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Review: Brad Pitt and A German Shepherd Make Survivalist Movie “Heart of the Beast” a Triumph, Brad’s Best Pairing in Years

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Brad Pitt has really gone to the dogs.

In “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Brad’s Cliff Booth’s pit bull terrier, Brandy, turns out to be his secret weapon when the Manson family comes calling. Brandy didn’t get enough credit, I feel.

Now, in the heart stopping “Heart of the Beast,” Brad is partnered with a German Shepherd he brought home from war. His name is Odin, and if he’s not nominated for Best Supporting Actor something is terribly wrong. (There are actually four dogs who play Odin, and they should all be applauded.)

David Ayer directed this survivalist movie, and it’s a triumph — exciting, gorgeously shot, a real entertainment.

“Heart of the Beast” is really a two hander, or a four-pawer. Pitt’s James, a former Green Beret, crashes his plane in the Alaska wilderness.. His companion is Odin, who’s seen his own combat horrors and now sports one prosthetic leg. The two are devoted to each other, and always have their guard up. They’ll need it.

Once the plane is destroyed, and the two have survived nearly drowning in a wild down river scene, the plan is to travel on foot for fifty eight miles — calculated by James on a paper map, with a compass — to the only sign of civilization. It’s going to be a brutal trip, but the pair seem up to it even when you think it’s impossible.

The only person they meet along the way is JK Simmons, a fellow traveler with a great beard, whose presence is really so we can get a little bit of James’s history. As much as I expected Odin to start talking at any moment, the Simmons character is necessary to flesh out a little back story.

David Ayer, who directed Brad in “Fury,” and Oscar winning cinematographer Marco Fiore work from an unexpected script by Cameron Alexander with passion and detail. The whole time you’re watching James and Odin survive one battle after another. you’re thinking, they’ll be alright, this is a movie, there’s a crew we don’t see. On the other hand, they’re really filming the wild world of nature, there’s no faking it. The elements are not contrived.

Brad Pitt has his Oscar, and a bunch of hits like “Fury” and “F1.” He’s got his Cliff Booth movie coming at Thanksgiving. At 60 he didn’t have to put himself through such physical punishment. And even with stunt doubles, “Heart of the Beast” is no cake walk. But he gives James soulful eyes and a weary resignation that James could be on his last adventure, and you can’t help but be on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

A total winner.

Taylor Swift Announces New Single “Patient Zero,” Dropping Thursday Night, Will Debut Sunday on MTV Video Music Awards

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UPDATE: Taylor’s dropping a new single, “Patient Zero,” Thursday at midnight. She will most likely play it on the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night. An album will follow before the end of the year.

This is only Taylor’s second song this year, after “I Knew You” from “Toy Story 5.”

To goose things up, you can buy a collectible version of the CD single on her website for the next 24 hours.

I, however, am preparing for U2’s new single, “Silencio.”

Taylor Swift has put up a countdown clock on her website.

Something’s happening at 2pm.

A new album? A movie? A baby? A deal for something in her business?

Is she buying Universal Music? Taking over Greenland?

The waiting, to not quote Tom Petty, is the easiest part.

Rocky A$AP: Sylvester Stallone Wants Oscars for Biopic, So He’s Distancing Himself from Trump “Ambassadorship” After Getting Kennedy Center Honor

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You know there’s a new film coming called “I Play Rocky.”

It’s the narrative version of how Sylvester Stallone created the Rocky movie and character. Everyone who’s seen it, loves it. In Toronto the film was a runner up for most popular.

So Stallone, who knows a good thing when he sees one, fantasizes getting on that Oscar stage after shout outs from the director. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”

The result is that Stallone is now publicly distancing himself from Donald Trump pronto. Call him Rocky ASAP. He’s taking a page from Trump’s Epstein playbook. “Donald Trump? Never met him.”

When Trump came into office, he named Stallone of his three Hollywood ambassadors along with Mel Gibson and Jon Voight. Stallone accepted the title. Not only that, he happily received his Kennedy Center honor last year from Trump when no other star would get near it.

What’s Stallone saying now? He told the Sunday Times of London this past weekend that he had no idea Trump would make him an ambassador, and rejects the idea. LOL.

Stallone says he told Trump the role was “impossible” because Hollywood functions like independent “feudal states” where giving orders does not work. He added that he would have refused the title if asked beforehand.

“Well, it just happened,” the Oscar nominee said. “I was watching TV one night and they go, ‘So Stallone and Mel Gibson and Jon Voight will be …’ And I went, ‘What?’ I said, ‘Excuse me? Really?’ Because if they had asked me in the beginning, I would have said, this is not possible.”

He says he told Trump: “it won’t work.”

“I said thank you and ciao, because it’s impossible. Hollywood works, and it will evolve. It’s corporate and corporate people won’t want to hear me tell them about finance.”

Well, even Hollywood has a long memory. And they won’t forget the antisemitic drawings Stallone published when he accused “Rocky” producer Irwin Winkler of not giving him the rights to the movie franchise Winkler made possible.

Back in January 2025, Trump wrote this on Truth Social. Then Stallone got his Kennedy Center Award, and never said a word about not accepting the “ambassadorship.”

“It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California. They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE! These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!”

Drake “FOMO,” Hour Long Video Features His Mom and Friends, His Interpretive Dancing, Pretty Girls, Limo Life, Gets 4.5 Mil Views

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The stars of Drake’s hour long video aren’t the pretty girls, or jet set lifestyle, or even Drake’s opening interpretive dance number.

No, the main attraction is a segment featuring his petite blonde mom Sandy, smoking, and her two girlfriends hanging out and having drinks, getting manicures, shopping at Chanel, and even riding in the back of one of the many limos. Drake loves them, and they are certainly a welcome relief in an otherwise plotless film. I wish we’d spent more time with them. I have a lot of questions, such as how they like the opening song that features the line, “I’ll smack that ass until I leave a print.”

“FOMO” has 4.5 million views on YouTube. On the Apple streaming chart, he’s lodged around 15 tracks, a similar number to the songs in the video (21, thanks to the commenter). But on iTunes, just three songs. The “FOMO” credits are a must read, mostly for all the samples.

It’s Drake’s world, and we just live in it. All of this takes place in Canada, but so far no tariffs are involved.

PS I wish “SNL” could do parody of this. Maybe Kenan Thompson could be Drake, and Sarah Sherman his mother. This is really where we needed Chloe Fineman.

The Mystery of Ella Langley’s Hit “Choosin’ Texas”: It Sure Sounds a Lot Like Albert Hammond’s “It Never Rains in Southern California”

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Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” has set records this year for being at the top of the charts. But doesn’t it sound familiar? It reminded me of Albert Hammond’s 1972 hit, “It Never Rains in Southern California.” Hammond has been in situations like this before. Radiohead’s “Creep” is based on his “The Air That I Breathe” that he wrote for the Hollies. So I called him up and asked him to take a listen. He did, and Hammond says Langley’s song does sound a lot like his — only his is better. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? I sort of stuck them together. But if you can make a mashup of the two hits, send it along to showbiz411@gmail.com.

Trump TV Debuts on YouTube: After 2 Hours, Around 3400 People Are Watching, Down 50% From Opening, Content Nothing But Old Speeches

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Trump TV is here.

No one cares.

The YouTube channel much ballyhooed by the self important resident of the White House debuted at 7pm with about 7,000 people watching.

By 9pm, the number is around 3,500, or a 50% drop in two hours.

The content seems to be old speeches, no breaking news and not even some good crazy shit like Trump posts on TruthSocial.com.

Trump TV looks like it will be as successful as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s road trip series. That show registered 33,000 views since it debuted a month ago. The final episode sits at 8,900. More American people are vomiting right now.

By the way, Trump is a 34 time convicted felon. His name appears in the Epstein files 40,000 times. The price of heating fuel is over $6 a gallon. Gas is $5. The Iran war continues with no end in sight. Trump has made $2 billion since he became president.

Miley Cyrus Jumped from Columbia to Atlantic Records to Save Her Career, But New “Bass Persuades” Album Hasn’t Persuaded Anyone to Buy It

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Well, it’s not like she wasn’t warned.

Miley Cyrus jumped from Columbia Records, where she’d been under the corporate umbrella — RCA records originally — for her whole career.

Thinking the relationship was worn out, Miley made a big deal of going to Atlantic Records — just as Ed Sheeran was leaving after his whole career.

Atlantic was an odd choice. They are not prospering. It wasn’t like she went to Republic or anywhere at Universal Music.

So now we have her “Bass Persuades” album on Atlantic. It’s a dance record, it’s beautifully produced, and there’s no reason why tracks like “Let’s Get Married” or “REDLIGHTS” aren’t hits out of the box. For me to say I’m impressed by the production, you know it’s good.

Alas, the album is a non starter. The bass hasn’t persuaded anyone. Hitsdailydouble.com is now predicting first week sales of 40-45,000 copies. In other words, the album is dead.

This has to be a tremendous disappointment to Miley and her team, who worked hard making this record. But they did nothing to market it. First there was the story I reported that she was set to do the cover of Vanity Fair but backed out at the last minute.

Then, you have the release this week. There’s no sign of her anywhere on TV — no Kimmel or Fallon, no Today or GMA, no CBS Sunday morning. No MTV VMAs this weekend. She’s playing the Hollywood Bowl on October 16th end 18th, which is cool but the album will be long gone by then.

Is it Atlantic’s fault? Or are we seeing a management issue? This is exactly what happened with her last album, on Columbia. She’s the common denominator. But after 20 years in showbiz, and 10 albums, my guess is no one can tell her anything. What a shame. This was a blown opportunity.

Watch: Brad Pitt Brings Back His Oscar Winning Cliff Booth Character from Tarantino Movie to Sequel “Further Mis-adventures” from David Fincher

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“Rick got too fat for me to double for him anymore.”

That’s stunt man Cliff Booth, aka Brad Pitt, explaining how he wound up in “The Further Mis-adventures of Cliff Booth.”

David Fincher directs the sequel to “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood,” coming at Christmas. Brad won the Oscar for “Once Upon a Time.” Could get a nomination here? Very possibly.

The Rick he refers to is Leonardo DiCaprio, who is not in this film. Nice inside joke.

To say this looks good is an understatement. Brad Pitt is going to hava great fall season. His “Heart of the Beast” is a winner, also.

Taylor Swift Making MTV History This Sunday with Her 31st Prize from Group — Most Ever — Inaugural VMA Directors Award: New Album Coming?

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News source for this story: Kelce brothers Instagram account.

My addition: Taylor doesn’t do anything without a purpose. Will she announce a new album? Drop a video she directed? News about a movie she’s directing? Something is ‘up.’

The announcement:

Taylor will receive the inaugural MTV VMA Artist Director Honors, a new award recognizing music artists whose directorial work has expanded the possibilities of music video and advanced visual storytelling.

From The Man and cardigan to All Too Well: The Short Film, Anti-Hero, Fortnight and The Fate of Ophelia, Taylor has transformed her songs into cinematic worlds filled with symbolism, emotion and details fans love uncovering.

She enters this year’s VMAs with 30 career wins and nine nominations. According to the Associated Press, this new honor will bring her total to 31, making her the most-awarded artist in VMA history!

The 2026 MTV VMAs air live Sunday, September 27, at 7:30 p.m. ET on CBS and MTV, with streaming on Paramount+ Premium.

A fitting honor for an artist who doesn’t just write the story. She brings every detail of it to life.

Which Taylor-directed music video is your favorite?

Saudi Arabia’s Controversial Red Sea Festival Cancels 2026 Hollywood Get Together, Aims for Late 2027 If At All Because of You Know, War

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The Red Sea Film Festival has finally caught up with reality.

The Saudi Arabian Hollywood rat-f*ck has cancelled its December 2026 pile on. They say they’ll come back in some form in 2027.

Red Sea is (kinda) acknowledging war in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia’s problems with Iran. It’s unclear if they made the decision, or no Hollywood A listers were willing to eat caviar while missiles flew by the press tent.

For the last several years the Hollywood crowd has embarrassed itself accepting trips and gifts from Red Sea while the Saudi government discriminates against women, gays, Jews, and journalists. (See Jamal Khashoggi.)

Red Sea has also made heavy sponsorship investments with other festivals, including Cannes. The know how to spread the money around.

Luckily now we won’t have to see the cast of “The Odyssey” and other 2026 hits trooping through the sand and ignoring human rights. And forget about the whole debacle with comedians who went to Jeddah a couple of years ago. All the jokes are over.