the buzz log

One moment, Angelina Jolie urges awareness for World Refugee Day. In the next moment—as in June 27—she bloodies the screen as a well-meaning assassin in "Wanted." Throughout all this, she looms as a larger-than-life mother figure, spurring premature hysteria around the birth of her twins (as of now, still safely in the womb).

In an industry that thrives on typecasting, Jolie's draw has been her seeming contradictions, and every outlet—and searchers—want a piece of her. Both Vanity Fair and Entertainment Weekly put her on their covers, and Radar revealed how Jolie-starved tabloids stole scraps to make their own stories. Huffington Post counted the Goodwill ambassador among the top 10 green girls (thanks to single-handedly funding a $5-plus mil Cambodian wildlife sanctuary). USA Today called her "scary sexy," and Forbes magazine ranked her third in the Celebrity 100, after Tiger and Oprah. Searches have been swelling around her past movies ("beowulf," "tomb raider"), family ("twins," Pitt), and tattoos.

Detractors will always think of the Oscar winner as the woman who stole Brad Pitt from Jennifer Aniston. Critics and fans however stumble over themselves to define her genre-busting, gender-defying appeal that breaks Hollywood constructs of what a female actress—or a woman—should be. Two years after Salon placed Jolie in the same breed as Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson, USA Today likens her inventiveness to Madonna and sexpot grace to Sophia Loren, and the New York Post contrasts her fierece independence with the feminine interpendence of, say, the "Sex And The City" gals.

The Post also poses the billion-dollar question: Why doesn't Jolie get more lead action roles and give "nongirly girls" a role model? At a time when blockbusters hog the big screen, the kind of meaty women's roles owned by Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn and other power actresses of yesteryear have shrunk to the small screen. SATC's crossover success surprised Hollywood observers, a reaction that EW.com complained shows how women have to prove their box-office appeal over and over. Meanwhile, Jolie's willingness to take action in between dramas is seen as challenging the big blockbuster boys on their own turf.

Her action heroism should rock the multiplex: "Wanted" has been attracting healthy searches, and she herself is settled among the top five most-searched personalities. If the action flick does well, especially on the heels of SATC's success, it might convince Hollywood that girls can beat the boys at their own game.