I have just watched 'The Pusuit of Happyness' over the weekend and I must say that it's one of the most inspiring and touching movies I've seen in a while. We all take what we have for granted....but watching the movie makes you realise that there are so many unfortunate people out there who are jobless and homeless. And with determination, faith and ambition one man breaks free from his chains to become successful.
The movie is based on the true story of Chris Gardner, a struggling salesman whose wife left him to take care of his son alone. In the face of this difficult life, Chris has the desperate inspiration to try for a stockbroker internship. Together, father and son struggle through homelessness, jail time, tax seizure and the overall punishing despair in a quest that would make Gardner a respected millionaire.
I thought rather than going at lengths about the movie (which eventually all of you will see), I will share some quotes from the real-life Chris Gardner instead.I asked the guy two questions. One was, ‘What do you do?’ The second was, ‘How do you do that?’
I was homeless, but I wasn't hopeless. I knew a better day was coming.
One of the things young people always ask me about is what is the secret to success. The secret is there is no secret. It’s the basics. Blocking and tackling.
When I look back at the journey from homelessness to prosperity, I hold one thing dearer than all else – my commitment to my son. Doing a movie with the top movie star portraying me, doing a book with an editor who's last book won the Pulitzer Prize – all that stuff is great, but the most important thing that I will have ever done in my life was break the cycle of men who were not there for their children.
As busy as I am wherever I am, I try to get out and walk the streets, to remember how far I’ve come and appreciate every baby step of the way.
I went to some very successful business people when I was trying to open the doors of my company, and none of them would give me the time of day. I made a promise to myself and to God. I said, 'God, if you ever let me get to a certain level, I am not going to be like that.'
The coolest thing in the world is walking up the street in Chicago, New York or San Francisco and having someone say 'Hey, you might not remember me, but thank you for helping me get in the business'. That was 12 or 14 years ago. These kids have graduated from college and gone to law school or gotten their MBAs and are running departments in some of the biggest financial institutions on Wall Street.
You know how mountains get moved? Everyone who can move a couple, move a couple. Those who can move rocks, move rocks. Those who can move boulders, move boulders. That’s how mountains get moved. If every one of us did everything we could, I believe we would be in a different world.
You have to be committed, and you have to find something that you are passionate about. And forget about money. I’ve learned that money is the least significant aspect of wealth.
No matter how much money is involved or no matter how easy it is for you to do, if you’re not happy, you are nothing more than a slave to your talent and money. Do something that makes you happy and makes you feel good about yourself. Do something that makes you feel your work is significant and meaningful. If you just want to make money, that’s a whole different trip. I can’t help you with that.
Living with a baby tied on my back, trying to work, he recalls. It can be done, but you have to make it happen. And no matter what, you have to cling to it like it’s life itself, if that’s what you really want to do.
There's a choice: you eat or you stay in a hotel. We chose to eat. And we stayed in a subway station. We rode the trains. We slept in bathrooms.
I wanted to be world class at it or world class at something. At 18, Miles Davis was in New York playing with Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. At the same age, I was playing with some cats named Pookie and Ray Ray. It wasn’t going to happen. But I made a commitment to be world class at something.
We all understand genetics. You get your eyes from your dad, your mom’s nose, there’s nothing you can do about that. But your spiritual genetics you can choose, pick, embrace and commit to. That’s what I did.
Though my mom had too many of her own dreams denied, deferred and destroyed, she instilled in me that I could have dreams. And not just have dreams but had a responsibility to make them reality. My mom taught me from a very early age that I could do anything I wanted to do.
We were homeless, we were not hopeless. There’s a world of difference. A lot of folks don’t realize it, but it’s estimated that 12 percent of all of the homeless people in this country have jobs and go to work every day.
Baby steps count, as long as you are going forward. You add them all up, and one day you look back and you’ll be surprised at where you might get to.
The movie 'Zyzzyx Road' opened at the box office on February 25 this year made history recently...but not in a good way. The movie - which cost $US2 million ($2.5 million) to make and starring Leo Grillo, Tom Sizemore and Katherine Heigl - has become the lowest-grossing American cinema release ever, with total box-office earnings of US$30. The movie closed six days after it opened.Zyzzyx Road lasted only six days in release, from February 25, 2006 through March 2, 2006. The film was released in only one theater, in One of the most widely recognized aspects of Zyzzyx Road is its notably low box office draw. The film is possibly the lowest grossing film of all time, earning just $30 at the box office from exactly six patrons. Unofficially, its opening weekend netted twenty dollars. The ten dollar difference is due to a personal refund by Grillo to makeup artist Sheila Moore, who had worked on the film, and her friend.The synopsis is as follows:
The release was purposefully shown for a short amount of time in the single theater, which the producers had rented for $1,000, to fulfill Screen Actors Guild rules that allow a low-budget film to pay actors a lower rate as long as that film is released in the United States. This showing in Texas was to fulfill that obligation without compromising the chances for future nationwide distribution through a distribution company.
Grant is an accountant with a bad marriage and a daughter whom he loves. He takes to the road to service his accounts in Las Vegas. While there he meets seductive Marissa. They have a week-long affair which culminates in the arrival of Marissa's ex-boyfriend, Joey. Joey attempts to kill the lovers, but Grant gets the upper hand. Grant and Marissa then drive Joey's body to Zyzzyx Road and Grant buries Joey in the desert there. But in the morning the body is missing and something is trying to kill Grant and Marissa.
Fans of wrestling star 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin will be glad to know that he will be appearing in his first starring role in the upcoming summer release 'The Condemned'. Steve Austin will play Joe Conrad, a convict waiting the death penalty in a corrupt Central American prison. He is 'sold' to a wealthy television producer to participate in a reality show where he must fight nine other condemned killers to the death.
[Shanghai, China, January 23, 2007]
The only female director in China’s post-Cultural 'Fifth Generation', Shaohong Li has released her psychological thriller 'The Door' in mainland. The horror story set in the contemporary China centers on a young intellectual’s ominous journey to find his lost girlfriend and the truth behind the breakup. The film was released in theatre nationwide, as well as Shanghai Media Group’s digital TV channel SiTV, IP TV channel BesTV, broadband online TV channel SMGBB, and mobile phone TV platform DNM.
This is the first film in China’s filming history to be simultaneously released in traditional big screens and new media platforms. Besides going to theatres, Chinese audiences now have another four new media channels to choose from, and thus do not have to wait six months to watch the film through TV or rentals. To film producers and distributors, this is a new distribution channel expanded to explore more profitability of a film.
Shanghai Media Group currently has 6 million digital TV service subscribers through SiTV, about 200,000 IP TV users, and a large broadband TV and mobile phone TV service subscriber base. The company has implemented encryption technology to eliminate piracy through airing on these four channels.
Source: Entertainment Asia Network
Only in America can you make a fictional movie about the assassination of the still-living President and get away with it! 'Death Of A President' is a fictional account of the events surrounding the assassination of George Bush. Set in year 2008, the film is shot in the style of a documentary.
After watching 20 Bond movies back-to-back for the last 2 weeks on Astro, I'm kinda glad that director Martin Campbell has decided to give 'Casino Royale' a breath of fresh air.
I think Renny Harlin is one of the most underrated director in Hollywood. His success came after he directed Die Hard 2 and subsequently Cliffhanger but soon faded to oblivion when his last few movies flopped at the box office. Harlin's Deep Blue Sea is my favorite creature movie of all times and Cutthroat Island was a great swashbuckling flick (long before Depp and Bloom took to the seas).
Country: Korea
Country: Thailand
With the current slew of animated movies on our screen recently, I was a initially sceptical about 'Flushed Away'. However I was pleasantly surprised by the movie...good storyline and brilliant animation. Created by the same people who made 'Wallace & Gromit', the look and feel bears a resemblance to W&G...even the British humour is prevalent in the movie.
When Martin Scorcese first announced that he was going to remake HK's Infernal Affairs, everybody was worried that this is going to be another Hollywood screw-up of Asian movies. Western viewers who have not watched the original is raving about it, whereas those who have watched the original says that 'The Departed' did not live up to the original. Of course credit should be given to Andrew Lau and Andy Mak for the great storyline and clever twists.
I have always liked Adam Sandler....from his goofy days when he starred in Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison to his more serious roles in The Wedding Singer and most recently Click. Now Sandler is finally taking on a completely different role in his new movie 'Reign Over Me'.
