Angelina Jolie Watch

Entertainment Wise is claiming that AJ was in Ho Chi Menh Vietnam to look into adopting a baby (without the father to be that is) despite the fact that those rumors were laid to rest days ago… I’m still posting their mini-article because the last line just cracked me up.

Having flown into Ho Chi Minh City last week, First magazine reports that she is staying at the city’s Park Hyatt hotel with a view to adopting a baby boy from the nearby Tam Binh orphanage.

If true the baby would be Jolie’s third adopted child, alongside five-year-old Maddox and Zahara, who is two.

Angelina and her husband Brad Pitt recently bought a house in New Orleans, moving out of Los Angeles.

Expect to see Madonna in Vietnam next month then…

The forum is a meeting between dignitaries, world leaders and representatives of science, humanitarian and social work through the world and is held at the end of January every year. Last year, Angelina Jolie attended the WEF as a representative of the UN. Last year, AJ attended in an effort to bring attention, money, food & medicine to the world’s displaced people. Her efforts didn’t necessarily pay off to the extent that she was hoping, but she did manage an increase in all 4 categories.

This years forum hot-topics will be global warming and the war in Iraq, although other topics will be discussed. Is AJ on a plane right now headed for Switzerland?

For more information on the World Economic Forum, click here

Last week I posted the first installment of the videos I found of Angelina Jolie’s coverage of her visits with refugees in Suari. These clips are from her travels with Jeffrey Sachs Millenium Project, originally airing on MTV. This is the second clip.

“Having three kids running around in hotel rooms, or from one rented house to the next, is not easy. Somebody saw our messy luggage the other day, and I had to explain that we’ve been living out of the same four suitcases for four months!�? Angelina Jolie recently told one reporter

Despite Angelina’s vow to help the worlds needy, she excuses the family staying in luxury hotels saying that it’s necessary to avoid the paparazzi - which I have no doubt! She said: “I always try to be careful to avoid dangerous situations. Sadly, we have to stay in five-star hotels when we have paparazzi following us. We did stay in a one-room shack in the middle of the Cambodian jungle because nobody else was there. But when you have kids, especially a six-month-old baby, you need clean water and salad for them.�?

Welcome home to NoLa Angie and Brad. I think you guys will like it there!

Apparently Angelina Jolie’s life has turned into a work of fiction by some celebrity columnists. I’m thinking that some of these people really have nothing better to do than make up things that never happened (like the $700 shower, while I have no proof that never happened I’m having my doubts since AJ was in VIETNAM which is a far way away from CALIFORNIA last Friday. Sheesh people, find a life!

I can just see it now. As Angelina Jolie prepares for her next visit to a third world orphanage, she receives a call from her philanthropy publicist, who says that her digital photographer has just quit. “But I need someone to take pictures of me caring for the kids!�? Jolie screams.

“Angelina, we can hire a new one. Better yet, I have a six megapixel digital camera. I can take pictures of you holding one of the kids. You should hold one of the Black ones since it will make you look more caring!�?

“Well, we need to make sure that the kids look sick. If they aren’t sick, please poison their food!�? Jolie goes on. Then, she calls in Brad to make sure that her other two adopted kids, Maddox and Zahara, are dressed for their photo ops. She dresses Maddox in ninja-type clothes, but chooses African safari clothes for Zahara. She then decides that Brad needs a moment of pleasure before they begin their journey. “I bet Jennifer could never do that!�? she says in a whispery voice. Brad nods his head in agreement.

Does this sound like the “Saint Angelina�? the world has come to embrace over the past few years? Perhaps not. But you know something is wrong in the “Saint Angelina�? public relations department when even the ultra-liberal New York Times disses you.

In an article titled “After All That Goodness, a Sudden Fall From Grace,�? the New York Times discusses her snobby interview with Ryan Seacrest at the Golden Globes, where Angelina pretty much let Ryan know that she was too good for him. The article goes on to quote other news sources that are currently blasting the self appointed Mother of Legal Adoption. But did Angelina really ever deserve that title?

Apparently, St. Angelina’s adoption of Maddox from Cambodia was anything but legal: government officials were bribed; Maddox’s mother was paid a substantial amount of cash; and the American businesswoman who handled the adoption is now in prison. Worst of all, many parents hopeful of adopting a child from Cambodia had their hearts broken when the government banned all adoptions because of Angelina Jolie’s illegal activities. So why did the media look beyond these facts when turning Angelina into a saint?

The answer is simple: the media doesn’t care about facts; they are only interested in building up celebrities just so they can tear them down. St. Angelina, the Mother of Adoption, was an image that would sell. Jolie’s hookup with Brad Pitt made St. Angelina even more marketable, even if some accused her of stealing him away from Jennifer Aniston. But the image of St. Angelina isn’t selling as well, so it’s time for the media to tear her down.

Of course, Angelina’s calling her newborn child Shiloh a “blob,�? and blabbing to the press about how she wants to adopt legally (when she’s actually an adoption criminal) doesn’t help. The media looks for reasons to tear down a celebrity and Angelina has given them all the right ones.

There’s hope for Angelina Jolie. Once a celebrity gets torn down, the media likes to build them up again: it’s called “the comeback.�? But the celebrity has to give a good reason for the media to do this. Going to third world orphanages and cuddling with kids in front of cameras isn’t going to help. Angelina’s other fake philanthropy efforts, such as being a U.N. Ambassador, are going to make people hate her even worse. It’s time to bring back “Slut Angelina” from the early part of the decade. At least that image was fun and convincing.

Source

Oscar winner Angelina Jolie and her five-year-old son Maddox spent more than $700 on Friday just to take a shower at a posh hotel.

Jolie and her son made a stop at Shutters On The Beach Hotel in Santa Monica, California so they could shower and freshen up.
A source tells American publication Star, “Angelina said they only wanted the room for two hours - time enough for them both to take a shower. She was very sweet and seemed like a concerned mom. “It was just very bizarre, when she and BRAD (PITT) own two house here in Los Angeles, that she would need to spend that kind of money on a hotel room just so she and Maddox could shower.” Jolie and Pitt recently moved their family to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he is currently filming THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON.

That seems a little… extreme to me. Do you think she spent that kind of money to shower?

Source

She’s SO pretty, but is it just me or is Angelina Jolie looking thinner than ever?

I am removing these images to help protect the whereabouts of Maddox and the other children attending this school

Contact Music is saying that Angelina Jolie is more than happy to spend time helping the poor and misplaced of the world because it helps her stay out of the tabloid magazines and keeps her face of of the cover. The site claims that “the media frenzy surrounding Jolie’s relationship with BRAD PITT depresses the campaigning actress, and gives her an added reason to steer clear of the US”. Angelina says, “I’m frustrated that’s what sells. Fortunately, I don’t read those magazines and I travel to a lot of countries where they don’t exist. You can’t take any of it seriously.”

I can’t see as I blame her… I would hate for every intimate detail to end up on E!, InTouch or in Jenny Shimizu’s book.

Rumors are abound that Pitt did just that… but only believe the rumors if you think a quick pat on the bum qualifies being “felt up”.

Come on people! Now a pat on the hiney is news making fodder? No wonder AJ is trying to stay out of the public eye these days!

On Monday I posted an article from The New York Times, written by Caryn James, which has gotten my gmail account buzzing with angry Angelina Jolie fans. First of all, I would like to apologize to any of Angelina’s fans, and my readers that I upset by posting the article. That beings said, I have a rebuttal.

La Gossip The internet, gossip rags and tabloids have been hopping with anti-Angie news lately. Angelina has recently been quoted, misquoted, blamed, called a witch, a *itch, a ho and a husband stealer (okay, so those aren’t new), haughty, self-important and fake… that’s just to name a few.

In the beginning Angelina Jolie fans fell in love with a quirky girl who wasn’t afraid to go out into the world and make a bumbling fool of herself. She kissed her brother (With Tongue!), jumped in a pool dressed to the 9’s, got married in a t-shirt with her own blood spelling her husbands name, wore another husbands blood around her neck for years, openly spoke about enjoying knives in her bed-play, wanted to be a funeral director and bragged about sitting in the bathtub with her pet rat Harry who she thought was insane (the rat, she thought the rat was insane)… this is just to name a few of the sometimes outlandish but always unique things that Angelina did.

Welcome Maddox I don’t think there is anyone that sees the pictures of Angelina with her children and hears her talk about them that doesn’t believe that she’s a good mom, and that she really truly loves her children. All of them. In including Shiloh “the blob”. Adopting Maddox changed Angelina. She became quiet and subdued. No longer was the she quirky girl that everyone enjoyed watching with anticipation to see what kind of crazy thing she would do next. She settled down. The wildest things in her life after adopting Maddox were Maddox’s hair and her comments that she didn’t have a boyfriend but that she did have sex with certain unnamed people (she may have been specific to men, but I can’t really remember). She started The Maddox Jolie Project and became an ambassador for the United Nations. After a few years she looked into adopting another child.

Zahara Along the path to adopting Zahara, she met Brad Pitt. Brad may or may not have been married to Jennifer Aniston when their relationship started (I choose to believe that they were no longer together, plenty of others think differently), regardless, the paparazzi and tabloids saw a great chance for increased revenue and spun the story in a “husband-stealer” direction as much as possible. ‘Spinning’ is a certain quality that the paparazzi and tabloids seem to have an abundance of.

This was the time that everyone saw the greatest transformation in Angelina. All of a sudden she was in fewer movies, her work with the United Nations intensified, she started wearing white all the time, a pretty big change from her normal black.

Pregnancy Then she was pregnant, and mostly in hiding (really, who can blame someone for hiding from the lime-light when they’re pregnant and feeling fat and awkward?). Shiloh was born. And that is one BEAUTIFUL baby. Since the birth of Shiloh, Angelina seems (to me) sullen, tired, bedraggled, stressed and worried. Back in the day you would see pictures of her out and about and smiling - even if it was a menacing smile. Now her smile (when not in the direction of a child or two) seems tired and strained and maybe just a little sad.

Bad Press That sadness and strain has led to a lot of bad press for Angelina lately. Angelina’s “attack” on Madonna’s adoption of baby David from Malawi, that ended up being a quote spun to make someone’s article more interesting. The same thing with her comment about Shiloh being a “blob�?, it was actually something that the reported came up with. Ryan Seacrest? He’s an idiot (sorry). He received a mundane answer to a mundane and very stupid serious of questions. His whining needs to stop (as does his career on television, but again my opinion). She may or may not have been snotty with the people at St. Johns - And who cares? She’s the one that has to go out in public in the dress, she should at not least hate it! The same goes for her dealings with Annie Liebowitz. She was blamed for forcing her way through a crowd at the premier of God Grew Tired of Us, but she always has body guards around her, how would she have gotten through first? Not to mention, isn’t this a bit petty? Would it be okay if we all found out she had a child at home with the stomach flu (just throwing that out for an example, I don’t know where she was going to).

Ms. James and the NY Post I think what Ms. James was trying to say (again, just my opinion) is what happened to that quirky girl that would just have fun? She didn’t give a care if there were cameras in front of her, she was going to do what she wanted to do when she wanted to do it and be damned to the world if you didn’t like it. Did that girl grow up that fast? Is there no sign of her anymore? Maybe Angelina is forgetting who she is in her efforts to help everyone around her, or maybe the teen and 20-something Angelina was all just angst that had to be released before she could grow up. Whatever happened to that girl/young-woman, only she knows, but this new Angelina just isn’t the same person from Hackers and Gia.

My personal opinion is this She grew up in the limelight as the daughter of celebrities. She was beautiful and outgoing and just a little crazy, and that was at 16 years old. Now, she is a mom first-and-foremost. She’s a mom that jets around the country helping everyone but herself. Find me a mother of 1 small child that isn’t tired. Then find me a mother of 3 children 5 and under that can go to 6 different countries in 3 weeks, visiting the poor, homeless and sorrowful that still has energy at the end of the day. A mom that doesn’t have some form of postpartum, that isn’t suffering from malnutrition and sleep deprivation. Then have camera’s follow her around to do any and everything, yelling questions, snapping footage, trying to egg her on. Add in a few fans that probably scare her just a little when they yell that they’re obsessed with her and can’t get enough of her and can she please sign their babies heads? That mom doesn’t exist. Angelina’s trying to do good by herself, her children, her boyfriend and the world, and that’s an extremely noble thing, however, perhaps what she needs to do is take an evening, lock herself in the bathroom with a Janet Evanovich novel and a hot bubble bath, follow that up with a few days of shopping for herself, and some beach time with some good friends. Perhaps her biggest problem right now is thinking so much about everyone else, and expending so much on them, that there isn’t anything left for herself at the end of the day.

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After All That Goodness, a Sudden Fall From Grace

Before she set a toe on the red carpet at the Golden Globes last week, Angelina Jolie’s carefully molded image as humanitarian and mom was already showing some cracks. The Internet had been flooded with reports, picked up from European interviews, that she had called her biological daughter “a blob�? with less personality than her two adopted kids, and had criticized Madonna’s adoption of a baby boy from Malawi. Women’s Wear Daily reported she was being difficult about designs from St. John, the staid company whose ads she appears in and whose conservatively elegant gown she wore to the Globes.

By the time she reached the end of a haughty, humorless walk down that red carpet on Brad Pitt’s arm, the Good Angelina image had crumbled to dust. In the next days columnists from The Washington Post to LA Weekly attacked her for a television interview with Ryan Seacrest on E! that made it clear she was above such drivel. His red carpet questions were drivel, but that was no reason to sneer the words “Cereal, we made cereal�? when asked how the family had spent the morning.

Video of the interview was spread and ridiculed on Web sites like TMZ and YouTube; Mr. Seacrest complained about her on his radio show; the current issue of Us Weekly reported on more behavior fit for a queen in an article headlined “An Angelina Backlash?�? There was really no need for the question mark.

Once famous as a tattooed wild woman, Ms. Jolie has soared to the saintly realm and plummeted again in record time. Madonna, her only rival in shape-shifting, has maintained the devoted wife and mother image for more than six years now, despite her recent adventures in adoption. Good Angelina didn’t even last two. That shattered image, a lesson in the limits of spin, is the product of a lethal combination: a public that never bought into the reformed persona and a star who may have bought into it too much.

The backlash had been building all along, and not simply because, while married to Billy Bob Thornton, she wore a vial of his blood around her neck. (No fair blaming the press for her vampirish image.) She adopted her son, Maddox, from Cambodia just before that marriage broke up, and has always seemed sincere about motherhood. But from the minute her name was linked to Mr. Pitt’s, there was plenty of snickering at her claim that they were just friends while filming “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,�? when he was married to Jennifer Aniston. Only the Jolie-Pitts know the truth; let’s just say the public remains skeptical. Once they became an acknowledged couple, Ms. Jolie assumed a saintly manner, deglamorizing to the point of wearing a bandanna on her head for a “Today�? interview while visiting orphans in Africa; did she think viewers wouldn’t spot her cat’s-eye makeup and heavily glossed lips?

Such doubts about the noble Angelina accelerated especially fast over the last month. In the January issue of Vogue, talking about how her relationship with Mr. Pitt developed, she restated that they were “very, very good friends�? for a long time, sounding as disingenuous as ever. And she added, “It was clear he was with his best friend,�? which on the surface is matter-of-fact, yet manages to desexualize Ms. Aniston. Venom in the guise of kindness?

The new Us Weekly article reports that Ms. Jolie was “a nightmare�? during the Vogue photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz; that she pushed through a crowd at the premiere of “God Grew Tired of Us,�? a do-gooder documentary about the lost boys of Sudan that Mr. Pitt helped produce; and that she coolly pulled him away from a conversation with Courtney Cox Arquette, Ms. Aniston’s close friend, at the Golden Globes. Even if some of those incidents are exaggerated, the backlash is real. A kitschy painting of Ms. Jolie as the Virgin Mary holding her children and hovering saintlike above a Wal-Mart, a work too banal to be half-good as satire, made a media splash when it was shown at Art Miami 2007.

The backlash isn’t entirely her fault. The press helped it along by playing fast and loose with her quotations, gleefully picking up the Shiloh-is-a-blob comment without context. In the full interview in British Elle, when Ms. Jolie hesitated in describing her newborn daughter, the reporter suggested the word blob. Ms. Jolie foolishly responded: “Yes, a blob! But now she’s starting to have a personality.�?

In response to a question about Madonna, she did tell the French magazine Gala that adoptions are illegal in Malawi and, “I prefer to stay on the right side of the law.�? You can almost hear her coo her superiority as she says it, and you can almost hear anyone who reads it thinking, “Witch.�? But her first response was to say that the happiness of Madonna’s child is all that matters; most second-hand reports made that seem like an afterthought.

Still, at best her own bumbling led her to this state. At worst, blame her self-importance. When she was interviewed on the Globes red carpet for “Access Hollywood,�? she was shown an old clip of herself jumping into a swimming pool fully clothed after the 1999 awards, not exactly a tough reminder of her wild past. Yet New Angelina seemed royally unamused. And while she looked ultra-glamorous at the premiere of her latest film, “The Good Shepherd,�? the perfectly upswept hair and self-contained demeanor of her recent appearances have also made her seem plastic.

In part she is suffering from a common problem: movie stars who make too few movies and are forced to coast on their fame. In “The Good Shepherd,�? as the wife of a buttoned-down C.I.A. agent (Matt Damon), she goes from vibrant young femme fatale to brittle, middle-aged alcoholic. It’s a fine performance but a minor part. Her next film, “A Mighty Heart,�? isn’t scheduled to arrive until June. That leading role might help restore her saintly image; she plays Marianne Pearl, whose husband, Daniel, was kidnapped and murdered while reporting in Pakistan.

But as Ms. Jolie’s horrific month has shown, reshaping an image is harder than you might think. Despite the charity work and the bun on her head, the burning question all along has been: Who is that woman in the St. John suit, and what has she done with Angelina Jolie?

Source: The New York Times

Angelina Jolie has recently revealed that she’s not a fan of outwardly showing her emotions. Angie said, ‘I’m not a hugger. People make fun of me. It’s something that I have a hard time with. If someone hugs me, I hold my breath. Snuggling, cuddling, hugging, crying - all that stuff makes me very uncomfortable. I’ve often been accused of not talking about my personal things. I mean, even with Brad. He usually has to draw something out of me.”

We’ve all seen her be much more attentive with her children, so I’m guessing that’s just how she is with adults.

Personally I have a stead-fast rule… If we don’t know each others middle names and birthdates and we haven’t seen the inside of each others bedroom closets, don’t touch me… ever. What about you? Do you show your emotions?

The National Inquirer (perhaps not the most notable of the reliable sources) is claiming that Angelina Jolie is “falling apart”. While it’s entirely possible that she is stressed and tired (gee, 3 small children and always being in the public eye wouldn’t do that to a person, now would it) I’m finding it doubtful that their claims are true…

What do you think? Is AJ falling apart? Or is she suffering from the normal stress of being a mother and the not-so-normal stress of living her entire life in the public eye?

Angelina has been in HCM City Vietnam for the last few days, and it may NOT be for adopting another child. While Brad is back in New Orleans getting their new house ready to be moved into, AJ has been attending meetings on behalf of her charity for aid to Cambodia, Maddox Jolie-Pitt Project.

She’s already back in New Orleans with Brad and their 3 children… so perhaps the rumors of Brangelina adopting a Vietnamese baby are just that… rumors