Vehicle 19
Vehicle 19, a South African-made wrong-time-wrong-place actioner, was completely slated by the critics. I can kind of see why. In it Paul Walker plays Michael, an all-round loser with a penchant for airline alcohol and bratty temper tantrums. He’s broken his parole after a hit-and-run conviction, and desperate to win back his less-than-convinced ex, he…
Read moreEternity
Live for Films introduced me to Eternity, a glossy SethEffriken vampire movie starring just about everybody of drama-ey reknown in the home country save Arnold Vosloo and Ons Eie Charlize. Some of the acting looks well dodgy (what do you expect? Christina Storm is essentially SA’s original Footballer’s Wife, famous mostly for being famous) but…
Read moreDistrict 9
District 9 finally opened in South Africa. What a bizarre experience: watching a Hollywood movie play out with South African accents and attitudes and familiar locations. Even the movie’s star, Sharlto Copley, is a friend of mine, and though I can be accused of bias for saying so, he’s really astoundingly good in this. The…
Read moreJerusalema
OK, so one thing I hate (albeit marginally) more than Nicholas Cage is the typical South African “tell-not-show” movie that wags a P.W-esque finger at the audience as it lectures us about the ills of Apartheid. It’s lazy, simplistic filmmaking and it’s rubbish to watch. If I wanted Adult Education, I’d take night classes; when…
Read moreGauteng Film Permit Process Review
On Thursday, I flew to Johannesburg for the final presentation of the Gauteng Film Commission’s Film Permit Process Review. This presentation marked the end of a seven month programme intended to provide the Film Commission with insight into the way film permits are accessed in Africa’s business hub. I love the GFC; they are hard…
Read more