Showing posts with label Brad Pitt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brad Pitt. Show all posts

Sunday, 15 January 2012

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt kick off Hollywood

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie
Well, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie certainly had the Golden Globes glamour thing down.
As if there was any doubt!
But were the superstar couple, both of them nominees for a change, in a chatty move? Jolie's icy white Versace gown with red accents almost made her look too majestic to be human, and Pitt is still nursing that nagging MCL injury that requires him to tote a cane around...


But of course they stopped to do their sacred duty on the red carpet—or else risk being the object of much what's-with-them derision.
A Salvatore Farragamo-tuxedoed Pitt pulled up lame to E!'s Ryan Seacrest first, explaining that his partner in criminal hotness got "stuck in the barrage of cameras."
But Jolie wasn't gone for long, and then Seacrest was able to congratulate both on their achievements in one fell swoop.
"It's certainly nice [to both be nominated]," Pitt, who had journalists' hearts aflutter when he was spotted opening the car door for Jolie upon their arrival.


Otherwise, though, the red carpet at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., largely ushered in a new group of fashion stars, including Zooey Deschanel in a unique Prada dark-green halter gown with black and emerald glass pearls on the bodice and ivory pearls at the neck, and Rooney Mara, in a deep V-neck black gown with a bare, harness-style bodice. “It’s a Nina Ricci and it was the first one I tried on,” Mara said. “It was very comfortable.


Sofia Vergara turned some heads in a navy Vera Wang gown in the mermaid silhouette that’s becoming her signature. The dress was a little more fashion forward than she’s worn before — and she credits the fit. “She’s like a genius now with my body,” Vergara said.


Red made a statement, too, especially on Reese Witherspoon in a strapless, corset-style Zac Posen gown.


Claire Danes took a more modern turn in a graphic black-and-white J. Mendel gown with an open back, and Kate Winslet did the opposites-attract thing in a Jenny Packham gown with a black hammered silk satin bodice and ivory silk crepe skirt.


Madonna, whose style has been all over the map in her long career, went back to her rock ‘n’ roll roots for this event in a wearing a dark green embroidered gown with cap sleeves by Reem Acra and a diamond-and-pearl cross by Neil Lane.

Brad Pitt

William Bradley "Brad" Pitt, born December 18, 1963 is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and five Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one Golden Globe. He has been described as one of the world's most attractive men, a label for which he has received substantial media attention.
Pitt began his acting career with television guest appearances, including a role on the CBS prime-time soap opera Dallas in 1987. He later gained recognition as the cowboy hitchhiker who seduces Geena Davis's character in the 1991 road movie Thelma & Louise. Pitt's first leading roles in big-budget productions came with A River Runs Through It (1992) and Interview with the Vampire (1994). He was cast opposite Anthony Hopkins in the 1994 drama Legends of the Fall, which earned him his first Golden Globe nomination. In 1995 he gave critically acclaimed performances in the crime thriller Seven and the science fiction film 12 Monkeys, the latter securing him a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and an Academy Award nomination. Four years later, in 1999, Pitt starred in the cult hit Fight Club. He then starred as Rusty Ryan in the major international hit Ocean's Eleven (2001) and its sequels, Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). His greatest commercial successes have been Troy (2004) and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). Pitt received his second Academy Award nomination for his title role performance in the 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Following a high-profile relationship with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Pitt was married to actress Jennifer Aniston for five years. Pitt lives with actress Angelina Jolie in a relationship that has attracted wide publicity. He and Jolie have six children—Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne. Since beginning his relationship with Jolie, he has become increasingly involved in social issues both in the United States and internationally. Pitt owns a production company named Plan B Entertainment, whose productions include The Departed (2006), which won an Academy Award for Best Picture.


While struggling to establish himself in Los Angeles, Pitt took lessons from acting coach Roy London. He took on various occasional jobs, working as a chauffeur and an El Pollo Loco chicken to pay for acting lessons.
Pitt's onscreen career began in 1987, with uncredited parts in the films No Way Out, No Man's Land and Less Than Zero. His television debut came in May 1987 with a two-episode role on the NBC soap opera Another World. In November of the same year Pitt had a guest appearance on the ABC sitcom Growing Pains. He appeared in four episodes of the CBS primetime series Dallas between December 1987 and February 1988 as Randy, the boyfriend of Charlie Wade (played by Shalane McCall). Pitt described his character as "an idiot boyfriend who gets caught in the hay. Speaking of his scenes with McCall, Pitt later said, "It was kind of wild, because I'd never even met her before. Later in 1988, Pitt made a guest appearance on the Fox police drama 21 Jump Street.
In the same year, the Yugoslavian–U.S. co-production The Dark Side of the Sun (1988) gave Pitt his first leading film role, as a young American taken by his family to the Adriatic to find a remedy for a skin condition. The film was shelved at the outbreak of the Croatian War of Independence, and was not released until 1997. Pitt made two motion picture appearances in 1989: the first in a supporting role in the comedy Happy Together; the second a featured role in the horror film Cutting Class, the first of Pitt's films to reach theaters.[14] He made guest appearances on television series Head of the Class, Freddy's Nightmares, Thirtysomething, and (for a second time) Growing Pains.


1994 marked a significant turning point in Pitt's career. Starring as the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac in the feature film Interview with the Vampire, based on Anne Rice's 1976 novel of the same name, he was part of an ensemble cast that included Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Slater, and Antonio Banderas. Despite his winning two MTV Movie Awards at the 1995 ceremony, his performance was poorly received. According to the Dallas Observer, "Brad Pitt ... is a large part of the problem [in the film]. When directors play up his cocky, hunkish, folksy side ... he's a joy to watch. But there's nothing about him that suggests inner torment or even self-awareness, which makes him a boring Louis.


Following the release of Interview with the Vampire, Pitt starred in Legends of the Fall (1994), based on a novel by the same name by Jim Harrison, set in the American West during the first four decades of the twentieth century. Portraying Tristan Ludlow, son of Colonel William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins) a Cornish immigrant, Pitt received his first Golden Globe Award nomination, in the Best Actor category. Aidan Quinn and Henry Thomas co-starred as Pitt's brothers. Although the film's reception was mixed, many film critics praised Pitt's performance. Janet Maslin of The New York Times said, "Pitt's diffident mix of acting and attitude works to such heartthrob perfection it's a shame the film's superficiality gets in his way. The Deseret News predicted that Legends of the Fall would solidify Pitt's reputation as a lead actor.


Along with Jennifer Aniston and Brad Grey, CEO of Paramount Pictures, Pitt founded the film production company Plan B Entertainment in 2002, although Aniston and Grey withdrew in 2005. The company has produced several films, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp in 2005, as well as 2007's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and A Mighty Heart, starring Angelina Jolie. Plan B was also involved in producing The Departed, the winner of the 2007 Academy Award for Best Picture. Pitt was credited onscreen as a producer; however, only Graham King was ruled eligible for the Oscar win. Pitt has been reluctant to discuss the production company in interviews.
Pitt has appeared in several television commercials: one for the U.S. market, a Heineken commercial aired during the 2005 Super Bowl; it was directed by David Fincher, who had directed Pitt in Seven, Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Other commercial appearances came in television spots designed for Asian markets, advertising such products as the Acura Integra, in which he was featured opposite Russian model Tatiana Sorokko, as well as SoftBank and Edwin Jeans.


In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Pitt was involved in successive relationships with several of his co-stars, including Robin Givens (Head of the Class), Jill Schoelen (Cutting Class), and Juliette Lewis (Too Young to Die? and Kalifornia), who, at the age of 16, was ten years his junior when they started dating. In addition, Pitt had a much-publicized romance and engagement to his Seven co-star Gwyneth Paltrow, whom he dated from 1994 to 1997.
Pitt met Friends actress Jennifer Aniston in 1998 and married her in a private wedding ceremony in Malibu on July 29, 2000. For years their marriage was considered a rare Hollywood success; however, in January 2005, Pitt and Aniston announced that they had decided formally to separate after seven years together. Two months later Aniston filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Pitt and Aniston's divorce was finalized by the Los Angeles Superior Court on October 2, 2005, legally ending their marriage. Despite media reports that Pitt and Aniston have an acrimonious relationship, Pitt said in a February 2009 interview that he and Aniston "check in with each other", adding that they were both big parts of each others' lives.


During Pitt's divorce from Aniston, his involvement with his Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star Angelina Jolie attracted vigorous media attention. While Pitt denied claims of adultery, he admitted that he "fell in love" with Jolie on the set. In April 2005, one month after Aniston filed for divorce, a set of paparazzi photographs emerged showing Pitt, Jolie and her son Maddox at a beach in Kenya; the pictures were construed in the press as evidence of a relationship between Pitt and Jolie. During the summer of 2005, the two were seen together with increasing frequency, and the entertainment media dubbed the couple "Brangelina". On January 11, 2006, Jolie confirmed to People that she was pregnant with Pitt's child, thereby publicly acknowledging their relationship for the first time.

Tuesday, 10 January 2012

Brad Pitt, Denbygate and Other Scenes From the Critics Circle

Once again, Brad Pitt was turning heads on the red carpet Monday night. And it wasn't just because of a gorgeous Angelina Jolie on his arm, but because of his newest accessory: a black cane.


The actor, 48, who previously told reporters he had an injured ACL (a ligament in the knee that connects the femur with the tibia), tells PEOPLE he's doing just fine.


"It wasn't life or death," Pitt, who slipped down a hill while carrying 3-year-old daughter Vivienne, said at Monday's New York Film Critics Circle Awards. "It was just an old man tripping.


The audience roared; Mr. Pitt, who seemed to speak without notes, grinned. He thanked the critics for their work, deftly poking fun at the difference in star wattage. “This is a real pleasure for me to see some of the faces behind the formidable names that instill such fear and reverence in the film industry,” he said, “although I thought you’d be taller.”


Mr. Pitt also didn’t shy away from Denbygate, the flap over David Denby’s embargo-breaking review of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” in The New Yorker, which drew a withering response from the movie’s producer, Mr. Rudin, at the time. “We are complex, we are mysteries to ourselves, we are difficult to each other, we live in continual flux and instability and conflict,” Mr. Pitt said. “Christians and Muslims, Democrats and Republicans, Denby and Rudin.”


It turned into the evening’s reoccurring joke. “By the way, let’s admit the real reason David Denby couldn’t be here?” said Albert Brooks, the critics’ best supporting actor. “He was picking up Scott Rudin’s dry cleaning.”


Other highlights:


– “My acceptance will be 30 pages longer and include references to Gilbert and Sullivan” — Aaron Sorkin, following his co-writer and fellow winner of the screenplay award, Steven Zaillian.


– “’Moneyball,’ I think you all know by now, was not an easy movie to make. There are easy movies, there are hard movies, there’s 50 feet of crap, there’s ‘Heaven’s Gate’ and then there’s us” – Mr. Sorkin.


– “I never had a very good idea, actually, before this. I didn’t know that until now” – writer-director JC Chandor, accepting the best first film award for “Margin Call.”


– “I take courage from Margaret Thatcher. Because of the beautiful transparency of the Internet, you can find out exactly how many people in the New York Film Critics Circle voted for you and how many rounds of voting there were, and so I’m happy to report that Margaret Thatcher was the longest serving prime minister of the 20th century and she never got more than 30 percent of the votes, like me” – Meryl Streep, accepting her best actress award for playing Ms. Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.

Brad Pitt

William Bradley "Brad" Pitt born December 18, 1963 is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and five Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one. He has been described as one of the world's most attractive men, a label for which he has received substantial media attention.
Pitt began his acting career with television guest appearances, including a role on the CBS prime-time soap opera Dallas in 1987. He later gained recognition as the cowboy hitchhiker who seduces Geena Davis's character in the 1991 road movie Thelma & Louise. Pitt's first leading roles in big-budget productions came with A River Runs Through It (1992) and Interview with the Vampire (1994). He was cast opposite Anthony Hopkins in the 1994 drama Legends of the Fall, which earned him his first Golden Globe nomination. In 1995 he gave critically acclaimed performances in the crime thriller Seven and the science fiction film 12 Monkeys, the latter securing him a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and an Academy Award nomination. Four years later, in 1999, Pitt starred in the cult hit Fight Club. He then starred as Rusty Ryan in the major international hit Ocean's Eleven (2001) and its sequels, Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). His greatest commercial successes have been Troy (2004) and Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). Pitt received his second Academy Award nomination for his title role performance in the 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Following a high-profile relationship with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Pitt was married to actress Jennifer Aniston for five years. Pitt lives with actress Angelina Jolie in a relationship that has generated wide publicity. He and Jolie have six children—Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne. Since beginning his relationship with Jolie, he has become increasingly involved in social issues both in the United States and internationally. Pitt owns a production company named Plan B Entertainment, whose productions include the 2007 Academy Award winning Best Picture, The Departed.


Along with Jennifer Aniston and Brad Grey, CEO of Paramount Pictures, Pitt founded the film production company Plan B Entertainment in 2002, although Aniston and Grey withdrew in 2005. The company has produced several films, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp in 2005, as well as 2007's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and A Mighty Heart, starring Angelina Jolie. Plan B was also involved in producing The Departed, the winner of the 2007 Academy Award for Best Picture. Pitt was credited onscreen as a producer; however, only Graham King was ruled eligible for the Oscar win. Pitt has been reluctant to discuss the production company in interviews.
Pitt has appeared in several television commercials: one for the U.S. market, a Heineken commercial aired during the 2005 Super Bowl; it was directed by David Fincher, who had directed Pitt in Seven, Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Other commercial appearances came in television spots designed for Asian markets, advertising such products as the Acura Integra, in which he was featured opposite Russian model Tatiana Sorokko, as well as SoftBank and Edwin Jeans.


Pitt supports the ONE Campaign, an organization aimed at combating AIDS and poverty in the developing world. He narrated the 2005 PBS public television series Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge, which discusses current global health issues[131] and traveled to Pakistan in November 2005 with Angelina Jolie to see the impact of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. The following year Pitt and Jolie flew to Haiti, where they visited a school supported by Yéle Haïti, a charity founded by Haitian-born hip hop musician Wyclef Jean. In May 2007, Pitt and Jolie donated $1 million to three organizations in Chad and Sudan dedicated to those affected by the crisis in the Darfur region. Along with Clooney, Damon, Don Cheadle, and Jerry Weintraub, Pitt is one of the founders of "Not On Our Watch", an organization that tries to focus global attention and resources to stop and prevent genocides such as that in Darfur.


In July 2005, Pitt accompanied Jolie to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she adopted her second child, six-month-old Zahara Marley, a decision which Jolie later stated she and Pitt had made together. Pitt's publicist announced in December 2005 that Pitt was seeking to legally adopt Jolie's two children, Zahara and Cambodia-born Maddox Chivan. On January 19, 2006, a California judge granted Jolie's request to change the children's surnames from "Jolie" to "Jolie-Pitt". The adoptions were finalized soon after.
Jolie gave birth to daughter Shiloh Nouvel in Swakopmund, Namibia, on May 27, 2006. Pitt confirmed that their newborn daughter would have a Namibian passport. The couple sold the first pictures of Shiloh through the distributor Getty Images; the North American rights were purchased by People for over $4.1 million, while Hello! obtained the British rights for approximately $3.5 million. The proceeds from the sale were donated to charities serving African children. Madame Tussauds in New York unveiled a wax figure of two-month-old Shiloh; it marked the first time an infant was recreated in wax by Madame Tussauds.
On March 15, 2007, Jolie adopted three-year-old Pax Thien from an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Since Vietnam does not allow unmarried couples to adopt, Jolie adopted Pax as a single parent. In April 2007, Jolie filed a request to legally change her son's surname from "Jolie" to "Jolie-Pitt", which was approved on May 31, 2007. The rights for the first post-adoption images of Pax were sold to People for a reported $2 million, as well as to Hello! for an undisclosed amount. Pitt adopted Pax in the United States on February 21, 2008.
At the Cannes Film Festival in May 2008, Jolie confirmed that she was expecting twins. She gave birth to son Knox Léon and daughter Vivienne Marcheline on July 12, 2008 in Nice, France. The rights for the first images of Knox and Vivienne were jointly sold to People and Hello! for $14 million—the most expensive celebrity pictures ever taken. The couple donated the proceeds to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation.


In an October 2007 interview, Pitt revealed that he is no longer a Christian and does not believe in an afterlife. "There's peace in understanding that I have only one life, here and now, and I'm responsible. In a July 2009 interview he said that he did not believe in God, and that he was "probably 20 percent atheist and 80 percent agnostic.