Bobby Steals Tom's Thunder

by Ted Casablanca

Plenty of protesters outside the Tropic Thunder premiere in Westwood, imploring onlookers to “ban the movie, ban the word!” So boring, but look, the word they were referring to was the r-word (as in retarded), which is spoken in the combat comedy and acted out by Ben Stiller’s character in a flick within a flick. The dude’s desperate for some Oscar gold and thinks pulling a Forrest Gump is the way to go. Thunder’s troops built up bushes and played loud music so the protesters couldn’t be seen or heard by the press or their stars’ pretty ears and eyes. It was, let's be honest here, really retarded.

Career-challenged Tom Cruise was playing nice with Katie on the carpet, once the duo showed up at the last possible mo. But get this: The Cruisers were as subdued as they get—posing for pics and handing out handshakes in the fan section, ‘course. But there was none of that Batman Begins BS they’ve been pulling for the last two years, milking every flash that goes off no matter how uninvolved in the movie they actually are. T.C. finally caught on that he’s just a cameo, not the bright, shining star of the whole he-bang, and kept his hysterics in check. Best sign of a comeback we've seen so far—forget the fab word he’s getting for T2. Read more >>