Thursday Movie Picks: Rags to Riches

Wandering Through the Shelves hosts Thursday Movie Picks. It's a weekly series where bloggers post and share various movie picks every Thursday. 

The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

This week's theme is Rags to Riches.

The Pursuit of Happyness

Evicted from their apartment, single father Chris Gardner (Will Smith) and his young son (Jaden Christopher Syre Smith) find themselves alone with no place to go. Even though Chris eventually lands a job as an intern at a prestigious brokerage firm, the position pays no money. The pair endures many hardships as Chris lands a job as an intern at a prestigious brokerage firm and refuses to give in to despair while trying to create a better life for himself and his son.

Will Smith is getting a lot of attention for King Richard (which I haven't seen yet), but he and his kid Jaden was also really good in The Pursuit of Happyness. 

It's A Wonderful Life

When an angel saves a desperate man George Bailey (James Stewart) from attempting suicide, he sees the impact he made on his family and community, and gets a second chance at life.

Technically, the money that the town hands over is to save the builds and loan company, but still - that money is going to go back into the community and help everyone build a better life. Not a typical rags to riches story, but George does become the richest man in town. Take that, Mr. Potter.

Dolemite is My Name

Performer Rudy Ray Moore (Eddie Murphy develops an outrageous character named Dolemite, who becomes an underground sensation and star of a kung-fu, anti-establisment film that could make or break Moore.

I feel like it's really rare to watch a movie about movie stars or making projects in Hollywood without it being depressing. The more Rudy believes in himself, the more everyone else believes in him too and money he pours into his passion projects. His films aren't necessarily about the end results but at least they'll pay the bills. Damn, it feels good when it all pays off to succeed.