Brangelina bunch blocks New York traffic

Courtney Hazlett The Scoop

Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and their half-dozen children descended upon New York City on Oct. 2.

The family is in town for the premiere of Jolie’s new film, “Changeling,” and while there’s plenty of Oscar buzz surrounding Jolie’s performance, locals were buzzing about the traffic jam the family caused outside their midtown Manhattan hotel.

“I guess the size of their family and the amount of traffic they cause is directly proportional,” said one observer. “You’d think (Jolie) was part of the U.N. General Assembly.”

In previous years Jolie actually has been on hand for General Assembly; this year, she was in Berlin with the rest of her family. That doesn’t mean she’s stepped out of the spotlight.

One person who’s worked with Jolie in some of her international philanthropic work confirms that the actress is still involved, but unable to make appearances right now, which is just as well considering the blurred line between celebrity and politics at the moment.

“It’s a strange place for celebrities, philanthropy and politics right now," says the source. "Angelina undoubtedly has more foreign-policy knowledge than Sarah Palin. She’s not looking to upstage anyone, though. On the other hand, by choosing an Alaskan ‘celebrity’ as his running mate and putting Paris (Hilton) and Britney (Spears) in his commercial, John McCain has done his best to obscure the line between politics and entertainment. No wonder people don’t know where to direct their attention.”

Beam her up, Scotty
It looks like Kirsten Dunst might not be able to count on Hollywood-Elsewhere.com movie blogger Jeffrey Wells for her next positive review.

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She landed on his bad side not through poor acting, but by not knowing who the captain of the Starship Enterprise was.

MTV.com’s Josh Horowitz asked “who’s the captain of the Enterprise, as played by William Shatner?”

The actress' answer? “Spock.”

Wells reacted passionately, saying, “You can be a 'girl' all you want, but not knowing Captain Kirk is like not knowing who Jesus Christ, Barack Obama, Superman or Abraham Lincoln are.”

Cable is the place to be
Anyone else wondering what’s going on with primetime network television? This week saw the return of some of television’s biggest series, and for the most part, last year’s favorites didn’t fare well.

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The number of viewers for ABC’s “Pushing Daisies” declined 55 percent over last year; “Private Practice” came in third place during its time slot with a decline of 38 percent over a year ago.

To be fair, “Dirty Sexy Money” was the only show to improve upon its last episode, which aired in December. At the other networks, NBC's “Lipstick Jungle” fell 21 percent from its premiere the week prior, and week two of CBS's “Criminal Minds” dropped 19 percent, even though it won its hour.

On the cable side, however, “Dexter” set a record for Showtime, and “Californication” didn’t drop substantially.

One writer for a network show says politics and DVRs are to blame. “No one wants to be told what to watch, and let’s face it, there were some bigger fish to fry with the economy and the debates being such big headlines. It will be interesting to see what happens after November.”

Box office goes to the dogs
I never thought I’d say this sentence, but if “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” doesn’t win at the box office, then I should lose my job. It’s certainly not Oscar material, but the family-friendly comedy is opening in more than 3,000 theaters.

The only other film that could come close is the Michael Cera flick, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.” But the appeal of this indie-ish film isn’t enough to offset two things: only opening in 2,300 theaters, and competition from “Eagle Eye,” last week’s number one, which is expected to bring in another $16 million this weekend. 

Courtney Hazlett delivers the Scoop Monday through Friday on msnbc.com.

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