BabeWatch: Golden Globes Edition

Sofia Vergara

Eva Longoria

January Jones

Hayden Panettiere

Anne Hathaway

Angelina Jolie

And last, but not least, Natalie Portman

James Cameron Flirting With 3D 'Cleopatra'

http://www.deadline.com/2010/10/james-cameron-flirting-with-cleopatra

James Cameron Flirting With 3D 'Cleopatra'
MIKE FLEMING | Thursday October 14, 2010

File this one under tantalizingly possible. James Cameron and Sony Pictures Entertainment are exploring the very real possibility that he will direct Angelina Jolie in a 3D version of Cleopatra, an SPE adaptation of the Stacy Schiff book Cleopatra: A Life. Jolie is attached and anxious to make the movie. Scott Rudin, who acquired the book, is producer. The talks are serious but by no means conclusive yet. Meanwhile, Deadline's Nikki Finke reports that Sony Pictures Entertainment Co-Chair Amy Pascal decided to fast-track its PG-13 and 3D Cleopatra project after screenwriter Bran Helgeland wrote what was is being described as a "brilliant script deserving of epic treatment" all about "what the Romans took from Egypt". In addition, Pascal wants to own the Angelina Jolie franchise the same way it owns the franchises of Adam Sandler and Will Smith because "she's a real star who can open a movie by herself" and "she knows she was born to play this part" because it's the "greatest female heroine" that ever lived. Pascal is hoping for a start date in 2011 but has acknowledged that "it won't be cheap" and is calling this her Gone With The Wind epic. Indeed, a project of this size and scope is a huge risk for any studio, especially considering how much attention will be focused on the production and the last time the story of Cleopatra was made into a movie. The Egyptian queen got her big screen closeup in the 1963 film with Elizabeth Taylor in the title role. Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed the film, which started with a $2 million budget that ballooned to $44 million (the equivalent of over $300 million today) not the least because Taylor became ill and almost died. The production nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox, despite being the year's highest grossing pic with $26 million. However, with James Cameron as director, he has the ability to produce a huge worldwide spectacle where every penny will be on the big screen. He has several of his own projects in the works, including a title called The Dive, but there is no other outside project he is looking at but this one as he develops the Avatar sequel.

Stacy Schiff's biography peels away the layers to reveal the true Cleopatra, a much more interesting woman than the Hollywood version, and, as it turns out, a formidable queen after all, according to reviews. A Pulitzer Prize-winning American nonfiction author and guest columnist for The New York Times, Schiff digs up astonishing and rare facts about the queen that could make the film into an entirely new story. Schiff herself has said about Jolie as Cleoptra, "physically, she's the perfect look, and is hoping for Brad Pitt to play Mark Antony (just as Liz Taylor's then lover, Richard Burton, did in the 1963 epic). "Angelina Jolie radiates grace and power, exactly the qualities that Stacy Schiff finds in her biography of the most intriguing ruler who ever lived," the book's publisher, Little Brown's Michael Pietsch, told reporters.

As for 35-year-old Jolie, she has been a tomb raider and a spy and even a queen (she played Queen Olympias in 2004's Alexander.) But she has had a lifelong fascination with Cleopatra and has always wanted to play the Queen of the Nile. She once told reporters: "I haven’t done a historical epic of that nature and she’s always been fascinating to me because I feel like, as much of her story has been done big, it’s never been done accurately. Not that any movie can get history perfectly well. There is no universal truth to history in some films, but you can get closer and I feel there’s a lot that has been unexplord about her. But there's a lot that would have to come together for that to work." And, as recently as at Sony's Salt premiere in Hollywood, she told reporters "I would be honored" to play Cleopatra in an upcoming new biopic. "But," Jolie added, "we haven't gotten the script yet." But then Helgeland's screenplay came in. Scott Rudin bought the rights to the book envisioning Jolie in the role from the very beginning and later acknowledging that Cleopatra "is being developed for and with Jolie".

Since then, Jolie has been heavily involved in the project. In still another interview, Jolie said, "I will play it differently to Elizabeth Taylor, but I could never be as lovely as she was. We are trying to uncover the truth about her as a leader and not just a sex symbol which she really wasn't -- she didn't have many lovers, maybe only two, and they're men she had children with." Angelina has said she was stunned by what she learned when she started researching Cleopatra. "She was misunderstood and her life story was written wrongly. I always thought her life was very glamorous. Then I read her story and found a different side to her - that she was a mother, leader and an intellect who spoke five languages! Her upbringing also reflected her relationship with Rome -- all that is much more interesting than what she was summed up to be."

The Jolie project isn't the only Cleopatra film to make headlines in recent years. In 2008, director Steven Soderbergh reportedly began developing Cleo, a 3D rock musical version of the Egyptian queen's story with Catherine Zeta-Jones in mind for the title role. The film fell by the wayside.
Cameron has done most of his directing at Fox with Titanic and Avatar, and he is hard at work on a sequel to the latter. As a producer, Cameron is making the Shane Salerno-scripted 3D reboot of Fantastic Voyage for Fox, but he is already working off campus, moonlighting at Universal as producer of At the Mountains of Madness, the adaptation of HP Lovecraft that Guillermo del Toro plans to direct in 3D.

Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Oprah Top Forbes 2010 Celebrity Power List

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1642610/20100629/lady_gaga.jhtml

Jun 29 2010
Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Oprah Top Forbes 2010 Celebrity Power List
James Cameron, Sandra Bullock, Britney and Madonna also named most powerful celebs of 2010.
Gil Kaufman

Lady Gaga has won a lot of accolades during the past year and met some pretty impressive dignitaries, but crashing the Forbes magazine annual World's Most Powerful Celebrities list puts her in some truly rarified company.

The singer, who launched her latest iteration of her never-ending Monster Ball Tour in Montreal on Monday night, debuts on the list this year at #4. She landed there thanks to high marks for her Web visibility (#1 on the list) and a $62 million haul between June 2009 and June 2010, $31 million of which came from touring (after a gross of $95 million), with much of the rest courtesy of deals with Virgin Mobile, Polaroid, Monster Cable and MAC.

Gaga joins a top 10 that is dominated by women, including the once-again #1, Oprah Winfrey, who retook her top rank thanks to $315 million in earnings after ceding it last year to Angelina Jolie (now #18). The list ranks celebs based on earnings over the previous 12 months, as well as visibility in print, TV, radio, online and social media.

Beyoncé slipped up two spots to #2 this year, with $86 million in grosses thanks to a 93-date world tour, deals with Nintendo and L'Oreal and her House of Dereon fashion line. The still resurgent Britney Spears leaped from #13 to #6 this year, banking $64 million, most of it thanks to a world tour that grossed $130 million and deals with Elizabeth Arden and Candie's.

Madonna slipped seven spots down from last year's #3 ranking to #10, but at 52, she still had the fourth-highest-grossing tour of the year, which rolled up more than $138 million in gross receipts, as well as significant publishing royalties, including cash from an all-Madge episode of "Glee."

More than 30 years into their career, U2 went from zero to #7 on the list, mostly courtesy of a massive — currently mothballed — world tour that raked in more than $311 million in gross box office, as well as lucrative merchandise sales, copious radio play and a steady-selling back catalog that earned them more than $130 million.

With a $210 million payday from his #1 smash "Avatar," director James Cameron (#3) had a very good year, unlike disgraced golfer Tiger Woods, who hits #5 with $105 million in earnings amid high press rankings, mostly for his infidelity scandal. The top 10 is rounded out by Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock (#8, $56 million), who made headlines for having two hit movies, "The Proposal" and "The Blind Side," as well a divorce from ex-Jesse James. And at #9 is Johnny Depp, who banked $75 million, mostly due to his work in "Alice in Wonderland," which grossed $1 billion worldwide, making Depp the only actor to headline two billion-dollar films.

Taylor Swift made it onto the list for the first time, at #12, thanks to her status as the most-played artist on radio in 2009, multi-platinum album sales, and big endorsement deals with Sony and CoverGirl that netted her $45 million. She's just ahead of Miley Cyrus (#13), who took in a not-too-shabby $48 million. Beyoncé's other half, Jay-Z, also made a giant leap this year, jumping from #32 to #15 with a hit album, his investment in the 40/40 club chain and the Broadway show "Fela!," the New Jersey Nets, and the Blueprint 3 tour, which grossed more than $1 million per show.

Also new on the list this year are the Black Eyed Peas, who debuted at #16 thanks to a $48 million year pumped up by sponsorship deals with Target, Honda, Bacardi and Apple. Singer Pink crashed the party at #27 in her debut year, with $44 million, much of it courtesy of her smash international tour.

Other musicians on the list include: Bruce Springsteen (#17), Coldplay (#35), the Jonas Brothers (#40), Diddy (#68), Lil Wayne (#74) and Akon (#80).

"Twilight" star Robert Pattinson also makes his first appearance on the list, coming in at #50 with $17 million in earnings, followed by co-star Kristen Stewart at #66 with $12 million in earnings. The woman who started it all, "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer, hits the #59 spot with $40 million in pay thanks to the $1 billion in box office the movies have earned so far and continued strong sales of the books from the series.

Former "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell earned a spot behind Madonna at #11 with a hefty $80 million payday, while fellow "Idol" cohort Ellen DeGeneres (#23) earned $55 million from her stint on the reality show and her syndicated daily talker. "Idol" host Ryan Seacrest weighs in at #44 with $51 million from his variety of TV hosting gigs, radio show and producer credits on reality shows.

Anne Hathaway Envies Angelina's "Kissing" Skills

Important News Story Break:

http://www.usmagazine.com/celebritynews/news/anne-hathaway-envies-angelina-jolies-kissing-skills-201042

Anne Hathaway Envies Angelina's "Kissing" Skills
Thursday – February 04, 2010

Anne Hathaway would love to kiss like Angelina Jolie.

When the Valentine's Day star, 27, shares the different types of on-screen kisses with the U.K. edition of GQ magazine, she laments that "full-on movie kissing" isn't one of her strong suits.

"It's a totally different experience," she says of the forceful kiss. "But really you have to be Angelina Jolie to pull that off and still look good. I don't know if you've noticed, but I ain't no Angie."

Find out what other star is often compared to Angelina Jolie

She does dispel some tips on what she calls "pretty movie kissing," and uses the back of her left hand as the lucky recipient.

"You have to leave your mouth open a little bit," she tells the magazine's March issue (out Friday). "Open up. More, more, ever so lightly… Otherwise you're going to be getting smoothy. Now, slow it down ... just a little bit."

With that skill, it's a wonder the actress -- who has been dating actor Adam Shulman since 2008 -- hasn't gotten carried away on set.

"If you're both unattached and you get along, of course kissing in a movie is fun," she says. "But you can never get truly deep down and into it. Well, I can't. Jennifer Garner -- now that girl can movie kiss!"

Megan Fox Admits To Cutting Herself As A Child

http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2009/09/16/megan-fox-admits-to-cutting-herself-as-a-child-in-rolling-stone-cover-story/

Megan Fox Admits To Cutting Herself As A Child In Rolling Stone: Cover Story
9-16-9
By Elizabeth Lancaster

Megan Fox is known world wide for not only her intense attractiveness but her shocking commentary on herself, other talent, and the world of Hollywood. Megan, at the young age of 23 already has quite a story to tell, and she's continuing to do so, this time in Rolling Stone.

Already coming at number 1 this year on FHM’s list of the 100 sexiest women, Megan is someone known exclusively for her beautiful face, and nearly perfect body. Another actress that provokes similar media and public attention for the same reasons is Angelina Jolie, an actress that Megan admits she shares some similarities with, but does not want to discuss because "If I did talk about it, I’d be taking on a role-model status, and I’d have to choose my words very carefully, and I’d have to make sure I reveal it in a specific way, and I don’t want to do it," she says. Ironically, in this same interview, she admits to cutting herself as a child, which is yet another fact she shares in common with Angelina.

In an attempt “to deflect attention from my reality” the young star went on to mention some qualities that she actually shares with her onscreen character from her upcoming film "Jennifer’s Body." Megan’s character is a demon possessed cheerleader that spends her time seducing and then devouring high school boys and sharing a highly publicized kiss with Amanda Seyfried. Similarly to her character, Megan mentions her hot temper in real life, and how although she might not attempt to eat her seemingly on-again beau Brian Austin Green, she has threatened to, er, kill him. "I’ve had to say to Brian, ‘You have to go and stop talking to me, because I’m going to kill you. I’m going to stab you with something. Please leave,'" Megan recalled. "I’d never own a gun for that reason. I wouldn’t shoot to kill. But I would shoot him in the leg, for sure."

Some might wonder how she puts on the charm to have kept Brian even through these fits of rage. Megan explains women are in charge as long as they are “completely in charge of [their] sexuality.”

Megan Fox is back on the market? SCORE!

Photo is of Megan Fox with an ugly cancerous growth

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2009/02/megan-fox-singl.html

Megan Fox is back on the market? SCORE!
February 24, 2009

File this under BEST NEWS EVER for girls and guys — and guys and girls — everywhere.

Hollywood's hottest engaged couple, Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green, are totally done.

"The relationship had run its course," one of those chatty insiders tells Us. "They both realized the time had come to go their separate ways. It's completely amicable, and they are remaining friends."

The openly bisexual Fox, 22 (Mikaela in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"), and Green, 35 ("Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") are "both focusing on their careers," the source adds.

Is that Hollywood publicist code for, "Yes, yes, she is going to be the next Lara Croft, and she can certainly do better than Brian Austin Green."

Oh dear. But about those tattoos they got of each other's names — paging Dr. Tattoff!

Maybe Megan could call Angelina Jolie for the name of the doc she had laser off her ex-husband Billy Bob Thornton's name.

These two do have a lot in common: multiple tattoos, fabulous bods, long dark hair, past lesbian sexual experiences ....

But it's kinda sad, because even in November, Fox talked about wedding plans.

"It's not going to be a big wedding," she told Us at a GQ bash. "I'm not one of those girls. If it happens, it will be very low-key and quick and unplanned."

Wait a minute. "IF" it happens? Was she was trying to tell us something.

MILFs of the Year

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The Holocaust, Tarantino-style

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1027043.html

07/10/2008
The Holocaust, Tarantino-style: Jews scalping Nazis
By Assaf Uni
Tags: Israel News, Holocaust

BERLIN - For weeks, Germany's tabloids and culture pages have been preoccupied with Quentin Tarantino's film "Inglorious Bastards," slated to start filming next week in Germany.

While the tabloids are drooling over the movie's star, Brad Pitt, who is moving with his wife Angelina Jolie and their children to a villa close to Berlin ("The most beautiful couple in Wannsee," one headline declared), the serious media is focusing on another angle: Is Germany ready for a Tarantino-style treatment of World War II?

An early draft of the script leaked onto the Internet three months ago suggested the film would contain scenes of bloody vengeance exacted by Jews against Nazis. One campaign would be carried out by Jews in the U.S. Army intent on scalping Nazi soldiers on occupied French soil; another would be a Jewish refugee's revenge against the Nazi officer who murdered her parents.

Pitt is to play Jewish-American Lt. Aldo Raine, the leader of a revenge squad known as "The Bastards," who launch a killing spree in which they hang, torture, disembowel and scalp German soldiers and engrave Swastikas on their foreheads, according to the leaked draft.

The film is raising controversy in Germany, where the subjects of World War II and the Holocaust are usually restricted to historical discourse.

"This is pop culture meeting Nazi Germany and the Holocaust with unprecedented force," said the film critic of SuedDeutche Zeitung, Tobias Kniebe. "The effects of this collision are utterly unpredictable."

German film critics blasted last week's decision to grant the film money from the German Film Fund and another local fund, saying that Germany cannot finance a movie that uses Jewish-Nazi relations as entertainment, especially one by Tarantino.

The SuedDeutche Zeitung warned that the film may be no less explosive than the Hollywood film Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise, about German officers' abortive attempt to assassinate Hitler toward the end of WWII. The movie, filmed in Germany and scheduled to be released in spring 2009, has already drawn fire from German historians.

"All the German historians and critics who were left gasping for breath by Tom Cruise and his worthy attempts to produce a correct image of Stauffenberg will be so shocked by 'Inglorious Bastards' that they will savage it on the spot," writes Kneibe.

Tarantino's film is not supposed to mix history and fiction, but to offer the pure, hyper-violent entertainment that the American director of "Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction" and "Kill Bill" is known for.

"It is sort of a spaghetti western set in World War II," Tarantino told the German News Agency DPA. "I am not going to call it this, but if it had a subtitle for it, it would be called, 'Once Upon a Time in Nazi-Occupied France.'"

Films that treat the Holocaust period as pure entertainment could be destructive, says Alexander Kluge, a noted film director and author, who has been dealing with the Holocaust and its memory for more than 50 years.

He cites Swiss-Jewish director Dany Levy's comedy "Mein Fuehrer" as a case in point. This film raised a storm in Germany two years ago, when it portrayed for the first time a neurotic, empathy-evoking Hitler. "Such films can obscure the events' true significance," says Kluge.

Tarantino's film received a 300,000 euro grant from the state of Brandenburg, because it will be filmed in Potsdam's Babelsberg studios. Founded in 1911, this is the world's oldest major film studio. Films including Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" and "The Blue Angel" with Marlene Dietrich were filmed there in the 1920s and 1930s, as were numerous Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda films.

Tarantino's film is also expected to receive 20 percent of its budget from the German Film Fund because it is being filmed in Germany. It is scheduled to be released in June 2009.

Eastwood says he won't be back as Dirty Harry

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iu9MTGvYJPnhMaCuGmG2W6-IE2xwD90PIFN80

Eastwood says he won't be back as Dirty Harry
5-20-8

CANNES, France (AP) — Clint Eastwood will not be back as Dirty Harry, but Angelina Jolie might want to give it a try. Eastwood was asked Tuesday at a news conference at the Cannes Film Festival if he would be reprising the role of Harry Callahan, the renegade cop of "Dirty Harry" and four sequels.

As he laid to rest the notion that he might revive Harry, Jolie chimed in: "I am."

"Dirty Harriet and the `Tomb Raider' will play it," Eastwood joked about Jolie, whose screen credits include the "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" flicks.

Eastwood was at Cannes for the premiere of his missing-child drama, "Changeling," starring Jolie. The 32-year-old actress was in Cannes for both "Changeling" and her animated comedy, "Kung Fu Panda," which premiered at the festival last week.

Eastwood, who turns 78 on May 31, went on to add that "Dirty Harry would not be on the police department at my age, so we'll move on from that."

The Cannes lineup this year features a retrospective of Warner Bros. classics, including 1971's "Dirty Harry," which comes out in a new DVD edition with the other four films in the series on June 3.

The character has become an icon: a vigilante cop fighting bureaucracy on behalf of victims. For Eastwood, though, it was an exciting detective story first and foremost.

"Whatever reaction it had, it was great fun at that time," Eastwood said. "It was a fantasy role. You point a .44 Magnum at someone and say, `Do you feel lucky?'"

Megan Fox tops FHM's sexiest women list

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gTxzd5fIq8sS7iJHRKljdwgmE8-gD907S4FG0

Megan Fox tops FHM's sexiest women list
By DERRIK J. LANG
4-23-8

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Megan Fox is the sexiest woman in the world — at least according to FHM magazine.

The "Transformers" co-star tops FHM's annual 100 Sexiest Women in the World poll of FHM readers. The 21-year-old model-actress beat out the likes of Angelina Jolie (No. 12), Rihanna (No. 14), Kim Kardashian (No. 17), Paris Hilton (No. 77) and last year's champion, Jessica Alba (No. 3).

Fox debuted on the annual list in 2006 at No. 68 and ranked at No. 65 in 2007. Joining her in the top 10 this year are — in descending order — Jessica Biel, Alba, Elisha Cuthbert, Scarlett Johansson, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Hilary Duff, Tricia Helfer, Blake Lively and Kate Beckinsale. Britney Spears came in last place at No. 100.

The women from MTV's "The Hills" duke it out on the list with Heidi Montag (No. 44) beating out Audrina Patridge (No. 80) and Lauren Conrad (No. 95). Current "Dancing with the Stars" contestant Shannon Elizabeth (No. 46) returned to the ranking after being absent last year, joining professional dancers Cheryl Burke (No. 40) and Karina Smirnoff (No. 78).

FHM said nearly 9 million votes were cast for the 14th edition of the annual poll.

On the Net:
FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World: http://www.fhmonline.com/100sexiest

Obama related to Pitt, Clinton to Jolie

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080325/ap_on_el_pr/candidates_genealogy

Obama related to Pitt, Clinton to Jolie
By DENISE LAVOIE, Associated Press Writer
3-25-8

This could make for one odd family reunion: Barack Obama is a distant cousin of actor Brad Pitt, and Hillary Rodham Clinton is related to Pitt's girlfriend, Angelina Jolie.

Researchers at the New England Historic Genealogical Society found some remarkable family connections for the three presidential candidates — Democratic rivals Obama and Clinton, and Republican John McCain.

Clinton, who is of French-Canadian descent on her mother's side, is also a distant cousin of singers Madonna, Celine Dion and Alanis Morissette. Obama, the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya, can call six U.S. presidents, including George W. Bush, his cousins. McCain is a sixth cousin of first lady Laura Bush.

Genealogist Christopher Child said that while the candidates often focus on pointing out differences between them, their ancestry shows they are more alike than they think.

"It shows that lots of different people can be related, people you wouldn't necessarily expect," Child said.

Obama has a prolific presidential lineage that features Democrats and Republicans. His distant cousins include President George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson, Harry S. Truman and James Madison. Other Obama cousins include Vice President Dick Cheney, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and Civil War General Robert E. Lee.

"His kinships are across the political spectrum," Child said.

Child has spent the last three years tracing the candidates' genealogy, along with senior research scholar Gary Boyd Roberts, author of the 1989 book, "Ancestors of American Presidents."

Clinton's distant cousins include beatnik author Jack Kerouac and Camilla Parker-Bowles, wife of Prince Charles of England.

McCain's ancestry was more difficult to trace because records on his relatives were not as complete as records for the families of Obama and Clinton, Child said.

Obama and President Bush are 10th cousins, once removed, linked by Samuel Hinkley of Cape Cod, who died in 1662.

Pitt and Obama are ninth cousins, linked by Edwin Hickman, who died in Virginia in 1769.

Clinton and Jolie are ninth cousins, twice removed, both related to Jean Cusson who died in St. Sulpice, Quebec, in 1718.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society, founded in 1845, is the oldest and largest nonprofit genealogical organization in the country.

Jolie in Iraq: 2M refugees need help

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/07/iraq.jolie/index.html

Jolie in Iraq: 2M refugees need help
Story Highlights
Angelina Jolie visits Iraq to boost efforts to help internally displaced refugees
Actress tells CNN: "There doesn't seem to be real coherent plan to help them"
Jolie is goodwill ambassador for U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees
More than 4.2 million Iraqis have fled homes, 2 million to neighboring states

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie is visiting Iraq to boost what she sees as lagging efforts to deal with the problems of 2 million "very very vulnerable" internally displaced people in the wartorn country.

"There doesn't seem to be a real coherent plan to help them," said Jolie, speaking in an exclusive interview with CNN's Arwa Damon Thursday.

"There's lots of goodwill. Lots of discussion, but there seems to be a lot of talk at the moment, and a lot of pieces that need to be put together. I'm trying to figure out what they are."

A goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Jolie wants to find ways to help the agency be more active inside war-torn Iraq.

Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence in the country has sparked a displacement crisis that is considered the most significant in the Middle East since the 1948 creation of Israel.

More than 4.2 million Iraqis have fled their homes, around 2 million to neighboring states, mostly Syria and Jordan, and another 2.2 million displaced inside Iraq.

The flight was aggravated by the February 2006 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra, an attack that stoked pitched sectarian warfare. Many of the internally displaced live precarious lives amid conditions of squalor, crowded into camps and slums that often lack basic necessities, such as proper food, health care and shelter.

"How Iraq settles in the years to come is going to affect the entire Middle East," said Jolie. "It's in our best interest to address a humanitarian crisis on this scale because displacement can lead to a lot of instability and aggression."

Jolie has been working to help draw attention to the problem and has called for governments to bolster their support of the U.N.H.C.R. In August, Jolie first visited Iraq and Syria to get a sense of the problem. She heard stories from refugees about their plight.

This visit to Iraq is focusing on the problems of the internally displaced, 58 percent of whom are under age 12. A top issue for the agency is getting better security.

Jolie is talking with U.S. officials, including top U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, about that issue, and are willing to provide such security which she said "needs to be addressed and solved."

The Iraqi government needs to empower agencies that deal with migration to address the concerns of the displaced -- but that has not happened yet, she said.

Jolie said it was crucial that the government prepare a plan to deal with refugees who return home from Syria and Jordan and find that their homes are "occupied" by others or "bombed out." She emphasizes the way in which these people are resettled will have "broad implications" in the region.

Jolie also is talking to people about moving forward the U.S. effort to resettle Iraqi refugees in the United States, which has set a goal of taking in 12,000 of those people by September. Only 375 have been admitted so far.

"I have to believe there are people working toward that goal," she said.

International agencies, such as the United Nations and the Arab League, and many countries in the region and in Europe are addressing the refugee and the internally displaced persons' crisis, and money is being allocated to Iraq and host countries to help clothe, feed and house people.

Most of the refugees are in Syria and Jordan, and they reside in big cities like Damascus and Amman. The U.N.C.H.R. is trying to help governments in Syria and Jordan to cope with the influx, which has stretched the resources of institutions like schools and health systems. It is also attempting to help 41,000 non-Iraqi refugees in Iraq, such as Palestinians and Iranians.

Last month, the UNHCR announced a plan to seek $261 million this year for its work to help these refugees. It has almost 350 staffers "directly engaged in operations for Iraq and the surrounding region."

Officials in Iraq and the coalition have been heartened by the fact that some refugees are starting to trickle back home. But they are returning to a country where mixed Shiite and Sunni neighborhoods have turned into Sunni or Shiite enclaves and that they might not be able to return to their homes.

Charlize Theron: Sexiest woman alive

http://omg.yahoo.com/charlize-theron:-sexiest-woman-alive/news/2993

Charlize Theron: Sexiest woman alive
October 10, 2007
celebs: Jessica Biel Scarlett Johansson Charlize Theron Angelina Jolie
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Charlize Theron has an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award. Now she's Esquire magazine's "sexiest woman alive."

Past winners of the title include Jessica Biel, Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson. The issue featuring Theron hits newsstands Oct. 16.

Theron talked with the magazine about growing up on a farm, her political interests and her work, including her latest movie, "In the Valley of Elah," a murder mystery set among U.S. troops newly returned from Iraq.

"I wanted to make the movie precisely because it evades formulas about guilt," the 32-year-old actress said. "I'm drawn to ambiguity."

Theron also candidly discussed her least favorite film, "Reindeer Games."

"That was a bad, bad, bad movie," she said. "But ... I got to work with John Frankenheimer. I wasn't lying to myself Ã? that's why I did it."

Theron won an Oscar for her role in "Monster." Her screen credits also include "North Country" and "The Cider House Rules."
___
On the Net:

http://www.esquire.com/

Jessica Alba’s wiggle

Robalini's Note: You can't argue with science...

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/howtheyseeus/entries/2007/08/31/jessica_albas_wiggle_1.html


Jessica Alba’s wiggle
By Shelley Emling
Friday, August 31, 2007

And you thought math homework was boring. After exhaustive research, mathematicians at Britain’s Cambridge University have calculated the ideal waist-hip proportions for the perfect sexy feminine walk. And the woman with the world’s best wiggle is … drum roll please … American actress Jessica Alba.

The “Fantastic Four” star beat out other actresses including Eva Longoria, Angelina Jolie, Kate Moss, and even Marilyn Monroe.

The research was serious stuff. According to Cambridge, a woman with a waist size exactly 70 percent of her hip measurement is a woman with the more angular swing and bounce to the hips that makes for the perfect sexy wiggle while walking.

So with a 25-inch waist and a 36-inch hip, Alba boasts the ultimate in girlish struts. Interesting. Now if only we knew how much government funding went into this project.

Forbes: Damon's a `Bourne' moneymaker

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070806/ap_en_mo/forbes_star_payback

Forbes: Damon's a `Bourne' moneymaker
Mon Aug 6, 2007

Matt Damon is Hollywood's best investment, says Forbes.com.

For every dollar he was paid for his last three roles, Damon brought in $29 of gross income, the site calculated.

That put the 36-year-old "Bourne" star atop a Forbes list of 22 film heavyweights, ranked by the same financial formula.

The first two "Bourne" movies grossed an estimated $850 million at the box office and in DVD sales, Forbes said. The third installment, "The Bourne Ultimatum," opened last weekend and raked in $70.2 million at the box office. It was the biggest August film opening ever.

Brad Pitt took second place on the list, with a gross income return of $24 for each dollar of his pay, and Vince Vaughn tied with Johnny Depp for third with $21.

Pitt's ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston, is the most profitable actress with a gross income return of $17. Pitt's current significant other, Angelina Jolie, ranked sixth with $15.

"The biggest stars in Hollywood are not the actors that deliver the biggest returns," Forbes senior editor Michael Ozanian said in a statement Monday.

Russell Crowe is at the bottom of the list. His last three films — "A Good Year," "Cinderella Man" and "Master and Commander" — averaged just $5 in gross income for every dollar spent on the Oscar winner, Forbes said.

Movies starring the two Toms — Hanks and Cruise — averaged $12 and $11 of gross income, respectively. Will Smith and Denzel Washington each brought in $10.

On the comedic front, Adam Sandler brought in $9 per dollar earned, Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey $8 each).

Forbes.com calculated the net revenue for a film by adding the worldwide box office and revenues from U.S. DVD and video rentals and then subtracting its budget. The net revenue was divided by the actor's total compensation to derive gross income. The average gross income of an actor's last three films produced their box-office return.

The "Ultimate Star Payback" list was posted Monday.
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http://www.forbes.com/