Angelina Jolie advocates for U.S. domestic violence law

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Wednesday agreed on a deal to renew a long-lapsed law to strengthen domestic violence protections, just hours after Hollywood actor and humanitarian Angelina Jolie made a tearful speech of support.

Jolie's voice broke as she acknowledged the women and children "for whom this legislation comes too late" in a speech in Washington D.C.

"Standing here at the center of our nation's power, I can think only of everyone who has been made to feel powerless by their abusers by a system that failed to protect them," Jolie, wearing a black suit and pearls, said.

The Violence Against Women Act expired at the end of 2018 and U.S. President Joe Biden, who originally sponsored the bill as a senator in 1994, had campaigned on renewing it.

The House of Representatives approved its renewal in a 244-172 vote almost a year ago, but legislation stalled in Congress amid partisan disputes over access to guns and transgender issues.

"The reason many people struggle to leave abusive situations is that they have been made to feel worthless. When there is silence from a Congress too busy to renew the Violence Against Women Act for a decade, it reinforces that sense of worthlessness," said Jolie. "You think, I guess my abuser is right. I guess I'm not worth very much."

Republican Senators Joni Ernst and Lisa Murkowski and Democrats Dick Durbin and Dianne Feinstein issued a joint media release confirming they had reached a "compromise" deal to get the bill moving.

Biden said in a statement he was "grateful that this critical bipartisan bill is moving forward, and I look forward to Congress delivering it to my desk without delay."

-reuters-

Box Office: 'Maleficent: Mistress of Evil' dominates with soft $36 million

LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) - Five years after Angelina Jolie’s “Maleficent” cast a spell over the box office, the villainous enchantress has returned to the top of domestic charts. Disney’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” a sequel to 2014’s fantasy adventure based on the “Sleeping Beauty” sorceress, debuted to $36 million from 2,790 North American theaters, nearly half of what the first movie made in its inaugural weekend ($69 million).

Despite opening below projections heading into the weekend, “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” easily towered over competition including holdover from Warner Bros.’ “Joker” and newcomer Sony’s “Zombieland: Double Tap.” The “Maleficent” follow-up did benefit as one of the few offerings catering to younger female moviegoers in a marketplace that’s been largely dominated by male-skewed titles like “Joker” and Paramount’s “Gemini Man.” Women represented 56% of ticket buyers, about 50% of which were under the age of 25.

“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” marks the lowest opening weekend of the year for Disney and will now rely on the international box office to recoup its $185 million budget. The film had much more promising showing overseas, lifting off with $117 million for a global start of $150 million. The original pulled in an impressive $517 million from foreign markets and another $241 million from the domestic market.

Elle Fanning also returned for the sequel, joining newcomers to the series Michelle Pfeiffer, Ed Skrein and Chiwetel Ejiofor. “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” was directed by Joachim Ronning (“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man Tell No Tales”).

Fellow new release “Zombieland: Double Tap” launched at No. 3 with a better-than-expected $26.7 million and should continue to build momentum in coming weeks as Halloween nears. The original “Zombieland” premiered to $24 million in 2009 and ended its box office run with a solid $102 million globally. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, the zombie comedy reunites stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin and Bill Murray. Rosario Dawson, Zoey Deutch, Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch joined the cast. “Zombieland 2” cost $42 million to make, roughly double what the studio spent on the original ($23 million).

After its two-week reign atop domestic box office charts, “Joker” slid to second place and added $29 million in its third weekend of release. That puts the dark supervillain origin story — starring Joaquin Phoenix and directed by Todd Phillips — close to the $250 million mark in North America, with ticket sales hitting $247 million. Overseas, “Joker” has scared up a mighty $490 million for a worldwide bounty of $737.5 million.

In other milestones, STX and Lorene Scafaria’s “Hustlers” crossed the coveted $100 million benchmark at the domestic box office. After six weeks in theaters, “Hustlers” pulled in another $2 million, boosting its haul to $101.8 million in North America and $128.8 million globally.

Meanwhile, Focus Features’ “Downton Abbey” has surpassed $88 million in the States and now stands as the studio’s highest-grossing movie ever at the domestic box office, a record previously held by “Brokeback Mountain” with $83 million.

Among awards season hopefuls, Fox Searchlight’s “Jojo Rabbit” bowed with a strong $350,000 from five theaters in New York and Los Angeles, averaging $70,000 from each location. Written and directed by Taika Waititi (who also stars in the film as an absurdist imaginary Adolf Hitler), “Jojo Rabbit” is set during World War II and follows a young boy eager to join the Hitler Youth, who discovers his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their attic. Critics have been mostly impressed with “Jojo Rabbit” (it holds a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes), while audiences have awarded it with an A CinemaScore.

“There are many reasons to be very optimistic about the future of ‘Jojo Rabbit,’” said Frank Rodriguez, Fox Searchlight’s president of domestic distribution. “Notably, the very good performance at the box office this weekend, the excellent CinemaScore of A, and the interest that we see from exhibitors and moviegoers who are eager to play and see the film in the coming weeks.”

“Jojo Rabbit,” based on the novel “Caging Skies,” will continue its paced rollout next weekend in eight new markets, including Denver, Austin, Phoenix, Washington DC, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Toronto. The studio is aiming for a nationwide release by Nov. 8. The cast includes Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Scarlett Johansson, Rebel Wilson and Sam Rockwell.

Elsewhere, Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse” took in $419,764 from eight venues. The darkly comedic drama, led by Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, will continue to expand nationwide next weekend, where it will play on 500 screens.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Angelina Jolie wants divorce finalized by end of 2018

LOS ANGELES - Angelina Jolie on Tuesday sought to move forward with her long and sometimes bitter divorce from Brad Pitt, which has yet to be finalized after almost two years.

Jolie's attorney filed papers in Los Angeles Superior Court saying the actress wanted a judgment "returning the parties to single status during calendar year 2018."

The document also said that Pitt has "paid no meaningful child support since separation" and said that although informal arrangements had been made with him, payments "had not been regularly sustained."

Jolie filed for divorce in September 2016, ending two years or marriage and a 10-year romance that had made the pair one of Hollywood's most glamorous and powerful couples. They have six children for whom she is seeking primary custody.

Mindy Nyby, a spokeswoman for the actress, said on Tuesday that the court filing was intended "to provide closure to the marriage in a way that clears a path towards the next stage of their lives and allows her and Brad to recommit as devoted co-parents to their children."

Pitt's representatives declined to comment. A source familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said that "Brad is someone who fulfills his commitments."

The divorce filing, citing irreconcilable differences, triggered a bitter custody dispute during which Pitt was investigated and cleared of child abuse. Final custody arrangements have yet to be agreed.

The "Moneyball" actor said in an interview last year that he had quit drinking, was undergoing therapy and that he and Jolie had decided to abandon "vitriolic hatred" and work together to sort out their issues.

Pitt has kept a low profile in the past two years, while Jolie has recently been filming a sequel to fairytale drama "Maleficent" in London and directed a 2017 film about the 1970s Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia in which more than one million people died. Their eldest son Maddox was adopted from Cambodia in 2002.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Tarantino admits he knew of Weinstein misconduct complaints

LOS ANGELES - Quentin Tarantino has admitted knowing for decades about Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual misconduct, confessing in an interview published Thursday to feeling ashamed that he did not stop working with the mogul.

The explosive admission to The New York Times came with allegations of assault and harassment mounting against the disgraced Hollywood tycoon as Los Angeles police announced they were investigating a sixth sex attack allegation.

"I knew enough to do more than I did," Oscar-winning Tarantino, 54, told the paper of his friend and mentor, citing several episodes involving prominent actresses.

"There was more to it than just the normal rumors, the normal gossip. It wasn't secondhand. I knew he did a couple of these things."

Weinstein, 65, is accused of decades of sexual abuse and harassment by around 40 actresses, including stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Mira Sorvino, Tarantino's ex-girlfriend.

The veteran producer, who resigned from the board of The Weinstein Company this week, having already been sacked as its co-chairman, has so far denied all allegations of forcing himself on his accusers.

Tarantino said in the Times interview that he had heard about Weinstein's behavior long before investigations by that paper and the New Yorker which prompted a flood of further allegations.

'MARGINALIZE THE INCIDENTS'

"I wish I had taken responsibility for what I heard. If I had done the work I should have done then, I would have had to not work with him," Tarantino said.

Sorvino, who dated the director in the mid-1990s, told him Weinstein had made unwanted advances while another actress made similar allegations years later that Tarantino also knew about, according to the Times.

The director said he was also aware that Weinstein had settled with the actress Rose McGowan.

"What I did was marginalize the incidents," Tarantino said, admitting that he had dismissed them as "mild misbehavior."

"Anything I say now will sound like a crappy excuse," added the filmmaker, who won best screenplay Oscars for black comedy western "Django Unchained" in 2013 and cult favorite "Pulp Fiction" in 1995.

Weinstein and Tarantino have worked closely for decades since the producer distributed "Reservoir Dogs," in 1992.

The pair also collaborated on "Pulp Fiction," the "Kill Bill" films, "Inglourious Basterds" and "The Hateful Eight."

The Los Angeles Police Department told AFP detectives had interviewed a "potential sexual assault victim involving Weinstein" which allegedly occurred in 2013.

The opening of a probe in LA follows two sex crime investigations launched by police in New York, with London's Metropolitan Police also pursuing allegations made by three women.

The new case takes Weinstein's potential legal woes to a new level as it falls within the 10-year statute of limitations for the crime that existed at the time of the alleged incident, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Until now, most of the accusations Weinstein faced were more than a decade old.

'WITHOUT WARNING'

The Italian model-actress, then 34, met with officers for more than two hours on Thursday to offer a detailed account of her allegations against Weinstein, the newspaper reported.

The woman, who has asked not to be named, fearing reprisals, told the Times the incident occurred at the Mr. C Beverly Hills hotel after she attended the 8th annual Los Angeles, Italia Film, Fashion and Art Fest in February 2013.

He showed up "without warning" in the lobby and asked to come up to her room, she told the Times. She said she offered instead to meet him downstairs, but added that he was soon knocking on her door.

"He... bullied his way into my hotel room, saying, 'I'm not going to [have sex with] you, I just want to talk,'" the mother-of-three is quoted as telling the Times.

"Once inside, he asked me questions about myself, but soon became very aggressive and demanding and kept asking to see me naked. He grabbed me by the hair and forced me to do something I did not want to do. He then dragged me to the bathroom and forcibly raped me."

She said she was too afraid to report Weinstein, instead telling a priest, a friend and a nanny what had happened, but decided to come forward at the request of her children.

ft/jz/wd/

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Paolo Ballesteros dresses as Angelina Jolie in Tokyo film fest

MANILA -- In “Die Beautiful,” the new film of award-winning director Jun Lana, Paolo Ballesteros plays a transgender woman whose dying wish is to be dressed as Katy Perry for her funeral.

But for the movie's premiere at this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival on Tuesday, Ballesteros took to the red carpet as another Hollywood star, Angelina Jolie.

Ballesteros, who is known for his makeup transformations on social media, posted a photo of him looking like the American actress on the red carpet.

The movie is among the 16 films competing at the prestigious film festival that was selected from among 1,502 titles from 98 countries and regions.

According to the film's Facebook page , the movie is about the "fierce battle" between the lead character's "conservative Filipino-Chinese family and her well-meaning drag queen friends.”

Its tagline, according to its poster, is “A glamorous life deserves a fabulous death.”

The Tokyo Film Festival is ongoing and runs until Nov 3.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Brad Pitt skips LA premiere to 'focus on family'

LOS ANGELES - Brad Pitt canceled a red-carpet appearance on Wednesday for filmmaker Terrence Malick's new film "Voyage of Time" to focus on his "family situation" amid a messy divorce from Angelina Jolie.

Pitt, 52, was scheduled to attend the premiere at the California Science Center in Los Angeles for the 40-minute feature examining the origins of the universe, which he narrates.

"Terrence's 'Voyage of Time' is an incredibly beautiful and unique experiential IMAX film for children and families chronicling the birth of time," Pitt said in a statement.

"I'm very grateful to be part of such a fascinating and educational project, but I'm currently focused on my family situation and don't want to distract attention away from this extraordinary film, which I encourage everyone to see," he added.

Pitt's management did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Jolie, 41, filed for divorce on September 19 citing irreconcilable differences and seeking custody of their six children, with visiting rights only for Pitt.

The A-listers wed in France in August two years ago, but had been a couple since 2004.

French actress Marion Cotillard was forced last week to deny suggestions that she played a role in the "Brangelina" breakup by having a fling with Pitt.

Meanwhile the FBI has said it is gathering information before deciding whether to launch a federal probe into an alleged incident on a plane carrying Pitt and his children back from vacation in France.

It has not offered any details of the allegations but several US media outlets reported that Pitt had been involved in an angry outburst with at least one of his children.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

2016: The year love died in Hollywood

The imminent divorce of "Brangelina" is the latest in a series of celebrity splits giving the impression that the average Hollywood marriage has about as much chance of success as a non-white actor at the Oscars.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie-Pitt have both been through divorces before, he with "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston and she with actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton.

This year has also seen Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin finalize their famous "conscious uncoupling" around the same time that Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were squabbling over the terms of their split.

Drew Barrymore, Lisa Marie Presley, Dennis Quaid and James McAvoy have announced divorces from their respective partners too, sparking some gossip websites to refer to 2016 as the year of the Hollywood divorce.

In 2012 statistics website PolitiFact estimated that the lifelong probability of an American marriage ending in divorce was 40–50 percent, citing academics and the National Survey of Family Growth.

Kelly Frawley, a partner at New York law firm Kasowitz, Benson, Torres and Friedman, believes that while there is no reason to think the rich and famous split more often than the rest of us, the pressures which put strain on relationships are amplified in the rarified air of Tinseltown.

"There are standard things that cause marriages to disintegrate -- concerns about money, fights about how to raise the children, issues of fidelity," she told AFP.

"Those are much bigger scale when you are dealing with a celebrity couple because there's so much accessibility to all the things that make it easy to step out of a marriage.

"You can spend money with ease, you can leave with ease, you can have affairs with ease."

- 'Unique microscope' -
It's not all doom and gloom. Denzel and Pauletta Washington have been going strong since 1983 while Billy Crystal, Christopher Walken and their respective sweethearts expect to celebrate golden wedding anniversaries before the end of the decade.

But unlike skin peels, kale and the 5:2 diet, divorce is one celebrity fad that has endured through the ages and the Hollywood hills are littered with the carcasses of euthanized showbiz marriages.

Among the high profile casualties are Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, who announced on June 30 2015, one day after their ten-year anniversary, that they were calling it a day.

Tom Cruise was on his third marriage by the time he and Katie Holmes split in 2012 and there were divorces in 2010 for Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson, and Elizabeth Hurley and Arun Nayar.

"Celebrities are under a unique microscope, where every nuance is dissected over and over again the slightest misunderstanding is reported like you're splitting up right away," said Judi Bloom, a licensed marriage and family therapist based in Southern California.

"That can really wear down a couple in the end."

One big problem for Hollywood couples, she told AFP, is that they spend so much time apart on their separate projects, which can "pull at the fabric of a relationship."

Some avoid growing apart by continuing to work together after getting hitched.

Warren Beatty and Annette Bening began dating during the filming of "Bugsy" in 1991, married a year later and filmed "Love Affair" together in 1994.

- Breathing space -

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett are still together a quarter century after meeting on the set of his sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" when she auditioned to play his girlfriend.

She didn't get the part but she got Smith -- marrying the actor in 1997 and appearing alongside him in 2001 biopic "Ali."

It doesn't always work, of course.

Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton have joined forces for no fewer than seven films but called it a day after 13 years, an unlucky number which was also the length of the marriage of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow, and the number of his films in which she appeared.

Rob Shuter, a former Hollywood publicist for Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson and others who now runs NaughtyGossip.com, told AFP celebrities and their representatives plan divorce announcements down to the most minute detail.

"The announcement about Brad and Angie came out one day after the weekly magazines went to print, which means that they get a week of breathing space," he said.

Shuter says that while print is less important in the digital age than it used to be, the timing was still "a disaster" for People, which has the largest audience of any American magazine, and its rival Us Weekly.

He believes Pitt would have been the more passive partner in planning their divorce announcement because of Jolie-Pitt's track record with carefully stage-managing the news cycle.

"When she was pregnant with Shiloh she didn't make the announcement with an official statement, she walked around the corner and let her bump show for 'People' magazine," he said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Why Angelina Jolie had her ovaries removed

WASHINGTON - Hollywood megastar Angelina Jolie announced Tuesday that she has had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed over fears of cancer, following her double mastectomy two years ago.

The actress, who has lost her mother, grandmother and aunt to the disease, said she had the procedure last week after results from a blood test raised fears that she may be in the early stages of cancer.

Although later tests showed that wasn't the case, Jolie said she chose to go ahead with the surgery because of her family history and because she carries a gene mutation that had given her a 50 percent risk of developing ovarian cancer, the same mutation that put her at 87 percent risk of developing breast cancer.

"I did not do this solely because I carry the BRCA1 gene mutation, and I want other women to hear this," Jolie wrote in an op-ed piece in the New York Times, the same venue where she announced her double mastectomy two years ago.

"A positive BRCA test does not mean a leap to surgery," said Jolie, who is married to fellow Hollywood heavyweight Brad Pitt.

"In my case, the Eastern and Western doctors I met agreed that surgery to remove my tubes and ovaries was the best option, because on top of the BRCA gene, three women in my family have died from cancer," she wrote.

Her doctors said that she should have the preventive surgery about a decade before the earliest onset of cancer in her female relatives.

"My mother’s ovarian cancer was diagnosed when she was 49. I’m 39."

Jolie said that she had been preparing for the possibility of ovary removal ever since her double mastectomy.

But two weeks ago, she said, she got a call from a doctor who said her blood test results had "a number of inflammatory markers that are elevated, and taken together they could be a sign of early cancer."

She was told to see a surgeon immediately.

"I went through what I imagine thousands of other women have felt. I told myself to stay calm, to be strong, and that I had no reason to think I wouldn’t live to see my children grow up and to meet my grandchildren," Jolie wrote.

"I called my husband in France, who was on a plane within hours. The beautiful thing about such moments in life is that there is so much clarity. You know what you live for and what matters. It is polarizing, and it is peaceful."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Angelina Jolie gets chicken pox and cancels 'Unbroken' promotion

LOS ANGELES - Filmmaker and actress Angelina Jolie said on Friday she has chicken pox and will not be able to attend events for World War Two drama "Unbroken," her second film as director.

"I just want to be clear and honest why I will be missing the 'Unbroken' events in the next few days, which is that I found out last night that I have chicken pox," Jolie said in a video released by Universal Pictures on YouTube.

"Unbroken," the harrowing survival story of prisoner of war and Olympic runner Louis Zamperini, will have its U.S. premiere in Los Angeles on Monday. It opens in theaters on Dec. 25.

On Thursday, the film failed to pick up any nominations for Golden Globe awards, one of the biggest events in the film awards season that ends with the Academy Awards in February.

"So I will be home, itching and missing everyone and I can't believe it because this film means so much to me. I just can't believe it, but such is life," said the 39-year-old mother of six and wife of Brad Pitt.

At the end of the 39-second video, she throws up her hands and then waves goodbye.

On Wednesday, Jolie attended Hollywood Reporter's annual Women in Entertainment breakfast honoring the 100 most powerful women in the business.

Among those she greeted was Amy Pascal, the beleaguered co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, whose emails have been leaked by hackers behind the massive cyberattack on the studio, a unit of Sony Corp.

In an email exchange between Pascal and producer Scott Rudin that was reported by Gawker on Tuesday, Rudin called Jolie a "minimally talented spoiled brat" because of her demands during a remake of "Cleopatra." Jolie has not responded publicly to the remarks since the email exchange was disclosed.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Angelina Jolie says ready to give up acting: report

AUSTRALIA - Hollywood A-lister Angelina Jolie says she plans to give up acting after a "few more" films and switch her focus to directing.

Jolie walked the red carpet in Sydney with husband Brad Pitt this week at the premiere of her new movie, World War II epic "Unbroken", which was filmed in Australia.



It was her second foray behind the camera after the critically-acclaimed 2011 "In the Land of Blood and Honey" and she said directing was now her passion and where she saw the future.

"I'll do a few more, but I'll be happy to let that all go at some point," she told the Sydney Morning Herald of acting, in comments published online Thursday.

"I love directing, I'm much happier directing," added the 39-year-old.

"I like following a project all the way through. I like spending two years on something and learning about it... I like being pushed mentally to have to learn so much and be a part of every single aspect of a production."

She separately told The Australian newspaper that "unless I'm sure there's a role or something I should do or (that) really means something to me, I'd rather be spending my time telling stories from behind the camera".

Jolie's new movie is based on the true story of a US Olympic athlete turned Japanese prisoner of war, Louis Zamperini, who competed in the 5,000m at the 1936 Games in Berlin before becoming a bombardier in World War II.

When his plane crashed over the South Pacific, he spent 47 days adrift on a raft with a crewmate before being captured by Japanese soldiers in the Marshall Islands.

He was held in a prisoner of war camp for more than two years, enduring beatings and torture, before his return home.

Jolie, who has been acting since she was a child, said her preference for being behind the camera did not mean she thought any less of acting or actors.

"I love actors, I love watching actors work, and I like to shine a light on them. I actually prefer it when it's not me," she told the Herald.

Since wrapping up "Unbroken", Jolie has directed both herself and Pitt in the yet to be released "By the Sea", of which little is known.

"To direct myself was hard, to direct him (Pitt) was a challenge and to be in the scenes with him doing very heavy, heavy drama was difficult," she told The Australian.

"But it was also a great pleasure for us both to bust out of our comfort zones and just get back to being actors who work and fight through scenes and figure it out, and not be safe and not be sure and try and push."

The last time they appeared on screen together was in "Mr and Mrs Smith" in 2005, during which they fell in love.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Brad Pitt hit in the face at 'Maleficent' premiere

An infamous red carpet prankster struck actor Brad Pitt in the face as he signed autographs at the Hollywood premiere of a film starring his partner Angelina Jolie on Wednesday, police said.

Pitt, a Golden Globe-winning actor, was at the premiere of "Maleficent", at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, California, when Vitalii Sediuk leaped over a fence and hit him, said Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Gus Villanueva.

Pitt was not seriously hurt and authorities quickly subdued Sediuk, who was arrested for misdemeanor battery and remained in police custody on Wednesday night, Villanueva said. Sediuk is now being held pending payment of $20,000 bail.

"The officers who were handling him said it looked like it was intentional, but at this point, it remains to be determined," said Sergeant Leonard Calderon for LAPD Hollywood.

Sediuk, 25, is a Ukrainian television reporter who has often pranked celebrities at red carpet events.

In previous exploits, Sediuk has hugged actor Leonardo DiCaprio's crotch at a Santa Barbara Film Festival event, stormed the stage during singer Adele's Grammy acceptance speech, and been slapped by Will Smith after kissing the actor at a Moscow premiere.

Sediuk did not appear to be armed at the time of the attack on Pitt, and investigators have not yet determined a motive, said Villanueva, adding that he was likely to be arraigned on Thursday.

"Maleficent" is Disney's modern reimagining of the "Sleeping Beauty" fairytale, and Jolie stars as its villain.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Angelina Jolie eyes early retirement

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, a mother of six young children, says she plans to "give up the acting" when her kids become teenagers.

The "Salt," "Wanted," "Girl Interrupted" and "Lara Croft" star made the comments in an interview this week with Britain's Channel 4 News.

"I think I'm going to have to give up the acting as the kids hit the teenage years, anyway, too much to manage at home," the 37-year-old Oscar winner said.

"I have enjoyed being an actress," Jolie said. "I am so grateful to the job and I have had great experiences and I have even been able to tell stories and be a part of stories that mattered and I have done things for fun, but ... I will do some films and I am so fortunate to have the job, it's a really lucky profession to be a part of and I enjoy it. ... But if it went away tomorrow I would be very happy to be home with the children. I wake up in the morning as a mum and I turn on the news like everybody else and I see what's happening and I want to be part of the world in a positive way."

source: upi.com

Brangelina engaged

LOS ANGELES - Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, one of the world's best known couples, are engaged to marry, ending a fevered, seven-year celebrity media dance over whether they will ever say "I do."

A spokeswoman for Pitt on Friday confirmed the pair had agreed to wed after Jolie was photographed in Los Angeles wearing a large diamond ring, designed by Pitt, on her engagement finger.

"Yes, it's confirmed. It is a promise for the future and their kids are very happy. There's no date set at this time," said Pitt's spokeswoman Cynthia Pett-Dante.

Pitt, 48 and Jolie, 36 - dubbed Brangelina by celebrity media - are raising six children together, including three adopted kids, all under the age of 11.

Rumors of an impending marriage have made the front pages of celebrity magazines for years, and sent the world's media scurrying to venues as far afield as Italy, India, southern Africa and France to stake out imminent "secret" ceremonies.

The "Moneyball" star said earlier this year that pressure from their kids finally was forcing them to consider tying the knot after previously dismissing marriage as unnecessary or saying they were waiting until gays and lesbians could legally wed.

"It (marriage) seems to mean more and more to our kids. We made this declaration some time ago that we weren't going to do it 'til everyone can. But I don't think we'll be able to hold out," Pitt told The Hollywood Reporter in a January interview.

Jewelry maker Robert Procop said on Friday he had fashioned Jolie's engagement ring in collaboration with Pitt and had been working on it for a year.

"The full creative journey - from conception to completion - took a year, with Brad Pitt waiting until the perfect moment to unveil this special jewel to Angelina Jolie," Procop's spokeswoman said.

Hollywood power couple

Procop said the ring featured an elongated tablet-shaped diamond that was cut to suit Jolie's long, slender fingers, and is mounted with a galaxy of smaller stones.

The ring made its official debut on Wednesday night, when Jolie wore it to a small, private viewing of Chinese art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art with Pitt and son Pax.

Pitt divorced his popular "Friends" actress wife Jennifer Aniston in 2005 to be with Jolie, after the pair became close on the set of action spy movie "Mr. & Mrs. Smith."

Jolie, who won a best supporting actress Oscar for her work on "Girl, Interrupted" in 1999, had two previous short-lived marriages to actors Billy Bob Thornton and Jonny Lee Miller.

Jolie and Pitt quickly became Hollywood's biggest power couple, traveling around the world as Jolie took on high-profile humanitarian roles and adopting children from Ethiopia and Vietnam to add to their brood.

Marriage speculation again reached fever pitch after Jolie gave birth to their first biological child - daughter Shiloh in Namibia in 2006 - and twins Knox and Vivienne in France two years later.

Pitt insisted they would not wed until gay marriage was legalized in the United States. Same-sex marriage is now legal in New York and seven other US states. In January, the actor made clear pressure was mounting, and it wasn't just the children who wanted a wedding.

"It means so much to my kids, and they ask a lot. And it means something to me, too, to make that kind of commitment ... But to be in love with someone and be raising a family with someone and want to make that commitment and not be able to it is ludicrous, just ludicrous," he said.

source: interaksyon.com

Brad Pitt stages ''mini-Grammys'' show to help New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS -- Every time he crosses the Claiborne Avenue bridge heading east across the New Orleans Industrial Canal, actor Brad Pitt gets a lump in his throat.



From that vantage point, he can look down on a section of the city's Lower Ninth Ward that is ground zero for "Make It Right," a home rebuilding initiative Pitt launched to help people whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed 1,500 people and devastated the historic Southern city.

"Each time I come back to New Orleans and drive over that bridge, I get this swell of joy," Pitt told Reuters, his eyes going watery. "It's means a lot to me to watch that neighborhood take shape."

Pitt and his movie star partner, Angelina Jolie, own a house in the city's French Quarter, and they visit the city regularly with their six children.

The actor shares his feelings about the city and its recovery with a few thousand people on Saturday evening, as he and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, a New Orleans native, host the Make It Right Foundation's biggest fundraiser at a New Orleans hotel.

Billed as "A Night to Make It Right," the star-studded, sold-out gala is expected to draw 1,200 guests who paid between $1,000 and $2,500 to attend a dinner prepared by New Orleans celebrity chefs John Besh and Emeril Lagasse, and a concert featuring musical stars Rihanna, Sheryl Crow, Seal and Dr. John.

The lineup includes Hollywood luminaries and honorary hosts Sean Penn, Spike Lee, Josh Brolin and Kevin Spacey.

In addition, some 2,000 people have anted up $150 for an "after party" hosted by actor-comedian Aziz Ansari, with musical performances by Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and the Soul Rebels.

Asked if it was difficult to get the big names to journey to New Orleans for the event, Pitt joked, "Even though these people don't like me that much, it really was simple."

Noting that the celebrities traveled from as far away as Paris for the event, Pitt said the turnout was a mark of their regard for New Orleans.

"They carved this time out of their schedule strictly for this event, and came on their own dime," he said. "We have so much incredible talent that wanted to come and support the city - it's going to be like a mini-Grammys show."

Pitt estimated the events and sponsorships would raise $4 million for Make it Right, which aims to build 150 homes in the Lower Ninth Ward and has pulled in about $30 million since its founding four years ago.

NEW AND IMPROVED

Since 2007, 75 homes have sprouted in a 16-block area that was at the epicenter of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. Built to the specifications of architects selected through an international design competition held by Make It Right, all of the homes stand 5 to 8 feet off the ground, on pilings designed to keep the homes dry in the event of another flood.

Multi-angled steel roofs, windows of ultra-strong glass and tough siding materials are designed to withstand hurricane-force winds. Solar panels, rainwater collection systems and maximum air-circulation designs created homes with low utility bills.

The new houses are a sharp contrast to the modest, mostly one-story homes that characterized the neighborhood before Katrina. Many of them stand just yards (meters) away from the spot where an Industrial Canal floodwall ruptured after the storm, putting the neighborhood under several feet of water.

Gloria Mae Guy still talks about how she and her neighbor climbed to a rooftop as the rising water forced them from their homes. "We held on all night until a boat came and they helped us get out," she said.

Guy, 72, is back in the spot where she and her husband raised their five children, but now she lives in a modern, energy-efficient, two-story home, designed and built by Make It Right contractors. "I'm happy to be home, and I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Brad Pitt," she said.

Tom Darden, executive director of the Make It Right Foundation, said Pitt made the goal of rebuilding according to standards of sustainable construction clear from the beginning, but equally important was finding ways to reduce construction costs.

"Brad said, 'We're going to build the best house we possibly can build and figure out how to make it affordable,'" Darden said.

It was a tall order, but through several years of studying sustainable building techniques and amassing contractors familiar with the methods, the foundation is gradually bringing its costs down, Darden said.

Darden emphasized that while Make It Right was formed to help low-income residents remain in the neighborhood where generations of their families have lived, the initiative was not about handouts.

Applicants for the Make It Right homes must pass an approvals process that requires showing proof of income and the ability to make payments on a mortgage, along with insurance and maintenance costs.

Another goal is to apply the techniques learned in New Orleans to other areas in need, Darden said, noting that Make It Right had recently begun projects in Newark, New Jersey, and Kansas City, Missouri.

"Brad is our visionary," he said. "I think for him it's largely a social justice issue and he wants to help as many people as he can."

source: interaksyon.com

Solenn explains side on 'Boy Pick-Up' issue, Angelina Jolie tweets

MANILA, Philippines – Young temptress Solenn Heussaff denies reports that she has snagged Sam Pinto’s Neneng B role in the "Boy Pick-Up" movie.

“Si Sam Pinto is still the original Neneng B and will still be Neneng B in the movie. Ako ‘yung isang baker,” Solenn explained on “24 Oras,” Feb. 28.

The half-Filipina, half-French actress found the need to explain her side when reports that she’s tapped to play Neneng B’s character surfaced recently. The role in “Bubble Gang” segment has since become Sam’s most popular alter ego.

“I’m still doing Neneng B. I’m still playing Neneng B in the movie,” Sam explained in the same episode.

Sam is “excited” to play Neneng B in the movie version of Boy Pick-Up as “we all didn’t expect it to be that big, this big. So parang I love doing Boy Pick-Up.”

The spin off, according to Sam, will revolve on “Boy Pick-up’s life outside the pick-up world.”

Apparently, Sam is aware about talks that Solenn will reprise her comic role in the movie version.

“I actually texted her. ‘Ano ‘tong tsismis na ‘to?’”

Aside from the Neneng B issue, Solenn also found herself on the hot seat after she commented about Angelina Jolie’s looks during the recent Oscar Awards.

“Angelina jolie is looking old and too skinny #SayangAngBeauty #academyawards,” Solenn tweeted at 11:26 AM, Feb. 27.

This was followed by another tweet which said, “She's still my favorite forever. But I wish she would eat more :( hard having so many kids I guess!”

The messages didn’t sit well with fans of the Hollywood actress who took to Twitter to criticize her comment on Brad Pitt’s partner.

Dawngaviola-vallena tweeted on Feb. 27, “Beginning to hate @solennheussaff! So Angelina Jolie looks old huh?!”

AbbyDelute seemingly took a swipe at Solenn with this message, “I am not negating on your opinion though, but no offense she still can give young CELEBS a run for their money! Hot as hell!”

To which Solenn agrees.

“Yes she's still hot. But she's looked better :( still love her,” she said.

“Nilinaw ni Solenn na opinion niya lang iyon at hindi niya sinisiraan ang Hollywood actress. Sa katunayan, idolo niya si Angelina lalo pa noong bumida ito sa ‘Tomb Raider’ movies,” the “24 Oras” report said.

“[I was kind of surprised] na medyo payat siya. The concerned girl, I mean, siyempre naman hindi ako perfect, hindi ako ganoon din. It’s just reaction lang, point of view ng isang tao lang, opinion lang. So if you don’t agree with me, you don’t agree with me.”

To probably appease fans of Angelina, Solenn posted a series of tweets saying she’s learned a lesson out of the experience.

“Guys chill!! Some people take things too personally. Opinions aren't for twitter. one thing I learned today! Wow haha chillax.”

At past 12 noon on Feb. 27, she posted, “OMG haha Sad to say but when u have an opinion, just shut up and save it for yourself. Or twitterworld is gowing to war haha! Intertaining.”

And to finally put the matter to rest, she posted, “Ok tapos na on the angie subject. Let me now focus on my spelling problem. LOL and gona go enjoy Unofficially yours! Ciao caio tweeterpekers.”

article source: mb.com.ph

Angeline Jolie’s right leg makes rounds on the net

MANILA, Philippines — Multi-awarded Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie knows that it pays to put one’s best foot forward.

And if the ensuing Internet reaction to the 37-year-old actress’ gown that had a tall slit proudly exposing her right leg is any indication, Jolie’s proud leg-raising moment could be one of the classic fares of the annual Academy Awards.

source: interaksyon.com