Hollywood’s power couple came face-to-face with the most powerful man in the United States Wednesday.  Angelina Jolie, 36, and Brad Pitt, 48, were escorted inside the White House by several security guards, where they met with President Barack Obama, 50, inside the Oval Office.  The actors first arrived in Washington, DC Tuesday for the premiere of Jolie’s directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey, at the Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The film is about Bosnian war crimes.  The movie relates the story of a couple who had a fling before Bosnia’s 1992-1995 war and met up again when the woman was taken prisoner by a unit of the Bosnian Serb army commanded by her former lover.  He shields her at first but is transferred and she suffers abuse and rape at the hands of the soldiers.  At the premiere, Jolie, who as well as her film work pursues a wide range of humanitarian causes as a UN goodwill ambassador, offered a mixed review of Obama’s presidency.  She told the Daily Caller Website that she thinks there are many, many things she think have gone in a wonderful direction and there a few things she is disappointed in.  The actress however said that there are many wonderful things that have moved forward and of course some other things that are very frustrating.

The uber-famous Hollywood pair was spotted in the Oval Office by photographers waiting outside for the president to take off for a trip to Chicago.  According to the Associated Press, the actors dropped by so that President Obama could talk with Jolie about her work on preventing mass atrocities and combating sexual violence against women.  Pitt was seen sporting a cane, which he has been using following a skiing injury.  He is said to be recovering from a torn collateral ligament.  Jolie, in a dark dress, and Pitt, wearing black framed glasses, spent several minutes speaking to Obama before he left aboard his Marine One helicopter.  After his glammier-than-usual meeting, Obama jetted to Chicago for a surprise visit to his reelection-campaign headquarters to thank staffers for their diligence.

Pitt — who has been a longtime supporter of Obama — first met the politician in 2009 to discuss his work rebuilding New Orleans’ 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina.  The couple previously attended the 23rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala.  Brad looked dapper in a smart black suit and tie with a crisp white shirt which he appeared to have opted for a dark black cane.  Angelina opted for her simple and sophisticated style once again in a flowing dusty pink pleated halter neck gown by Elie Saab.  Despite his injured state Brad was as in demand as ever and made his way to the crowds of screaming fans.  He was seen shaking hands and signing autographs while using his stick to balance.  Angelina and Brad looked as in love as ever sharing a private joke on the red carpet which raised a broad smile from the actress.

Angelina Jolie looks absolutely radiant on the January cover of Marie Claire magazine, wearing a periwinkle top and bold gold jewelry.  Coinciding with the December 23rd release of her directorial debut “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” the 36-year-old actress looked elegant in an Alexei Hay shot spread adorning the publication’s pages while talking about her upcoming movie, wanting to move away from acting, her lack of female friends and her too-cute twins, Knox and Vivienne.

According to the ever-gorgeous star, she does not really have girlfriends in movies.  However, she has a few girlfriends even if she stay at home a lot.  Jolie said that she is just not very social noting that she does not do a lot with them and she is very homebound.  However, she does have a close friend in Gwen Stefani.  They have been friends since 1998.  She joked that somehow Gwen and her keep ending up pregnant at the exact same time.  A source told Yahoo News that all of the kids are very close in age noting that they have attended each other’s birthday parties and gotten together several times at each other’s home.

Jolie admits she just talks to Brad and the kids to satisfy her social cravings.  According to her, she talk to Brad, since she does not have a lot of friends to talk to noting that he is really the only person she talks to.  She also said that she has a wonderful partner in Brad and they take turns working always.  She said they have no plans at the moment for extending their ever-growing brood right now, but who knows what may happen.  The couple currently has six children together, three biological and three adopted.  The Brunette beauty showed her genuine happiness with his husband saying that Brad has expanded her life in ways she never imagined – they built a family.  According to her, he is not just the love of her life but he is her family.  Jolie claimed that she supposed what she has learned from Brad is to be able to have the kind of family whose happiness and well-being comes before your own.  The star expressed her gratefulness to have such a loving family that she would not have without Brad.

Jolie delved into some touching, personal details about her children.  She said Vivienne is a girlie girl noting that she is so elegant and delicate. According to her, Vivi will pick flowers from the garden and put them in her hair.  Jolie added that she likes to get her nails done and collects stuffed animals.  She even said that it is very funny for her to have to buy all things pink and watch princess movies.  She called Knox a little “dude” who loves dinosaurs and swords.

Jolie also discussed her directorial debut, “In the Land of Blood and Honey.”  According to the star, she think it is hard to understand what happened and how it could happen 40 minutes away from Italy in the ‘90s at the time “Schindler’s List came out.”  She said that it began as a private exercise, an excuse to get out some of her frustrations with the international community and justice issues.  The new director explained that some of the very darkest sections of the film were conceived in Shiloh’s art class when she was in the back waiting for the kids to finish.  “In the Land of Blood and Honey” will be released in theaters Dec 23. The new issue of Marie Claire will be on newsstands Dec. 13.

Angelina Jolie is being sued by Croatian journalist and author James J. Braddock who claims that the actress-turned-writer/director stole from him to craft the screenplay behind In The Land of Blood and Honey, Jolie’s directorial debut.  The film is about the story of a relationship between a prison camp guard and a captive in the Balkan conflict during the 1990s.

First reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, the story does not say what specific works Braddock believes Jolie ripped off.  The lawsuit was filed last week and in addition to Jolie the case includes producer Edin Sarkic (who has met with the plaintiff) and FilmDistrict, the movie’s theatrical distributor.   James J Braddock insists that the film is based on his 2007 book The Soul Shattering.  Radar quotes from court documents which detail episodes in which the lead female character is raped and abused by camp guards, before becoming a servant at their headquarters, as an example of the similarity between the film and the book.

In a statement on his website, Braddock slates the movie, saying it shows Jolie’s “complete lack of knowledge of Bosnia-Herzegovina (and Croatia)”.  However, he says there are numerous similarities between the film and his book.  According to him, her story is almost identical to his novel The Soul Shattering adding that the movie is nothing more than a doctored version and that is in no way a coincidence.  Braddock has stated that he will take legal action to halt distribution of the movie until the case is settled.

As the newspaper points out, one interesting thing about this case is that the lawsuit was filed before the film’s release date.  This is actually quite rare, as most plaintiffs wait until the movie is in theaters so that they can judge how successful it is at the box office.  This happens more than you might think, as in recent years similar cases have been filed against Conan the Barbarian, Avatar, Borat and the aforementioned Cowboys & Aliens.

Jolie dismissed the claim saying that it is par for the course.  She claimed that if you, like her, have never heard that phrase, it basically means that s**t happens.  According to her, there is also an Urban Dictionary definition but she would not repeat it.  Jolie told Los Angeles Times that it happens on every film.  The actress claimed that she does not know about that but she admitted she did pull her inspiration for the movie from other sources.  She said that there are many books and documentaries that  she did pull from noting that it is a combination of many people’s stories but she has never seen that particular book.

Braddock claims he met with Jolie’s producer, Edin Sarkic, who worked on In The Land of Blood and Honey.  According to Braddock, he and Sarkic met several times in 2008 to talk about making his book into a film.  In the Land f Blood and Honey is set to release on December 23.  However, Braddock is seeking an injunction to block the film’s scheduled release.  He is also seeking unspecified damages.

Angelina Jolie keeps quite the busy travel schedule, which oftentimes is for work.  However, her current trip is in line with her desire to keep her three adopted children familiar with their roots so she took her seven-year-old son, Pax, to Vietnam along with his husband Brad Pitt.  Although the couple have remained tight-lipped on what they will do on their visit to Vietnam, it is thought a visit to Pax’s orphanage could be on the cards.

The 36-year-old actress told the Financial Times in July that they owe Vietnam a visit because Pax is due adding of her six children with Brad Pitt that they are all learning about each other’s cultures as well as being proud of their own.  She said that they all have their flags over their beds and their individual pride.

The actress and Pax were photographed in Vietnam and according to the photographer, the two went out for lunch in Ho Chi Minh City in a rustic restaurant famed for its traditional Vietnamese food and the rest of the Clan is along the trip as well.  Angelina looked simply elegant today in a blue off the shoulder dress and over sized sunglasses, while Pax looked casual in a shorts and a T-shirt.  Her husband opted for a casual look in a white jacket and sunglasses as he left the restaurant.  It has been four years since young Pax set foot in Vietnam after Angelina Jolie adopted him.  Jolie arrived in Vietnam after visiting Japan while Brad Pitt promoted Moneyball over there.

The couple, who have three biological children and three adopted, have always said they want their children to remain in touch with their home countries.  Jolie’s eldest son, 7-years-old Maddox was adopted from an orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Jolie runs the charitable Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation which supports orphans in the country.  Daughter Zahara, 6, who was adopted from Ethiopia in 2005 has been back to visit her home country with her mother  saying she planned to build AIDS clinic in the country.  In 2008 she said that they will be building a Tuberculosis/AIDS clinic in Ethiopia which they plan for Zahara to take over when she is older.  Shiloh was born in Namibia while twins Vivienne and Knox were born in France.

Angelina stunned on the red carpet in Tokyo on Wednesday.  She wore a form fitting red cocktail dress and nude heels.  Only days before, the Jolie-Pitt clan was in Budapest, where Brad promoted a totally different movie: World War Z.  World War Z is a zombie apocalypse thriller.  While the actress went for a classic red dress and nude heels, her partner Pitt’s scruffy hairdo let down his smart ensemble.  The couple stepped out after they were asked to live up to their self-styled image as multimillionaire ‘humanitarians’ by giving a secretary Ana Charlotiaux sacked for taking too much time off work £55,000.  Charlotiaux worked at Brad and Angelina’s Chateau Miraval estate in Southern France, but she claims she was fired by Brangelina for taking too many sick days.