ARTHOUSE MELANCHOLY OF ANGELINA JOLIE'S BY THE SEA

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYa6AEALrP6PgrStuFIsxUUHA6fhlIetF3QREbxlvZveVUOXZok6g4EW9QRZotdrzwSqgKhUyeFbypBGNnkarxg22xL8zV4H3LoR4CW9_IEI_8bKD7N-naQwx7QpOPSHg6lb8Oya4Io0A/s1600/14457503_192994354463082_6447015987885726392_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYa6AEALrP6PgrStuFIsxUUHA6fhlIetF3QREbxlvZveVUOXZok6g4EW9QRZotdrzwSqgKhUyeFbypBGNnkarxg22xL8zV4H3LoR4CW9_IEI_8bKD7N-naQwx7QpOPSHg6lb8Oya4Io0A/s400/14457503_192994354463082_6447015987885726392_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in BY THE SEA Year: 2015</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Those who haven't yet experienced BY THE SEA are probably wondering, <i>Is It Really That Bad... </i>Well to give you a little taste before our big meal – the opening line, spoken in a dull manner by writer and director Angelina Jolie <strike>Pitt</strike> as a depressed wife, upon arriving in the French villa with her husband, is: "I smell fish."<br> <br> Now try to imagine if there was no murder in Alfred Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW – it would be a character-study of a handicapped voyeur, which couldn't go far without an eventual plot: a theme's conveyor belt that <i>motion</i> pictures cannot do without. Shocking, though, is the bizarre fact Jolie's monotone melodrama is somewhat painfully intriguing, thanks especially to a knee-high peephole in the spacious hotel room harboring bitter, lived-in marrieds Angelina and <strike>real life spouse</strike> Brad Pitt for a two-hour run-time that can often seem quite eternal. And yet, this kind of existential arthouse purgatory could have been <i>much</i> longer – others of its kind, with far more experienced, celebrated directors behind the lens, have gone well over three hours, including another Pitt vehicle, Terrance Malick's self-indulgent saga TREE OF LIFE, which SEA is a fun and frolicking rodeo by comparison...<br>

2016, angelina jolie, brad pitt, neo noir, romance

ARTHOUSE MELANCHOLY OF ANGELINA JOLIE'S BY THE SEA

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in BY THE SEA Year: 2015 Those who haven't yet experienced BY THE SEA are probably wondering, Is It Rea...

ANJELINA JOLIE DIRECTS UNBROKEN

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYXe6lxG7B4zboX0wrC0hvc_s4nBgIpRd_Mpx4A0JhLNFUBV84EtvZP0zT6_SXqySiTd8XL77XJ0RtFhiVYVuMhQgPfB8jOQfpaeENQlEsM4hEAMBg5HL1OSomdGEEJfxwGf2Talm3RSo/s1600/UNBROKEN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYXe6lxG7B4zboX0wrC0hvc_s4nBgIpRd_Mpx4A0JhLNFUBV84EtvZP0zT6_SXqySiTd8XL77XJ0RtFhiVYVuMhQgPfB8jOQfpaeENQlEsM4hEAMBg5HL1OSomdGEEJfxwGf2Talm3RSo/s320/UNBROKEN.jpg" width="187" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2014 rating: *</td></tr> </tbody></table> A true life story about Olympic runner Louis Zamperini, who, during The Second World War after his plane goes down, survives on a raft and is ultimately captured by the Japanese.<br /> <br /> As director, Angelina Jolie plays her ace way too soon…<br /> <br /> Creative flashbacks show Zamperini's childhood as a rebellious kid, sneaking booze after church and the start of his running track reign, leading to the 1938 Olympics: all during scenes before the crash, resulting in the deep sea survival portion when those much-needed flashbacks had all run out. Meanwhile, his fellow soldiers, including a cigar-chomping maverick, were colorfully introduced but ultimately wasted.<br /> <br /> It’s a true story, but perhaps a few cliché War Movie aspects would have helped make UNBREAKABLE cross over onto the big screen with more dynamic... especially when Zamperini winds up as a POW in Japan with excessive scenes of beating after beating. Much like 12 YEARS A SLAVE we witness the brutality served upon the main character with hardly any story in-between.

2014, angelina jolie, bio, war

ANJELINA JOLIE DIRECTS UNBROKEN

2014 rating: * A true life story about Olympic runner Louis Zamperini, who, during The Second World War after his plane goes down, survi...

DISNEY PRESENTS ANGELINA JOLIE AS MALEFICENT

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ElLFhnRKooBQ8i-rHXtB3FKIekymyFxQX1Eb1JRkVUuAx44XWrI5-KtPm7G_QgPpyEWgaFBH7IcPc-ZnFGZKdOx5F_4-b5T8t_JoP2CxmFY8mdS-55-Mkc8uHwEwVQ8uZhNgYqu2_XI/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ElLFhnRKooBQ8i-rHXtB3FKIekymyFxQX1Eb1JRkVUuAx44XWrI5-KtPm7G_QgPpyEWgaFBH7IcPc-ZnFGZKdOx5F_4-b5T8t_JoP2CxmFY8mdS-55-Mkc8uHwEwVQ8uZhNgYqu2_XI/s320/2.jpg" width="221" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> Humans suck, fairies rule, and once you give a curse, you can’t take it back again…<br /> <br /> Those are a few important things learned from Disney’s dark adaptation of SLEEPING BEAUTY where the title character MALEFICENT, played by Angelina Jolie, stalks the daughter of her former love, a wicked ruler who stole her wings, turning Maleficent into the type of woodsy antagonist that should make children shudder only now, in a vehicle geared mostly for teens, the nefarious curse-giving wench is not only sympathetic, she's a new form of superhero. <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6Xnx4rEideOssal-dFueG17G4-ld8B1OSUkRWHV0C-mmr6GlxiFATMh8yfX1UsultOxjIKDnYEzwQMRhiGs6L2u-Lpf05QO5_PGl6TcKMqCEeARKF3mYWbb6DTuUnQ_qAPJoUJKkFSY/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6Xnx4rEideOssal-dFueG17G4-ld8B1OSUkRWHV0C-mmr6GlxiFATMh8yfX1UsultOxjIKDnYEzwQMRhiGs6L2u-Lpf05QO5_PGl6TcKMqCEeARKF3mYWbb6DTuUnQ_qAPJoUJKkFSY/s200/1.jpg" width="161" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">The Cartoon</td></tr> </tbody></table> Jolie looks perfect in the role, but her transition from victim to villain leaves little time for the actress to savor an already established character's lusciously sinister malice, something Jolie seems born to embrace with delightful venom... <br /> <br /> But once Aurora, the King’s daughter, hidden away and protected by three clumsy fairies, grows into a docile Elle Fanning, Maleficent has already become a passive caretaker. With only days before falling into an inevitable and possibly eternal coma, scenes where the vulnerable princess wanders through the murky forest aren't very suspenseful or interesting...<br /> <br /> Until things get shaken up with a twist on the "true love kiss" and the conjuring of a noisy dragon. But for the most part, MALEFICENT feels like being read a bedtime story well after you've fallen... sound... asleep...

2014, angelina jolie, disney, remake

DISNEY PRESENTS ANGELINA JOLIE AS MALEFICENT

year: 2014 rating: ** Humans suck, fairies rule, and once you give a curse, you can’t take it back again… Those are a few important ...

THE TOURIST

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir6vzKYcMhJvwrs0ZbXV1OBjfyW2OloJMS_kJAuGE0H2j0sn-w9rWZi_vVd4eJIUj9eWrH6995bBcI6obRQx7v7ujnxBIzNO023_b1O77TBPyvtt5o1xldqdZ7BYd2CjiZDoraFqXFDrI/s1600/the-tourist-2010--00-300-75.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610772107286695986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir6vzKYcMhJvwrs0ZbXV1OBjfyW2OloJMS_kJAuGE0H2j0sn-w9rWZi_vVd4eJIUj9eWrH6995bBcI6obRQx7v7ujnxBIzNO023_b1O77TBPyvtt5o1xldqdZ7BYd2CjiZDoraFqXFDrI/s200/the-tourist-2010--00-300-75.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 120px; height: 200px;" /></a><div><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>THE TOURIST</div><span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>2010 <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Steven Berkoff, Timothy Dalton <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> ** <div></div>In one scene, Angelina Jolie, as a British secret agent, glides into a lush Italian hotel bedroom, and Johnny Depp, as a timid American math teacher, after having second thoughts of joining her, sits on a couch and starts reading an espionage novel. That’s what this movie feels like – watching one thing when you’d be better off reading another. The plot has Jolie choosing train-riding tourist Depp (resembling Billy Crystal with a grunge Beethoven pompadour) as a red herring: knowing the government has their eyes on her every move.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwILkza-O9Qd9I8R5thZHiCZFutuFhw6M0wLpXTMhfHfDzAy7VgF59X6V7RW5hR445Jteop7vCDr_oomxz5T1cjteDZg7upbCzCEIOuFCV2qFpRX-srs56lEUhIM0KzPe2MEzZkBlfGbc/s1600/eee.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610771965647738562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwILkza-O9Qd9I8R5thZHiCZFutuFhw6M0wLpXTMhfHfDzAy7VgF59X6V7RW5hR445Jteop7vCDr_oomxz5T1cjteDZg7upbCzCEIOuFCV2qFpRX-srs56lEUhIM0KzPe2MEzZkBlfGbc/s200/eee.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 99px; height: 200px;" /></a> They’re waiting for her to connect with a mystery man wanted for stealing billions from a billionaire. So the agents sweat behind computer monitors, trying to keep villainous Steven Berkoff, who wants his money back, from killing her. There are only a few quick action scenes, the chemistry between the sleepwalking leads is nonexistent, and the twist ending is not only predictable, but delivers one of the dumbest final bouts of dialog (during the last twenty seconds) in cinematic history.

angelina jolie, johnny depp, spy, steven berkoff, suspense, tens, timothy dalton, train

THE TOURIST

title: THE TOURIST year: 2010 cast: Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Steven Berkoff, Timothy Dalton rating: ** In one scene, Angelina Jolie, ...