the full-scale biopic he's making -- opens with a production assistant backstage of a show hosted by a woman who looks and sounds like Ellen DeGeneres ... when Richard is called onto the stage.

Pauly's Richard comes out with a ton of energy, running around in front of the audience, sweat dripping down his forehead ... a clear reenactment of Richard's appearance on "Ellen" more than a decade ago.

Check it out ... Richard jumps around so fast cameras can barely keep up, pushes the same DVD and even pretends to be a workout machine Ellen can use -- art imitating life taken to the extreme!!!

Pauly's also showing off his acting chops in the more low-key moments too -- having a heart-to-heart with the PA from the beginning of the short while chowing down on a sprinkle donut.

Shore's clearly trying to be pretty respectful of Richard ... backing him with an angelic light while he drops knowledge on the young "Ellen" crew member -- though at this point, Richard's probably not coming around to Pauly's upcoming biopic

As we reported ... Richard -- who doesn't speak publicly much anymore -- came out and blasted Pauly's movie ... basically saying he didn't give his permission or blessing to Shore's project.

When we talked to Pauly about it ... he said he's holding out hope Richard comes around, but he's going forward with the project whether he gets the fitness guru's thumbs up or not.

El corto de Pauly Shore sobre Richard Simmons se estrenó anoche, y los fans de Simmons reconocerán el momento de su vida en el que está basado y podrán también hacerse una idea de cómo será el largometraje.

Pauly Shore estrenó "The Court Jester" en Sundance, y se sumergió completamente en el papel de Simmons, con el pelo, la camiseta sin mangas y los pantalones cortos hasta los muslos, y más encima, eligió un momento viral de la vida de Richard.

El corto, que no es la película completa que está realizando, comienza con un asistente de producción entre bastidores, de un show que es presentado por una mujer que se parece a Ellen DeGeneres. Luego, Richard es llamado al escenario.

El Richard de Pauly sale con un montón de energía. Corre delante del público, con el sudor goteándole por la frente... una clara recreación de la aparición de Richard en "Ellen" hace más de una década.

Compruébalo tú mismo, Richard salta tan rápido que las cámaras apenas pueden seguirle el ritmo, empuja el mismo DVD e incluso pretende ser una máquina de ejercicios que Ellen puede usar, ¡¡¡el arte imitando la vida al extremo!!!

Pauly también está mostrando sus dotes de actuación en los momentos más discretos, como por ejemplo, cuando tiene una conversación con el asistente de producción al principio del corto, mientras se come una dona.

Shore está claramente tratando de ser muy respetuoso con Richard, aunque a estas alturas, Richard probablemente no será parte de la próxima película biográfica de Pauly.

Como hemos informado, Richard, que no habla mucho públicamente, salió a criticar la película de Pauly diciendo que no dio su permiso o bendición para el proyecto.

Cuando hablamos con Pauly al respecto dijo que tenía la esperanza de que Richard se terminara sumando, pero que va a seguir adelante con el proyecto, ya sea con el pulgar hacia arriba del gurú o no.

Koko Da Doll, one of the memorable subjects from the recent documentary "Kokomo City," is dead ... and the film's director says she was shot and killed as a result of trans violence.

D. Smith -- director of the moving, award-winning doc featured this year at Sundance -- shared the sad news Friday, saying Koko, AKA Rasheeda Williams, "was shot and killed in Atlanta" Tuesday night.

She added, Williams' death makes her "the latest victim of violence against Black transgender women," -- but says she will "inspire generations to come and will never be forgotten."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Atlanta PD says cops responded to reports of a shooting just before 11 PM, and investigators found a woman who had been shot -- she was pronounced dead on the scene.

For those unaware, "Kokomo City" took home 2 awards at this year's Sundance Film Festival -- following Black transgender sex workers, including Williams, as they lived and worked in New York and ATL.

Williams, along with Daniella Carter, Liyah Mitchell, and Dominique Silver, accurately put a spotlight on the horrendous threats women like them face on a daily basis.

Sundance is also paying respects, saying "We were honored to have her at the Festival this year with KOKOMO CITY, where she reminded Black trans women, 'we can do anything, we can be whatever we want to be.' It is a tragic loss."

Williams was 35.

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.

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.

Hollywood execs and celebs who were planning to attend this year's Sundance Film Festival are in for a rude awakening ... because the event was canceled just days beforehand and now they stand to lose a boatload of cash.

This year's Sundance was scheduled for Jan 20-30 as a hybrid event with both in-person and online events ... it was expected to bring out filmgoers from around the U.S., volunteers and, of course, celebs and Hollywood honchos.

Well, that was until the festival was canceled only 15 days before the curtain was raised, due to the explosion of COVID. We're told hotels and Airbnb jacked up the prices like crazy -- $3k and up for some rooms and suites -- and now we're told a lot of them are not giving refunds.

Likewise ... Sundance organizers are not offering refunds to folks who paid to attend in person. Instead, attendees can either gift their packages to someone else or turn the money spent into a tax-deductible donation to the Sundance Institute.

Back to the hotels ... one example is Auberge Resorts Collection, which was charging $3,798 per night for some of the suites ... and guess what, it's non-refundable. The hotel is telling guests to come anyway and enjoy the skiing, or just reschedule.

When COVID strikes this way, a lot depends on what's in the contract.  If there's an "Act of God" clause, although it's not clear there have been successful arguments that money should be returned.