I don't recall the last time Angelina hosted a screening for a feature film so this is a big deal for her.
Some interesting side bits: The director of The Impossible, Juan Antonio Barona, and his screenwriter Sergio Sanchez, both of whom Angelina praised lavishly in her remarks, are from Spain. Salt producer Lorenzo diBonaventura, who is also in London for the filming of Red 2, mentioned in an interview last week that they were talking to writers for Salt 2. In an earlier interview with Collider he discussed trying to get another Spanish director, Miguel Angel Rivas, for one of his films, possibly an action thriller. It is tempting to try to connect the dots and see a future collaboration brewing in there somewhere.
From Baz Bamigboye, Daily Mail
It's impossible not to cry, says Jolie
Angelina Jolie said she was in tears — and so was Brad Pitt — when they watched The Impossible, a powerful new movie about the Boxing Day tsunami.Stephen Daldry is another gold-standard supporter of the film, based on the real-life ordeal of a family caught up in the tragedy that tore through the Indian Ocean eight years ago.
Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts play the parents of three boys, one of whom is portrayed by Tom Holland. Holland, 16, spent a season playing the title role in Daldry’s magnificent Billy Elliot musical at the Victoria Palace.
Jolie and Daldry hosted screenings of The Impossible — on Sunday and Tuesday, respectively — attracting well-deserved attention for the film in what has become a very busy awards season.
Famous friends: Angelina Jolie and Tom Holland, 16, star of The Impossible
Photos from Jared as marked
In Summary:
Her remarks -
“We all remember the tsunami and we all remember watching it on TV, and it seemed so far away and so unbelievable that this could happen and hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives, and yet for all the stories that we read, I think for so many people it still felt so far away.
"What the filmmakers have done, they have made [the tsunami], through this one family’s story, personal. We feel like we are in it and we travel through it, and it changes us. That is quite an extraordinary thing and I think that is due to the brilliance and the elegance of the script by Sergio Sanchez. You can see the detail and the care that he took when you watch this, and the respect for this family and all of the families involved. When you take a true story like this, to handle it with such delicacy is really to be commended. It is also masterfully directed by J.A. Bayona, and there will be many scenes where you will be sitting here watching it thinking, 'How did they do that? That is insane! I don’t understand.' I was asking them myself and they said, 'Don’t you know? Aren’t you an actor?' And I said, 'It is just beyond imagination.'
"The true testament of any film is what you walk away with, and I think in this film you walk away with more empathy, with a greater sense of connection to your fellow man, and you want to run home and hug your kids, and tell the people you love that you love them. There is no greater message and this is an extraordinary film."
Jolie called Naomi Watts’ performance “extraordinary and beautiful” and then told the film’s young star Tom Holland — a 2012 Screen Star of Tomorrow — “I am a huge fan of yours and I hope I get the chance one day to work alongside you. You are just amazing.” (The lad smartly responded, “the feeling’s mutual”.)
"Evan, I have known you for years and you are one of my favorite actors and I’ve always loved to watch you, but I watched this and I didn’t recognize you... To say it is one of the best performances of the year, really doesn’t give it credit, because it doesn’t feel like a performance. It’s from such an honest place and so deeply emotional. You rarely see this emotion from a man on screen and I called him later to tell him how much he made me cry. I was crying, and I looked over at Brad [Pitt] and he was crying. It’s just really, really powerful. As an actor, I’m in awe."
Among the 30 guests -
Mike Figgis, Peter Capaldi, Noomi Rapace, Game Of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie
Evan McGregor, Tom Holland, screenwriter Sergio G. Sanchez and composer Fernando Velázquez.
Guy Lodge for In Contention, Wendy Mitchell for Screen Daily, Joe Utichi for Deadline
JA Bayona
Ayer noche Angelina Jolie se encargó de presentar personalmente
Sergio G Sánchez
The lovely Angelina Jolie hosted our screening of The Impossible last night. Thank you! \pic.twitter.com/91f9JH8t
Kristopher Tapley
Angelina Jolie bigs up Ewan McGregor with a private screening of 'The Impossible' http://po.st/wnMeHZ via @HitFix
From HitFix
Angelina Jolie bigs up Ewan McGregor with a private screening of 'The Impossible'
She praises the "extraordinary emotional depth" of McGregor's performance
Credit: Jon Furniss
By Guy Lodge
Monday, Nov 19, 2012 2:56 PM
LONDON - You may remember that two years ago, Julia Roberts attracted some attention in awards-watching circles when she held a private industry screening of "Biutiful" in aid of Javier Bardem's Best Actor campaign -- not because she was in any way involved or invested, but simply because she believed the performance was worthy of recognition, and wanted more of her colleagues to see it. We'll never know how much of an influence Roberts' efforts had, but together with the attached publicity, they certainly didn't hurt: Bardem came from behind to score a nomination for a challenging, little-seen foreign film, and in a competitive category to boot.
This trend of peers effectively campaigning for each other looks set to continue, and we had this season's first instance of it last night at London's Soho Hotel, where Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie hosted an intimate reception and screening of "The Impossible" -- chiefly to talk up the performance of her friend Ewan McGregor. (Before you hit IMDb to jog your memory: no, they've never worked together.) I was lucky enough to be in attendance.
McGregor is being campaigned in the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance as a distraught father seeking to reunite his family in Juan Antonio Bayona's harrowing survival drama set around the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004. Naomi Watts is firmly in the hunt for a Best Actress nomination, while 16 year-old newcomer Tom Holland -- who is being campaigned, with unusual and commendable integrity, in the lead race -- will surely receive his share of breakthrough and young actor citations. But McGregor's work has, thus far, prompted less awards talk for a turn that's no less impressive than that of Watts -- though his character comes into focus later in the action.
Still, it's a performance that will find many admirers among those who stick through Bayona's viscerally moving, technically astonishing film -- in particular, one scene in which an emotionally threadbare McGregor barely holds up one half of a phone conversation is Oscar clip-ready, and I mean that in the least cynical way. Yesterday, Jolie offered this tribute to the actor:
"I have known you for years and you are one of my favorite actors and I’ve always loved to watch you, but I watched this and I didn’t recognize you... To say it is one of the best performances of the year, really doesn’t give it credit, because it doesn’t feel like a performance. It’s from such an honest place and so deeply emotional. You rarely see this emotion from a man on screen and I called him later to tell him how much he made me cry. I was crying, and I looked over at Brad [Pitt] and he was crying. It’s just really, really powerful. As an actor, I’m in awe."
Of course, Jolie didn't limit her praise to McGregor while introducing "The Impossible," a film she quipped "I wish I had something to do with." She also offered warm words of admiration for Holland, who was also in attendance, together with the film's writer and composer. (Bayona and Watts couldn't make it, but will be in London for tonight's UK premiere.) Jolie continued:
"What the filmmakers have done, they have made [the tsunami], through this one family’s story, personal. We feel like we are in it and we travel through it, and it changes us. That is quite an extraordinary thing and I think that is due to the brilliance and the elegance of the script by Sergio Sanchez. You can see the detail and the care that he took when you watch this, and the respect for this family and all of the families involved. When you take a true story like this, to handle it with such delicacy is really to be commended. It is also masterfully directed by J.A. Bayona, and there will be many scenes where you will be sitting here watching it thinking, 'How did they do that? That is insane! I don’t understand.' I was asking them myself and they said, 'Don’t you know? Aren’t you an actor?' And I said, 'It is just beyond imagination.'
"The true testament of any film is what you walk away with, and I think in this film you walk away with more empathy, with a greater sense of connection to your fellow man, and you want to run home and hug your kids, and tell the people you love that you love them. There is no greater message and this is an extraordinary film."
"Beyond imagination" is apt choice of words: it's the film's skill in realizing an experience effectively unimaginable to anyone but its survivors that distinguish it from the rest of the prestige pack this season -- as physical, sensation-based filmmaking, it bears comparison with the work of Spielberg and Cameron. Summit has posed themselves a challenge by releasing "The Impossible" in the thick of December, but if enough Academy members make time to watch it, many of them will find themselves as profoundly affected as Jolie.
I had a brief chat with McGregor, and seeing him in typically genial, relaxed mode only highlighted how contrastingly frayed and beaten he is in the film; he described it as the most challenging work of his career. McGregor has, of course, never been recognized by the Academy -- partly, I suspect, because he excels at playing everymen. As a natural movie star, his best performances tend to look easier than they are: he was as worthy as his Oscar-winning co-star Christopher Plummer in "Beginners," for example, but it was an evocation of anguish too subtle -- too casual, even -- to register with voters. In "The Impossible," he's crying out louder -- let's see if they hear him this year.
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From Screen Daily
Angelina Jolie celebrates The Impossible
Angelina Jolie came out in strong support of her old pal Ewan McGregor by hosting a London screening Sunday night of JA Bayona’s tsunami drama The Impossible.
The film, which premiered in Toronto, is already a record-setting box office hit in Spain and gets its UK premiere this week via eOne.
At an intimate Soho Hotel screening attended by the likes of Mike Figgis and Peter Capaldi, Jolie welcomed guests and gushed with praise for the film.
“We all remember the tsunami and we all remember watching it on TV, and it seemed so far away and so unbelievable that this could happen and hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives, and yet for all the stories that we read, I think for so many people it still felt so far away.
“What the filmmakers have done is they have made it – through this one family’s story – personal. And we feel like we are in it and we travel through it, and it changes us. That is quite an extraordinary thing,” she said.
She praised Sergio Sanchez’s script for its “brilliance and elegance” and added “it is also masterfully directed by JA Bayona, there will be many scenes when you’re watching that you’ll be thinking, how did they do that!?…it’s beyond comprehension.”
Jolie called Naomi Watts’ performance “extraordinary and beautiful” and then told the film’s young star Tom Holland — a 2012 Screen Star of Tomorrow — “I am a huge fan of yours and I hope I get the chance one day to work alongside you. You are just amazing.” (The lad smartly responded, “the feeling’s mutual”.)
But she saved her strongest praise for McGregor.
“Ewan I’ve known you for years, you’re one of my favourite actors and I’ve always loved watching you. But I watched this and I didn’t recognise you.
“It’s strange to say it’s one of the best performances of the year - it really doesn’t give it credit, because it doesn’t feel like a performance. It comes from such an honest place, it was so deeply emotional, you rarely see this kind of emotion from a man on screen…As an actor I’m in awe.”
Jolie closed her remarks by saying: “The true testament of any film is what you walk away with, and with this film you walk away with more empathy, with a greater sense of connection to your fellow man, and you want to run home and hug your kids and tell them you love them. There is no greater message.”
From Deadline
Angelina Jolie Hosts UK Screening Of ‘The Impossible’ To Stump For Ewan McGregor
| Monday November 19, 2012 @ 3:46pm PSTJoe Utichi
Angelina Jolie stepped out in London on Sunday night to mark an endorsement for her friend Ewan McGregor and his turn in Juan Antonio Bayona’s tsunami story The Impossible. She laid on drinks at the Soho Hotel along with a private screening of the film for about 30 invited guests — including fellow thesps Noomi Rapace, Peter Capaldi and Game Of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie. These sorts of third-party-endorsed “influencer” campaigns are increasingly popular in Hollywood, where recently Gus Van Sant’s Promised Land received similar airings by the unaffiliated likes of Cameron Crowe and Aaron Sorkin. But they’re new to the UK, where most awards screenings follow the traditional actor and director Q&A format. At the event, Jolie said, “Ewan, I’ve known you for years and you’re one of my favorite actors. But I watched this and I didn’t recognize you. It’s strange; to say it’s one of the best performances of the year doesn’t really give it credit. It doesn’t feel like a performance; it comes from such an honest place.” Representing The Impossible ahead of its UK premiere on Monday were 16-year-old co-star Tom Holland, screenwriter Sergio G. Sanchez and composer Fernando Velázquez.
From Awards Daily
Angelina Jolie Hosts Special Screening for The Impossible
It’s difficult to get your movie out there in the thick of the awards race, but especially so this year with so many great films trying to push through a few very small holes. It takes a big star to get attention – which is why, around this time of year, they are brought out to help films that are struggling. A big star will always draw a crowd. The bigger the better. Here is Guy Lodge reporting the Jolie Impossible screening:
From JoliePittStop
