Praise to Iaranian film "A Separation": Streep, Spielberg, Fincher, Pitt, Jolie and Woody Allen

Rod Bastanmehr from Salon, reporting on his conversation with A Separation star, Payama Maadi.

" “She could recite every line,” he says of Streep. “She was crying during the [Independent Spirit Awards] montage, I swear.”

(...)

“[Streep] pulled me aside, and just told me how moved she was by the vision of realistic Iranian life. ‘It’s just one house. One house and you just see who is in there and what they are like, who they are.’ She was so moved. That’s when you realize you’ve done something special.”

(...)

They’ve heard it all: Steven Spielberg said that he believed “A Separation” to be the best film of the year by a wide margin. David Fincher spent over half an hour discussing his various takes on the film’s complex technical scope. Brad Pitt took Maadi aside during a press conference to describe his intense reaction to the film’s opening scene, which caused his wife (maybe you’ve heard of her) to pause the film and return to it days later.

Angelina Jolie later cornered Farhadi at the awards, telling him that she longed to star in his next film. He thanked her, but politely made mention that, unfortunately, the female lead speaks only French.

Jolie told him she would learn the language by the first day of shooting.

But even after months on the circuit, it’s still hard for Maadi to shake the shock of having Hollywood’s most notable faces and filmmakers sing their praises. Woody Allen didn’t let his infamous shtick of never attending the Academy Awards stop him from reaching out to Farhadi and Maadi, asking for even 30 minutes of their time once they arrived in New York."

Angelina: actress, wife, mother, diplomat, and now, filmmaker

It was unexpected for her, unexpected for Brad and unexpected for us, but when Angelina Jolie rolled the last page out of the typewriter she had a script in her hands. It was about the Bosnian War and had come right out of her stomach, putting in fiction an already publicly acknowledged activist conscience. She stepped into the director's chair months later, after a hard financing dwelling and after shooting with local cast, both in English and Bosnian, released her first film as an author: In the Land of Blood and Honey. During battle, a soldier reunites with a woman he once was in love with and when captive in a camp they'll both have to deal with sweet memories and a painful desolate new reality that changes their connection. And then we've got two women firmly wheeling independent provocative war dramas (with Kathryn Bigelow).

I've always been an admirer of Angie. Out of the movies, celebrity considered only, she flew from media badass, tattooed brother french kisser, slutty rebel without a cause, to ground as one of the most beautiful, finest women in the world, happily married and caring mother. She affirmed her political and social concerns and used her name as a diplomatic weapon and along with Pitt doesn't need her donations to be dependent upon any kind of broadcasting. Inside the movies, I regard her as one of the most underrated actresses of our times, as her fame and looks continuously drag her into high-concept empty summer blockbusters, specially after she started carrying the stamp of Lara Croft like. In the last ten years, there's Salt (2010), The Tourist (2010), Wanted (2008), Bewulf (2007). And then there's the forgotten A Mighty Heart (2007) and the extraordinary performance in Changeling (2008), for which she got Oscar nominated. She's now aiming for Robert Stromberg's dark version of The Sleeping Beauty, as the main character Malificent, and I'm predicting great things. There have also been some talks on David Fincher and its Cleopatra but it's still too far-foggy-away. But there's this huge dramatic and sincere charisma she can imprint like very few which I feel is flattened by the press and the industry over and over again.

Recently she gave an interview to Collider about the first film she helmed. It is one of the best interviews I've read in 2011 and only served to augment my admiration for this incredible woman, who reveals a sheer passion for films and filmmaking, a truthful wish to tell important and relevant stories and a personal and genuine plight on the side of love and peace against war and death. I strongly encourage you to read the conversation here and formulate your own thoughts.

"I didn’t intentionally make people feel guilty, but I have had that response from a lot of people – that they feel guilty that they didn’t do enough. I feel guilty. I didn’t know enough. So, I think we all should feel that way about this particular war, and we should wonder what it is that we’re going to look back on, in 15 years, and feel that we also didn’t do, that’s happening today. It’s extraordinary. It’s so strange. What were we doing?"

Guess who is the new Lara Croft

In 2001 and 2003, Angelina Jolie, freakin' badass then, assumed the role of the adventurer treasure hunter, millionaire gun skilled, heavy sexy, Lara Croft, directly from videogame Tomb Raider.

Well, things have changed. Impersonating Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley in House MD gave this girl the greatest acting boost from TV series to Hollywood we've seen in recent times, starring on major budget productions such as the Tron saga and Cowboys and Alliens. They certainly saw her as a literal woman of arms, combining fierce beauty with sensual toughness. Now, they decided to take their bet one step further and gave her the first giant role of her life. Ladies and gentleman, Olivia Wilde is Lara Croft (Mark Fergus will be directing; no schedule yet).