The Actress Angelina Jolie, Part Four

In 2005, Angelina Jolie only had one movie released, the romantic action comedy film Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
I have to admit though, it was one of my favorites.
Of course her co-star in the film was Brad Pitt, and I thought they showed amazing chemistry.
I wonder if the film was like couples therapy for them?
Anyway, the film was one of the biggest hits of 2005, and earned over $478 million worldwide.


Her next film was 2006's The Good Shepherd, directed by Robert De Niro.
In this film she co-stared with Matt Damon, William Hurt, Alec Baldwin and Joe Pesci.
This film was nowhere near as successful as Mr. & Mrs. Smith, only pulling in $99.4 million worldwide.

In 2007, Angelina directed her first movie, the documentary A Place in Time.
The movie was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and distributed through the National Education Association.
It was shown mainly in High Schools, and chronicled life in 27 locations around the globe during a single week.


Also in 2007, she appeared in A Mighty Heart, directed by Michael Winterbottom.
Again, this film failed to really take off, taking in only a little over $18 million worldwide, although the critics seemed to like it.
The film did get Angelina her fourth Golden Globe Award and a third Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.


And of course in 2007 she appeared in Robert Zemeckis' "performance capture" fantasy film, Beowulf.
Angelina played Grendel's mother and was digitalized.
Beowulf did much better, pulling in over $196 million dollars worldwide.
The film used a a motion capture process like The Polar Express and Monster House, and was released in IMAX 3D, Real D, Dolby 3D and standard 2D format.


2008 started off with a bang (literally) as Angelina appeared as the assassin "Fox" in Wanted.
The movie itself is a far cry from the comic series it was based on.
The film got pretty much positive reviews from critics and made over $341 million worldwide.
Wanted won the Empire Award for Best Sci-Fi / Superhero Movie of 2008, and was nominated for two Academy Awards, the Critics Choice Award for Best Action Movie, the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, three MTV Movie Awards,and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble.
And yes, the sequel is pretty much a go, with Fox being resurrected.


And in 2008, Angelina did the voice of Master Tigress in the animated Kung Fu Panda.
Again, the film received positive reviews from critics and pulled in over $600 million worldwide.
On November 9, 2008, it was released on DVD and Blu-Ray.
And like Wanted, there is a sequel planned, Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom.


Staying busy in 2008 (and drastically changing geras) Angelina appeared in Clint Eastwood's drama Changeling which was based on the "Wineville Chicken Coop" kidnapping and murder case.
Changeling made over $113 million worldwide, with most of the money being made overseas.
The film was nominated for three Academy Award and eight BAFTA Awards.


And now Angelina is working on Salt, an action thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce.
Her co-stars in the film are Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Interestingly, the role was originally written for Tom Cruise, but the script was rewritten for Angelina.
The official release date is set for July 23, 2010.

The Actress Angelina Jolie, Part Three

The Actress Angelina Jolie, Part Three


Even though Angelina Jolie was getting critical acclaim, her next movie based on a video game is what shot her into international stardom.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was directed by Simon West (Con Air) and was of course based on the wildly popular Tomb Raider action adventure games.
What strikes me as odd about this movie now is that Angelina took on an English accent and Daniel Craig (007) took on an American accent.
The film also starred Christopher Barrie, also known as "Arnold Rimmer" in the BBC sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider got mainly negative reviews when it came out, and went on to make over $300 million dollars worldwide.
And even though Angelina was nominated for several major film awards before this move, Tomb Raider got her a Worst Actress Golden Raspberry Award nomination.
But over $300 million dollars?
They can keep their negative reviews.



Then Angelina went on to form a dream duo with Antonio Banderas in 2001's Original Sin.
You would think a movie with Angelina and Antonio would be pure box office gold, but the film was panned by critics, even though Angelina's performance received positive reviews.



Then came Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life in 2003.
And even though the critics actually seemed to like it a little more than the original, it took home less with $274.4 million worldwide.
So if the critics hate it, it goes well, if the critics like it, not so much.



Next up was Beyond Borders, a film about aid workers in Africa that echoed Angelina's real-life interest in promoting humanitarian relief.
Not only did the critics not like it, but audiences didn't seem to care for it either.
Although the movie was nominated for two awards....The Political Film Society (PFS) Award for peace and (again) the Razzie Award for Worst Actress.
BTW, Brad Pitt's Seven Years in Tibet was also nominated for the The PFS Award for peace after it came out.

In 2004, Angelina starred with Ethan Hawke in the thriller Taking Lives.
She followed that with an appearance in the animated DreamWorks movie Shark Tale as the voice of Lola, an angelfish.



And then what amounted to a cameo in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
The role may have been small, but the image of Angelina in the military outfit and eye patch has held on.
Then she appeared in Oliver Stone's film about the life of Alexander the Great, Alexander.



The Actress Angelina Jolie, Part Three, posted to http://angelina-jolie-pitt.blogspot.com/ on Sept 25th, 2009