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Star Trek: Lower Decks is shipping off after five seasons. The animated series found a nice niche within the Star Trek fandom, even if it wasn't ever a smash hit with the entire fanbase. It provided many laughs for people, but it also gave a lot of names a chance to join Star Trek that they may have otherwise been unable to. One of those named is Jerry O'Connell.

O'Connell has been acting for a long time now. He got his big break as a child, starring opposite fellow Star Trek alum Wil Wheaton in Stand by Me. He then started to land major roles as an adult, like as a secondary character in Tom Cruise's Jerry McGuire, and as a lead in some less-than-memorable films like Joe's Apartment or Kangaroo Jack. He's also been a part of some other franchises' like the second film in the Scream franchise; the aptly named,...

With CBS’ The Talk soon coming to end, fans are starting to wonder what the last episodes are going to be like. Co-host Jerry O’Connell has recently spoken out about what it’s like working on the show during its final days. In particular, he addressed rumors on what the crew is going through as the show is reaching its final episode.

Jerry O’Connell Joined The Talk Back In 2021

O’Connell first came to prominence as a child actor in Stand By Me. He’s also had notable roles in shows like Sliders and Crossing Jordan, as well as films like Scream 2, Joe’s Apartment, Jerry Maguire, and Kangaroo Jack.

Back in 2021, O’Connell joined The Talk as a permanent co-host, filling in for Sharon Osbourne. He would also go on to perform hosting duties for Pictionary and The Real Love Boat, the latter of which he co-hosted with his wife,...

Quinn Martin is a “Big Brother” superfan, but he didn’t play the game as strategically as you might expect from someone well versed. The nurse recruiter burned bridges with his multiple alliances left and right, proudly lied to everyone, and nominated two of his allies and watched them both go home after vote-flips. But he still wouldn’t change a thing after becoming the first juror of “Big Brother 26” on Thursday.

“I had zero interest in being an honest player. My thought was, how boring to go into this game that is so fun to watch when people are lying, that is so fun to celebrate when blindsides are being pulled off and you’re witnessing manipulation take stage,” Quinn tells Gold Derby (watch above). “I don’t think I would change anything and that’s probably dumb to say. But I believe in the phrase ‘burn bright, die young.

Movies often deceive with advertising, making promises that don't match the actual content. Trailers can mislead through out-of-context scenes or straight-up lies to fill theaters. Audiences are frequently blindsided by films that don't deliver what promised in marketing.

Movies aren't always the most honest art form in the world when it comes to advertising, sometimes roping in prospective viewers with promises that don't hold up to the actual product. Marketing is a huge part of any film's release, with some of the most memorable movie ad campaigns making or breaking their box office performance. Unfortunately, trailers and promotional materials also present the opportunity for a movie studio to lie about their upcoming releases in order to fill theater seats.

There are a few different ways movies go about getting away with false advertising. Sometimes, trailers are cut so that scenes are taken out of context or inferred to be more important than they are,...

Kangaroo Jack was originally intended to be a raunchy adult comedy called "Down and Under," but poor audience reception led to it being re-edited into a kids' movie. Director David McNally's career suffered after the critical failure of Kangaroo Jack, potentially due to the film's negative reception. The actors, Anthony Anderson and Jerry O'Connell, have differing perspectives on the film's impact on their careers, with O'Connell taking a pragmatic stance and not regretting his involvement.

For many, Kangaroo Jack is but a distant memory, one of those movies that most know exists but can recall little about it decades after its release. While the 2003 comedy made a decent worldwide box office total of $88 million, it was maligned for its misleading marketing and panned by critics, currently sitting at 8% rotten on Rotten Tomatoes with 144 reviews.

However, this was not a simple case of making a bad film, even though the movie is objectively subpar.

Issa López's "True Detective: Night Country," the fourth season of the pulp crime series created by Nic Pizzolatto, kicks off with one heck of a hook. Scientists holed up at the Tsalal Research Station on the outskirts of Ennis, Alaska (which is itself on the outskirts of civilization in the sparsely populated state) are winding down after a long day of doing ... well, whatever it is they do up there (the first episode does not make this clear). They're doing laundry, making dinner, settling in for a movie ("Ferris Bueller's Day Off") with a bowl of microwave popcorn, and evidently content to be where they are.

And then, in an instant, they're not there anymore.

A delivery man who shows up with supplies, expecting help in unloading his truck, wanders through the station seemingly seconds after the sequence we've just observed (Matthew Broderick is still rocking out to The...

Freelance starts off strong with dark comedy and a gritty tone, but falls victim to conventional filmmaking and lacks genuine laughs. John Cena's comedic timing and facial reactions to Venegas' antics are the best parts of the film. The movie feels harmless and kid-friendly, missing opportunities for raunchy fun and gritty violence that audiences may have expected.

With both a hard R-rating and wrestler-turned-Hollywood star John Cena and bombshell comedic genius Alison Brie involved in the new film Freelance, it's fair to expect gritty violence laced with dark and sexy humor, like if Rush Hour had a less kid-friendly MPAA rating. The Deadpool franchise comes to mind as an example, or even The Nice Guys. And the new action-comedy from Taken director Pierre Morel is rated R for "violence and language," though it probably could even have been rated PG, if the occasional blood spatter or F-words were omitted.

Michael Shannon isn’t just one of the best actors working today; he’s also one of the busiest. Shannon seems to be everywhere, and you might be surprised to remember all the classic films he’s appeared in. Did you spot him in Groundhog Day? What about Vanilla Sky? Jesus’ Son? Pearl Harbor? Kangaroo Jack? 8 Mile? Shannon has remained active in the industry and continues to deliver outstanding performances in a number of projects. In 2022 alone, he appeared in Night’s End, Bullet Train, Abandoned, Amsterdam, A Little White Lie, the animated series Little Demon, and the acclaimed miniseries George & Tammy.

[This post originally appeared as part of Recommendation Machine, IndieWire’s daily TV picks feature.]

Where to Watch “Animal”: Netflix

There’s a well-established nature doc series format. Any decision to stray away from the familiar rests on the edge between distracting and distinctive. Give the audience a Pov of the animal in question? Use some special lenses to show activity at night? Zero in on neon-colored creatures so otherworldly they seem alien? All have been (and probably will remain) viable options for other series.

But as long as you’re using one, picking a narrator can be one of those key choices. For the new Netflix original “Animal,” a different household name helps set the stage for each corner of the animal kingdom. Rashida Jones talks about big cats, Bryan Cranston connects foxes and wolves to household dogs, and Rebel Wilson brings a lighthearted touch to the world of marsupials. It’s the final chapter on the...

Ever since Netflix added its Top 10 lists back in February, it’s been interesting to see what subscribers are currently enamored with. The platform certainly has no shortage of top-tier movies that were wildly popular upon release and have garnered tons of critical acclaim, but still, the Top 10 list is commonly occupied by films that were panned by critics. That’s exactly the case with one old flick that no one expected to see on the list, yet it’s been there almost all month now.

Double Jeopardy is an often forgotten movie that released in 1999 to largely poor reception. Directed by Bruce Beresford, this neo-noir crime thriller follows a woman who is wrongfully accused of murdering her missing husband and is subsequently imprisoned. Years later, she’s paroled to a halfway house where she ultimately escapes and begins a quest to track down her husband who she’s since...

In the days leading up to the Fourth of July, New York governor Andrew Cuomo took to social media urging state residents to avoid indoor parties and large gatherings. But it seems folks didn’t listen and after seeing pictures of packed beaches and stocked bars surface online, a second wave of coronavirus-induced quarantine and social distancing seems closer than ever before.

Should it come to that, at least Netflix will have you covered. Over the past week, the streamer added a whopping 103 new movies and 23 new shows. Yes, it seems they’re giving subscribers enough content to last a lifetime of isolation and here’s a quick overview of some of the best titles that arrived this week.

Let’s start with movies. If you’re aching for a familiar yet thrilling crime drama, look no further than Donnie Brasco. This film, which stars Johnny Depp in one of his first lead roles ever,...

The first of the month is always a big one for any streaming service and July is no different in that regard. The big four – that’s Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and HBO Max – all brought their A-games today, delivering hundreds of new titles between them comprising movies and TV shows from all different decades, genres and backgrounds.

Indeed, no matter which one you subscribe to, you’re in for a treat today as there’s a plethora of fresh content on each platform to dig through and in case you wanted to check it all out in one handy list, we’ve got just that for you down below. Yes, starting with Netflix, below you’ll find every new release for July 1st across all of the aforementioned streaming services.

Ready to dive in?

Netflix

#AnneFrank – Parallel Stories (2019)

A Bridge Too Far (1977)

A Thousand Words (2012)

A Walk to Remember...

It was only a few hours ago that we told you about Netflix‘s July 1st content drop, which contained over 50 new movies and TV shows for viewers to dig into. But it seems the streaming giant still had more up its sleeve for us.

What’s On Netflix has shared an updated list of everything that hit the platform today and as you can see down below, it includes quite a few titles that weren’t on the original list. For instance, we’ve got Will Ferrell’s classic comedy Elf, forgotten Robert De Niro movie Heist, Denzel Washington’s hugely underrated The Taking of Pelham 123 and several more.

In total, there were over 70 new pieces of content added today and below, you can see the complete list. Ready to dive in?

61 New Movies Added Today

#AnneFrank – Parallel Stories (2019) A Bridge Too Far (1977) A Thousand Words (2012) A Walk to Remember...

Elizabeth Hurley is speaking out following the death of Steve Bing, her ex-husband and father of her 18-year-old son.

“I am saddened beyond belief that my ex Steve is no longer with us. It is a terrible end,” Hurley wrote on Instagram along with photos of the two. “Our time together was very happy and I’m posting these pictures because although we went through some tough times, it’s the good, wonderful memories of a sweet, kind man that matter. In the past year we had become close again. We last spoke on our son’s 18th birthday. This is devastating news and I thank everyone for their lovely messages.”

According to law enforcement sources, Bing jumped to his death from a Century City building Monday afternoon. Following standard protocol, the Los Angeles Police Department would not confirm that the individual in question was Bing. However, the description of...

Bing produced The Polar Express and Rock The Kasbah.

Steve Bing, the property magnate and producer of The Polar Express and Rock The Kasbah, has died following a fall from a tower block in Los Angeles. He was 55.

The incident occurred on early Monday afternoon (June 22) in Century City. The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed a death and shortly after, friends including Bill Clinton took to Twitter to express condolences.

Bing founded Shangri-La Entertainment, and produced an eclectic roster of features ranging from Robert Zemeckis’ CGI dramas The Polar Express and Beowulf to the Get Carter remake starring Sylvester Stallone.

Steve Bing, a producer, philanthropist and screenwriter, has died by suicide in Los Angeles. He was 55.

Police and the coroner’s office said a man fitting his age jumped from a Century City apartment building on Monday. Sources told TMZ he had been suffering from depression.

Bing, who inherited a fortune of some $600 million from his grandfather, L.A. real estate developer Leo S. Bing, also contributed millions of dollars to Democratic political causes.

After receiving his inheritance at the age of 18, Bing dropped out of Stanford to try out the movie business. While he was still a high school student at Harvard-Westlake, he wrote the story for “Missing in Action” and later wrote an episode of “Married With Children.”

In 2003, he co-wrote the action comedy “Kangaroo Jack,” starring Anthony Anderson and Jerry O’Connell.

Bing invested some $80 million in “The Polar Express,” the Tom Hanks-voiced 2004 film directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Updated, with comment from former President Bill Clinton: Steve Bing, the film financier and philanthropist who backed hit movies from Robert Zemeckis’ The Polar Express and Beowulf to the Rolling Stones concert movie Shine a Light, has died.

According to law enforcement sources, Bing jumped from a Century City building at around 1 p.m. Monday. Following standard protocol, the Los Angeles Police Department would not confirm that the individual in question was Bing. However, the description of the man in his 50s who was found dead on the scene fits that of the producer.

Bing, also an influential political donor, was a real estate tycoon from a family with a rich history. In 2012, he pledged a $30 million legacy gift to the Motion Picture & Television Fund.

“For years Steve Bing has been one of the most philanthropic and generous people in our industry,” Jeffrey Katzenberg said at the time. “He has...

The three stars of Kangaroo Jack, and that even includes the computer-animated kangaroo, reunited this week on Jimmy Kimmel Live, nearly 17 years after the classic comedy was released in 2003. Directed by David McNally, the movie stars Anthony Anderson and Jerry O'Connell as a pair of best friends from New York who wind up chasing a kangaroo in Australia after it hops off with a large amount of mobster money they've been tasked to deliver. While Kangaroo Jack was a box office success and later developed a bit of a cult following, critics were not impressed at the time, universally panning the movie.

This week, Josh Gad hosted an online The Goonies cast reunion which even included an appearance from Steven Spielberg. Feeling inspired by the Goonies reunion, Kimmel wanted to give America the cast reunion they're really been "clamoring for." As Anderson joined Kimmel for Wednesday night's Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Jimmy Kimmel had Anthony Anderson on Wednesday night’s at-home edition of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” and the host had quite a hare-raising surprise in store for the actor.

The host brought none other than his former co-star Jerry O’Connell onto the Zoom call for a surprise “Kangaroo Jack” reunion.

The pair looked genuinely happy to see each other.

“What’s up, Jerry O?” Anderson said.

“Anthony! I love you, baby!” O’Connell replied.

O’Connell came decked out in a red bandana, which he called his “Covid couture look.”

Also Read: Watch New York Couple Marry Via Video Conference on Local News (Video)

“I did have to go to the end of my driveway — my dopey children will not get off that Tik Tok, even though I’m on “Jkl” reunited with my man Anthony from the best movie he ever made, ‘Kj!'”

“How much did Jerry Bruckheimer pay...

Greetings from the land down under! On Wednesday, Anthony Anderson and Jerry O'Connell had a surprise Kangaroo Jack reunion during the Black-ish star's virtual visit to Jimmy Kimmel Live. As Anthony and host Jimmy Kimmel were catching up, the late night host asked if there were casts from the movie's he's been in that he'd want to reunite with. After listing classic films like The Departed and Me, Myself & Irene, he reminisced over the 2003 comedy. And before he knew it, Jerry appeared on the screen. "What's up, Jerry O?" Anthony exclaimed when he saw the Billions star, who was donning a red bandana over his mouth and channeling his character from the film. "Ant, I love...

Sony Pictures is looking for a new superhero franchise that has nothing to do with Spider-Man, Venom, or anything in between. So enters One Punch Man, a popular Japanese manga that is about to get the Hollywood big screen treatment. And if you have any doubt of what that means, know that it’s being produced by Avi Arad of Arad Productions and with a screenplay from Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner.

The announcement, which was broken by Variety, revealed the project is getting the high priority treatment at Sony and Columbia Pictures with the aim of birthing a new franchise that is not based on a Marvel Comics character. The series was created by Japanese artist One as a web comic in 2009 before quickly going viral. It entered print in 2012 under Shueisha’s Young Jump Next with illustrations by Yusuke Murata, as well as One, before being translated into...

[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for “The Good Place,” Season 2, Episode 13, “Somewhere Else.”]

“The Good Place” wrapped up its second season in intriguing fashion, seemingly sending Eleanor (Kristen Bell) back to the point where she was supposed to have died, but instead allowing her to reflect on her near-death experience. Because so much of the episode took place in what looked like the “real” world, “The Good Place” kept a tighter rein on its usual fantastical puns and over-the-top references.

Read More:‘The Good Place’: Its Latest Finale Twist Reinvented the Show Again and Set Itself Up Perfectly for the Future

But there were still a few sly allusions and visual gags to be had if you looked closely. Here are 10 Easter Eggs we caught and what some of them may mean:

1. Kamilah

Of course Tahani’s uber-popular and accomplished sister is internationally known and advertised on the side of a truck. It was too difficult to make out what the...

[[tmz:video id="0_mibbvogt"]] Jerry O'Connell put his heart and soul into a karaoke performance ... and the crowd definitely appreciated the effort. The "Crossing Jordan" and "Kangaroo Jack" star grabbed the mic at Fraser Tavern in North Bay, Ontario Thursday night and did his best impression of The Weekend's "I Feel it Coming" -- not holding anything back ... even on the high notes. We're told the place is a local karaoke hot spot, and when the DJ noticed the...

Every actor’s got a project or 30 in their past that they’d rather forget, which is what makes Only The Worst, a new column from Vice, so full of potential. For this edition, Justin Caffier talks to Jerry O’Connell of Jerry Maguire, Stand By Me, and Scream 2 fame about the universally despised Kangaroo Jack, a 2003 rapping kangaroo comedy he starred in alongside Anthony Anderson, Christopher Walken, and Michael Shannon. Caffier even notes our own Nathan Rabin’s review, which describes it as “some of the longest 90 minutes ever committed to film.”

O’Connell is a gracious interviewee and, having been told by producer Jerry Bruckheimer to “never read reviews on it,” has no idea how it’s perceived publicly. He’s shocked to learn it currently holds an 8 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but less so once he and Caffier begin discussing the ...

Back in August, Sony Pictures issued release dates for a number of high-profile projects, all set to hit theaters between 2016 and 2017. One of those movies is their Jumanji remake, which has been in development for several years, with Zach Helm coming aboard to write the script back in 2012. Today, Deadline reports that the studio has hired screenwriter Scott Rosenberg (Con Air) to rewrite the script in hopes that it makes its announced holiday release next year.

The remake is said to be a high priority for the studio, described as a "re-imagination" of the original 1995 blockbuster Jumanji, which starred Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, Bonnie Hunt and Bebe Neuwirth. The original movie was spawned from the board game and book by writer Chris Van Allsburg (The Polar Express, Zathura). The movie earned a whopping $262.7 million worldwide at the box office, from a $65 million production budget.

Jumanji will hit theaters on Christmas...

It’s almost October and that means Netflix is about to refresh their content with some new titles and by removing some others. Some of the notable titles leaving include: The Big Lebowski and A Nightmare on Elm Street. So if you haven’t seen some of these titles, plan your nights accordingly. We of course can look forward more than a few new titles including Boogie Nights, Batman Begins and Curse of Chucky for your Halloween needs.

All Title Dates are Subject to Change

Netflix U.S. Release Dates Only

Available 10/1

A Christmas Carol (1938)

About Alex (2014)

Alexander: Theatrical Cut (2004)

American Pie (1999)

Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics Collection: Collection 1

Batman Begins (2005)

Boogie Nights (1997)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

Curse of Chucky (2013)

Dark Was the Night (2014)

Design on a Dime Collection: Collection 1

El Tiempo Entre Costuras (2013)

Extreme Homes Collection: Collection 1

Fixer Upper: Season 1

Genevieve’s Renovation: Season 1

Glass Chin (2014)

House...

Kevin Spacey, Steven Seagal and, erm, Kangaroo Jack: they all nabbed the box office top spot last decade...

By the end of the 2000s, getting number one at the American box office was a valuable marketing commodity. As such, studios pumped more and more money into making sure they at least had a great opening weekend for their product.

The consequence of this was that it was harder and harder for smaller and quirkier films to take a brief spot in the sun. Certainly towards the second half of the decade, it seems that the number one movie each week was pre-ordinained in a marketing meeting somewhere.

Still, there were some films that have since fallen out of public view that clawed their way to number one. How many of these do you remember?

Eye Of The Beholder

January 2000, one week

Based on Marc Behm's book of the same name,...

This summer marks a very special anniversary. It’s fair to say we all remembered what took place on August 4, 2000. On that most likely quiet and peaceful summer day, one film dominated the cultural conversation, a true game changer unlike any other film of its kind. For years people had been asking, “What is this Coyote Ugly? Is it more than just some bar at the New York, New York hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada?” Kangaroo Jack director David McNally finally answered that question with his unconventional story of a small town girl trying to make it in the big city with Coyote Ugly. That picture co-starred Melanie Lynskey as Gloria, the young girl’s best friend. Needless to say, it’s not Lynskey’s best film — that honor goes to The Informant, which is her personal favorite as well — but it was the last film I watched of Lynskey’s before speaking with her at SXSW...

After several decades together, The Walt Disney Co and producer Jerry Bruckheimer are parting ways.

In an official statement from Disney, the studio has announced that it and Bruckheimer have decided not to renew their current deal which gives Disney first-look rights to the producer's films.

The pair will continue working together on various projects, including a fifth installment in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise due for release in 2016.

The statement suggests another "National Treasure" film might eventually be in the works, while Bruckheimer himself is: "looking to produce more mature films outside the scope of the Disney brand."

The deal, which began in the 1990s, has yielded over two dozen films including major hits like "Crimson Tide," "Dangerous Minds," "The Rock," "Con Air," "Gone in 60 Seconds," "Remember the Titans," "Armageddon," "Enemy of the State," "Pearl Harbor," "National Treasure," "Deja Vu," "G-Force" and the four "Pirates of the Caribbean" films.

Michael Shannon isn't intimidating in person, as many of his characters are. Shannon is far too polite to be intimidating, but he does have a way of somehow combining intensity with a devil-may-care flippancy that, when mixed, is equal parts charming and intriguing.

An example of that dichotomy: Shannon, best known for "Boardwalk Empire," "Take Shelter," "Revolutionary Road" and countless other films, is wearing a nifty suit when I meet him at his Manhattan hotel room. By the end of this interview, that suit will be littered with the fragmented shells of the peanuts that Shannon was eating and then washing down with red wine. Again: devil-may-care.

In Shannon's new fact-based film, "The Iceman," he plays Richard Kuklinski, a man who went by the name "The Iceman," based on his lack of emotion when it came to mob-ordered murders -- murders that could top over 200.

Shannon seems a bit...

Though it was planned to be a fun night out, a birthday party attended by Jaime Pressly and Estella Warren nearly ended in fisticuffs.

According to Us weekly, the two blonde actresses got in an argument at Bootsy Bellows on Friday night (April 5).

It all began when Jaime's assistant's purse went missing at the previous party location, a house in L.A. After following the lead of a "find my phone" app, the two ended at the celeb hotspot and to Estella.

Though the "Kangaroo Jack" star claimed the purse was hers, all of the assistant's items were still inside. In the confrontation, drugs were found in the bag, which spurred police intervention.

A source tells the magazine, "Jaime and her assistant were volunteering for a drug test. They said the drugs weren't theirs. It was this crazy mess."

West Hollywood Sheriff's Department reports confirm that they responded to a...

Bryan Fuller, the man revamping The Munsters for a modern age, took to his Twitter to reveal the first image of star Eddie Izzard as Grandpa Munster for the upcoming Mockingbird Lane. Thanks to Shock Till You Drop, we have that image for you.

Starring Izzard, Kangaroo Jack’s Jerry O’Connell as Herman Munster, Mason Cook as Eddie Munster, and True Blood’s Mariana Klaveno as Lily Munster, the NBC show is one of the most highly anticipated and scrutinized new shows for the upcoming TV season. Bryan Singer (X-men, Superman) will direct the pilot.

Yesterday NBC had a busy day. Not only did they fill the morbid shoes of Hannibal, but they found themselves Herman Munster for the upcoming Munsters remake, Mockingbird Lane. That someone is Kangaroo Jack’s Jerry O’Connell, according to Deadline. He will join Eddie Izzard (as Grandpa) in the cast.

….

I wanted to give people time with that one. Jerry O’Connell, for those unfamiliar with him, began his career with a role in the classic Stand By Me, starred in Sliders and had supporting roles in Scream 2 and Jerry Maguire. Since then it hasn’t been pretty, unless you’re a big fan of Las Vegas. He did star in the original Piranha. Deadline describes the role of this new Herman Munster: “O’Connell will play family patriarch, the handsome and gangly Herman Munster, a great dad and devoted husband. He is married to Lily, a vampire,...

Alright everyone take a deep breath and have a seat because we are going to sit here and discuss the first trailer for The Great Gatsby. Are you comfortable? Good.

Pretty much everyone has read the book. If you haven't you really weren't paying attention in 10th grade English. You kids these days, with your music and texting! Anyway, read the book. It's great. It's got a lot of symbolism but it's not overwhelming. The whole thing makes you feel very smart and emotional and complex when you finish. That's a good thing.

And while it may not be your cup of tea, a lot of you have seen a Baz Luhrmann film. No, not Australia, don't be ridiculous. That movie was better the first time around when it was called Kangaroo Jack. No, I'm talking about Romeo + Juliet Or Moulin Rouge! which was basically Romeo + Juliet but gayer and French.

All hail VOD, the format giving new life to disreputable exploitation films. It was problematic to stock them on DVD shelves next to the likes of “Kangaroo Jack” and “The Chronicles of Riddick.” Now, the cheapest, tackiest, most base thrills are only a click away, allowing an opportunistic indie like “Bad Ass” its moment to shine, giving the perfect level of exposure to this grungy shlockfest with a built-in limited shelf life.

“Bad Ass,” a title that tries and fails to say it all, focuses on the exploits of Frank Vega, a quiet old man settling in Los Angeles and coping with his days winding down. A Vietnam vet who, at this point, has lost everything, he lives in the house vacated by his late mother with an old war buddy named Klondike, both just thankful they still have two legs to stand on. What makes Vega something of a...

Russell Brand is in talks for another spooky project, after his failed attempt to get Rentaghost onto the big screen. The actor is in talks to play the lead role that is described as being somewhere in-between Willy Wonka and Beetlejuice. Paramount Studios is backing the project with Brand’s character helping a family adjusting to life in a new town; the project is still in need of a director. Reports suggest that writer Scott Rosenburg who was involved with High Fidelity, Con Air and err.. Kangaroo Jack sold the idea back in October. Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes team which focuses on horror projects is set to have a role in the proposed project. In the meantime Brand is set to appear in Rock of Ages as well as co-starring with Octavia Spencer and Julianne Hough in Diablo Cody’s directorial debut which is yet to have a title attached.

[1] Even as Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman's Lovelace loses one star with the exit [2] of Demi Moore, it's gained another as Chloë Sevigny boards the cast. Sevigny will play a feminist journalist working on a piece about Deep Throat star Linda Lovelace (Amanda Seyfried) for a men's magazine. She joins a sprawling ensemble cast that also includes Peter Sarsgaard, Hank Azaria, Adam Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Chris Noth, Sharon Stone, Juno Temple, Debi Mazar, Wes Bentley, Romeo Brown, Robert Patrick, and Eric Roberts. A replacement is being sought for Moore, who was set for a small role as feminist icon Gloria Steinem. The drama chronicles the life of the adult film actress, who gained worldwide fame in the '70s before quitting her career and joining the anti-pornography movement in the '80s. Shooting on the film is currently underway in Los Angeles, though no release date has been announced at this time.

Russell Brand has a thing for spirits. And no, not the kind he used to have a thing for... We mean ghosts. After his unsuccessful attempt to resurrect Rentaghost (which since moved on to waft around Ben Stiller), he’s now switched to a new spooky project, jumping aboard The Hauntrepreneur for Paramount. If this one makes it to the screen with Brand still attached, he’ll play the titular weirdo, who helps a family adjust to a new town (and settle their differences) by creating a haunted house filled with unusual characters. Sounds a little like Beetlejuice crossed with Willy Wonka.Con Air / High Fidelity scribe Scott Rosenberg, who last dabbled in out-and-out comedy with (shudder) Kangaroo Jack, sold the idea to the studio as a spec script in October. Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes team, which usually specialises in pure horror, is on board to help shepherd it.

January's long been considered a dumping ground for weak film releases, as studios avoid the award season, figuring it hopeless, and don't want to focus on the film during more important box office periods like summer. This is where you get your Season of the Witch, your spit-out-by-a-computer RomComs like Bride Wars and dreadfully inane "family fare" like Kangaroo Jack or Are We There Yet? (Answer: No.) Really, who can forget the highly awaited Highlander 3: The Final Dimension (1995) and Big Momma's House 2 (2006)?  And generally, when a once-anticipated high profile film gets held until January (see: The Lovely Bones), it's often not a good sign. But quite a few very good films have found themselves popping up in theaters in January, too, due to a...

Read More...

Let’s face it. We can’t hide it. We all have those movies that we like that others would shun. These are guilty pleasures: the ones that aren’t that great but we love for some reason or another. Here are mine. Be sure to list yours in the comments, if you’d like.

Last Action Hero (1993)

Rotten Tomatoes: 38%

Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austin O’Brien, F. Murray Abraham, Art Carney, Charles Dance

Director: John McTiernan/Writers: Shane Black and David Arnott

Here’s the thing: I will defend this movie’s concept till Doomsday. A movie about a kid with a magic ticket that gets pulled into an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie? Genius concept. Yes, the kid is annoying. Yes, the movie doesn’t reach the heights of a McTiernan/Black team-up as well as one might think. It’s interesting to note that McTiernan isn’t working as much...

Thought no one actually saw Madea's Big Happy Family? Guess again. Tyler Perry's sassy drag-grandma has apparently made him the highest paid man in the entertainment world, at least for the year ending May 2011.  That's right: Perry is making more money than Steven Spielberg, James Patterson, and if you can believe it, Dr. Phil. Thanks to the combined successes of five movies and two TBS sitcoms, Perry earned $130 million between May 2010 and May 2011. That haul puts him a full $17 million above number-two seed Jerry Bruckheimer, whom you may know as the man behind the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, CSI, and, most famously, Kangaroo Jack. Leonardo DiCaprio is the only actor to make the top ten, because he happened to star in two super-lucrative films that year (Inception and Shutter Island). Also on the list, surprisingly, is Tiger Woods, who despite having a complete and total [...]...

"Hell No! H20!" That's the unexpectedly avant garde rallying cry of Maria Bello's maître d' in the ambitiously populist and envisionating 2000 film, Coyote Ugly, a film that reminds us of a time not too long ago before effete and obscure auteurs began hiding behind their CGI gimcrackery and dialog-ridden scripts steeped in superhero fantasy. Coyote Ugly reintroduces the idea of cinema as it was originally conceived -- as a way to appeal to and enrich every viewer's eye-born aesthetic instinct -- before a concentration on nature, physiognomy, and elitist sophistication forced the medium to explode upon itself. Bello's character, Lil, may as well have been spraying aqua pura on the fiery remains of a dying art form, breathing one last gasp into the medium before the eraironic of fake populism besotted us with the fitful gags and digital playthings of directors like Christopher Nolan. Indeed, Coyote Ugly was a...

The National Enquirer — also known “the Marc Summers of journalism” – has this thing they do where they postulate who is and who isn’t gay??? Very cool way to talk about people, National Enquirer. A look at past covers proves that the wide array of “stars” whose sexualities are questioned is either fairly obvious (Anderson Cooper, Queen Latifah), puzzling (Susan Boyle and Prince Charles, both of whom are Just From Europe, Guys), and f’ing bonkers (Vanna White, Dustin Hoffman, and “John Ritter’s widow, Amy Yasbeck”). To be honest, it would be awesome to live in a world where a Pride Parade was lead by — Lolol — Vanna White and Amy Yasbeck. Who? What? Is this real life, National Enquirer??? Well, yes, apparently it is, considering the issue’s newest cover features Wynonna Judd dressed like a leather daddy and the kid from Who’s The Boss wearing a lady...

Hugh Jackman has paid tribute to his Australia co-star David Ngoombujarra, who passed away over the weekend, aged 44.

The aboriginal actor, born David Bernard Starr, was found in a park in Fremantle, western Australia, on Sunday, before being pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Police are now waiting for toxicology reports in a bid to determine the cause of death, but representatives insist they are not treating it as suspicious.

Jackman has rushed to pay tribute to his pal, who he worked with on Baz Luhrmann's 2008 epic, writing in a post on Twitter.com, "So saddened to hear about the passing of David Ngoombujarra Starr. An extraordinary man, actor and friend. His laugh, warmth and humanity will live on with all who knew him."

Ngoombujarra was one of Australia's most famous indigenous actors, winning a number of Australian Film Institute (AFI) awards throughout his career and appearing in movies such as Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles with Paul Hogan, Ned Kelly opposite Heath Ledger and 2003's Kangaroo Jack with Jerry O'Connell and Christopher Walken.

Cliché: a phrase, expression, or idea that has been overused to the point of losing its intended force or novelty, especially when at some time it was considered distinctively forceful or novel.

With Hollywood producing so many movies ever year, it is no surprise that they are often full of clichés. Jeff Smith created this montage under the Bottoms Up Productions label for acclaimed movie blog FilmDrunk.com, showing clips of some of the biggest movie clichés from a total of 102 films. The list of films are below the video. Enjoy!

“You Just Don’t Get It, Do You?” – A Montage of Cinema’s Worst Writing Cliche from Jeff Smith on Vimeo.

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0:00 – 2:00

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1. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

2. Breaking and Entering (2006)

3. Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007)

4. Annapolis (2006)

5. Daylight (1996)

6. Platoon (1986)

7. The Invincible Iron Man (2007)

8. Tooth Fairy (2010)

9. Hud (1963)

10. The General’s Daughter (1999)

11. Clockers (1995)

12. The Karate Kid, Part III (1989)

13. I Sell the Dead...

Estella Warren is facing four misdemeanor charges for her May 23 arrest. The former Victoria's Secret model has been charged with DUI, hit-and-run, battery on a police officer and resisting arrest. The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office filed the charges on Thursday, June 9, more than a week after it was unraveled that she won't be charged with felony escape because of technicality.

The "Planet of the Apes" actress is scheduled for arraignment for the four misdemeanors on June 17, but she is not required to attend the hearing. If she is convicted on all charges, the 32-year-old faces up to two and a half years in jail.

Estella got herself in a trouble with the law on late May 23. She was arrested under suspicion of DUI after allegedly hitting three parked cars and driving away. When the police got to her, she resisted arrest and even kicked an officer. During the booking process in a police station,...

Estella Warren made headlines less than a week ago when she tried to escape police custody after being arrested for driving under the influence. Law enforcement sources, however, have just informed TMZ that police won't pursue felony escape charge against the "Planet of the Apes" actress because of a major technicality.

Accordingly, the former Victoria's Secret model had not yet been booked at the time she slipped out of her handcuffs and attempted to flee a Los Angeles police station. That means she technically did not commit felony escape. Though avoiding the felony escape charge, she is still facing charges for assault, hit and run and DUI.

Estella got herself in a trouble with the law late Monday night, May 23. She was arrested under suspicion of DUI after allegedly hitting three parked cars and driving away. When the police got to her, she resisted arrest and even kicked an officer.

Estella Warren has gotten herself in a heap of trouble with the law. The former Victoria's Secret model was arrested in Los Angeles on late Monday night, May 23, under suspicion of driving under the influence after allegedly crashing her Toyota Prius into three parked cars and driving away from the scene.

A representative for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department confirmed the car crash incident to People Magazine. "Warren hit three parked cars in what was considered three separate collisions. Someone local heard the noise and called the police," explained the rep. When the police got to her, the 32-year-old resisted arrest and even kicked an officer, which led to her being re-arrested for felony battery.

The "Planet of the Apes" actress was then taken to a local women's police station for processing. During the booking process, however, she somehow managed to get out of her handcuffs and escaped through a back door.

Director/producer Michael Bay (Transformers movies) will give families a fright with his upcoming movie for Paramount, The Hauntrepreneur. The story is about a recently relocated family who has difficulty fitting in with their new town so they hire a peculiar man to help them. He turns their home into a haunted house with some equally peculiar ghosts. The script comes from Scott Rosenberg (Con Air, Kangaroo Jack). Bay's Platinum Dunes production company is making thethe movie as they are another spooky family film based on the Ouija board for Universal.

Source: HeatVision...

“It’s ridiculous! it just came out of nowhere. I’m talking to my agent and she goes, ‘How about Superman?’ ‘What?’ The idea that I would ever be in Superman. ‘Are you serious?’”

This is Boardwalk Empire star Michael Shannon commenting about his recent casting in the upcoming Man of Steel film as General Zod in Zack Snyder’s new Superman film. The actor made these and other remarks recently at the RiverRun International Film Festival. He did not reveal the capacity of how we will find Zod in the story, but just how excited and gracious he was to play the character and that he hasn’t even read a script yet.

“So I go meet him [Zack Snyder] and he’s seriously sitting there and he’s telling me – he’s like ‘You can’t read the script, so I’m just gonna tell you what happens.’ And he...