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The Pursuit of Happyness, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: The Pursuit of Happyness
Year: 2006
Director: Gabriele Muccino
Rating: PG-13
Length: 117 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Will Smith (1968)
Jaden Christopher Syre Smith
Thandie Newton
Brian Howe
James Karen
Dan Castellaneta

Plot:
Will Smith stars in the inspirational true story of Chris Gardner, a San Francisco salesman who's struggling to make ends meet. When his girlfriend Linda (Thandie Newton) walks out, Chris is left to raise their 5-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Smith) on his own. Chris' determination finally pays off when he lands an unpaid internship in a brutally competitive stockbroker-training program, where only one in twenty interns will make the cut. But without a salary, Chris and his son are evicted from their apartment and are forced to sleep on the streets, in homeless shelters and even behind the locked doors of a metro station bathroom. With self-confidence and the love and trust of his son, Chris Gardner rises above his obstacles to become a Wall Street legend.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Bonus Trailers
Featurettes
Music Videos
Interviews
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
Watching this today for Will Smith's birthday.

This is one that I never seen before. Going by the trailer alone I had concerns about this one as I don't normally care too much for the pure drama stories. But this one was good... it was very easy to get into the storyline. Both Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith (who play father and son in the movie) did a great job. While I enjoyed every minute of it... it is not a movie I could watch often as it can get you down.  But if you haven't seen this one yet... I urge you to give it a chance.



(From Addicted2DVD's September Birthday Marathon on September 25th, 2010)

The Damned Thing, a review by addicted2dvd

Felt like an episode of Masters of Horror today... so thought I watch the next one that would be on this marathon. Will post here as I watch them... though won't really consider it a marathon anymore. 


The Damned Thing
Twenty-four years ago, outside a small Texas town, young Kevin Reddle watched helplessly as his oilman father brutally slaughtered his mother before being torn apart by an invisible force. Today the county Sheriff, Kevin (Sean Patrick Flanery of THE BOONDOCK SAINTS) remains haunted by memories of that night and the fear that "the damned thing" may someday return. Now as the citizens of Cloverdale explode into a homicidal frenzy, the one man who has uncovered the truth is about to meet his own horrific destiny. Marisa Coughlan (BOSTON LEGAL) and Ted Raimi (THE GRUDGE) co-star in this blood-soaked shocker written by Richard Christian Matheson from the classic short story by Ambrose Bierce.

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this episode. I can't say that this one has an extreme amount of gore in it (unlike episodes like Pelts) but it don't shy away from the gore either. So if you are not a fan of the gore... there is a few scenes you may want to close your eyes for.

Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwrEYNhHBz4

(From Masters of Horror Marathon on February 16th, 2009)

Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon, a review by Tom

21. Primeval (2000-05-16)
Writer: David Fury (Writer)
Director: James A. Contner
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Seth Green (Oz), Anthony Stewart Head (Giles), Marc Blucas (Riley Finn), James Marsters (Spike), Leonard Roberts (Forrest Gates), Amber Benson (Tara), Bailey Chase (Graham Miller), Jack Stehlin (Dr. Angelman), Conor O'Farrell (Colonel McNamara), George Hertzberg (Adam), Emma Caulfield (Anya), Lindsay Crouse (Maggie Walsh), Bob Fimiani (Mr. Ward), Jordi Vilasuso (Dixon)

A good episode, but I am a little disappointed with this showdown. I never really liked the Adam arc.

Rating:



22. Restless (2000-05-23)
Writer: Joss Whedon (Writer)
Director: Joss Whedon
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Seth Green (Oz), Anthony Stewart Head (Giles), Marc Blucas (Riley Finn), James Marsters (Spike), Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), Amber Benson (Tara), Mercedes McNab (Harmony Kendall), David Wells (Cheese Man), Michael Harney (Xander's Father), George Hertzberg (Adam), Emma Caulfield (Anya), Seth Green (Oz), Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder), Sharon Ferguson (Primitive), Phina Oruche (Olivia), Rob Boltin (Soldier)

In the past I never really liked this episode all that much. I was always disappointed, that instead of a good two-part series finale we got this coda episode.
But taken as a stand-alone episode, this one is really great and this time around I really enjoyed it. This is one of Joss's experimental episodes. In my opinion he captured the dream sequences great. They did feel like real dreams with all the constantly changing circumstances. Also nice that we got to see some old faces like Oz, Olivia and Snyder. And nice that we got to see the actor who was playing Adam without the makeup.

Rating:

(From Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon on September 26th, 2009)