Review: How woke is the new 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith'?



“Mr. and Mrs. Smith” is the legendary film from 2005 that featured Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie — but now it’s getting an entirely new look.

The characters have returned for an Amazon Prime show, featuring characters that look nothing like their old ones: Donald Glover in Brad Pitt’s place and Maya Erskine in Angelina Jolie’s place.

The show has gotten decent reviews, but Lauren Chen couldn’t help but wonder if the series was going to replicate what much of Hollywood does these days: spin an old, enjoyable story into pure, leftwing propaganda.

Chen was surprised by what she found, which begins with “a really cool premise.”

“I’m on board with the concept. It’s neat, it’s unique,” she says, as it’s different from the “Brangelina” film. “But, I really take issue here with them calling the show ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith.’”

“If you’re going to do a totally different premise, a totally different concept, then go with totally different branding. Stop trying to capitalize off older franchises even though you just want to do your own thing,” Chen says.

As for whether or not the show is woke, Chen doesn’t think so.

“I wouldn’t call this woke. Aside from you know, the diversity casting, which obviously did happen,” she says, adding, “but, overall, no, the show is not about deconstructing whiteness or hating on men or anything like that.”


Want more from Lauren Chen?

To enjoy more of Lauren’s pro-liberty, pro-logic, and pro-market commentary on social and political issues, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Angelina Jolie says she's moving from California: 'Hollywood is not a healthy place'



Actress Angelina Jolie said that she plans to move away from California because Hollywood was "not a healthy place."

She made the comments in an interview with the Wall Street Journal Magazine published on Tuesday. Jolie explained that her divorce with movie star Brad Pitt prevented her from leaving the state.

“It’s part of what happened after my divorce. I lost the ability to live and travel as freely," said Jolie.

"I will move when I can. I grew up in quite a shallow place," she added. "Of all the places in the world, Hollywood is not a healthy place. So you seek authenticity.”

Elsewhere in the interview, she explained that she didn't care much about the celebrity culture in Hollywood because she was raised in it.

“Because I grew up around Hollywood, I was never very impressed with it," said Jolie. "I never bought into it as significant or important.”

She said she does not have much of a social life, doesn't date, and says her closest friends are her six children.

“We’re seven very different people, which is our strength," she explained.

Jolie made headlines in November when she posted a message on Instagram criticizing Israel for its lethal military response to the terrorist attack from Hamas militants.

Jon Voight, her father, publicly berated her for the statement.

“I am very disappointed that my daughter, like so many, has no understanding of God's honor, God's truths," Voight said in a video posted to social media. “This is about destroying the history of God's land, the holy land, the land of the Jews. This is justice for God's children of the holy land, Israel."

Here's more about Jolie's interview:

Angelina Jolie Reveals Plans to LEAVE Hollywood After Divorce Battle | E! News www.youtube.com

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

'I am very disappointed': Jon Voight scolds daughter Angelina Jolie for claiming Israel is killing 'innocent children'



Actor Jon Voight expressed his displeasure with his daughter, actress Angelina Jolie, after she made a social media post calling Israel's actions against Hamas "crimes" that are punishing and dehumanizing "children, women," and "families."

The 84-year-old native of Yonkers, New York, took to his X account in a video and said he was disappointed in Jolie, along with others who haven't stopped to question the motives behind information they receive.

“I am very disappointed that my daughter, like so many, has no understanding of God's honor, God's truths," Voight began.

“This is about destroying the history of God's land, the holy land, the land of the Jews. This is justice for God's children of the holy land, Israel," he continued.

“The Israeli army must protect thy soil, thy people. This is war. It's not going to be what the left thinks. It can't be civil. Now, Israel was attacked by inhuman terror on innocent babies, mothers, fathers, grandparents, and you fools calling Israel the problem, you should look at yourselves and ask 'who am I?' 'what am I?' and ask God 'am I learning the truths or am I being lied to and following everyone else?'" the actor continued.

Voight further explained that he feels the plight of Gaza isn't quite what has been portrayed, referring to Hamas as "animals" who want to fulfill their "rage."

"These animals want to wipe out Jews, Christians ... the Palestinians have not been neglected in finance, they've been given huge infusions in money that they didn't share with their people. They made weapons instead for their rage."

Truth and lies
— (@)

The video was in response to an Instagram post by Jolie a couple days before, which criticized Israel for the "deliberate bombing" of a "trapped population."

"This is the deliberate bombing of a trapped population who have nowhere to flee," Jolie wrote, alongside widely circulated photos of what appeared to be bomb craters in Gaza.

"Gaza has been an open-air prison for nearly two decades and is fast becoming a mass grave. 40% of those killed are innocent children. Whole families are being murdered," she claimed. "While the world watches and with the active support of many governments, millions of Palestinian civilians - children, women, families - are being collectively punished and dehumanized, all while being deprived food, medicine and humanitarian aid against international law."

"By refusing to demand a humanitarian ceasefire and blocking the UN Security Council from imposing one on both parties, world leaders are complicit in these crimes," Jolie added.

A second image shared by the actress simply included the text that the "Jabalia refugee camp is the largest of the Gaza Strip's eight refugee camps. After the 1948 War, refugees settled in the camp, most having fled from villages in southern Palestine."

"The camp covers an area of only 1.4 square kilometers," the text continued. "116,011 Palestine Refugees are registered with [The United Nations Relief and Works Agency] in Jabalia camp alone, 75 years since the 1948 conflict (UNRWA)."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Angelina Jolie 'ashamed' of Biden's 'sickening' Afghanistan withdrawal: 'A betrayal and a failure impossible to fully understand'



Angelina Jolie started an Instagram account on Friday, and used the first post on her new platform to smash how poorly the Biden administration handled the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.

In her first post on the social media platform, the Hollywood actress declared, "It is sickening to watch Afghans being displaced yet again out of the fear and uncertainty that has gripped their country."

Jolie lamented about the money spent in Afghanistan, which is estimated to be $2.26 trillion since 2001, and the loss of life, which is believed to be approximately 170,000 casualties.

"To spend so much time and money, to have blood shed and lives lost only to come to this, is a failure almost impossible to understand," she wrote on her Instagram, which already has nearly 7 million followers in two days.

The Academy Award-winning actress included a letter that she was sent from a teenage girl in Afghanistan.

Jolie said she started an Instagram page to share the stories and the voices of "those across the globe who are fighting for their basic human rights."


Also on Friday, Jolie wrote an op-ed for Time magazine titled: "The People of Afghanistan Deserve So Much Better Than This."

"Whatever your views on the war in Afghanistan, we probably agree on one thing: it should not have ended this way," she began in her article on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. "Giving up the idea of a peace agreement between the Afghan government and the Taliban, appearing to cut and run, and abandoning our allies and supporters in the most chaotic way imaginable, after so many years of effort and sacrifice, is a betrayal and a failure impossible to fully understand."

Jolie criticized the Biden administration's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, "After all the bloodshed and effort and sacrifice and time, America seems to have lacked the will to plan this transition in a managed way. It was never going to be easy or perfect but could have been better, more decent and safer."

"As an American I am ashamed by the manner of our leaving. It diminishes us," she blasted Biden's calamitous departure. "We have lost leverage to influence what now happens in Afghanistan. We lack a strategy to monitor and support women and civil society in Afghanistan, who the Taliban have a history of targeting—banning girls from school, confining women to the home, and inflicting brutal physical punishments, including public lashing, on any woman perceived to have stepped out of line."

"Our allies are rightly upset, blaming the U.S. for a precipitate, unilateral withdrawal that missed the opportunity for any coordinated plan to preserve some of the gains made in the country," she continued, hammering Biden's withdrawal. "We have to acknowledge and address these realities, if we are to have any hope of learning from this dark moment."

Jolie, who is a Special Envoy of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees,warned that there will now be a "new refugee crisis."

She had empathy for the military members, some of which had lost limbs fighting against the Taliban, who she met at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. She said the service members told her about "how proud they felt to be a part of helping the Afghan people gain basic rights and freedoms."

The "Eternals" actress wrote, "I think of every Afghan girl who picked up her bookbag and went to school in the last twenty years even though she risked being killed for it."

She also mentioned the "Afghan women who served as lawyers and judges and police officers—even as their female friends and colleagues were murdered in cold blood."