Angelina Jolie

Brad Pitt told Larry King that he didn't understand the public's interest in his life with Angelina Jolie and their children, though he would allow that his is an "interesting family. It's not your usual family." [Us Weekly]

Tricia Walsh-Smith, who you might remember from the Youtube tirade she directed at former husband Philip Smith, has posted a new video in honor of her ex's promotion to chairman of the Shubert Organazation. The clip is called "I'm Going Bonkers" and features a dominatrix costume. [Cityfile]

West 27th Street's Pink Elephant may be on its last legs. [Down By The Hipster]  read more »

Supposedly sober soon-to-be ex-President George W. Bush drank a Pisco Sour (that's Peruvian brandy, lemon juice, egg whites, simple syrup, and regional bitters, for those playing at home) during his trip to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit last weekend. [Andina.com via Cityfile]

Someone at OK! magazine will probably be fired for incorrectly spelling Ashlee Simpson's name as "Ashley" on the cover. [P6]

Britney Spears claims her two sons, Jayden and Preston, have inherited father Kevin Federline's foul mouth and tendency toward bad behavior, though she is happy to report, "I think they look like me... They don’t look like their father at all.” [R&M]

Model Jessica Stam's boyfriend, recent NYU graduate Austin Clegg, may face jail time for for a collection of softcore crimes (marijuana possession charges, scrawling graffiti on West Fourth Street, and skipping community service). [P6]

Angelina Jolie is still in between pregnancies at the moment. [Us Weekly]

Today, The New York Times' Brooks Barnes offered a hard-hitting A1 investigative report on how Angelina Jolie manipulates the press, especially how she uses access to her family to further her own agenda.

Writes Mr. Barnes:

Shifting the focus is one of Ms. Jolie’s best maneuvers, magazine editors and publicity executives say. When she became romantically involved with Mr. Pitt, for instance, she faced a public relations crisis — being portrayed in the tabloid press as a predator who stole Mr. Pitt from his wife, Jennifer Aniston.

This time, it was Ms. Jolie’s charity work that helped turn the story. Long interested in international humanitarian work, Ms. Jolie appeared in Pakistan, where she visited camps housing Afghan refugees, and even met with President Pervez Musharraf. Ms. Jolie and Mr. Pitt made a subsequent trip to Kashmir to bring attention to earthquake victims.

In a conspiracy like this, you build from the outer edges and you go step by step...  read more »

Page Six is reporting that a former callgirl named Natalie McLennan, whose name was exposed by an unnamed website, was responsible for blowing the whistle on Ashley Dupre. [P6]

In an interview with Vogue, Jennifer Aniston says it was "very uncool" of Angelina Jolie to publically discuss the beggining of her relationship with the then still-married Brad Pitt: "There was stuff printed there that was definitely from a time when I was unaware that it was happening...I felt those details were a little inappropriate to discuss."[NYDN]

The audience reaction Hillary Clinton at the 200th anniversary of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, where husband Bill has his offices, was apparently "courteous, but not nearly as exuberant as it used to be...Nothing compared to the applause she would have received a year ago." [P6]  read more »

Barack Obama did some last minute strategizing in a Monday morning conference call that included Oprah Winfrey and Sean "Diddy" Combs (also Donna Brazile, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, and Rev. Joseph Lowery). [R&M]

Lindsay Lohan is once again harnessing the power of Myspace to remind fans to vote. [People] 

Justin Long, who previously dated Kirsten Dunst and Drew Barrymore, was spotted making out with, uh, Tila Tequila. [P6]  read more »

This week in The New Yorker, Ian Parker profiles Pulitzer prize-winning New York Times columnist and bestselling author Thomas L. Friedman. The story, which is not currently online, is the latest of Mr. Parker's killer profiles (cf., Baldwin, Alec; Clooney, George; bonobos, sexy), and is chockablock with the great scenes from the Arctic Circle to Washington, D.C., to backstage at Late Show with David Letterman.

Here's Mr. Parker on Mr. Friedman's working method for both his column and his book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded:

He works without a research assistant, and he writes at all times. 'Ann [Friedman, Mr. Friedman's wife] drives and I work in the car.  read more »

Volkswagen has provided the Jolie-Pitts with 20 vehicles for their stay in Berlin. That's 2.5 cars for every member of their family. [NYDN]

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen may be fighting about the possibility of getting matching breast implants. It seems that Ashley wants to "look more voluptuous" and told Mary-Kate "that she wanted her to get one at the same time so that it wouldn't be glaringly obvious that Ashley had work done." For her part, "horrified' Mary-Kate is "into that flat look and thinks clothes look better with less cleavage, so she'd rather be smaller and more stylish." [Star]

Graydon Carter modestly declined artist Edward Sorel's offer to paint him on the wall of the Waverly Inn alongside Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Walt Whitman. [R&M, sixth item]  read more »

Last night, the Daily Transom spotted designer Cynthia Rowley at the annual Avon Foundation Awards Celebration attended by Patrick Dempsey and his wife Jillian, Lauren Conrad and Suze Orman.

When asked by tabloid reporters to recommend a fashion tip, Ms. Rowley, who seemed to be in one of her rather eccentric moods, said that she enjoys changing in the back of taxicabs.

"Lots of dresses roll up really small these days, so you just keep it in your bag and just ask the cab driver not to watch," said Ms. Rowley.  read more »

As the temperatures slowly lower themselves towards sweater levels, it's time for Hollywood to start the fall season at the box office in earnest. With two highly anticipated genre films hitting screens, this is sure to be the most lucrative weekend since August. Here's a handy guide to the weekend's new releases:

Saw V

What's the story: If you're wondering what the October Surprise is, look no further than Saw V. It's absolutely stunning that this horror franchise is on its fifth go-around. We don't know anything about the latest edition, but presumably the plot deals with a bunch people dying violent deaths. Expect this to make lots of money.

Who should see it: People who thought Saw IV didn't really tell the whole story.

High School Musical 3

What's the story: Speaking of making lots of money... allow us to introduce you to HSM3.  read more »

Angelina Jolie has trained her brood well. She told Italian Vanity Fair, "I am still restless, but do you know that my kids are the same way? We were in France these last few months and after a while they started asking when we could get back on a plane." [R&M]

Imported socialite Peaches Geldof, who recently implied that she and Chester French's Max Drummey would likely divorce, got close to Donald Cummings of The Virgins at a V Magazine event. [P6]

Meanwhile, homegrown socialite Lydia Hearst is glad the family business cancelled its annual Christmas party: "It's time to work through this [financial] crisis, not party through it." [P6]  read more »

Changeling
Running time 140 minutes
Written by J. Michael Stracynski
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Starring Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Amy Ryan, Jeffrey Donovan

Clint Eastwood’s Changeling, from a screenplay by J. Michael Straczynski, takes place in a prodigiously painstaking re-creation of period Los Angeles from 1928 to 1935. To see a trolley car clanging along past neatly spaced Model T-shaped vehicles in Los Angeles is to feel oneself floating back into the dear, dead past. And the flapper costumes for the women in the picture, along with the mandatory hats worn by men until J.F.K. disabused them of the habit at his inauguration in 1961, completes the illusion.  read more »

Britney Spears will address the causes of her infamously erratic behavior in an upcoming documentary. Sample quote: "I sit there and I'll look back and I'm like: 'I'm a smart person. What the hell was I thinking?'" [People]

The cover photo from the November issue of W, which features Angelina Jolie breast-feeding one of her children, has been released. [Radar]

In preparation for his role in The Wrestler, Mickey Rourke cut his own forehead open with a razor blade he had taped to his forearm; how exactly this helped him to prepare is unclear. [R&M]

While touring with Madonna, Swedish musician Robyn was told "not to approach Madonna, not to speak to Madonna and, above all, no pictures.  read more »

Jude Law spent three days last week holed up in the Gramercy Park Hotel with a dancer he met at The Box. [P6] 

The Lower East Side's Chloe may be the new Beatrice Inn--plus, they're considering serving a full menu until 2 a.m. [Grub Street] 

At the New Yorker Festival, Clint Eastwood compared Angelina Jolie's talent to Meryl Streep's but added that she is "hampered by her gorgeous face." Meanwhile, Ms. Jolie told reporters that her secret to looking good after giving birth is "a great dress." [US Weekly]

Paris Hilton intends to have "three or four" children. [People]  read more »

Scandal-causing CBS correspondent Lara Logan might be in even more trouble; she allegedly (and illegally!) brought home a couple of pre-invasion portraits of Saddam Hussein from Iraq and displayed them in her office. [P6]  

Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and their half-dozen children caused a traffic jam outside their hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Said someone on the scene: "Angelina undoubtedly has more foreign-policy knowledge than Sarah Palin...No wonder people don't know where to direct their attention."  [The Scoop]

Madonna and Alex Rodriguez, who caused a stir by denying their relationship this summer, had a "secret dinner" at Dos Caminos. [P6]  read more »

This morning, we learned that Brad Pitt donated $100,000 to fight a ballot initiave to overturn California's legalization of same sex marriage. In a statement to reporters, Pitt explained why he was supporting the cause:

Because no one has the right to deny another their life, even though they disagree with it, because everyone has the right to live the life they so desire if it doesn't harm another and because discrimination has no place in America, my vote will be for equality and against Proposition 8.

Moving words, Brad, but we celebrity aficionados know there's much more to this move than the open-minded actor's compassion or humanity or whatever.  read more »

Scarlett Johansson has reportedly let Woody Allen's adoration go to her head. [P6]

Like everyone, Lindsay Lohan has an opinion on Sarah Palin; Ms. Lohan is not too fond of the vice-presidential candidate's sponsorship of a conference to "convert" gay people. [Celebrity Myspace] 

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have donated $2 million to the Global Health Committee to provide care for children with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Ethiopia. [People] 

Artist Richard Prince may or may not have purchased a jet. [P6]   read more »

It's just a couple more weeks till Clint Eastwood's Changeling opens as the centerpiece of the New York Film Festival, and today Variety has posted the trailer and the Todd McCarthy review written back in May when the film premiered at Cannes. Based on the real Wineville Chicken Murders in 1928, Angelina Jolie plays Christine Collins, a single mom whose son Walter mysteriously disappears. When the police bring back the boy they claim to be her son, Christine is insistent he is not -- earning her a place in the psych ward. According to Mr. McCarthy's review, it is then that the film "really spreads its wings, as ramifications of this tragic but unexceptional case seep through the police department, the legal system, the medical establishment and City Hall in entirely unexpected ways.  read more »

Vanity Fair has come out with its list of 100 most powerful influentials, most of which—since they've already been covered by various lists in Time (the Time 100), Forbes (celebs and richest Americans) and elsewhere—come as no surprise.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, and Google boys Sergey Brin, Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt are all in the top 10, followed closely behind by David Geffen, Bill Clinton and billionaire Ronald Perelman.

But there do appear to be some changes from last year's list. Some powerful names have sunk or even disappeared to make room for names in fashion and entertainment.  read more »

Paul Starr, a makeup artist to celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Garner, was found dead in his Los Angeles apartment yesterday, according to Metro UK.

While the cause of Mr. Starr's death is still undetermined, his friends said that they hadn't seen or heard from Mr. Starr in several days. After knocking on his door repeatedly, police broke down the door and found him dead. Mr. Starr's age was reported to be anywhere from 48 to 51.

According to Mr. Starr's Web site, his clients have ranged "from ladies who lunch to movie stars, rock stars, and supermodels.  read more »

Roseanne Barr has a blog! And, as Page Six has reported, she’s using it to attack Angelina Jolie for failing to officially endorse Barack Obama’s candidacy. In open letter to the mother of—six now, right?--yesterday, Ms. Barr writes:

...Miss jolie says she likes mccain too and hasn't decided who to endorse....huh? Aren't you supposed to be somewhat enlightened, or do you not know that the african daughter you hold in every picture had parents who suffered and died because of the republican party's worldwide economic assault on africa over the last few decades since reagan? whaaaa...??????!!!! (for that matter, the thai and cambodian sons you are photo'd with weekly too who's pictures you sell to raise money to help the poor? Their families are victims of America's right wing military incursions too…Now go back to making your movies about women who love to handle big guns that shoot hundreds of people to death.

 read more »

Tom Cruise has had plenty of roles as an ass-kicking government agent (the Mission Impossible movies, Minority Report, um... does Top Gun count? ). But he has been flashing his funny bone more often these days. So he turned down producers after flirting with a new thriller project. Now the role of a CIA agent accused of being a Russian spy could be rewritten for Angelina Jolie, who is currently in close talks with producers. In her first part since having twins, the puffy-lipped actress will sweeten the title role in Edwin A. Salt.

Screenwriter Kurt Wimmer (Thomas Crown Affair, Equilibrium) will be turning Edwin into...Edwina? Philip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger, The Bone Collector) remains attached as director, according to Variety.  read more »