Sean Penn made us all cry. . . Peter Jackson enchanted us . . . George Clooney made us think . . . and Jodie Foster convinced us of the power of women. Each of them, in their own special ways, moved us with their movies. What do those famous filmmakers have in common? They all have received the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Modern Master Award.
This year’s honor goes to Will Smith, an actor who was one of the first to help us laugh at our nightmares in Men In Black . . . who made us laugh and look at ourselves in the mirror in Hitch . . . an actor who now shows us the price of our dreams in The Pursuit Of Happyness.
All of us have chased Muni busses and run the streets of San Francisco on our Great San Francisco Treasure Hunts. Many of us even found treasure attending Sunday services at Glide Memorial Church (Chris and Christopher’s home while they chase their dreams). It seems only fitting that we begin our reviews of this year’s SBIFF by reviewing this year’s Modern Master and one of our favorite actors, Will Smith’s latest work The Pursuit of Happyness.
One of our dreams is to pursue Will at the festival. We’ll be chasing him the best we can. Stay tuned to our pages here and we’ll let you know who we run into on the streets of Santa Barbara.
The Pursuit of Happyness
