I was going to start this post by talking about a super-boring new interview with Angelina Jolie. I’ll save it for the end of the post, though, because I like this tabloid story so much more. I should point something out – I’ve been reading the tabloids regularly for years now, and ever since Kate Middleton and Prince William became engaged, the tabs have been itching to do something about Kate and Angelina Jolie. There are constantly stories about Kate wanting to meet Angelina, and Angelina wanting to meet Kate, and Kate wanting to model her charity work on Angelina’s UNHCR work and stuff. Generally, I think those stories are crap. But I still enjoy them. Anyway, OK! Magazine claims that Kate is now modeling herself after Jolie, for better or for worse:

The Duchess of Cambridge has a serious girl-crush on Hollywood’s star Angelina Jolie and royal insiders are worried. From her weight loss to her humanitarian efforts, Kate Middleton is starting to resemble Brad Pitt’s lady love.

“Kate adores how Angelina’s always so graceful and elegant and makes everything look so effortless,” a friend tells OK!.

Weight Loss
In the run-up to her April 2011 wedding, then Kate Middleton shed 16 pounds from her 5-foot-10-inch frame with a diet-and- excercise routine. She liked what she saw. “Since then, she has cut down on food even more,” a close pal tells OK!. “Kate now has the build of a supermodel and can’t believe she’s giving her hero, Angelina, a run for her money on the red carpet.”

But palace insiders fret that Kate, who weighed 120 pounds at her wedding, may starve herself down to Angie’s size; the 5-foot-8 star is about 97 pounds. “Many friends think Kate looks too thin,” says the pal. “But she says she’s happy the way she is.”

Adoption
Heirs are supposed to produce… more heirs. But while Kate and Prince William hope for kids of their own, Kate’s pal notes, “She has always said how much she’d like to adopt a couple of kids, just like Angelina. She and Wills think it would be a really modern thing to do.”

Humanitarian Work
The duchess hopes to mimic both William’s late mother, Princess Diana, who was known for fighting AIDS and land mines, and U.N. goodwill Ambassador Angelina, who has visited myriad strife-torn regions. “Kate intends to show the world she’s a strong, independent woman — just like Angie,” her close friend tells OK!.

[From OK! Magazine]

You know how I know this is full of crap? Because of the adoption stuff. Kate would never. She and William wouldn’t be allowed to adopt. It would never even enter Kate’s mind. Although I suspect she’s not looking forward to gaining pregnancy weight, Kate knows her duty (to have babies), and she will fulfill her obligations.

Anyway, onto the new Angelina Jolie interview. It’s mostly about In the Land of Blood and Honey – you can read it here. Here are some of the more interesting quotes:

When Jolie first wrote the script…“Brad (Pitt) saw it and said, ‘It’s not that bad, honey, you might want to send it out and see what response you get.’ I said, ‘Well, I’m not doing it without the people from the country. If people from all sides agree to make it, then we’ll do it. If they don’t, we’ll burn it.’ ”

Learning on the job: “Every day I learned so much. I mean, everything,” says the Oscar-winning actress, laughing. “I had to understand the camera, shot lists – how to make a shot list. The first time I said, ‘Action,’ nobody could hear me because I wasn’t loud enough. How to do sound, color timing. Once the girls said, ‘We need more of a scene at the top of this section.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, we do …’ And then I realized, ‘Oh, I’m the writer! Give me a half an hour, I’ll try to come up with something.’ “

[Via ONTD]

In other Jolie news, a portion of the profits made from the soundtrack of ITLOFBAH (composed by Gabriel Yared) will be donated to SOS Children’s Villages, an organization that Angelina has been affiliated with for years. The money will be directed towards SOS Children’s Villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Jolie said, “We are happy that a portion of the proceeds from the film’s soundtrack will support SOS Children’s Villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina to provide stable, family-based homes to children, regardless of religion, ethnicity or gender, who do not have their own families to care for them.” Go here to read more, and here to donate to SOS Children’s Villages.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

What would it be like to be incredibly wealthy and have the time, energy and inclination to spend money on incredible gifts for your loved ones? For Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, the gifts don’t seem to include Elizabeth Taylor-level jewelry, which is disappointing. I would love it if Brad was always buying Angelina jewelry. Alas, I don’t think Brad’s big on that. But Angelina still gives Brad the perfect presents, the gifts that keep on giving, at least according to The Mail. Their sources claim that for Brad’s 48th birthday a few weeks ago, Angelina gave Brad a waterfall. Like, she bought a swath of property that included a waterfall, and now Brad wants to design a house for their family ON the waterfall.

Brad Pitt has completely fallen for his Christmas present from Angelina Jolie – a waterfall in California. The star now plans to take time out from his movie career to build an ambitious house over the falls near LA in the style of his favourite American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.

The actor celebrated his 48th birthday on December 18 with Angelina, 36, and their six children and Angie told him that the falls and surrounding land were his birthday and Christmas presents.

A thrilled Pitt is now planning to embark on an ambitious and exotic building project emulating the design of Lloyd Wright’s 1939 masterpiece Fallingwater, which was built in Pennsylvania on a similar piece of land. The pair visited the house in 2006.

‘Brad has always loved Fallingwater and his first trip there was unforgettable,’ says a friend. ‘Angelina wanted to get him something incredibly special and, because she knows how much he loves architecture, she thought this would be perfect. She hopes this will be a hideaway for the family. Brad has dreamed of a home with the sound of a waterfall cascading under the house.’

The couple recently sold their Malibu home to star Ellen DeGeneres.

‘Brad has always wanted to design his own house. He wants to pull all aspects of nature, light, glass and varying levels into the concept,’ says the friend. ‘This is the present to top all presents.’ Brad has said he’d like to give up his Hollywood life, declaring: ‘While acting is my career, architecture is my passion.’

[From The Mail]

A waterfall house would be amazing… although probably not the best idea with six young children, you know? “Where’s Knox? OMG HE’S IN THE WATERFALL.” Angelina did “gift” Brad with a trip to Fallingwater in 2006 – there was even a lovely photo of the couple at the site. Anyway, even though I find Brad’s obsession with real estate, remodeling and architecture rather annoying, it seems like Angelina thinks it’s a nice occupation for Brad to have, and she encourages it. I guess Brad is almost done with the remodel to French chateau, so he’s probably looking for a new project.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Thank you so much for visiting, reading and commenting! Kaiser, Bedhead and I appreciate it and hope you’re having a great holiday. Let’s all raise our glasses to the year in gossip and best wishes for a happy scandalous 2012. Have an excellent New Year!

Here are our most popular posts of 2011 based on number of comments:
1. Brad Pitt backtracks: “It is not that Jen was dull, but…”

2. Brad Pitt talks about “feeling pathetic” in his marriage to Jennifer Aniston

3. Jennifer Aniston named “the Hottest Woman of All Time” by Men’s Health Mag

4. Angelina Jolie: “I’m still a bad girl, it just… belongs to Brad and our adventures”

5. Halle Berry on Nahla’s race: “I feel like she’s black, I believe in the one-drop theory”

6. Eddie Cibrian cut child support at same time he “bought” $85k ring for LeAnn

7. LeAnn Rimes bought Eddie Cibrian a Porsche for Christmas, and that’s not all

8. Heidi Bivens’ mom confirms Heidi’s “complicated” meeting with Jennifer Aniston

9. The Royal Wedding Open Post: When Baldy Met Glossy

10. Woody Allen’s son disgusted by his dad marrying his sister & won’t talk to him

Update: Here are the most popular stories based on number of pageviews, not comments. Disclaimer: The Goop story had so many hits because some huge newspaper website in the Netherlands linked it.

1. Gwyneth Paltrow goes topless, wears fishnets for Vanity Fair: Goopy or cute?

2. Prince William is worried about Kate Middleton’s dramatic weight loss

3. Jim Parsons’ boyfriend called off their wedding because Jim doesn’t want kids

4. Mila Kunis’s cell phone pics of Justin Timberlake were reportedly hacked

5. More “Blake Lively” naked photos released, is it really Blake?

Angelina Jolie and Madonna have hated each other for years. Well… maybe “hate” is the wrong word. I personally think that Angelina views Madonna as a wannabe, an annoyance, a try-hard and a dilettante. And I personally think that in 2006, Madonna decided her latest incarnation was going to be as “Angelina Jolie” or some half-hearted, Jolie-esque figure. Madonna decided to focus her efforts in Malawi, where she first “adopted” David, and then Mercy. Incidentally, Madge also did a ton of photo ops for her Malawian charity (Raising Malawi), with the idea that she would build some huge school there, but earlier this year, the charity pulled out after losing millions of dollars, likely because Madge staffed the charity with grifters and con artists. In the long run, Madge’s efforts in Malawi were deeply offensive – she did not follow through on any of her promises, she “adopted” two children by basically bribing and paying off Malawian officials, and she posed for photos. Lots and lots of photos.

Back in 2006-07, Angelina was asked about the Madonna-Malawi situation in an interview. Angelina was quoted as saying, “Madonna knew the situation in Malawi, where (David) was born. It’s a country where there is no real legal framework for adoption. Personally, I prefer to stay on the right side of the law. I would never take a child away from a place where adoption is illegal.” Angelina later retracted (partially) that sentiment, telling People Magazine, “The article included many falsehoods. I said many positive things that were omitted. I feel we must focus on the present and I encourage everyone to be supportive so that every child can adjust nicely to their new home. I have been horrified by the attacks she’s been subjected to. All that should count is the happiness of her little David.” I should also point out that I remember Madonna saying some veiled criticism of Angelina around this time, but I can’t find the quotes right now.

Anyway, as the years have gone by, Madonna and Angelina never seem to be in the same place at the same time, which I tend to think irritates the hell out of Madge. When Madge was married to Guy Ritchie, Guy and Brad were still tight and they would hang out whenever everybody was in London, but Angelina and Madge still never met. This awards season, Madonna’s W.E. is up for some technical and music awards at the Golden Globes, and probably some other awards shows. And Angelina’s In the Land of Blood and Honey is up for the GG Best Foreign Film too. So Madge and Angelina will be at the same awards ceremony at long last. What will happen? Star Magazine claims that if they meet, Angelina is totally going to cut a bitch:

As their films face off in theaters, a battle is brewing between director divas Angelina Jolie and Madonna.

“Angie’s been taking potshots at Madonna every chance she gets,” a source tells Star. Angelina is up in arms because people have been drawing comparisons between her and Madonna – who’s been criticized for such cinematic failures as Swept Away, Body of Evidence and most recently, W.E.

“Angie considers Madonna a nuisance and a distraction from her own work. She’s said Madonna has no talent whatsoever for filmmaking and that W.E. is a big-screen joke.”

But Madonna is taking the high road, trying to foster a friendship with her fellow female director.

“Madonna reached out to Angie, suggesting they get together to discuss moviemaking,” the source explains. “But Angie just didn’t see any upside to meeting up.”

As the Hollywood awards season gets underway, the tension is bound to rise. While W.E. earned two Golden Globe nods, Angelina’s In the Land of Blood and Honey was nominated for the Best foreign language film.

“Angie’s gunning to score big,” the source says. “She doesn’t think Madonna has a chance. But she wants awards – that’s all the validation she needs.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition]

Madonna’s rep told Gossip Cop that the story is “totally fabricated” nonsense, and GC’s “source close to Jolie” says that “there’s been absolutely no tension between her and Madonna – about their movies or otherwise.” I want to think that Madonna isn’t even on Angelina’s radar, but I think Angelina acknowledges Madonna’s existence, and she’ll probably try to actively avoid Madge, like always. It will all depend on how close the Jolie-Pitts are to Madonna’s table, I think.

Photos courtesy of Fame.

The tabloids are full of Jolie-Pitt stories this week, but I’m only going to cover a few of them. The Enquirer has three different stories, all of which I don’t care for. One is about Angelina currently being 3 months pregnant, but that she and Brad have decided not to tell anyone because she’s so underweight. There’s another one about the kids not being allowed to swear which… meh. And yet another one about the family’s trip to Las Vegas to see the Cirque du Soleil show, and how the kids were all acting like brats, acting rowdy and making a mess. That one seems the most likely – the Enquirer even has photos of kids at the show, and they look squirmy and there’s popcorn all over the place.

But really, this is my favorite story of the week. In Touch Weekly (I know, I know) claims that Shiloh is so obsessed with being like her brothers, she wants to change her name from Shiloh to Shax. OMG. Shax Jolie-Pitt. It’s perfect.

What’s in a name? A lot, if you’re 5-year-old Shiloh Jolie-Pitt. The famous tomboy – who prefers to play rough with her older brothers than play dolls with her sisters – has taken her gamine ways to new extremes, asking her parents, Brad Pitt and Angelina, to call her Shax.

Why Shax? She wants to be just like her brothers, Maddox, Pax and Knox, whose names all end in the letter “X”. A childhood friend of Shiloh’s mom isn’t one bit surprised.

“Angelina was also a tomboy,” the friend tells In Touch. “She changed her name to Vince when she was the same age.”

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition]

Vince Jolie and her tomboy daughter Shax. It does make sense! I wonder if Angelina is ever like, “Yeah, my mom put a curse on me, I have a daughter that is JUST LIKE ME.” Marcheline got the last laugh. Shiloh is a fun, wild kid, just like Angelina. Let’s hope that Shiloh does have quite the difficult trajectory that Angelina had throughout her teen years (and into her early 20s). But I have faith that like Angelina, Shiloh will figure her life out. And until then, I think Brad and Angelina have the right idea: just let their kids be kids. Let Shax be Shax.

Photos courtesy of Fame, WENN.

OK! Magazine has a story about Angelina Jolie’s womb this week. Yes, the awards season has begun! When was it… 2008, right? Angelina was nominated for several awards for A Mighty Heart. Angelina showed up at the 2008 SAGs in that horrible vintage sack, and everyone was like “OMG, she’s wearing a sack because she’s preggo!” And then came the Independent Spirit Awards, and the big reveal of the bump that held twins Vivienne and Knox. So what will this year’s Brangelina-filled awards season bring? Another bump debut? That’s what OK! Magazine is hinting at:

Brad Pitt lifted a glass of sparkling wine and toasted Angelina Jolie, as the couple’s friends and family looked on at Hollywood’s Magnolia restaurant. The pair was there Dec. 8 to salute Angelina’s directorial debut, but Brad and Angie also appeared to delight in their own much more private news: They want a new baby in 2012.

Now that the youngest of their brood of six children, twins Knox and Vivienne, are 3, Angelina, 36, is ready to expand her family.

“She jokes about triplets constantly. And she’s not a big joker, really,” says a confidante. “She and Brad have talked at length. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that she’ll have another child.”

Although the couple is playing coy with the media, it’s difficult not to see their delight.

“Nothing is planned…. I could end up pregnant,” Angie recently said. Brad, too, also let slip about the family’s desire for more children.

“I don’t know that we’re finished. I don’t know,” he said on 60 Minutes.

Certainly, the Jolie-Pitts are in a unique position to be able to afford as many children as they want, but the confidante says that though money isn’t an issue, Angie may be taking a risk with her health: “It’s very serious. She’s had two very high-risk pregnancies. Both times, her blood pressure shot up, and she developed gestational diabetes. I don’t know if she could survive a third round.”

But Brad, 47, is caught up in the thrill of becoming a dad again, and Angelina, who is used to getting exactly what she wants, plans to become pregnant despite any potential problems.

“Angelina is determined,” says another insider. “She is dead set on giving the kids a baby brother or sister as soon as possible.”

[From OK! Magazine]

As I’ve said before, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brad and Angelina had more kids. I keep expecting them to adopt another baby, but I could totally see them having another biological kid too. I’m actually kind of impressed that they’ve waited this long to add to their family – I think they might have gotten overwhelmed when the twins came, and despite their claims that they were open to more babies, they decided to stay at six kids for a while.

So, is Angelina already knocked up? Will she be debuting a bump at a future red carpet? Probably not. Even if she’s already getting knocked up right now, she’ll wait to announce it.

In other Brangelina news, Angie has a new interview with MTV News. Video is below, but here‘s the big quote, re: In the Land of Blood and Honey: “I hope for the audience watching that it isn’t just a history lesson, it isn’t just a political film, it isn’t just Bosnia. We tried to tell a dramatic story, we tried to make a good film with great actors, we tried to just give traditional dramatic storytelling, and somehow in that, we also layered all these other things and it’s a part of it. Even if you’re not particularly interested in history, which I can’t imagine because it’s important, but if [you want to see something] just for filmmaking or just to see performances or just to see a story, an emotional relationship story, that’s this film.”

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Note that I wrote most of this story focusing on the angle that Damon is leaving the door open to return to the Bourne franchise, and explaining his beef with the current writer/director. Then I listened to the full interview and he gave more quotes about Brad and Angelina, yet again. So if you’re interested in that part of the story and don’t give a whit about Bourne, you can skip to the end, the part after the second line.

To recap – in GQ Damon was quoted as saying that screenwriter Tony Gilroy handed in a script for Bourne Ultimatum (the third movie, he also wrote the other two and the upcoming fourth, starring Jeremy Renner as another spy) that was “unreadable.” Damon said “I don’t blame Tony for taking a boatload of money and handing in what he handed in. It’s just that it was unreadable. This is a career-ender. I mean, I could put this thing up on eBay and it would be game over for that dude. It’s terrible. It’s really embarrassing. He was having a go, basically, and he took his money and left.” Later in that GQ article, the journalist explained that Damon called him up afterwards and tried to smooth over his statements. Damon said “If I didn’t respect [Gilroy] and appreciate his talent, then I really wouldn’t have cared.. My feelings were hurt. That’s all. And that’s exactly why I shouldn’t have said anything..” Only of course GQ still ran those quotes, because they were awesome.

On The Business, Damon gave the background for why he said all that about Gilroy: he was filming another movie that just happened to be right next to the offices for the fourth Bourne film. Gilroy is both writing and directing this version, which Damon clearly considers a travesty. He’s loyal to director Paul Greengrass (who also has issues with Gilroy) and has said that he’ll do another Bourne movie only when Greengrass is on board.

In a radio interview with this reporter for KCRW’s The Business, Damon explains that he was caught off guard in Vancouver on the set of his next film, Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium, when he found himself next to the just-opened offices for The Bourne Legacy, the fourth movie in the franchise, which is being written and directed by Gilroy — and has no role for Damon.

Those offices “opened up right outside my trailer,” says Damon. “I was seeing this every day, and then I came back to New York and did this interview and kind of blurted it out. … It was idiotic of me to say anything. At the end of the day, it’s between me and Tony, and we’ll figure it out or we won’t.”

The sight of that office was so disturbing because of a deep years-long rift over who is the true keeper of the Bourne flame: Greengrass, who directed the second and third films to ever-growing grosses, or Gilroy, who has been a writer on every Bourne. As a result, it is not clear that Damon ever will reprise the Jason Bourne role, though he says that’s what he wants to do.

The first Bourne film, directed by Doug Liman, was a deeply troubled production, and Gilroy, along with producer Frank Marshall, pulled it back from the brink. But when Greengrass came on to direct 2004′s Bourne Supremacy, he and Gilroy began to loathe each other. “Paul and Tony have clashing styles,” says a source with knowledge of the conflict. “Tony does all the work before and delivers a finished script. Paul wants the script to be ever-evolving during shooting.” But Damon believes the director is king, and his loyalty was and is to Greengrass.

So Gilroy would not even have worked on 2007′s Bourne Ultimatum, except Greengrass couldn’t develop a script in the time allotted. And the clock was ticking: Not only had author Robert Ludlum’s estate imposed a timetable, but also the studio did not want to let Bourne disappear for too long. “It was an important franchise,” says Stacey Snider, then chairman of Universal. “We went to Tony and said, ‘Can you come up with something?’”

Gilroy did, and though Damon bashed him for walking away after writing one (allegedly lousy) draft, several sources including Snider say Gilroy had made it clear that he would do only one draft and possibly a revision because he was committed to his directing debut, Michael Clayton.

Damon’s allegation that the draft was “unreadable” is something that Snider and others dispute. Universal co-chairman Donna Langley says she was “thrilled with the script Tony submitted and greenlit the film based on that script.” (Greengrass subsequently brought in other writers, including Scott Z. Burns and George Nolfi, who were awarded credit alongside Gilroy.)

Bourne Ultimatum grossed a robust $443 million worldwide, and Universal naturally wanted another movie. The studio had backed Greengrass in making the $100 million-plus bomb Green Zone with Damon in hope of keeping them on board for the next Bourne. But again, Greengrass failed to come up with a workable script in the time
allotted.

In November 2009, with Greengrass still uncommitted, top Universal brass — Ron Meyer, Adam Fogelson and Langley — flew to New York, took Damon to dinner and explained that they wanted to move ahead. Damon said that for him, there was no Bourne without Greengrass.

After that, says Langley, the Ludlum estate turned again to Gilroy, who had an idea for a script. This one would focus on another agent (Jeremy Renner) but leave the door ajar for Damon’s character to return. To Damon’s camp, this seemed like good news because Universal had considered pulling a “Bond,” simply replacing Damon in the lead.

Fast-forward to October 2010, when news broke that Gilroy would write and direct the next movie. No one from Universal had informed Damon that Greengrass was being replaced by his old adversary. The studio has not discussed it with him since. “It certainly wasn’t an omission for any reason,” says Langley. “You just have to move on with your business.” For now, she adds, “the franchise can live on [with Renner]. If at some point it can include Matt Damon, fantastic. If it can’t, we’re reconciled to that.”

Damon says he fully expects to return to Bourne. “I think if [Bourne Legacy] doesn’t work, we can just ignore it and pretend it didn’t happen, and that’d be fine,” he says. “But I expect that it will work and only help us if we did another one, which I’d love to do.”

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

To me the takeaway from this is that Damon really cares about Bourne, that he’s committed to that character, and that he’s open to doing another one. Whether that will ever happen given the complicated issues between director Greengrass and the studio remains to be seen. It is to Universal’s credit that they didn’t just replace his character with another actor. They’re going to make bank either way, and there’s no other Bourne than Damon.

There’s more in Damon’s interview with The Business, including how Cameron Crowe wooed him to play the lead in We Bought a Zoo. (Crowe brought Damon his intended soundtrack and a film called Local Hero that he wanted to capture the mood of.) Damon also talked about Brad and Angelina yet again and added Aniston in there for good measure. The dude has talking points. I’ve heard him repeat himself several times in this press tour. (He told the same story about a young barista in Starbucks to both Parade and on The Today Show.) So I don’t think he is fixated on Brad and Angelina so much as he just says the same things over and over again. (He also repeated on The Business the same thing he said on The Piers Morgan show about coming to terms with fame.)

On the paparazzi and Brad and Angelina
When there’s potential sex or scandal, that’s really what sells those magazines. My life now is so normal that it’s not really worth their money. They go after the picture that’s going to make the money. If you look at Brad and Angie, they’re not doing anything to encourage it and yet what these magazines do is they just make up new stories about Brad and Angelina and Aniston and like, that marriage ended 6,7, 8 years ago. I don’t know, but they just try to keep it going so those pictures are worth something. But in my case there’s just, I really lucked out. I fell in love with a woman who’s not in the business… When you have two actors who are kind of in the spotlight that really increases things.

On Ben Affleck’s tabloid predicament after J.Lo
That was horrible. During that time, talking to him, he was very… sober about what it meant for his career. He knew that it meant he was going into the penalty box for an undetermined amount of time. The worse place you could be is where you’re selling magazines instead of movie tickets. That’s really purgatory, it’s really tough to get out of that. The good news is that what it took for him to get out of there, was what it took for us to get our careers going in the first place. We had to write our way into the game. He had to do it again. With Gone Baby Gone, he wrote that and it was beautiful and he directed that… That still didn’t break him out of jail. He did Hollywoodland and he still couldn’t get out, so he finally did The Town. He wrote that, directed it and starred in it because it was the best acting job he could get, and he was great. And the movie was great, and now it looks like he’s back on the list.

[From KCRW's The Business]

We get it, Damon has a happy family, is a devoted husband and father and he’s above rapproach. I hope that’s true. I hope Lainey’s blind item about Cuba is in no way about him. Or if it is, that it’s not true. He’s awesome, even if he’s like a cranky old dude who tells the same stories every time you see him.

Brad Pitt got to celebrate his 48th birthday with his family this weekend, in Las Vegas. That’s a thing for him, isn’t it? I feel like Brad and Angelina go to Vegas for his birthday often. One year, wasn’t it a boxing match? Anyway, for this year’s festivities, Brad didn’t get a date night with his girl, he got family-friendly entertainment by way of the Cirque Du Soleil. Yes, Brad, Angelina and the kids all went to see Michael Jackson The Immortal. We don’t have the blurry photos of the Jolie-Pitts in Vegas – you can see them here.

Brad Pitt’s birthday weekend was quite a “thriller”!

The Moneyball star, who turns 48 on Sunday, was joined by longtime love Angelina Jolie and their six children in Las Vegas Saturday night to experience the Michael Jackson The Immortal, the Cirque Du Soleil touring show.

“They had great seats, sitting right beside the stage,” a source said. “They really seemed to enjoy the show. The performers didn’t know they were there and a few of them recognized them while they were on stage, so it was pretty exciting.”

After giving a standing ovation, Pitt, donning round glasses, Jolie, wearing a light grey dress, and the children left just as the cast gave final bows. The family spent the night at the lavish Four Seasons.

[From People]

What’s with Brad the glasses? I’ve seen him in reading glasses before, but it seems like in the past month or so, Brad has been wearing proper glasses full-time. Now, I like a man in glasses, but Brad makes it seem like he’s the “dorky-hot guy in high school that you don’t realize is going to be good-looking and then he takes off his glasses.” Or is that just with chicks? Whatever. Us Weekly’s source (inside the Cirque Du Soleil?) said that the “artists were pleasantly surprised by this unannounced visit.”

Anyway, happy 48th birthday to Brad – his official birthday was yesterday, and throughout last week, Brad received some early birthday presents in the form of major Best Actor nominations for Moneyball. He’s been nominated for a Golden Globe, a SAG, a Critics Choice, and I feel comfortable saying that he’s one the shoo-ins for an Oscar nomination. I’m very happy that this awards season will be full of Brangelina.

Photos courtesy of WENN & Pacific Coast News.

Have you missed Angelina Jolie Week? I have. We’ve still had Angelina stories to talk about, of course, but I miss the constant barrage of all-things-Angelina that was last week. Of course, several of the bigger awards shows announced their nominations this week, and Angelina surprisingly got some of those noms. I really am shocked – I didn’t expect In the Land of Blood and Honey to be a hit film (Angelina didn’t expect either, that’s not why she made it), so my only expectation was that the film would be discussed in the scope of war films and humanitarian aid, etc. I didn’t think that it would actually be an awards contender anywhere, really. But it is. Increasingly so!

Remember, Angelina is all over this film – she wrote the script, she directed it, she financed it (for the most part) and she produced it. That means that if the film as a whole gets an award, they’re pretty much handing it over to Angelina herself. Several days ago, the Producers Guild of America announced that they were giving ITLODAH – Angelina herself – the Stanley Kramer Award. The Stanley Kramer Award is given to people and productions “whose achievement or contribution illuminates provocative social issues in an accessible and elevating fashion.” Previous winners have included Hotel Rwanda (I love that movie), In America (I love that movie) and Sean Penn (meh). PGA presidents Hawk Koch and Mark Gordon stated their reasoning: “In the Land of Blood and is an extraordinary film that portrays a complex love story set against the terrors of the Bosnian War, especially towards women. This film truly embraces the legacy of Stanley Kramer.” Jolie will be on hand on January 21 to accept the award with her fellow producers.

So, in addition to that, Jolie just picked up another Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Film yesterday. You know what I wonder? I wonder if the criteria for “Best Foreign Film” is the same at the Globes as it is at the Academy Awards. Like, I don’t think Angelina has a chance in hell for getting nominated in the directing or writing categories at the Oscars, but would the Academy nominate the film in Best Foreign? It’s certainly an interesting idea, isn’t it? And that way, both Brad Pitt AND Angelina would be nominated, just like they were in 2009.

Meanwhile, Angelina released a statement when she heard about her Globe nomination (what is this, like, her seventh or eighth Globe nomination?):

Angelina Jolie was driving two of her children to their dentist appointments in the wee hours of Wednesday morning–she says likes to beat the rush–when she learned of the Golden Globe nomination for her directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey.

The Bosnian war movie, which opens in select theaters in the U.S. on Dec. 23, was one of five films earning a spot in the best foreign langauge film category. Jolie shot the film both in English and Bosnian/Croation/Serbian; at her request, FilmDistrict will release it in BHS in the U.S.

“I was on my way and turned on my phone, and saw the subject line on an email. I thought, this can’t be. I never expected this,” Jolie told The Hollywood Reporter in a phone interview. “Just to be able to make a film you care about and then get a distributor makes you happy.”

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

Jolie released a second statement to Us Weekly: “I am grateful that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is honoring our film. This was a true collaboration, and I am forever indebted to our cast and crew, who experienced their own personal tragedies in the Bosnian War and gave me an authentic perspective into the conflict. This nomination is a tribute to the collective talent and passion of this extraordinary cast.” Damn, she really wants this! Now I kind of want ITLOBAH to be nominated for an Oscar.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

As we previewed yesterday, Angelina Jolie will appear in a pre-taped interview with Anderson Cooper for his talk show on Monday. In the coverage I did yesterday, Angelina was talking about her family’s nomadic lifestyle, and how she hates to “settle” and the whole thing inspired a very interesting conversation about Brangelina and how they’re raising the kids. As you know, I like Jolie. But I think this is one of her flaws – she acts as if she would be so disappointed in her children if one of them actually wanted to stay in one place for a year and put down some roots. Anyway, AC’s people sent us a lengthy transcript of Jolie and Cooper’s conversation, and here are some of the highlights:

Jolie on her Thanksgiving: “It was good, we actually Brad and I decided we were actually going to make the turkey and we were very successful and very proud of ourselves. We did it! I’ve tried on and off but this was just the two of us with the kids watching trying to pretend we knew exactly what we were doing.”

Family dinners: “We actually have family dinner every night. We make a point of it. It’s crazy. There’s a good five minutes were everybody is quiet and sitting together and then it starts to break off into different…No, no [video gams] and no blackberries for mom and dad.”

More on always traveling: “We do, we’re a big traveling. Now we are starting to get them where they each have their own luggage and they unpack their own clothes and pack their own because it was just getting to confusing for me to figure out but it’s great, it’s so much fun. Fortunately, my kids love to travel because I do and they’re very worldly and what I love is that they can be in New York in a hotel in Manhattan and think it’s so cool and then I can bring them to the middle of Kenya and drop them in a tent with no TV and no nothing and they’re just as happy as so I feel like that’s what we are trying to do to balance them.”

Explaining to the kids about war and refugees: “They do, and they’ve come with me to some. You know I try not to be one of those mothers that says, ‘Some people around the world don’t have,’ I try not to do that, but I try by example to bring them to places and hopefully they’ll make friends with people in different countries, coming from different backgrounds, dealing with different situations and they’ll understand that actually is what the world looks like, not this small world of just the place we live in our house. This is not reality, reality is all of these things. So they know and they are very good about you know, ‘Mommy has to go, mommy’s going to try to do some good and this thing is going on. So, I’ll be right back.’ They seem to be very generous about it and understanding that they’re kids and they want their mom but they also know that there are other kids that mom can try to help.”

Angelina on reading the reviews of ‘Blood & Honey’: “Well I have to read some things on this because I need to understand how people are receiving it if there is something more I need to explain in case it is being misunderstood. This is the first time I had to and it’s terrifying but I’ve avoided everything on myself.”

She doesn’t read any of the tabloids: “Which is so funny because I’m the most boring. I’m not totally boring but we do often say that because we don’t go out clubbing, we’re not big into fashion, we do a lot of dealing with kids and stuff.”

If Brad retires at the age of 50: “I’m happy for it. No, we were both racing to see which one of us gets to retire first. We both, like most people, we like being home. Whoever is the one whose home tends to be the happier one because we get to play with the kids and the other one is out earning the money… He was with the kids taking them to school in the morning then he’d come to the set in the afternoon and do stills photography. He was my stills photographer.

[Via Anderson Cooper’s show transcript]

La Jolie is “boring”??? NEVER. Okay, sometimes she is boring, but just when I think that, she says something that I find innocuous and everybody FREAKS OUT.

I’m also including some video clips below… Anderson and Angelina are seriously adorable together. Coop looks at her like… “If I was ever going to try a vadge, it would be yours.” And Angelina is all, “Oh, Silver Fox, BEHAVE!”

Photos courtesy of Anderson Cooper’s talk show.