Angelina Jolie movie | Powerful Goddess Portraits

Unbroken

14 Jan 2015 4 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Bestselling Books, Glamour Portraits, Iconic Women Tags: Angelina Jolie movie, Annie Leibowitz, Critics Choice Movie Awards, Unbroken book movie

War does not determine

who is right–

only who is left.

Bertrand Russell

I don’t like war movies, yet with Angelina Jolie blazing a brave new trail behind the camera as producer and director of Unbroken, how can I resist? The story revolves around the life of Olympic athlete Louis “Louie” Zamperini and is based on the nonfiction book by Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. From this first venture in film making, Angelina is already poised to win Best Director by the Critics’ Choice Movie Award tomorrow.

Maybe I’m not going to see the film for the sake of story. While my daughter loves her movies for her good looks and heroic roles, I suspect I go as a fan of a woman who forges her own path doing what she loves and growing in whatever direction her soul beckons, personal demons be damned! I’ll likely be imagining what went through her head behind each scene more than paying attention to what’s in it. From bad ass teen to awe inspiring woman and mother, Angelina embodies survival, resilience and redemption herself.

On this page is Angelina as photographed by one of my favorite photographers, Annie Leibowitz, another woman of quiet strength–but that’s another blog post.

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share how you’re bad ass awesome!

xoxox

Sharon Birke

201 697 1947

Sharon@PowerfulGoddess.com

www.PowerfulGoddess.com

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

Beauty and the Beastie

18 Jun 2014 2 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Best Movies for Women, Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, Women's Empowerment Tags: Angelina Jolie movie, fine art nude, Maleficent Movie, Sleeping Beauty Fairytale, Villain and Heroine

Everything has beauty,

but not everyone sees it.

Confucius

“What did you love about Maleficent?,” I asked my daughter after our very happy Father’s Day at the movies without the men.

“She’s very pretty!” she smiled. May we all be as easy to please! Indeed, what’s not to love about a strong and beautiful heroine–albeit a villain, too?

Maleficent is the wronged and misunderstood woman in this revisionist-backstory fairytale. She suffers the deepest betrayal imaginable from the person she loves and trusts the most, the one with whom she shares her first “true love’s” kiss. While it is mainly about bloodlust after being violated and stripped of our power, it is also about the journey of moving forward and making the most of what is. I like how it reverses the pedestrian notion of true love, a necessary expansion of every child’s understanding of what real love can be.

Best of all, I love how it is a cautionary tale against quick judgments and our propensity to take every “victim’s” side. Like King Stefan, it is human nature to choose the version of the story that makes us look good and pitiful. It takes courage to notice that when we feel like “Woe is me!,” there is an angle of culpability we’re not admitting. For in every beauty, there is a beast. And in every villain, a heroine who can save herself.

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share the beauty in your beast.

xoxox

201 697 1947

Sharon@PowerfulGoddess.com

www.PowerfulGoddess.com

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

Best Movies Set in Venice

19 Feb 2014 4 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Best Movies for Women, Glamour Portraits, International Travel Tags: Angelina Jolie movie, Ashley Judd movie, Best Movies in Venice, Venice Carnivale 2014, Venice Courtesans

Is it worthwhile to observe that

there are no Venetian blinds in Venice?

William Dean Howels

Bongiorno! Today I transport myself to what may be the closest thing to time travel. I’m headed for the Carnivale in Venice where they celebrate the centuries old festivity of wearing masks and elaborate costumes from the 18th century. I promise I’ll take you along with me so my next few blog posts will feature everything Venetian. We begin with a few movies I’ve enjoyed featuring eye candy from her iconic sights.

Dangerous Beauty

The glamour of 16th century Renaissance featuring the life of legendary courtesan, Veronica Franco, with Jacqueline Bisset playing the role of aging mother.

De-Lovely

Flashbacks on the glamourous Hollywood life of Cole Porter with his wife, Linda Lee, whom he met in Paris in the 1920’s where Americans were inventing new lives of freedom. Kevin Kline plays the elegant Cole, always witty on stage, charming in front of society, writing the pain into the soundtrack of his life. My favorite Ashley Judd plays the nuanced role of Linda who nurtures his talent and indulges his preference for men. Why, oh, why is the woman always the one who has to re-arrange her life to suit the man (even when he’s gay)?

Wings of the Dove

Two lovers plot to gain the inheritance of a sickly, rich American (“the richest orphan in the world”) by stealing her affections. A film based on Henry James’ famous novel.

Casino Royale

James Bond’s world tour of casinos ends with the fantastic sinking of an abandoned palazzo on a Venetian canal.

The Tourist

Johnny Depp plays the unlikely mystery lover of Angelina Jolie. Watch out for my dream necklace in the final scenes.

xoxox

Sharon Birke

201 697 1947

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www.PowerfulGoddess.com

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

Powerful Goddess Portraits

Unbroken

Beauty and the Beastie