Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie Donate $500,000 to Joplin Tornado Relief

The Jolie-Pitt Foundation announced a donation on Friday of $500,000 to aid recovery efforts in Joplin, Missouri, after a tornado brought death and destruction to the area last month.

"With the devastating loss of 30 percent of the city, the Joplin community faces great challenges ahead," said Brad Pitt. "Having spent much of my childhood there, I know these people to be hardworking, humble and especially resilient."

Angelina Jolie added: "Our hearts go out to the families in Joplin who have lost so much."

The Kansas City Star reports that the couple's donation will benefit the Joplin Recovery Fund.

The tornado that directly hit Joplin in May destroyed miles of the city, including a hospital, in mere minutes. The death toll has topped 150. In the aftermath, victims are now reportedly fighting a lethal fungus stirred up by the twister.

Pitt's ties to Missouri run deep. Born in Okalahoma, Pitt was raised with his sister and brother in Springfield, Mo., attending Kickapoo High School and the University of Missouri. Pitt left the college weeks before graduating to launch an acting career in Los Angeles, where he took odd jobs and acting lessons until fame struck. The actor knows a thing or two about rebuilding after a natural disaster, ever since he became actively involved in designing housing for hurricane-ravaged New Orleans in recent years.

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Angelina Jolie Takes Kids to 'Kung Fu Panda 2' Premiere (Photos)

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt hit the red carpet for the premiere of Jolie's new film, 'Kung Fu Panda 2' yesterday, and although the pair went into the theatre alone, they came out with a few extra things. Four of their six kids!

Maddox, Zahara, Pax and Shiloh snuck into Grauman's Chinese Theatre to hear their mom's voice in the DreamWorks animated film, and exited hand-in-hand with their very famous parents.

The only things missing from this family outing were the youngest two of the stylish Jolie-Pitt brood, twins Knox and Vivienne.

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Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Looking to Reteam Onscreen

It was a match made in Hollywood heaven when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie teamed up to star as a married couple secretly moonlighting as assassins in 2005's 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith.' The onscreen

chemistry was so palpable that it wasn't long before it seeped into reality. Now, six years and six children (three adopted, three biological) later, the power couple is looking to revisit that professional partnership that started it all.

In an interview with NPR, Pitt said that the couple is looking for another onscreen collaboration.

"We're not ones to repeat ourselves, but we'd like to, because right now, we're hopscotching with films so one can be with the kids and one's free to work," Pitt said. "And why aren't we doing them together? Why aren't we doing everything together?"

Pitt and Jolie are currently at the Cannes Film Festival with their brood in tow. He is promoting his long-anticipated Terrence Malick film 'The Tree of Life' while Jolie is there for 'Kung Fu Panda 2' co-starring Jack Black.

Pitt acknowledged that his transition into a father of six and full-blown family man following his divorce from Jennifer Aniston was abrupt, but the 47-year-old said that this was his plan from the start.

"I had a friend who had a big family when I was a kid. I just loved the chaos around the breakfast table and the fighting and the ribbing, and the mom making pancakes for everyone or the dad making pancakes. And I just decided then if I was ever going to do it -- this left some indelible mark on me -- if I was ever going to do it, that's the way I was going to do it."

He also reiterated his previous sentiment that the only critics that really matter to him are his children.

"I think my focus before was more irreverence, by nature," Pitt said. "I'm a dad now. It's more important to me that if I'm going to do the film, there's something I can bring to it, it's not generic. And most of all, I'm painfully aware that my kids are going to see these when they're older, and I want them to understand something about their dad, and I want them to be proud of their dad."

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VIDEO : Brad Pitt in New ‘Tree of Life’ Clip

A new clip of the highly anticipated film, Tree of Life, has been released, featuring Brad Pitt!

Terrence Malick‘s film is set to open on May 27, starring Brad and Sean Penn. Tree of Life tells

the story of a child growing up in the 1950s, who struggles with his relationship with his father.

In the clip (via Huffington Post), Brad the father, teaches his son Jack, who Sean plays as an adult, to fight. While there is a caring side to the teaching going on, there also seems to be something darker.

Watch the clip, below.

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Courteney Cox and Brad Pitt Meet for Dinner

Brad Pitt joined his ex-wife's best friend Courteney Cox for dinner on Wednesday--but it's not as scandalous as it sounds.

The two stars joined 12 other people at Hollywood hotspot Beso for a dinner party celebrating their manager Cynthia Pett-Dante's birthday, PEOPLE reports. In fact, 'Eastbound and Down' star Danny McBride was also there.

"They hugged and kissed when they greeted each other," an onlooker told PEOPLE. "They talked for a while."

"They were chatting, catching up," the witness added. "They both seemed happy and totally relaxed, very at ease. And they were both smiling the entire time. It didn't seem awkward at all."

Cox and Pitt didn't sit next to each other at the meal but did get to spend some time together catching up. No word on whether they chatted about Jennifer Aniston. The eyewitness also reports that Pitt chowed on a steak and sipped a beer and even sat at the bar with the patrons for a little bit. "He was really cool."

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Hollywood Couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie ‘Plan French wedding’

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are reportedly planning to get married at their newly-renovated French chateau.

The Hollywood superstars raise six children together and have been dating since 2005. Speculation about when they will tie the knot has been rife throughout their relationship and it has now been reported they will wed during the grape harvest later this year.

The couple are currently overseeing extensive work on their $60 million 35-bedroom Miraval estate in the South of France and are keen to complete soon so they can hold the nuptials there.

"The couple have been working on the property for a while now because they want to be able to host most of their wedding guests in the house and the home needed to be modernised,” a source told X17 Online.

“But all the locals are talking about how these two will be hosting their wedding here in France, at their chateau, in the fall."

The 16th century chateau boasts its own private chapel and Brad - who has a keen interest in architecture – wants to restore it with a view to making their marriage vows there.

The plans have been approved by the local government, but they are facing trouble over their use of helicopters.

The couple have been accused of using their extensive gardens as a helipad, but Brad, 47, and 35-year-old Angelina are keen to protect their privacy and believed landing inside their 880-acre estate is the only way to avoid the public spotlight.

"They want to land their helicopter on the property because this area is difficult to get to,” the source added.

“The home is on the top of a mountain and we are basically in the middle of the countryside here. People like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie don't have the time to drive here - they want to move quickly. But local government officials aren't happy with where they are currently landing their helicopter. It is in the middle of the protected gardens and the owners have been told they need to find a new landing pad."

Brad and Angelina's Strict Nanny Requirements

We have always wondered how Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie appear to raise such a well mannered brood of six without going completely insane. The answer: nannies, a lot of nannies, an entire

basketball team of nannies. PopEater spoke to one applicant for the Pitt-Jolie nanny job who said she was surprised by the strict requirements asked of the family's childcare providers.

Each child, we are told, is given their very own personal nanny, who is required to have a college degree in either education or child development and to speak at least two languages. In the case of Brad and Angie's adopted children from other countries, the nanny is question is expected to speak the language of the child's native land.

The job applicant must also be willing to travel. This is a biggie since the family splits their time between California, New Orleans, France and a number of movie sets on a yearly basis.

According to our source, the positions pay between $50,000 and $150,000 on a sliding scale to start. With six kids, childcare can easily run the Jolie-Pitts a cool million on a yearly basis.

The requirements make sense (and believe us we have heard crazier) since the family travels so often each caregiver will essentially be a one-on-one teacher for the kids when they aren't enrolled in school.

What we have to say is kudos to the Pitt-Jolie publicity machine for their careful pruning of these nannies from the official paparazzi shots the family releases to the press. You would think six extra well-educated bodies traveling with the fam would be easy to spot, but we rarely see anyone but Brad and Angie minding the crew. 

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Kirsten Dunst is laid bare in breathtaking scenes from her new film Melancholia

She has been quiet on the career front for the past couple of years but Kirsten Dunst is set to make her big screen return in spectacular fashion next month.

The 28-year-old actress appears completely nude in the newly released trailer for her new film Melancholia, a beautifully shot drama written and directed by controversial Danish film-maker Lars Von Trier.

In the newly released trailer, Kirsten is seen lying naked in rocks next to a river then later in the the short clip being helped into the bath after collapsing on the bathroom floor - again completely nude.

The movie follows the story of Justine, played by Kirsten, as she marries Michael, played by Alexander Skarsgard.

During their wedding the party spots a red star in the sky which ends up being the planet Melencholia, which had been previously hiding behind the sun.

As the evening goes on, Justine begins to question what will happen to them if the world ends as well as her current happiness.

This results in her relationship with her sister Claire, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg, being put to the test.

The move also features Keifer Sutherland, in his first big screen performance since 2008's Mirrors, playing Claire's unusual and prickly husband.

Kirsten, who rose to fame as a child star appearing alongside Brad Pitt in the movie Interview With A Vampire, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe at just 13 years old.

She then made a name for herself in the Spiderman franchise alongside Toby Maguire but has been relatively quiet on the work front since the films third instalment in 2007.

Lars von Trier, the film's director, is known for his controversial use of explicit imagery in mainstream movies and has won several awards at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

Melancholia is released in the U.S. on May 26 2011.