At The Movies

Gamer
Set in the near future, a time when mind control technology has taken society by storm. Humans control other humans in a mass scale, multiplayer online game. Reclusive billionaire Ken Castle has created the controversial form of entertainment, Slayers, a hugely popular game that allows millions to act out their innermost desires and fantasies, online, in front of a global audience. Gaming has evolved into a terrifying new dimension mind control manipulation people playing people. At the center is Kable (Gerard Butler), the superstar and cult hero of Slayers, the savage, ultra violent first person shooter game. Kable is controlled by Simon, a young gamer with rock star status who continues to defy all odds by guiding Kable to victory each week. Taken from his family, imprisoned and forced to fight against his will, the modern day gladiator must survive long enough to escape the game to free his family, regain his identity and to save mankind from Castle's ruthless technology.

On DVD

Sugar
Miguel Santos (Algenis Perez Soto) is a gifted pitcher struggling to make it to the big leagues of American baseball and hopefully pull himself and his family out of poverty. Nicknamed Azucar (Spanish for sugar), 19 year old Miguel travels from his poor but tightly knit community in the Dominican Republic to play minor league baseball in the United States where anything is possible. He finds himself in a small Iowa town, where he struggles with the culture, the language, and the pressure of knowing that only his success can rescue his family.

The Buzz..

Hollywood knows: When in doubt turn to the sequel. Columbia Pictures has started work on Bad Boys 3, a proposed reunion of stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, plus director Michael Bay. While the last Bad Boys movie was released way back in 2003, Sylvester Stallone's long running action franchise resurfaced in 2008's Rambo.

Kristen Stewart is planning to bare all soon. Stewart, who plays the human teen in The Twilight Saga: New Moon's vampire werewolf love triangle, will strip in the independent film Welcome to the Rileys. Stewart will play a teen prostitute presumably hired by James Gandolfini's character, grieving during the death of his own child. Melissa Leo will co-star as Gandolfini's wife.

Audrina Patridge says she's about to become the latest cast member to run from MTV's The Hills. Patridge says she's "almost done" with the MTV show, which begins its new season on Sept. 29. "We're in the middle of finishing these episodes, and I'll be leaving then," she told Us Weekly over the weekend at a junket for her movie Sorority Row. "It feels like I'm graduating. I'm taking the next step and growing up and maturing and moving on in my life."

Walt Disney announced that it will acquire Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion, which would give ownership to over its more than 5,000 characters, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk and The X-Men. The acquisition will help Disney's appeal to young boys, a demographic that has been competitive with rivals Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. Disney already has the young girls' market covered with great success with the Disney Princesses line and Hannah Montana. Already, the Marvel movie machine has several projects in the works. Iron Man 2 is due to hit theaters in May 2010, while Spider-Man 4, Thor and the first Avengers movie are scheduled for the following years.

LeAnn Rimes and her husband are getting divorced. The 26 year old country singer made the announcement on her Web site Tuesday. In a message to her fans, Rimes wrote: "After much thoughtful mutual consideration, Dean and I have agreed to move forward with dissolving our marriage." Rimes and backup dancer Dean Sheremet were married in February 2002. Tabloid reports have linked Rimes with actor Eddie Cibrian, her co-star in the TV movie Northern Lights. Cibrian filed for divorce from his wife of eight years, Brandi, last week.

The Disney Channel's newest exercise in franchise building put up magical ratings numbers on Friday night. Wizards of Waverly Place the Movie premiered to 11.4 million viewers, making it the most watched cable telecast of 2009. It's also the No. 2 Disney Channel movie ever in terms of total viewers, behind only 2007's High School Musical 2.

Steven Spielberg collaborated with the late Michael Crichton with Jurassic Park and the TV series E.R. and it looks as if Spielberg will be taking on another Crichton project. Spielberg will produce and possibly direct Crichton's forthcoming book Pirate Latitudes. Pirate Latitudes takes place in 1665 and tells of a plan to infiltrate Port Royal, one of the world's richest and most notorious cities, and raid a Spanish galleon filled with treasure. HarperCollins will publish the novel, which Crichton's assistant found in a completed manuscript after his death, on November 24.

Foo Fighters will release their first ever greatest hits collection on November 3rd. The brilliantly titled Foo Fighters Greatest Hits will include selections from all six of the band's studio album, plus two new tracks. The Foos debuted one of the new tracks, Wheels, over the July 4th weekend at a Washington, D.C. event honoring military heroes. Both Wheels and the other new song, Word Forward, were produced by Butch Vig. An entire track listing for Foo Fighters Greatest Hits has not yet been revealed but it's clear that The Pretender, Times Like These, My Hero and Best of You have all made the cut.

The late Kurt Cobain is as playable character in the new Guitar Hero 5. Smells Like Teen Spirit and a live version of Lithium appear in the game.

Miley Cyrus went to Millions of Milkshakes in Hollywood to make their own custom treats. The Hannah Montana star actually has her own shake named after her at the shop called ‘The Miley Shake.’ It features cookie dough ice cream, peanut butter cups and whipped cream.

Eminem was never a part of Def Jam Records, but the rapper is going to be part of the celebration when the legendary label is honored by VH1. Eminem will join Mary J. Blige, DMX, Public Enemy, Kid Rock, the Roots and more when the label is feted at the network's sixth annual Hip Hop Honors. Def Jam is celebrating 25 years. It is one of the most influential forces in rap. Among the hip-hop legends who were on the label include LL Cool J, Jay-Z and Slick Rick. VH1's Hip Hop Honors will air on the network Oct. 13.

Is it a book? Is it a movie? Is it a website? Actually it's all three. Anthony Zuiker, creator of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation U.S. television series, is releasing what he calls a digi-novel combining all three media, and giving a jolt to traditional book publishing. Zuiker has created Level 26, a crime novel that also invites readers to log on to a website about every 20 pages using a special code to watch a cyber-bridge, a three-minute film clip tied to the story. Starting Tuesday, readers can buy the book, visit the website, log in to watch the cyber-bridges, read, discuss and contribute to the story.

There's been a change at the helm of Fox's top animated comedy, Family Guy. Series veterans Steve Callaghan and Mark Hentemann have signed separate three year deals with the show's producer, 20th Century Fox TV. Under the lucrative seven figure pacts, the two have been promoted to executive producers and named showrunners. Former showrunners David Goodman and Chris Sheridan will remain on the show as executive producers alongside Callaghan, Hentemann, creator Seth MacFarlane and Danny Smith.

Jerry Springer is coming back in the America's Got Talent fold this time hosting a live version of the TV talent contest in Las Vegas. Springer, who served as host of America's Got Talent for two seasons on NBC, will emcee the Las Vegas show at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino starting in October. It will run for at least 10 weeks. Springer left the TV series to appear on stage in the musical Chicago. His Broadway stint as flashy lawyer Billy Flynn wraps Sunday.