On the forty- third episode of ATFT, actress/ producer Michelle Calloway and movie critic Matthieu Côté join me in celebrating Angelina Jolie for her 50th birthday!
Angelina Jolie is one of the most globally beloved movie stars of our time with people admiring her through her iconic public image evolution from being the “wild child” to a humanitarian and mother. She hit the ground running in the late 90s by earning three Golden Globes and an Academy Award for her performance as Lisa Rowe in Girl, Interrupted. She established herself as an action star by playing the titular character in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. While many know her from her action films, she quietly has built up a versatile filmography with many of her best films being hidden gems. Her brilliant and emotionally- charged dramatic talents are overshadowed by the celebrity attention she has received and being one of the most beautiful women on the planet. If her success in film isn’t enough reason to celebrate her, she’s a humanitarian who served for ten years as a Special Envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. She has also been an advocate for women as her health- focused op- eds inspired women, leading for the sort- of movement as “The Angelina Effect”. She has been an inspiration to me for several years but her global impact has remained strong for over two decades.
This is Michelle’s second time on the podcast while this is Matthieu’s third time! This episode came together rapidly and the version everyone will hear is probably Plan E. Plans were set for months to have on a returning guest to discuss Angelina but she, unfortunately, became a no- show. It would have been easier to have cancelled this episode but I didn’t want to because Angelina has had such an impact on me since I was about 18 years old and this was a great opportunity to honor her. I am incredibly grateful to Matthieu and Michelle for saving this episode!
Michelle is planning a second Filmmaker Forum for August this year! The date has yet to be set but the first one, which took place in March, was a major success and incredibly informative so if you’re in the Jacksonville area, stay tuned for more information by following @michellecalloway on Instagram! Also nominate Michelle for the Rising Star Award for the City of Jacksonville Film and Television Office Annual Awards by clicking this link!: https://www.filmjax.com/bizforms/rising-star-nomination-form?fbclid=IwY2xjawKsOhVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETF6YjRWVE1zdG4xT1l5S3pBAR4h4Kgd7IKZdXI7IHsYGCJC7OBfEKrH32qFvuiXbRWeWsoGLIh532Nnilme3A_aem_u_yaKfTGoCq4ScfjrfDpmA ! Matthieu has several exciting interviews that will soon be available on his YouTube channel including one with the director and star of the new horror film The Ritual. He’s also working on a passion project, a hockey- focused documentary, which should be out later this year! Subscribe to his YouTube channel by clicking this link!: https://www.youtube.com/@matthieucote2272
As I mentioned, this episode came together quickly so it’s definitely an eccentric casual format episode. Angelina’s films from Hackers to Maria are discussed with only a few omissions, like Beyond Borders. We share our first memories of Angelina and our five favorite Angelina films. For one section of the episode, I talked about three Angelina films I especially wanted to highlight. Matthieu and I discuss his favorite Angelina film, By the Sea, at length while Michelle shares which filmmaker she hopes Angelina will work with someday. All this and more on the new episode of All the Film Things!
Background music created and used with permission by the Copyright Free Music - Background Music for Videos channel on YouTube.
Photo of Angelina used in the cover art was retrieved from Flickr (link to the photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/346665570 and link to the license rules: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ ). The only change made to the image was that it was cropped.
