Blog Posts by Meriah Doty

The ultra cute China Girl is played by Joey King in 'Oz the Great and Powerful' (Photo: Walt Disney/Getty)Imagine you're sauntering down the yellow brick road and you run into a tiny, helpless, young doe-eyed girl -- made of china pieces, mind you -- who desperately needs your help. And she's freaking adorable.

Director Sam Raimi, Disney animators and, 13-year-old actress Joey King worked in symphony to create perhaps the cutest little 3D animated character that movie-going audiences have seen. And Finley, an expressive, funny flying monkey, played by Zach Braff, steals almost as much attention.

"They were there for every scene," James Franco told Yahoo! Movies during a recent interview, explaining that King and Braff were much more involved behind the scenes than one might assume. "I would even do takes opposite the other actors," the leading man of "Oz" added.

Do these stars lack love for their former 'Dazed and Confused' days? (Photo: Getty Images/WireImage)Yes, it's true, all you former little freshman piggies: Cult high school party flick "Dazed and Confused" is nearly 20 years young.

Many of the cast members celebrated the occasion in Austin, Texas, this week during a special screening of the now classic 1993 film about teens carousing about town, drinking beer, making out, and listening to those sweet sweet '70s jams.

But some key players were missing, one of whom just brought home an Oscar.

Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey, Milla Jovovich, Jason London, and Parker Posey were not there for the roll call -- nor was Adam Goldberg.

(Photo: Everett Collection, inset is AP)Kentucky Republican Rand Paul spoke inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday for nearly 13 hours, making his speech (surprisingly) the ninth-longest in the Senate's history. The reason Paul stopped? He had to go to the bathroom.

But before Paul, there was Thurmond. The late Strom Thurmond filibustered his way to the Senate's all-time record when he protested the 1957 Civil Rights Act for 24 hours and 18 minutes.

The following is Yahoo! Movies' review of the best political speeches on film, inspired by Sen. Paul's recent time-limited tenacity:

Jimmy Stewart filibusters so hard he faints in 1939's "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."

Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford in 1977's 'Star Wars' (Photo: Everett Collection)The cat keeps creeping out of the "Star Wars" bag when it comes to the reports that original cast members Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher will reprise their roles from the classic sci-fi film.

The latest evidence: George Lucas has opened his big mouth.

Lucas all but confirmed that the actors who originally played Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia will reclaim their famed characters in "Star Wars: Episode VII." "We had already signed Mark and Carrie and Harrison -- or we were pretty much in final stages of negotiation. So I called them to say, 'Look, this is what's going on,'" Lucas (accidentally?) told Bloomberg Businessweek.

April O'Neil from 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' and Megan Fox (Photo: TMNT/Getty Images)Now that Michael Bay and Megan Fox have made nice, someone had to come out of the woodwork and hate on the 26-year-old actress and new mom.

Enter "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" co-creator Peter Laird.

This McQueen Fall '11 gown, left, looks a lot like Katniss' 'Catching Fire' couture (Getty Images/Lionsgate)Katniss Everdeen has come a long way from her humble beginnings as the girl from District 12 who shot down her meals with a bow and arrow.

For "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," freshly-minted Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence is looking decidedly haute couture as Katniss, in a gown that some have compared to an Alexander McQueen design.

And why wouldn't we draw the comparison? Effie Trinket, played by Elizabeth Banks, already debuted her Capitol Couture portrait in a definitive McQueen design (see below).

Mila KunisA lot can happen in the few minutes media outlets are allowed with actors at crowded movie press junkets. During a recent interview with Mila Kunis, one intrepid British radio reporter may have proven that you can get a lot more out of a star if you simply entertain them.

Chris Stark, who was on assignment for the Scott Mills radio show, went way off script when he interviewed Kunis during a press day for "Oz the Great and Powerful" -- asking her to be his date to a June wedding, listing out his mates' odd nicknames, asking her if she ever "drops trou," and regaling her with drinking stories from his local Watford pub.

Kunis, who said she was "deathly ill" that day, couldn't have been more pleased with the unexpected distraction and, surprisingly, revealed a lot about herself to him -- including the fact that she used to bartend. (When did Kunis, who has been acting regularly since she was a kid, have time for that?)

Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin in 'Iron Man 3' (Photo: Marvel Studios)
In the comic books, Iron Man archenemy the Mandarin is Chinese. And when Ben Kingsley -- who decidedly doesn't fit that racial profile -- was cast in the villainous role for “Iron Man 3,” there was naturally concern over how the character would be portrayed and whether it would be offensive.

So we went straight to the movie masterminds to get the inside information on the Mandarin.