Different Kinds Of Men

It's been long coming and there have been several attempts to replicate the famous Hollywood flick Sex and the City and Different Kinds of Men is yet another African and specifically Cameroonian take of the complexities of womanhood and relationships. The inspiration in this film reeks not only the Sarah Jessica Parker starrer but also digs from the African American serial Single Ladies. Director Achiri Mathurin in a basic and subtle style narrates the tale of four ladies and the men in their lives. The picture quality and composition per shot, the camera angles are noteworthy support and emphasis to the narration. The story and concept very relatable, the acting a mixture of Yay and Nay, some mechanical and plastic others quite natural. I am still baffled how in spite of being so close and open with each other they had never seen Vicky's husband, that was a script faux-pas right there. The costumes were trendy but not very appropriate to the contextual setting of the story (I personally thought their outfits were too short for married women and I wonder what their in-laws thought of it),there was a pool scene which was a little upsetting with one of the ladies strutting an under size bikini, then  I was personally uncomfortable with the bad weave one of the 'money making independent woman' character was sporting (Lets see if you can identify which character it was, watch and hit me back) but other than that make up was good, no exaggerations. Now the Slayer in this movie...the characters are apparently all 'bushfallers' but for one and mennnnn!!! the attempt at an american accent killed the beauty of this film. It was all over the place and all WRONG! It gets you cringing even when the story is beguiling. They could have worked on it better, the diction for some was just embarrassing.

Synopsis

So we are introduced into world of four beautiful women (married and unmarried) and the complexities and challenges they face in their relationship with the different men in their lives. Diane exposes us to the dynamics and risks in long distance marriages as she affronts the challenges of being married yet because of career choices her hubby is more of visitor than resident; Brenda is confounded in a marriage laced with verbal and psychological abuse where a partner brings down the other constantly to cover up insecurities and shady secrets, Emmy displays the 'contemporal' concept of singlehood characterized by an unabashed sexuality and Vicky ephemerally contrasts the mayhem with a relationship based on trust and love in spite of distance, work and surrounding enticements. Now I can't say more than this but I tell you there is a girl fight scene which is laudably executed and you may not want to miss. Of all the couples too I commend the Yannick and Diane pair, they were the most believable with a perceivable chemistry and inter-actor comfort levels. Now you go watch this Living Dreams Entertainment production and tell me what you think about the movie.

Whispers

When this film received several nominations at the first edition of SONAH awards and bagging some awards too, my curiosity was triggered and I knew I would find no peace till I had my hands and eyes on producer Arthur Iyok's Whispers. As the film begins, the first thing that grips your attention is the obvious and undeniable high picture quality, at the first couple of shots, picture composition, camera movements director Enah Johnscott affirms Anglophone Cameroonians are beginning to sit up as far as film production is concerned. Though seemingly 'banal' the cinematography reeks of an attempt at stylistic  directorial and a subjective perspective which is evident in the rhythm and pace conditioned by the films' editing. There are laudable special effects to garnish the paraphernalia of technological savvy-ness amongst Anglophone film technicians even though I thought it unnecessary in certain areas. The background score and sound effects are commendable, same as dialogue sound capturing where the echoes were barely noticeable and ambient sounds were balanced admirably. The slayer factor however alights at the level of the narration and the story, which doused somewhat the technically commendable rendition of a very current topic or subject matter. The story and concept on which it was based I felt was not amply exploited consequently I found the story and screenplay unfortunately very weak plagued with unnecessary scenes. The acting wavered between a mixture of good, not so good, plastic, over acting  and downright bad. Nevertheless, ,  is worth the watch if for nothing but the quality and some directorial sense of style and technique which is a novelty in Anglophone films.

Synopsis

In a nutshell the film is about young people avid for success who sell their souls and loved ones for money. This wealth comes with dire and inhumane conditions which they must comply to robbing them of all the peace and joy the money was supposed to procure. What I appreciate about the story nevertheless is the approach of  the unfortunately popular trend of "Live Rich Die Young" amongst youths from the consequences, not just showcasing the wealth and its attributes but the sorrow and pain that accompanied the choices made by the characters.

Let me hear your views on the film.

A Little Lie A Little Kill

The term 'film Noir' and its defining parameters is still an active global debate in film theoretical circles, nevertheless, director Tebo Njei aligning with the dark picture composition, crime and victim of circumstance aura identifiable in the film noir concept, unabashedly announces this attempt as the first Anglophone Cameroon film noir.  A Little Lie A Little Kill set in Buea (South West Region of Cameroon) engages its audience in a tale of love, friendship, betrayal and crime. Now while I don't know if indeed it's the first film noir but I sure do know this Cameroonian film captivated my attention. The technique and intricacies in narration espoused by the director is laudable, even though the acting prowess was quite lacking in some characters and doused the excitement somewhat; the dialogues are fair same as the location, sets and props. The cinematography indicates a thought process and an attempt at carving a personal directorial style which was sometimes challenged by the sound capturing and mixing (some of the background score was unnecessary). The story is indeed intriguing and captivating and the screenplay well penned but the conclusion I found depressing and I think could have been addressed differently for some realism. Nevertheless, its a well scripted film.  All in all I didn't feel the urge at any point to eject the CD from my DVD player in anger and break it as has been the case with countless other Anglophone Video films. Rather, I was impressed, it's an Ivan Nname production and I recommend it to all those avid to support Anglophone Cameroon film production.

Synopsis

Gerald accidentally meets Charlotte and falls for her even though they both have people in their lives. Gerald's fiancée Helen (who by the way is a thrill to watch) will stop at nothing to keep him under control, while Charlotte's crazy boyfriend (whom I found funny at some instances) is ready to rain down hail stones to keep her. Amidst all this how do these two Gerald and Charlotte manage to be together is what the plot unravels in this 110mins runtime captivating drama. Now while I cant let the cat outta the bag, I can guarantee you all that the final twist makes it worth the watch.

Hit me with your views on the movie.

Hard Decision

No doubt Cameroonian video film productions have a long way to go; however productions such as Hard Decision 1 & 2 by Molimi Cletus fill 0ne with hope.
A simple story about a young girl (Besumbu) who loses her father and is confused between two eligible suitors. Something happens and she goes mad and the power of love is revealed from either men.
Now as much as I commend the efforts we had a lot of technical issues such as poor continuity and camera management, the screenplay pulled on too long in the first quarter of the film and the dialogues lacked the crispiness that would have given an extra bounce to the production.
The acting needed serious time investment. Fioretta Cleare does her role as Besumbu well Molimi Cletus who played Ndip one of the suitors was too mechanical. Sah Keneth does his bit as Eboka one of the suitors but the other actors really struggle with dialogues and emotion.
Nevertheless the effort is commendable and i think it would make a great viewing. Go check it out!

Royal Destination - Movie Review

When it comes to homemade(Cameroonian) movies, before I slip the disc into the DVD player I say a silent prayer of hope that I wouldn't shudder with disappointment. Well one of the very few Cameroonian films I have watched so far which I can assure y'all that I could watch as many times as possible is this movie Royal Destination. Forget the Nigerian cast power, this film as compared to most 'Camer' movies had a sense of direction.The ending was commendably neat, the actors immersed in their roles, and the directors vision was applaudable.

The story
The story is divided into two part whioch connect at the end. Set in a kingdom the story is of a king in search of a male child to take over his kingdom less the kingly lineage be passed onto his brothers' side of the family and particularly to his unworthy nephew. With no hope of a remedy the King succumbs to heart failure and passes on. Thats where the drama begins in the Palace as his unworthy nephew forcefully takes over the kingdom and aims for his late uncles wealth. Emeka Ike plays the illegal son of the king who coincidentally comes into contact with the Kings' second daughter (played by Cameroonian rising actress Solange) and is led back to the palace to take his rightful place as heir to the kingdom.Tonto Dikeh plays the first daughter to the king who fights back to preserve her father's wealth.

Analyses
Lets start with the bad. As much as I think this film is worthy of praise there are however some lapses. The picture quality at certain points is doubtful, the script becomes repetitives and inadequate at many areas and there are unneccessary xters in the film. I don't know what happened but the quality of the first shot introducing the king and queen was not one of the best shots in the film. The picture quality was blurred and greyish. This is dangerous cos its at the beginning of the film and could kill the audiences' mood. The many scenes devoted to the desperation the character Tonto Dikeh plays in relation to the pressure from her family was redundant. Emeka's characters mothers' insistence for him to get married too did not require so many scenes. Emeka's brother and brother-in-law were uneccessary characters in this film from my perspective. I thought the lead character Emeka Ike played, apart from speaking french and a bit of some Cameroonian dialect did not wave the Cameroonian heritage flag well enough especially as far as costumes were concerned. Last but not the least I don't like the fact that the coranation takes place when credits are rolling. This was the 'denouement' of the film why put it so unimportantly besides the film end credits? Are the names in the end credits not noteworthy?

The good part lies in the fact that there can be no perfect movie and Director Neba Lawrence and his producer are taking bold steps which we should salute. The vision for this film was simple and the team did their best to pull it off. The script development, its climax and finale is a good attempt in screenplay writing. The locations and props well done.

Characters & Actors
I found Emeka Ike's attempt to speak french and a Cameroonian mother tongue very amusing yet thrilling.I commend the Nigerian actors whose professionalism could be felt as we watched the movie; they blended with the Cameroonian actors. Most of all I salute the one-part movie initiative which is a welcoming breath of fresh air. Some of the Cameroonian actors stood their grounds too. Solange(whose last name I have forgotten (check her out in the film poster) was believable in her pain at her fathers loss(though the nose discharge episode was very disgusting). Yimbu Emma seemed a little taken aback by Tonto from my perspective; I know what he is capable of doing as an actor and I didn't get 100% of that in this movie. The guy who played the greedy nephew was worth watching.As for Emeka Ike's charcaters mother I think she over-acts a little too much. Her flamy reactions in some scenes were unneccessary.

Conclusion
A lot of polishing still has to be done but a step a day will do the trick for this budding Cameroonian video film industry. So my last words are ...go grab your copy now!

The Boys Are Back In Town

I was about writing a post on our muscle-bound heroes entitled 'Where are they now?' when the EXPENDABLES showed up and shut me up. The new movie is about a group of mercenaries attempting to overthrow a South American dictator. Well... it was actually a confused dictator who was being manipulated by a...just watch the movie. If you have, I must say I was amongst the many who didn't give a hoot about the quality of the film. I was just impressed by the return of our power-horses: Stallone (aka Sly), Lundgren and even a glimpse of our ex-californian governor Shwarzy. Too bad Van Damme missed the package. It felt good and exhilarating to see these muscle packed men save the day once more...all dressed in black. Yum! The coolest thing ever: men in black with a dose of machismo

The storyline wasn't much. Actually it was very predictable, but that's not why we bought the tickets, right? We wanted to see how these giants of the action world could fare next to the present generation. I must say they did what they do best:entertain!

The blend of the new and the old was great fun to watch. I'm a fan of Jet Li and i loved the way he let himself be ridiculed in the movie. Jet is always acting tough and infallible. It was refreshing to see he wasn't always in control and couldn't beat everyone, much more a big gun like Dolph.
Jason Statham....Jason Jason Jason. The upcoming bad boy action hunk of the industry. He's so gorgeous, cool and in control. This shows that even Jet is phasing out. My only fear is for him not to become catalogued to particular roles in movies. I would love to see him in a romantic comedy. Anyways back to our story. In the movie, Jason is Sly's right hand man. He's good with knives and sucks at keeping a relationship. But i loved the way he beat up the guy who messed up his girlfriend.

Back to our foursome and some amazing physical build-up for men way beyond their 50's. In the early days of their careers way back in the 80's, Stallone in my books had always been the hottest of the foursome [Lundgren, Shwarzy and Van Damme]. I'm not denying the handsome nature of the other men. Especially van Damme in his early days.

But take a look at John Rambo for crying out loud. Baby soft brown eyes, quiet enigma and all that luscious hair. He was a walking magnet.

I'll most definitely be in the waiting for the next Expendables. I don't care if the story is crap. I'm simply hoping to be entertained again. The Expendables hit the box office at No. 1 upon its release. Rumours of a sequel is spreading far and wide. So i guess the boys are really back in town.