Tropic Thunder

Often film sequels are slam dunks at the box office, a seamless continuation from where a previous hit left off. But as the new installment of the 15-year-old franchise "Men in Black" proves, getting to the big screen isn't always a cakewalk. One of the most troubled productions in recent Hollywood memory, Sony Pictures' latest movie in the Will Smith-Tommy Lee Jones sci-fi-comedy franchise encountered multiple script rewrites, a discontented star and a three-month production shutdown as writers and studio executives scrambled to fix a project that nearly fell apart . By the time it was over, the studio had run up a tab of nearly $250 million - making "Men in Black 3" one of the most expensive releases of the summer.

The MTV Movie Awards are typically an exercise in frothy Hollywood film promotion but on Sunday night they were a ritual of redemption for two of Hollywood's biggest stars, Tom Cruise and Sandra Bullock. The show was jammed pack with popcorn commercials but if you paid attention there were also surprisingly emotional moments, none more than the 21 Century survivor declarations by the stars of "Top Gun" and "Speed." Cruise opened the show in the hairy-chested, Tinseltown mercenary persona of Les Grosssman from "Tropic Thunder" and by channeling his inner Fly Girl with his dance moves.

Hollywood's 18-week summer season ends this weekend with two new flicks in the fight for No. 1 at the box office: "Disaster Movie" and a movie that critics -- and even the director -- call a disaster of a movie, the sci-fi thriller "Babylon A.D." Both are tracking to open at $10 million to $13 million through Labor Day. They will tussle for the top spot with DreamWorks/Paramount's action comedy "Tropic Thunder," which could win a third straight weekend thanks to the soft competition.

Contrasting TV news personalities Bill O'Reilly and Christiane Amanpour don't see eye to eye on much, but they stand united in agreeing it was worth their time to make cameo appearances in the sequel to the mega-successful " Iron Man." Such is the persuasive power of a film that took in more than half a billion dollars at box offices worldwide. Once a film makes that much money, it is only a matter of time until the sequel, prudently titled "Iron Man 2," arrives and that time is now. As sequels go, this one is acceptable, nothing more, nothing less.

When Etan Cohen was working on the character of Kirk Lazarus, an actor played by Robert Downey Jr. in the upcoming comedy “Tropic Thunder,” he asked himself: What is the most offensive thing an actor can do to get a part? The answer was to have Lazarus, an Australian Method actor, try to become an African American character by undergoing a pigment procedure and then speaking street slang around the clock. "It seemed about the vilest thing you could do," Cohen said, laughing.

It's one of "Tropic Thunder's" most talked-about scenes and perhaps its most politically incorrect. In the new R-rated comedy, Oscar-winning actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) counsels flagging action star Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) on what it takes to win awards when playing a mentally disabled character. Speedman needs the advice because his recent turn as a farm boy in "Simple Jack" was a fiasco. "Never go full retard," Lazarus tells Speedman.

Opposites DO more than attract in Ben Stiller’s unapologetic R-rated comedy “Tropic Thunder” -- they loudly and defiantly collide. Simultaneously smart and dumb, mixing clever satire with way over-the-top raunch and unrelenting profanity, this equal opportunity offender risks running off some of the very people who might appreciate it the most. In his first turn at starring, directing and co-writing since 2001's memorable "Zoolander," Stiller has taken as his target all things Hollywood, including the perfidy of producers and agents, and the self-involvement of actors who say things like "I don't read the script; the script reads me."

Ben STILLER handed them out to cast and crew at the conclusion of a punishing 13-week location shoot as a gesture of thanks, but also contrition: T-shirts that read "I SURVIVED BEN STILLER'S COMEDY DEATH CAMP." Sitting at a bayside restaurant in Vancouver, where he's currently filming "Night at the Museum 2," Stiller -- who co-wrote, directed, co-produced and stars in the ensemble action-comedy "Tropic Thunder" -- waved it away as a joke, a riff on marquee star Robert Downey Jr.'

The R-rated comedy "Tropic Thunder" held on to the top box-office slot for the third weekend in a row, ending a summer popcorn movie season dominated by superheroes. The DreamWorks/Paramount action comedy, starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr., grossed an estimated $14.3 million over the long weekend, beating out 20th Century Fox's sci-fi thriller "Babylon A.D." and trouncing Lionsgate Films' comedy "Disaster Movie," which ranked No. 7 in weekend estimates. But the weekend's big winner may have been "Traitor," starring Don Cheadle as a suspected terrorist and Guy Pearce as an FBI agent, which posted the highest per-theater average among movies in wide release.

Steven Spielberg was reluctant about returning to Hawaii because the islands already served as a backdrop for his "Jurassic Park" series and "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Yet following a worldwide search, Hawaii was cast again. This time as a South American rain forest in the fourth installment of "Indiana Jones." "We've had a lot of success shooting in the Hawaiian Islands," said Kathleen Kennedy, executive producer of the still-untitled film.

SERIES American Idol: The 12 finalists perform songs from the Rolling Stones in this new episode (8 p.m. Fox). Justified: When he is reassigned to his Kentucky hometown, a gunslinging U.S. Marshal (Timothy Olyphant) confronts an old friend (Walton Goggins) in the premiere of this new series (10 p.m. FX). Life After People: This new episode considers how the White House, Monticello and Versailles would fare without their human caretakers (10 p.m. History)

Where you've seen him American audiences know Jay Baruchel for ensemble roles in such comedies as "Knocked Up" (2007), "Fanboys" (2008) and "Tropic Thunder" (2008); as the cad Tal in "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" (2008); and leads in TV's "Undeclared" and "Just Legal." He turned in a touching performance in Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" (2004) as Danger Barch, a kid who really shouldn't be boxing: "Clint Eastwood is the only man I've ever worked for, still, to this day, that, were my granddad still alive, he would have been impressed by. I've worked with awesome people but he would have no idea who Judd Apatow is. My granddad went off to Europe for four years and killed Nazis, so Eastwood's his man."

GEMMA ARTERTON ACTRESS Movie fans who enjoyed watching Gemma Arterton tart it up as the dishy Bond girl Strawberry Fields in "Quantum of Solace" last year will get a double serving of the actress in 2010. The 23-year-old stars as an ancient muse in Louis Leterrier's epic "Clash of the Titans" in March before teaming up with Jake Gyllenhaal to stop an evil ruler from destroying the world in May's "Prince of Persia." The British actress may have radiated a sultry vibe as the 007 vixen, but she'll be in full fight mode in these new roles.

In January, all of Hollywood wondered exactly how close "The Dark Knight" came to earning an Oscar nomination for best picture. Now we know the answer: It missed by 12 months. If the "The Dark Knight" had been released this summer instead of last, it would have been part of the new Academy Awards era that began Wednesday with the out-of-the-blue announcement that the best picture category at the Oscars will double in size to 10 films.

Focus Features "Milk" Fox Searchlight "The Wrestler" Miramax "Doubt" Overture Films "The Visitor" Paramount "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" "Tropic Thunder" Paramount Vantage "Revolutionary Road" Sony Pictures Classics "Frozen River" "Rachel Getting Married" Universal "Changeling" "Frost/Nixon" Weinstein Co. "The Reader" "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" -- Tom O'Neil ...

What does it say about racial politics in America that two days after the first African American president is inaugurated, Robert Downey Jr. is nominated for a supporting actor Oscar for essentially playing a part in blackface? Of course, the role in "Tropic Thunder" is comedic, a politically incorrect spoof on Method acting run amok. Downey plays an Australian actor so committed to the truth that he has his skin medically darkened so he can portray an African American commando.

Contrasting TV news personalities Bill O'Reilly and Christiane Amanpour don't see eye to eye on much, but they stand united in agreeing it was worth their time to make cameo appearances in the sequel to the mega-successful " Iron Man." Such is the persuasive power of a film that took in more than half a billion dollars at box offices worldwide. Once a film makes that much money, it is only a matter of time until the sequel, prudently titled "Iron Man 2," arrives and that time is now. As sequels go, this one is acceptable, nothing more, nothing less.

This has been a year filled with teachable political moments. Racism, sexism, ageism and "change" have been debated at kitchen tables and water coolers across America. But this last week, those gathered around my kitchen table have been consumed with another discussion, one that is not Democratic or Republican -- it's the "R-word" debate. The "R-word" stands for "retard." For the 6 million to 8 million Americans with intellectual disabilities and their families, this word and its hurtful use is equal to the impact of the "N-word" on an African American.

The Golden Globes' big winner, "Slumdog Millionaire," earned yet another nomination Monday morning for the 59th annual American Cinema Editors' Eddie Award. "Slumdog" editor Chris Dickens received a nomination in the best edited dramatic feature film category along with Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Lee Smith for "The Dark Knight," Mike Hill and Dan Hanley for "Frost/Nixon" and Elliot Graham for "Milk."

Here's a complete list of the nominees for the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.'s Golden Globes Awards, to be presented Jan. 11: Picture (drama) "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Film "Frost/Nixon" "The Reader" "Revolutionary Road" "Slumdog Millionaire" Picture (musical or comedy) "Burn After Reading" "Happy-Go-Lucky" "In Bruges" "Mamma Mia!"