IF there is one facet of Brad Pitt that could be considered somewhat obscure, it may be — oddly enough — his acting career. For much of his two decades in the spotlight, since his breakthrough as a ripped, sweet-talking grifter in “Thelma and Louise” (1991) and even more so since “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” (2005), a movie that spawned a tabloid cottage industry, Mr. Pitt has been a star first and an actor second. His every move — on film sets and red carpets and humanitarian missions, often with a hard-to-miss entourage that includes his partner, Angelina Jolie, and their six children — provides endless fodder for the celebrity media. But the Brad Pitt on screen remains surprisingly elusive.

The central contradiction can be summed up thus: Mr. Pitt is a superstar who also happens to be something of a wild card. He has steered clear of action franchises and romantic comedies, the typical cornerstones of a major 21st-century screen career. Although he has not shied from big roles — they don’t come much bigger than Achilles (“Troy”) or Death (“Meet Joe Black”) — he has often sought the cover and camaraderie of ensembles, as in the “Ocean’s” movies and “Inglourious Basterds” (which are among his highest-grossing hits).

Read more. Thanks Jamie & Gabriella.

Composer Marco Beltrami has signed on to create the score for World War Z. This will be his first time working with director Marc Forster.

Brad Pitt stars in World War Z, an adaptation of Max Brooks’ novel, which centers on a United Nations employee (Brad Pitt) who travels the world interviewing survivors of a global zombie infestation. Mierelle Amos, Bryan Cranston, Matthew Fox, James Badge Dale also star in World War Z.

Marc Forster is directing World War Z from a script by Matthew Michael Carnahan and J. Michael Straczynski, adapted from the Max Brooks novel.

Marco Beltrami has also been set to compose the scores for upcoming projects such as A Good Day to Die Hard and Paradise Lost.

Read more. Thanks Danielle.

(…) What the Irish/German actor would consent to is discussing what as of right now will be his first official film of 2012, a reunion with his “Shame” director Steven McQueen in the picture “12 Years A Slave,” starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Brad Pitt (who he briefly co-starred with in “Inglourious Basterds”). “That’s the next job, that’s the only one I’ve got booked in for next year, working with Steve,” he said. “I think it’s going to [shoot] in the early summer.” (…)

Read more. Thanks Danielle.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Brad Pitt – Moneyball

Best Motion Picture – Drama
Moneyball

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Jonah Hill – Moneyball

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian – Moneyball

And Angie’s film ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’ is up for Best Foreign Language Film.

Read more. Thanks Danielle.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt will not be doing their Christmas shopping on something called “The Internet” because it’s just too darn confusing.

During an interview with USA Today about her very serious war movie, “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” Jolie discussed the markedly fluffier subject of shopping for the holidays: “I always Christmas shop early in case we have to travel somewhere.” But not online:

Brad and I were on Amazon.com for the first time a week ago. But we got lost. After an hour, we just shut it off. My brain is too scattered and the wires go in different directions. I’ll stick to catalogs.

Read more.

Brad is nominated in the lead actor category:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
DEMIÁN BICHIR / Carlos Galindo – “A BETTER LIFE”
GEORGE CLOONEY / Matt King – “THE DESCENDANTS”
LEONARDO DiCAPRIO / J. Edgar Hoover – “J. EDGAR”
JEAN DUJARDIN / George – “THE ARTIST”
BRAD PITT / Billy Beane – “MONEYBALL”

Also, Jonah Hill is nominated for Moneyball in supporting actor category.

Read more. Thanks Danielle & Gabriella.

In fact, the world-traveling actress doesn’t even want to think about not living that way.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said wistfully when asked about eventually settling down by Anderson Cooper during an interview set to air on his talk show Monday. She added with emotion, “I don’t want to settle. I love traveling.”

The actress, 36, who won’t rule out a seventh child, also told host Anderson Cooper her children are all on the same page when it comes to moving around – at least for now.

“I will listen, as my mother would have, to them,” she says. “And if they start to complain about it … [But] right now they love it. Right now if they’re in one place for two months they want to know why we’re not getting on an airplane.”

Jolie, who recently made her directorial debut with In the Land of Blood and Honey, says the kids have roots even with their jet-setting lives.

“They really love to travel, and we have certain things that are comforts of home,” she says. “And also, because they’re such a big traveling pack it’s not one child moving around the world and missing friends. There are so many of them they have constant play dates and they’re always together.”

She added, “Because we have traveled a lot, we’re kind of lucky in that we have friends around the world, so if we end up in Budapest or Germany or Africa or Vietnam, they actually call their friends.”

Read more. Thanks Danielle.

Academy Award nominee Brad Pitt will be honored at the 23rd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala.

Pitt will receive the Desert Palm Achievement Actor Award for his lead role in Moneyball and his supporting role in The Tree of Life.

Hosted by Mary Hart, the Gala will also present awards to previously announced honorees George Clooney, Glenn Close, Michel Hazanavicius, Octavia Spencer and Michelle Williams.

The Awards Gala will be held Saturday, January 7, at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

Read more. Gosh did the critics wake up finally? Recognition!

Angelina Jolie covers Marie Claire’s new January 2012 issue. The director of In the Land of Blood and Honey spoke with the magazine about her first-ever time behind the camera, then segued into more personal topics.

Angelina spoke about how Brad Pitt is more than just the love of her life, and also said she “could end up pregnant” and further expand their family. Additionally, Angelina spoke about how she’s really a homebody and doesn’t have too many female friends.

Angelina Jolie told Marie Claire:
• On her bond with Brad: “[Brad] has expanded my life in ways I never imagined. We built a family. He is not just the love of my life, he is my family. I hold that very dear. I suppose what I’ve learned from Brad is to be able to have the kind of family whose happiness and well-being comes before your own. I’m very, very grateful to have such a loving family, and I wouldn’t have that without him.”

Read more. Thanks MacKenzie @ Popsugar.

The couple turned up at an intimate reception for the film, which was written and directed by the son of one of the actors in Jolie’s directorial debut, “In The Land of Blood and Honey.”

Angelina Jolie looked glamorous in a one-shouldered Romona Keveeza gown at Thursday’s LA premiere of her directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey, but she dressed down in a long sleeve black dress and casual jacket the next night to support her Eastern European film friends at a private party for 72 Days.

The official Croatian Oscar entry for Best Foreign Film, 72 Days comes from the son of one of Jolie’s Milk and Honey actors.

She and partner Brad Pitt even posed with Rade Serbedzija’s and his son Danillo Serbedziaj’s, who wrote and directed 72 Days. Also at the party, 72 Days composer Miroslav Tadic and the film’s cinematographer Sasha Rendulic. Another Honey star, Goran Kostic, was also on hand. The official 72 Days screening for Academy Members for Friday, Dec. 16.

Read more.

Los Angeles – In the Land of Blood and Honey, Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut about a couple torn apart by the Bosnian War, won the Producers Guild of America Stanley Kramer Award Tuesday.

The award recognizes films or individuals who ‘illuminate provocative social issues in an accessible and elevating fashion.’

The film was ‘an extraordinary film that portrays a complex love story set against the terrors of the Bosnian War, especially towards women,’ the guild’s presidents Hawk Koch and Mark Gordon said in a statement. ‘This film truly embraces the legacy of Stanley Kramer.’

In the film, a Serb soldier encounters his former Bosnian lover in a camp he oversees.

‘We are truly privileged to join the ranks of past recipients and to be associated with the great Stanley Kramer,’ said the film’s producers, Jolie, Tim Headington, Graham King and Tim Moore, who were due to accept the award at the 23rd annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony on January 21.

Read more. Thanks Danielle.

Matt Damon – Parade interview December 2011:

Despite his movie star status, Damon keeps his life private, especially compared to some of his famous friends.
“Brad and Angie, there’s much more pressure on them than there is on me. He [Pitt] asked me what my everyday is like. I said, ‘Well, I grab the kids from school, and then we go over to the park.’ And he was just looking at me, like, ‘How can you do that?’ Because he can’t.”

On the paparazzi plaguing his famous friends.
“Brad [Pitt] has told me stories. . . . He threw a cheeseburger at somebody. The guy had followed him to the drive-thru and Brad was like, ‘Can I just eat my cheeseburger?’ The guy pulled up next to him and Brad ended up throwing it at him, and they both looked at each other in total shock for a long moment. Neither of them could believe that it happened, you know? And then the guy went to raise his camera, and Brad sped off. So he did not get the picture. Brad left that experience feeling like, ‘Well, I didn’t get to eat my cheeseburger. I really wanted it.’

Read more. Thanks Danielle.