What is up with our local celebrities today? Normally docile, they seem to be making headlines for all the wrong reasons. First Lil W—e disses the Saints, and now Us magazine claims that part-time resident Angelina Jolie hates this town:

The Big Easy is nothing but a big headache for Angelina Jolie. She and her partner, Brad Pitt, purchased a home in New Orleans in 2007 — but an insider tells Us Weekly that an irked Jolie “calls it ‘his house.’”

It seems that the resilient Louisiana city isn’t Jolie’s cup of tea, and it threatens to drive a wedge between her and Pitt, 46. “Brad loves spending time in New Orleans, but Angie doesn’t,” the source divulges in the new issue of Us Weekly. “They fight because of it…she keeps yelling at him that she hates New Orleans and never wants to go back.”

Without any sourcing other than an “insider,” I’ll choose to disbelieve it — Brad Pitt’s contribution to the 9th Ward is well-known, and everyone I’ve ever talked to around the French Quarter who had a Pitt-Jolie sighting or interaction said the family were extremely nice and about as down-to-earth as you could get, given their circumstances.

After all, if you’re held in high esteem by the counter staff at the Verti Marte, you’re A-OK in my book.

Amid some rumors that MTV would film its next season of “The Real World” in New Orleans, the network confirmed today that it will indeed return to the scene of its ninth season for the next installment of the show. The season is slated to have a “recovery theme” and will start production in two weeks (!!).

What do you think about this news? The show’s cast of stereotypes lived in the stately Belfort Mansion on St. Charles Avenue the last go `round. Will they inhabit one of those yuppie-fied luxury condos cropping up around town instead? Other important questions: At which nonprofit organization will they pretend to work? What aspects of New Orleans culture will be shamelessly exploited in the show’s promotional materials? Outside which bar will our seven strangers first be spotted vomiting or committing misdemeanors? Take it to the comments.

-

New Orleans continues to amaze me. Already riding a buzz from an exciting NBA game and a few post-game drinks last night, my intrepid photographer and I went to Le Bon Temps to catch the Soul Rebels last night. We caught them just as they finished their first set and went in for the second when Jonathan spotted a bearded and knit-capped Michael Stipe of R.E.M. straight chillin.

-

It took me a few passes before I believed it for myself. In retrospect, I should’ve just asked, ’cause when I introduced myself he was nice enough to chat. Turns out he and the rest of R.E.M. are in town recording an album (gee, where have I heard that before?) and Shamarr Allen brought them over to le Bon Temps. Stipe said their two most successful albums were recorded in New Orleans and that alone was decision enough to come back.

-

And speaking of Allen, he rocked out a pocket trumpet (which I mistook for my 5th grade cornet) with the Rebels for a bit. They collaborate often (their version of Nights in Tunisia is rock solid) and have a track together on the Rebels’ upcoming album.

-

Oh, and about that picture. David Simon and co. apparently my block of Thalia St. in the Garden District is a suitable substitute for Treme. And they said that show was going to be authentic.

Real Estalker has the deets on Sandra Bullock’s new digs in the Garden District. Situated on the corner of Fourth and Coliseum streets, the 6,600-square-foot Koch-Mays House cost the film actress and Warren Easton benefactor $2.3 million. Allow us to be the first to say, welcome to the neighborhood, Ms. Bullock! Some helpful tips: Those white SUVs prowling around after dark aren’t prowlers, they’re rent-a-cops — the GDSD, or Garden District Security District. (We have no idea why two of the letters in its four-letter acronym stand for “district.”) A fringe benefit of that hefty price tag is that you just moved four blocks away from the best gelateria this side of the Atlantic, La Divina. (Try the mint stracciatella.) And if you ever need to borrow a cup of sugar, the kindly folks walking their purebreds at dusk with Riedel crystal in hand will be happy to help. (If you ever need a cup of something stronger, John Goodman’s and Nic Cage’s places are only a short stumble away.)