Christmas is a time to spend at home with family, and that’s where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will spend the holidays — at home in New Orleans.

“People are really good to our family here,” Pitt told TODAY’s Ann Curry during a one-on-one interview in New Orleans that aired on Monday. “It's been a nice place for myself and the kids and Angie, and, yeah, we hope to maintain a connection here.”

“Angie” is his partner, actress Angelina Jolie, with whom he bought a home in the French Quarter early this year. The couple has four children, including three adopted.

“Christmas here?” Curry asked.

“Yeah, we are,” said Pitt.

Last week, the actor/activist revealed plans to build 150 affordable and eco-friendly in the city’s devastated Lower Ninth Ward through his new foundation, “Make It Right.”

The initiative is his second in New Orleans. The first, in conjunction with Global Green, an international organization that promotes eco-friendly development, was announced in August on the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which leveled huge sections of the city.

More than two years after the disaster, the city’s population is only 60 percent what it was before Katrina, and Pitt says he’s motivated by those who remain homeless, particularly those who lived in the poorest parts of the city.

“We're going into the third holiday season and these people are still sitting in limbo,” he told Curry in explaining his goals for the city. “Success will be seeing a community here thrive again and seeing a barbecue and seeing people hang out on the front porch and making music and kids riding bikes through the streets.”

Curry observed that many people ask why he is helping people rebuild in areas that are substantially below sea level. The answer, said Pitt, is Robert Green, a Lower Ninth Ward resident who lost a granddaughter and his mother in the flood and has been living in a FEMA trailer for more than two years, waiting for promised rebuilding help that has yet to come.

Green has little left from his home. He talked about what it was like watching his granddaughter, who was 3, fall of the roof of their home into the floodwaters.

“She looked up expecting me to reach my hand down in the water and pull her out and I wasn't able to do that,” Green told Curry.

The next day, his mother, Joyce, a retired veteran of the Air Force, also died.

And still, the place is home to Green, the only home he’s ever known. And he’s going to own one of the new homes Pitt is helping to build through Make it Right.

“I picked this one right here,” he said, indicating the location.,“because of the open areas, and it has the ability to accommodate my kids and my grand kids.”

New digs in French Quarter

Pitt first fell in love with The Big Easy in 1994 when he was filming “Interview with the Vampire” there. Earlier this year, he and Angelina Jolie purchased a home in the French Quarter while he was filming “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” and they’ve made the city their home.

Pitt, 43, has been as famous for his love life as for his acting career. A perennial on various lists of the most handsome men in America, he’s a good friend of George Clooney and appeared with Clooney and Matt Damon in “Ocean’s Eleven” and its sequels, “Ocean’s Twelve” and “Ocean’s Thirteen.”

His first mainstream role was in the 1991 hit, “Thelma & Louise.” In following years he starred in “A River Runs Through It,” “True Romance,” “Interview with the Vampire,” “Twelve Monkeys,” “Meet Joe Black,” “Being John Malkovich,” “Fight Club,” and “Troy.”

He married actress Jennifer Aniston after a two-year courtship in 2000, then sparked tabloid headlines five years later when he was photographed with actress Angelina Jolie, a romance that was sparked by the pair working together in “Mr.& Mrs. Smith.”

After divorcing Aniston, Pitt and Jolie moved in together. They have one natural daughter, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, born on May 27, 2006, and four adopted children, Maddox Chivan, pax Thien and Zahara Marley.

Since becoming involved with Jolie, Pitt has become increasingly involved in social issues both in third-world nations and in the United States.

He’s doing more than lip service to his vow to help rebuild the city’s poorest and most devastated areas. He’s worked on the construction sites and he’s putting his money where his mouth is. Both Pitt and Leo S. Bing, a philanthropist, real estate developer, movie producer and Liz Hurley's former husband have each pledged to match $5 million in donations.

“It's the most unique city that we have in the States,” he told “The Times-Picayune” newspaper in May. “It has an energy like no other place. . . I absolutely love it there. We moved our family there.”

And now, they’re planning on making New Orleans home for the holidays.

By Mike Celizic

Source: MSNBC Today.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were among the stars on hand to console British boxer Ricky Hatton following his disappointing defeat by U.S. fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday night.

Hatton was cheered on by the Hollywood couple as he went up against the unbeaten Mayweather Jr. in the World Boxing Council welterweight battle in Las Vegas over the weekend in a match that was also watched by the likes of Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, Kid Rock, Sylvester Stallone and Jude Law.

The Brit lost the fight after being knocked out in the 10th round, but he was given a hero's welcome when he returned to his dressing room, where Jolie and Pitt were waiting to greet him.

A camp insider says, "Angelina and Brad made a point of visiting Ricky after the fight to see that he was OK and to say well done.

"He crashed down right in front of them and Angelina grimaced. It was the first time she had ever seen boxing up close and she was worried that Ricky had been seriously hurt.

"Brad went with her to his dressing room later and they congratulated him on putting up such a fight. She seemed genuinely affected by what she'd seen and told Ricky he'd been very brave."

Source: NBC Action News.

Angelina Jolie has topped a list of the 100 Sexiest Movie Stars Ever.

The Beowulf actress topped the poll, conducted by Empire magazine, to find the most beautiful star of the silver screen.

Angelina claimed the prestigious title because of her "pneumatic figure, feline eyes and lips that could have been stung by several hives of bees".

She narrowly beat Natalie Portman, who finished in second position after "making baldness sexy" in V for Vendetta and setting men's pulses racing with her raunchy pole dancing scene in Closer.

James Bond actor Daniel Craig - who wowed women in Casino Royale when he emerged from the ocean in a pair of tight-fitting blue swimming trunks - came third, while Fantastic Four beauty Jessica Alba finished fourth.

Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp rounded off the top five.

Other entries on the list, which was voted for by 20,000 film fans, included Matt Damon - who was recently voted People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive for 2007 - who took 17th spot.

British stars Christian Bale, Kate Winslet, Orlando Bloom, Kate Beckinsale and Clive Owen all made it in to the top 25, with Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe coming in at 23.

Volver actress Penelope Cruz took 50th position and the entire list was rounded off by Die Hard 4.0 actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

Empire magazine's 100 Sexiest Movie Stars Ever - Top Ten:

1. Angelina Jolie
2. Natalie Portman
3. Daniel Craig
4. Jessica Alba
5. Johnny Depp
6. Eva Green
7. Brad Pitt
8. Scarlett Johansson
9. Keira Knightley
10. Gerard Butler

Source: Stuff.

Madonna and Angelina Jolie have put their differences behind them by bonding over their adoption-related problems.

In the past the pair have feuded with each other over their support of adoption.

Madonna criticised the A Mighty Heart actress for not really helping the crisis, while Jolie slammed the singer for adopting from a country where there is "no legal framework for adoption".

After Madonna was asked if she was jumping on Jolie's "bandwagon" by adopting her son David Banda from Africa, she replied: "Look, I could have joined the U.N. and become an ambassador and visited various countries and just kind of showed up and smiled and looked concerned. But that’s not getting to the root of the problem.”

But the pair have since cleared the air after Madonna rang Jolie to console her when the mother of her adopted daughter Zahara said that she wanted her child back in Ethiopia.

A source told the National Enquirer that after the pair bonded during the phone conversation, Madonna said: "I have a new confidante in Angie.”

By Kimberley Dadds

Source: Digital Spy.

Angelina Jolie and 6-year-old son Maddox talk with a member of the National Guard during a news conference in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward on Monday

Angie attended the news conference where partner Brad Pitt announced his latest “Make It Right” project to build affordable, environmentally friendly homes in the area devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Brad has pledged $5 million of his own money toward the project and is asking for donations from church groups to corporations to “adopt a house” for $150,000 each.




Source: Just Jared.

Brad Pitt shares a laugh on Saturday with Janice Porter, whose family had a home in the Lower 9th Ward, in the flood-ravaged neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. Angelina Jolie and daughter Zahara were also nearby to lend their support.

Brad is expected to announce more details of his affordable housing “Make it Right” project @ 11AM EST Monday. More than 100 affordable, ecologically sound homes will be built in the coming months. On Nov. 9, at the Clinton Global Initiative in Manhattan, Brad pledged $5 million to the project, challenging others to match his largess.

Cute snippet from NOLA about Brad, Angelina and the kids: “Jolie caught up with Pitt a half-block closer to the river as he was bicycling around the surrealistic site in a gray sweatshirt and cap. He posed for a photograph with an admirer and watched the children splash their feet in a puddle. Then he peddled off.”

Source: Just Jared.

Angelina Jolie recently made Entertainment Weekly’s “The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood” list, coming in at #33. She’s one of the youngest actresses to make the cut with 58-year-old Meryl Streep at #6, 45-year-old Jodie Foster at #30, 38-year-old Cate Blanchett at #45, and 28-year-old Sarah Polley at #49. Here’s what EW had to say:

Angelina, 32, is smart because… “she’s discovered the real value of fame. While keeping fanboys happy with films like Beowulf, she uses her celebrity superpowers for good. Continues to travel the globe as a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador, the world media in tow, but this year she put her values on screen, too, delivering one of the best performances of her career as Mariane Pearl, widow of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, in June’s A Mighty Heart.”

Angie also picked up the Good Penmanship Award because “she recently wrote for The Economist, alongside fellow contributors the Dalai Lama and French president Nicolas Sarkozy.”

Topping the “Smartest List” is director/writer/producer Judd Apatow of The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad fame.

Source: Just Jared.

Reese Witherspoon and Angelina Jolie are Hollywood's most desirable leading ladies, at least if you measure by paycheck.

According to the annual list of the industry's top-paid actresses compiled in The Hollywood Reporter, Witherspoon and Jolie rule the roost with a reported asking price of between $15-to-20 million per picture.

The trade paper is quick to note that while Witherspoon and Jolie might take reduced rates for a passion project like Witherspoon's fall dud "Rendition" or Jolie's "A Mighty Heart," the actresses command big bucks for projects in their creative wheelhouses. That would include romantic comedies for Witherspoon and features like "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" for Jolie.

Jolie, for example, will likely make full price for upcoming features like "Wanted" and "The Changeling," while the trades have previously both reported and accepted denials that Witherspoon was being paid $29 million for Universal's "Our Family Trouble."

Source: Zap2It.

A-list actress Angelina Jolie was nominated for a Spirit Award on Tuesday for her role in 'A Mighty Heart.'

"She could make any film she wants," Dawn Hudson of Film Independent, which gives the awards, said after the announcement. "It's a feat for such a movie star to be so much in that role."

The Spirit Award will air live on IFC on Feb. 23. Jolie also won an Oscar and Golden Globe in 2000 for Girl, Interrupted.

Other nominations include:

Best Feature Film: “”The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” “I’m Not There,” “Juno,” “A Mighty Heart” and “Paranoid Park.”

Best Female Lead: Angelina Jolie for “A Mighty Heart,” Sienna Miller for “Interview,” Ellen Page for “Juno,” Parker Posey for “Broken English” and Tang Wei for “Lust, Caution.”

Source: HollyScoop.

Julia Roberts may well receive a big bunch of flowers from Jennifer Aniston, after reportedly mouthing off about Angelina Jolie.

OK, so it’s probably just hearsay and a nasty way to get Jules back in the press and in people’s minds before her new flick Charlie Wilson’s War comes out, but hey, we’re happy to go along with it.

According to Star magazine, Roberts had a few friends round to watch some movies, one of them being Jolie’s A Mighty Heart, and suddenly came over all Barry Norman.

’I would rarely way this, but I think I could have done a better job with this film,’ a source claims the Oscar-winning actress said.

‘Angie isn’t exactly the most loved person in Hollywood,’ they continued, and it gets worse by claiming that Roberts’s hubby, Danny Moder, worked as a cameraman on Mr. & Mrs. Smith and also had a few choice words to say about Ange.

‘Danny told her it was obvious that Angelina was making a play for Brad,’ says the source.

‘People on the set called her the Spider-Woman because she was spinning a web for Brad.

‘Julia said Angelina had no shame. She’s made it pretty clear that she doesn’t hold Angie in high regard.’

And it’s pretty clear these ‘sources’ can say whatever comes into their heads. Ah, that’s showbiz, folks!

By Daisy Kay

Source: MegaStar.