I have such a primal dislike for Tom Cruise as a person that I’ve generally refused to see most of his movies, and it turns out I’ve been missing out on a pretty decent actor. I’m not really good at separating the things I hear about someone famous from the work they do. So when I sat through Jerry Maguire, part of me was always thinking “You’re a midget control freak!” And most of Vanilla Sky was actually comprised of my inner monologue on loop, saying, “You believe in an alien god and think half your cast mates are Thetans.” But then I saw Minority Report and Magnolia and realized I should learn to ignore all the crazy that is Tom Cruise for the sake of two hours of entertainment. So with the caveat that I’m no Tom Cruise expert, I have to say that the trailer for his newest movie, Valkyrie, looks pretty good. Some of his clips come off as a bit over-acted, but I’m under the impression that that’s his thing.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the film:

During World War II, the German Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Cruise) is severely wounded in Africa and returns home to Nazi Germany. Stauffenberg helps conceive Operation Valkyrie, a plan to implement a shadow government in the event of the death of Germany’s Nazi Führer Adolf Hitler. The Colonel eventually joins the German Resistance and becomes part of the July 20 Plot, a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler and execute Valkyrie in order to take control of the country and make peace with the Allies. Stauffenberg finds himself taking on not only the responsibility of leading the coup, but also the task to assassinate Hitler himself.

[From Wikipedia]

Here’s the trailer – I think it looks pretty interesting, but I’ll see just about any historical movie and love it.

Nicole Kidman tends to come off as pretty classy (if at times a bit bland) in most of her interviews. Post-divorce, Tom Cruise has come across as an elfin control freak who randomly accuses people of being glib (which is a pretty good way to describe Cruise in general) and promoting pseudo-sciences (again, a pretty good way to describe some Cruise does in general). Nicole hasn’t trashed Tom, but when questions of her marriage to him arise, she manages to make it clear that he squashed her personality. I can’t really explain how, but Nicole seems to still do this in a way that isn’t unseemly. She gave an interview to USA Today in which she talks about how she lost her identity, and how she’s worked on getting it back.

Head’s up, Katie Holmes. In a new interview with USA Today, Nicole Kidman said she lost her self-identity during her nearly 10-year marriage to Tom Cruise because of the couple’s constant traveling. “Tom and I, we moved and moved and moved. Your sense of where do I come from becomes less and less relevant,” said Kidman, 40, who split from Cruise, 45, in 2001 and shares custody of their adopted children Isabella, 14, and Connor, 12.

“A lot of my life, particularly when I was working so much, it was about trying to fill in the gaps,” she added. “Now there’s much more reason to exist in the world without my identity needing to be through work.” She said her life is finally making sense again. “I have a new niece, I have a new marriage, we just bought an acreage in Tennessee, which we’re really happy to build a house on and spend some time doing that,” she said. “I’m just not willing to give up my life with my man anymore.”

Kidman says she and Urban, 40, are “inseparable” (she even plans to hit the road with him on his world tour). “I also like seeing him do what he does,” she said. “He can really play, and he can really sing. I’ll vouch for it.” Kidman said she isn’t as adamant about working so prolifically, either. As for her recent string of box office duds (The Invasion, anyone?), she said she has no regrets. “You always strive to make a good movie,” she said. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. You step into something with the best of intentions and you hope. I think that kind of approach to a career, and a life, is the healthiest way to be.”

[From Us Weekly]

I find it really annoying when articles always call her Connor and Isabella her “adopted children” instead of just her children. But that’s neither here nor there. Nicole has been making the publicity rounds lately, and was on the cover of Vanity Fair last month with a long interview. She seems pretty demure and low-key, but also very honest. She talked about Keith Urban’s struggle with drug and alcohol addiction. Before I always thought she came off as sort of an “ice princess” who wouldn’t talk about anything in her life that was less-than-perfect. But she talked about loving someone who has issues, and how they work on it and keep their relationship intact. Nicole said something in the Vanity Fair piece that I thought was remarkably profound. “I kept looking for happiness, and then I realized: This is it. It’s a moment, and it comes, and it goes, and it’ll come back again.” It sounds like she has an optimistic yet realistic outlook.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Nicole at the Margot At The Wedding’ Movie Screening at the New York Film Festival on October 7th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

This week’s Star Magazine has Katie Holmes jealous over a supposed on-set ongoing flirtation Tom had with a pretty German brunette extra in Berlin, but OK! Magazine features a fawning piece that focuses on the elaborate meal Katie planned for Valentine’s day. Star claims they’re having trouble at the eve of their upcoming anniversary, while OK! says they’re supportive of each other and take time to communicate and that everything is all so rosy.

Neither article has much substance. Star says that along with being pissed off at the attention Tom is showing some unnamed extra, Katie “may feel threatened by his leading lady, Carice Van Houten, 31,” since “the chemistry is obvious” when they work together. Supposedly Tom talks too much about how beautiful and what a great actress Clarice is, but I think Star is inventing stuff to be able to put Tom and Katie on the cover. At least OK! has some details to back up their claims that sound like they’re actually true.

OK! offers a few examples of why all the happy marriage cliché’s apply. Among the inset features in the article are two different stories about how the Scientology cult goes out of their way to ensure that Tom and Katie are treated like royalty, comping them expensive vacations and creating an entire luxury apartment for them in Beverly Hills while they wait for renovations to be completed on their home. The amount of trouble and expense the cult goes through to ensure their highest profile members are happy is outrageous:

After plunking down $35 million for the perfect Beverly Hills love nest, Tom immediately began renovating the home. The work wasn’t done by the time the lease on their current house expired in September, so a friend of Tom tells OK!, “The had the old house completely packed and put into storage.” Technically, the Cruises were homeless in Beverly Hills - until the Scientology Celebrity Centre International stepped in…

After knocking down walls and doing a round-the-clock overhaul of some space on the building’s sixth and seventh floors, a luxurious duplex apartment was created for the Cruises to use whenever they need. Their temporary home has a living room with a terrace, a dining room, a full kitchen, separate offices for Tom and Katie and a fully equipped gym. The master bedroom, which has its own private terrace, has an adjoining nursery for Suri. There are two additional bedrooms for Connor and Isabella.

[From OK! Magazine, print edition, November 12, 2007]

One of those other bedrooms is probably for Katie, because she and Tom don’t sleep in the same room according to many accounts.

And in case a fully decked out completely free apartment in Beverly Hills isn’t enough to keep the Cruise’s smiling and advocating the cult, they were also on vacation in Florida recently at Scientology’s expense. OK! says that they went missing for a few days and that’s where they were, not that we noticed:

When Tom celebrated his 45th birthday on July 3, the whole world awaited photos of the family together, but to no avail. OK! has learned that the couple, along with Connor, Isabella and little Suri, snuck away to Clearwater, Florida, where they stayed at the Scientology Center complex (Clearwater is the worldwide headquarters for Scientology) for two days.

[From OK! Magazine, print edition, November 12, 2007]

Of course Tom’s entire family came along, and supposedly Katie chartered a yacht, but I’m guessing the Scientology people had more to do with that.

Plus the head of Scientology, the guy that was rumored to have joined them on their honeymoon (a story that Tom’s rep denies) was also there.

They were joined by Tom’s mother, Mary Lee, his sisters Cass, Marian and Lee Anne, and Tom’s best friend David Miscavige, who is the head of Scientology.

“Katie arranged for the charter of a fabulous yacht,” a friend of Tom tells OK!. “It was a gorgeous day and they sailed around the Clearwater Harbor for a while and then anchored on a private barrier island. Everything had been set up for just off the sand for a sunset dinner…”

Katie’s birthday gift to Tom, however, was a little too large to be presented to him on the island. “She gave him a custom-designed motorcycle.”

[From OK! Magazine, print edition, November 12, 2007]

So they went on a yacht, undoubtedly owned by the Scientology cult, to a Scientology island and had a dinner set out for them by workers at the Scientology headquarters.

Tom chose to spend his birthday being catered to by the cult he has a symbiotic relationship with, and Katie came along for the ride.

While celebrities like Tom Cruise, John Travolta, and Kirstie Alley are given everything for free and treated like five star resort guests by Scientology, average people involved with the cult are forced to fork over their life savings, with many working as slave laborers in “reducation” camps for Sea Org.

Here are Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes at the 23rd Annual Museum Of The Moving Image Black Tie Salute Honoring Tom Cruise in NY last night. I wonder where they stayed and if that was comped by Scientology too. Thanks to PR Photos for these pictures.

Oh to be a spoiled little Scientologist! Suri Cruise sounds like she’s got it made – at least for now. According to Us Weekly, the tot almost never hears the word “no.” In Scientology, it’s considered better to explain why actions are wrong. I can’t argue with that – but I think a “no” now and then might be useful, like “No! Don’t lay down in the train tracks!” It might be a little quicker than explaining what the force and weight of a train can do to a body. But that’s just me, and I’m close-minded like that. This article makes it sound like Suri is spoiled, so it’s hard to tell if it’s due to Scientology or overly-doting parents.

“Everyone knows that Suri Cruise, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ adorable little daughter, leads a charmed existence but her upbringing as a Scientologist remains largely a mystery. How does the religion started by L. Ron Hubbard influence Suri’s life on a daily basis? Us Weekly has learned that while Suri — who as a baby was breastfed and nursed on a mixture of barley water, milk and corn syrup which Hubbard advocated as being healthier than formula and breast milk — is too young to take classes at the Scientology Centre, the 18-month-old is constantly surrounded by believers, including her two nannies.

“‘Tom doesn’t like associating with people who aren’t Scientologists,’ says an insider. Additionally, Holmes, 29, and Cruise, 45, have a hard time saying no to Suri. But it’s not simply because they’re pushovers. ‘It’s all about being positive and supportive,’ says the couple’s friend (Hubbard advised parents to ‘try to be the child’s friend.’) As for discipline, one former church member tells Us that Scientologists do not scold their children, but instead explain that bad behavior (like throwing a toy) is the ‘wrong action.’ (A Scientology rep tells Us, ‘How a parent disciplines their child is left up to the parent.’)

“Cruise and Holmes, says their pal, are very lenient and do not like to give Suri too many rules: ‘Suri pretty much does whatever she wants, whenever she wants. If she fusses before bed, they let her stay up later. If they want her to go swimming and she cries, they’ll take her out. If she whines about food, they’ll ask her what else she wants to eat. They always want to please her.’”

[From Us Weekly]

Ooooohhh, Tom and Katie are such bad parents. They want to make their kid happy! I’m kidding, that’s a pretty natural inclination. On the one hand you want to be firm, and on the other you want your kid to like you. I can’t help but wonder if L Ron Hubbard would have the same ideas about parents being their children’s friend if he’d seen the way Lindsay Lohan turned out. Yeah, when your parent/friend snorts coke with you, you may have blurred the lines a bit.

What are some other scientology pearls of wisdom regarding child rearing? Here’s a recap of what Celebitchy wrote a year ago:

“In yet another disturbing chapter of the TomKat saga, Mike Wallace of the National Enquirer reports that Scientologists plan to commandeer Katie’s baby for three days after its birth. What’s more, the baby will be isolated for a day after it’s born. Despite reports that she’s spending 8 hours a day being indoctrinated into Scientology, Katie has come to her senses and is questioning this counter-intuitive practice:

“furious KATIE HOLMES warned fiancé/daddy-to-be TOM CRUISE that she’ll absolutely refuse to allow Scientologists to commandeer her newborn at birth for what their church calls “Processing a New Mother” - a bizarre ritual which involves separating mother and child for three days, allowing only minimal contact! As her time approaches, sources say, Katie’s becoming hysterical over the idea that her baby will be controlled by the sect’s handlers from the moment he/she enters the world. In a raging confrontation, Katie told Tom she flatly rejects Scientology’s edict that newborns should be left totally alone for the entire first day after birth.

“Any human who’s not brainwashed would agree that it’s harmful and cruel to leave a newborn baby alone at any time, especially on its first day in the world. It’s also quite difficult, if not impossible, to breastfeed if you don’t start up within the first three days after birth. This is wrong for so many reasons.”

Want to know some other freaky stuff? If you’re a Scientologist and your kid trips over the root of a tree and hurts himself, you’re supposed to take the kid back to the tree and press the root against the injury, and give the pain back to the root. True story.

“Parents are encouraged not to comfort or nurture young children because Hubbard believed children are small adults, able to think and fend for themselves from a very early age. For example, a child who falls and hurts himself is taken to the place where he was hurt and the injury is pressed against the object that caused it. It is believed the pain can be made to flow back into the object.

“‘That’s called a contact assist,’ Teresa Summers said. ‘There is also a fever assist. We were discouraged from seeking medical help or giving medication, even Tylenol, to bring down a fever. Instead, you get the child to hold an object still. That’s supposed to bring down the fever. When it doesn’t work, it’s because you aren’t doing it right or didn’t repeat it often enough. I tried it on my child. Naturally, it didn’t work.’”

[From the New York Post]

Good luck Suri!

Remember the “suicide” death of that Tom Cruise photo extortioner who supposedly hung himself while he was on house arrest? Everyone was saying it looked like a Church of Scientology job, not that uh, we would ever suggest that. The National Enquirer has the details of how the guy was found, and it sounds even more suspicious.

The shower stall where he hung himself was too low for him to have done the job properly and he would have had to bring his knees up under him to hang himself. Who commits suicide like that? Wouldn’t someone chose a more effective method than squatting to die if they were serious about it?

David Hans Schmidt, 47, was found hanged in the shower of his Phoenix home on Sept. 28 - after police were alerted that the court-ordered house arrest monitor he was wearing had gone silent..

He was just days away from pleading guilty - and faced two years in prison - when he was found dead.

Police sergeant Any Hill told The Enquirer that they were treating the case as a suicide.

But a bizarre detail could cast a cloud over the investigation.

“Schmidt had been hanging for at least a day when he was found, revealed an insider.

“And the shower stall was so low that to achieve the drop needed to hang himself, he had to bring his knees up under him, like he was squatting.

“It was such an unusual situation that some people have discussed the possibility of foul play.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, October 15, 2007]

Now this is pure speculation, not that we’re above that or anything, but if Schmidt was about to plead guilty for the Tom Cruise extortion case is it possible that details about the pictures could have been leaked? Is it reasonable to think that some information may get out as part of his plea bargain and that someone might have feared that?

So far all we know about the Tom Cruise photos were that they were of his wedding, but how valuable would regular non-scandalous wedding photos be after the fact? No one wants to see wedding candids of celebrities months afterward unless there’s something going on that the celebrities wouldn’t want to get out.

Schmidt is said to have a lot of other “powerful enemies,” so it’s possible that even if it was foul play there were any number of people or shady cult organizations that could have been behind it. It sounds like the case is going to be considered a suicide despite the odd nature of how the man was hung, and we will probably only have our active imaginations to fill in the details of how he died and who was responsible.

Speaking of imaginations, if someone was killed and then hung like that to make it look like a suicide how would you do it? Would you smother them with a pillow so there aren’t marks and then hang them up with their knees under them so that it looks like they were asphyxiated that way? Did this guy even get an autopsy? It doesn’t sound like it.

Header image via The Bosh.

Tom Cruise is laying out plans to build a huge underground bunker at his Telluride, Colorado estate. It will have a state of the art air purification system and will be large enough with enough equipment and supplies for at least ten people to survive for years. That’s not crazy or anything.

Devout Scientologist Tom Cruise plans to build a $10 million bunker under his Telluride, Colorado, mansion, a source tells Star! Equipped with a high tech air-purifying system, “it’s a self-contained underground system where up to 10 people can survice for years.” Apparently, Scientologists believe that the evil deposed galatic [sic] ruler Xenu is set to attack Earth, and they’ll need a safe place to survive.

[From Star Magazine, print edition, October 1, 2007]

According to the drug-fueled ramblings of Scientology’s founder, L Ron Hubbard, there was a big attack 75 million years ago in which this Xenu guy made billions of people line up by volcanoes and terminated them with hydrogen bombs. All of our problems stem from this one incident, claim Scientologists, and our memories and psychological problems are made up of the fractured souls of the people who were killed. We would all have god-like knowledge and ability if only we could free ourselves of the trauma of that event. This is something that Scientologists are brainwashed to believe they have achieved once they surrender enough time, money, common sense and free will. Only when they reach the highest level of the cult, or Operating Thetan 3, are Scientologists told the story about the volcano genocide, but thanks to the wonder of the Internet you get it for free.

I wasn’t able to dig up much about Scientology’s teachings on the end of the world, and maybe you can help shed some light onto this matter. According to Wikipedia, Xenu is supposedly trapped in an alternate universe forever, kind of like those three villains stuck under glass and floating in space in the Superman movie. He could come back though, and only the super rich deluded folks like Cruise and Travolta will be prepared.

Concern for the survival of one’s family in the event of a nuclear attack or massive world war is only natural, and maybe if I had a quarter of a billion dollars I would consider setting up a giant underground bunker too. I really doubt it though. The only preparations I made on December 31, 1999 were getting an outfit and having my nails done for a New Year’s party. Stockpiling water and supplies for the millennium just wasn’t high on my to-do list.

Maybe if Cruise could pop some lithium every day he wouldn’t be so worried about the end of the world. Along with providing ease of mind and more stable moods, it would be a hell of a lot cheaper, too. L Ron Hubbard must have realized that prescription medication would help his most devoted followers figure out what bullshit he was preaching, so he decided to make psychiatrists enemy number one. The guy was crazy like a fox.

In other Tom Cruise news, he has been given permission by the German government to film scenes for his Nazi hero movie Valkyrie at the Bendlerblock building, a World War II historic site. The German government was initially reluctant to grant permission to film there due to concern for the preservation of the site. A minute of silence was observed at the location this weekend before filming began.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are shown leaving an Italian restaurant in Berlin on Thursday. Thanks to WENN for these pictures. All details about Scientology from Operation Clambake and Wikipedia.

Nicole Kidman has a very revealing (for her) interview in October’s issue of “Vanity Fair.” The actress talks a bit more in depth about her marriage to Tom Cruise, and confirms some rumors that floated around the time of their divorce. People were always questioning what was “wrong” with their marriage since they never had biological children. That always annoyed the crap out of me – people can choose to adopt for a million reasons, most of them having nothing to do with anything being “wrong.” I think it was more fuel for the “Is Tom Cruise gay?” fire, just like Jamie Lee Curtis adopting was more fuel for the “Is she really a hermaphrodite?” fire. With the adopting doesn’t prove anything, people seem to think it bolsters their case. In Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s case, she confirms that she had a miscarriage when she was 23 which devastated her. She met Tom Cruise in 1990, when she was 23, so it was obviously very early in their relationship.

“Nicole Kidman has revealed how early on in her marriage to her ex Tom Cruise she became pregnant and lost the baby due to miscarriage. Kidman has never spoken about the miscarriage until now in her interview with Vanity Fair, and said that it happened when she was 23.

“However, Kidman was so desperate to have a baby that the couple decided to adopt less than two years later. She also admits how she’s wanted a child of her own since she was 17.”

[From the Cleveland Leader]

Nicole makes it clear in the interview that she really loved Tom and was willing to give up a lot to be with him, even if that meant her career. She never comes across as a victim of his reportedly controlling ways though.

“‘My agents told me, “Once you become Mrs. Tom Cruise, you do know your career is going to die,’” says Kidman, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in 2002’s ‘The Hours.’

“‘I was appalled,’ she says. ‘I was like, “Hello? I’m in love, and I don’t care if it’s shooting myself in the foot. I’d much rather be married and have a family.”’

“The couple ‘lost a baby early on, so that was really very traumatic,’ she says. ‘And that’s when it came that we would adopt Bella.’

“Cryptically, she adds: ‘There’s a complicated background to that, given that I never speak much about many things. One day maybe that story will be told.’”

[From the Associated Press]

You’ve got to give Tom and Nicole some credit for adopting because they really wanted kids. It wasn’t the trendy thing to do back in the day, and no one added on to their brood like they were picking out vegetables at the grocery store. Sometimes it’s hard not to feel badly for Nicole, even though she seems a bit too prim and slightly ice queeny. And I’m not even going to touch that Botoxed brow of hers – mostly because I’m afraid the toxin might leak through. But she seemed to give up a lot of herself to be with Tom. She converted to Scientology (though she later said she never believed any of it) which must have been difficult, given that her father is a very prominent Australian biochemist and a clinical psychologist – and Scientology labels all psychiatry a “pseudo-science.” She was willing to give up her career – though she’s had some great roles and seems to have done fine in that regard. You just get the feeling that she really lived under Tom’s thumb (so to speak). I’m not even going to touch the “Tom Cruise is gay” issue, but only because he sues the pants off of anyone who dares to suggest it. Nicole says she’s like to have a biological child with husband Keith Urban, who is slowly coming around to the idea. Even though the couple have had some struggles relating to his substance abuse, she seems a lot happier with him, and he seems all around less scary and controlling than Tom. Let’s hope they get what they want, and stay far, far away from Xenu.

There was a rumor that originated in ever-reliable Life & Style Magazine this week that little maybe 16-month-old Suri Cruise was offered a lucrative modeling gig as the new infant face of Baby Gap. JayBird covered that story here, and Life & Style had Tom and Katie turning down the offer and choosing to stage their own photo ops for the toddler.

The story was repeated, changed and unsourced by ExtraTV, SFGate, and Digital Spy, among others and in the gossip telephone game it became changed to suit the hearers’ wishes. Suri was suddenly set to model khakis and romper wear in a national campaign.

Tom Cruise’s people say there’s no truth to the rumor that Suri will be modeling for Baby Gap, but they fail to mention if they were approached about it. I like to think that part of the story is true:

A rep for Tom Cruise is denying reports that his youngest daughter is going to be the new face of Baby Gap.

The rumor is “totally untrue,” according to the actor’s publicist.

Reports surfaced on Wednesday that Suri had signed a lucrative contract with the kids clothing company.

[From US Weekly]

US Weekly also points out Suri’s eventful summer, mentioning that she’s been all over the globe from Louisiana to the South of France, Italy, and Germany. While Brad and Angelina are always getting flap for bringing their four children along with them around the world, no one ever mentions how little jet-setting Suri gets moved around a lot too. Maybe that’s because she’s younger and doesn’t have any siblings yet.

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise were turned away from a St. Tropez nightclub on Friday, with owners saying that the VIP area was full. It was full - with P Diddy and the Royal family of Dubai spending money like water.

The actor, 45, and wife Katie Holmes, 28, were left fuming after being turned away from a St Tropez nightclub in front of dozens of onlookers.

And to add to the humiliation, P Diddy WAS allowed in to party away at the Caves Du Roi club in the exclusive Byblos Hotel.
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Tom and Katie turned up at the super-hip venue on Friday at 11pm.

While Katie looked suitably sexy in a little black number, Tom drew a few unflattering gasps in his naff blue jumper. Mmm, not a good start mate.

The bouncers then refused them entry.

Nonetheless, the actor’s security started begging: “Are you serious? It’s Tom Cruise.” But the heavies were having none of it, telling Tom’s people: “Non, non, non!”

A club source told us: “The VIP area was full and the management weren’t willing to move the guests already there to make room for Tom.

“It wouldn’t have been fair - they’d spent a fortune.”

Tom turned on his heel and walked off with Katie scampering after him.

Last night a hotel spokeswoman confirmed they turned them away as the club was “full”. She added: “It would have been dangerous to allow any more people in - whoever they were.”

[From The Mirror]

They then went to a club called The VIP Room, and Cruise was said to have “looked out of place” at the club throbbing with house music. Katie and Tom left early and didn’t drink much of the Dom Perignon they ordered.

Back at the club where TomKat was denied entry, the Caves Du Roi at the Byblos Hotel, Diddy was partying up a storm with the Dubai royal family. According to The Mirror they were drinking $40,000 bottles of Methuselah Cristal. The bottle is 7 liters, and when guests order it at the Byblos Hotel club they dim the lights and serve it on a silver tray adorned with sparklers. Guess a measly bottle of Dom doesn’t really measure up.

In other “Tom Cruise is a dork” news, Cruise is said to tease new LA resident Victoria Beckham about her British accent and slang. He has started using words like “bloody”, “blimey” and “chaps.” Maybe in turn Posh will call everything “amazing.”

Here are Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes on the night in question. If Cruise wasn’t famous, do you think he’d have a chance getting into an exclusive club in a tight button up shirt like that?

Thanks to Splash News for these pictures.

The gossip rags have moved on from calling wan Katie Holmes a brainwashed Stepford wife to championing the changes in her after she made an appearance at Paris fashion week without Tom. I guess a new face makes all the difference.

In Touch says she’s calling the shots now, and claims she’s trying to get her career back and is taking advice from Victoria Beckham to make sure her man is under control:

Until recently, Katie has rarely been seen unless she is attached to Tom’s hip at his kid’s soccer games, on the red carpet and at charity events. After she met Tom, Katie shut out most of her old friends in order to give Tom constant attention. However, her new, close friendship with Victoria Beckham is changing everything.

The duo travelled to Paris on January 23 to attend Couture Week. Strong, confident Victoria, 32, “is helping Katie assert her power and independence,” and insider says, and - as the mother of three boys… giving her tips on how to be a working mom…

Lately, Katie seems stifled around Tom. At a party for musician Prince at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on January 15, “Tom practically had to drag her around,” an onlooker tells In Touch. And when Tom had a conversation with 24 star Keifer Sutherland, “Katie just stood there, looking totally bored,” the witness says.

[From In Touch print edition, January 12, 2007]

The article goes on to say that Katie is focusing on her career now and that she is in talks to star in what is sure to be a crappy movie with Queen Latifah called Mad Money. They say Tom wants more kids but that Katie probably won’t be popping out another one soon.

In Touch is most likely checking out the pictures and making this story up, but it seems fundamentally true. Katie is branching out, and if we can be forgiven for engaging in this same overanalysis of paparazzi photos, she looks like she’s having a good time, but also that she’s acting for the cameras and no longer thinks Tom is a God like everyone else in his cult religion.

If you check out the pictures of her out with him in Miami on Superbowl weekend she has this faraway look in her eye. It’s possible that she’s planning her next move, and that she really has broken out of that Stepford mold. Those must be the thetans talking though, and some intense auditing should cure her.

Here are Katie and Tom leaving their hotel in Miami on 2/3.

Story via Sammie’s Effluvia. Pictures from KatieHolmes.com.