Movie reviews

Pursuit of Happyness: Great, uplifting story about a young father who has hit upon hard times while working as a bone density scanner salesman. The wife leaves, convinced that there's nothing worth waiting around for. He happens upon a man who is a stock broker, decides that is the job he needs to make his life better, applies for an internship at Dean Witter. There's nothing wrong with admitting this ending, as I think it's pretty obvious from the title of the movie: he does, of course, end up being the only one in the internship class who gets offered a job.

Turns out that the Pursuit of Happyness is a true story. This actually happened to someone, and not only did he succeed and get the job at Dean Witter, he also started his own firm. Several years after that, he sold a minority interest and became a multi-millionaire. Definitely a feel good movie, one that should give everyone hope during stressful times.

The one drawback: this movie suffers from the same popular cinematography effects as some others these days. There are times when there's a complete lack of use of the "Steadicam" feature on the camera. I'm convinced that there was a good reason they invented the use of the Steadicam, and it may have something to do with the fact that NOT using it tends to make people sick, including yours truly.

Happy Feet (wikipedia): FUN, regardless of your age. Now, if you're like my hmh and you'd rather watch paint dry or channel surf, you won't care for it. Let's put it this way: I will soon own not only the DVD, but also the CD of the music in this movie.

This is a completely unbelievable yet cute story about a young penguin who happens to be different than the others in his group (clan? I don't know the appropriate word here). A journey of self-discovery takes place, as the penguin learns that it's OK that he's different and that he can, in fact, make a difference in the world. Later, he certainly does make a difference, as it's his true talents that "save" the penguins.

There's definitely learning opportunities in this movie, what with the accepting of the other and understanding of the environment, here. Add that with the fun, and the entire family will enjoy (given the exceptions noted above).