Known to be Hollywood’s highest-paid actress, Angelina Jolie started her career as early as the age of 16, when she made her screen debut with her father Jon Voight in Lookin’ to Get Out (1982).
From then, there was no looking back.
From becoming the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2001 to adopting her first child in 2002, Jolie had become the most-admired woman in the world.
Apart from doing the humanitarian work that she has been involved with, Jolie also made a huge impact in the cinema world.
From movies like Lara Croft, Wanted, Maleficent, Unbroken, Girl, Interrupted, Mr and Mrs Smith, A Mighty Heart and First They Killed My Father it is safe to say that she is not only a social worker but a badass actress as well. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards during her career.
Jolie has been cited as one of the most influential and powerful people in the American entertainment industry. Moreover, her personal life is the subject of wide publicity. Divorced from actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, she separated from her third husband Brad Pitt, in September 2016. They have six children together, three of whom were adopted internationally.
As the Hollywood beaut turns 44 today, here is a rundown of Angelina Jolie movies you should watch today:
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Maleficent (2014)
Inspired by Charles Perrault’s original fairy tale and Walt Disney’s 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty, the film is a dark fantasy directed by Robert Stromberg and portrays the story from the perspective of the eponymous antagonist, depicting her conflicted relationship with the princess and king of a corrupt kingdom. Now, if you haven’t watched it already, YOU SHOULD WATCH IT, because of Angelina Jolie’s killer acting in the movie and that AMAZING JAWLINE (probably have the makeup artist to thank for the contour skills).
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Girl, Interrupted (1999)
A psychological drama film based on Susanna Kaysen’s 1993 memoir of the same name. It chronicles Kaysen’s 18-month stay at a mental institution. The film is directed by James Mangold and stars Winona Ryder as Kaysen, with a supporting cast that includes Angelina Jolie, Brittany Murphy, Clea DuVall, Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Moss, and Vanessa Redgrave. Although the film got mixed reviews, Jolie’s performance was loved by all. She received three awards for her performance in the movie.
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A Mighty Heart (2007)
A Mighty Heart is the dramatisation of the search for journalist Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and brutally murdered by terrorists in 2002. It is an adaptation of Mariane Pearl’s memoir of the same name. Jolie was personally chosen by Mariane to play her in the film. The film directed by Michael Winterbottom is the right amount of drama, thriller and history that you need with amazing performances by the cast.
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Changeling (2008)
Changeling is a mystery crime drama film that explores child endangerment, female disempowerment, political corruption, mistreatment of mental health patients and the repercussions of violence. The script was based on real-life events and stars Angelina Jolie as a woman reunited with a boy whom she immediately realizes is not her missing son. When she tries to demonstrate this to the police and city authorities, she is vilified as delusional, labelled as an unfit mother, and then confined to a psychiatric ward.
The film is directed, co-produced and scored by Clint Eastwood and written by J. Michael Straczynski.
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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
The movie is a science fiction action-adventure film written and directed by Kerry Conran and produced by Jon Avnet, Sadie Frost, Jude Law and Marsha Oglesby. The film stars Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie. It is an example of “Ottensian” (pre-WWII) dieselpunk.
Almost 100 digital artists, modellers, animators and compositors created the multi-layered 2D and 3D backgrounds for the live-action footage while the entire movie was sketched out via hand-drawn storyboards and then re-created as CG animatics.
Angelina Jolie fan or not, if you ask us all these movies are worth watching, because of some brilliant acting.
Happy watching and Happy Birthday Angelina!!!