She’s known internationally as one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actresses; she’s won praise from governments and NGOs across the globe for her work as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations; and she’s often reckoned to be the world’s most beautiful woman. But Angelina Jolie has been going by a few other titles lately in the Balkan country of Serbia, where prominent media outlets have taken to describing her as an American propagandist and all-around “jerk.” The nationalistic furor stems from Jolie’s recent debut as a screenwriter and director with In the Land of Blood and Honey, a fictionalized account of the Bosnian war. Jolie and the film are now at the center of a furious debate in Serbia over the nation’s most sensitive political issue: the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s and the degree of Serbia’s responsibility for ethnic cleansing campaigns against Muslim and Croat civilians during the Bosnian war. Key voices in the Serbian media have said that Jolie’s story of a doomed wartime romance between a Muslim woman and a Serbian army officer unfairly denigrates ethnic Serbs and spins the conflict from a distinctly anti-Serb perspective. Film director Emir Kusturica recently told “Blic,” a Serbian daily, that Jolie’s new film is a work of “Hollywood propaganda.” His comments came as the Belgrade tabloid “Kurir” ran an interview with Bata Zivojinovic — a veteran Yugoslav actor, former member of the Serbian parliament, and longtime Slobodan Milosevic ally — under the blaring headline, “Angelina Is A Jerk.” ​​“Vecernje Novosti,” a newspaper partly owned by the Serbian government, refrained from criticizing Jolie personally but called her film a piece of “political agitprop” and noted that it had touched off “the largest political film scandal in the past few decades in the region.” Serbian actor Dragan Bjelogrlic wrote in the paper that Jolie’s interpretation of events was “superficial” and claimed that he walked out of a screening of the movie after half an hour. ‘Nobody Has Seen The Movie’ But now some Serbs are beginning to speak up in Jolie’s defense. Serbian film director Stevan Filipovic, whose 2010 film “Sisanje” sparked controversy at home over its portrayal of the Serbian right, says the attacks on Jolie and her film are consistent with a general tide of Serbian nationalism. …Continue reading

Source: EurasiaReview.com

Disney has tapped production designer Robert Stromberg (Avatar, Alice in Wonderland) to direct the live-action movie about Sleeping Beauty’s evil foil Maleficent, The Wrap has confirmed. Touted as a modern take on the classic fairy tale, the fantasy is told from the viewpoint of Beauty’s fairy godmother, to be played by Angelina Jolie. It will mark Stromberg’s directing debut. Maleficent is written by Linda Woolverton, who also wrote the script for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and co-wrote the script for The Lion King. Don Hahn, Joe Roth and Richard D. Zanuck produce. The Maleficent news comes following the announcement that Disney had tapped another first-time director, Brian Beletic, for a Matterhorn-ride-inspired movie referred to as the Untitled Explorers Project.

Source: Reuters.com

Check out the trailer for Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut, In the Land of Blood & Honey!
“It’s a heavy film,” the 36-year-old actress, who also wrote the drama, previously told EW.
The movie centers around a young Serbian man (played by Goran Kostic) and a Bosnian-Muslim woman (Zana Marjanovic) who fall in love before the Bosnian War of 1992 pulls them apart.
Angelina cast local actors and scenes were shot simultaneously in English and the Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian language known as BHS. The English version is set to be released in the United States December 23!

Source: JustJared.com

Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp team up for this spy caper about a woman (Jolie) who seduces an innocent tourist (Depp) while on the run from authorities looking for her criminal ex-boyfriend in Venice. Johnny Depp takes a break from his typical fare to play a goofy average Joe, while Jolie provides pure eye candy as usual, thanks in part to her wardrobe. Though it’s fun to watch these two gorgeous actors play off each other, ultimately they don’t generate much heat to keep the weak plot afloat. DVD extras include outtakes, featurettes, and director’s commentary.

Source: BuzzSugar.com

As it should be, the film looks gorgeous on DVD and Blu-ray. It is colorful and the leading actors fill out the scenery rather well. Angelina Jolie glows on screen. The audio is a bit underwhelming, but when the action kicks in it thrives on surround sound.
The extra features of this home video release are not extensive, but a handful of short featurettes exploring the production of The Tourist add to the overall experience. Unfortunately, the lack of truly in-depth featurettes keeps the audience at a distance.
- Audio Commentary: Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
- Canal Chats
- A Gala Affair
- Action in Venice
- Bringing Glamour Back
- Tourist Destination — Travel the Canals of Venice
- Alternate Animated Title Sequence
- Outtake Reel

Source: ScreenRant.com

The Taormina Film Festival announced that the animated film Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D will be the opening film at this year’s edition of the 57-year-old event. The Italian premiere of the film — directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and including the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan and Seth Rogen — continues Taormina’s trend of serving as a launching pad for high-profile films. In 2010, the Sicily festival premiered with Toy Story 3 in 3D, and previous editions have hosted Transformers and Mission Impossible II. As with the other blockbusters to appear in Taormina, Kung Fu Panda 2 will screen in the festival’s centerpiece venue, the ancient and picturesque Teatro Antico. This year’s edition of the festival runs June 11-18.

Source: HollywoodReporter.com

David Fincher is the latest director rumored to be taking charge of Angelina Jolie’s Cleopatra movie. According to Deadline, producer Scott Rudin wants to reunite with his Oscar-nominated Social Network helmer on Sony Pictures’ historical biopic. Jolie is attached to play the Egyptian queen in the film, which will be based on Stacy Schiff’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book Cleopatra: A Life. Rudin previously said that he wants to present a “grown-up sophisticated version” of Cleopatra that bears little resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor’s 1963 epic. Fincher’s appointment on Cleopatra is reportedly dependent on the progress of The Girl Who Played With Fire, the sequel to his Girl With The Dragon Tattoo remake, and if Sony is willing to make his schedule work to direct both pictures. Directors such as James Cameron and Paul Greengrass have been linked to Cleopatra.

Source: Digital Spy

Kung Fu Panda 2 gets its first full trailer following a teaser and several TV spots. It finally sheds light on what challenges coming in Po and The Furious Five’s way to save kung fu, while he considers “stairs” as his old enemy. In Kung Fu Panda sequel, Po’s new life as The Dragon Warrior is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. To stop this, Po must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will he be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed. This Jennifer Yuh Nelson-directed movie will be released in the U.S. on May 27.

Source: AceShowbiz.com

Angelina Jolie’s portrayal of Cleopatra in a new biopic will not be that of a sexy seductress, it has been claimed. The Hollywood starlet is to play the Egyptian queen in Sony Pictures’ new 3D biopic, based on Stacy Schiff’s biography Queen Of The Nile, Cleopatra: A Life. Director Scott Rudin has told Deadline that the film focuses on Cleopatra as a great ruler. Scott said: “It is a completely revisionist Cleopatra, a much more grown-up sophisticated version. “She’s not a sex kitten, she’s a politician, strategist, warrior. In the Joseph Mankiewicz movie, Elizabeth Taylor is a seductress, but the histories of Cleopatra have been written by men. This is the first to be written by a woman. “It felt like such a blow-the-doors-off-the-hinges idea of how to tell it, impossible to resist. We’re pretty close. A lot of directors want to do it, but there is only a handful we’ll make it with.” James Cameron had previously been in talks to direct the project, but Deadline now reports Bourne director Paul Greengrass is being tipped to direct the film. Scott didn’t reveal who would be behind the camera, but said “we’re pretty close” to signing a director.

Source: The Press Association