Review of Toyin Moore's At Home Abroad

The movie At Home and Abroad premiered at the Odeon Cinema Greenwich on Friday 20^th July 2014. As usual there was pomp and peagantry on the red carpet with members of the cast and crew, Nollywood UK giants, promoters and fans of the Nollywood Movie industry on the red carpet.

Prominent amongst those on the red carpet included Script Writer and Producer, Toyin Moore, Director Ruke Amata,  Kevwe Ogunje, Theordora Ibekwe Oyebade, Ayo Oyebade, Collins Archie-Pierce, Sheyman McLuving, Pauline Long, Kenneth Benson, Yvonne Hayes, Danny Erskrine, Ngozi Ezelu, Toksy B, Councillor Anna Mbachu, Nelson Spyke, Riyike Alayande, Tolulope Yesufu to mention but a few.

The movie had Toyin Moore and Micheal Cliff Morris as Executive Producers, was directed by Ruke Amata and produced by Toyin Moore. The movie featured Ken Smart, Yvonne Hayes, Zara Johns, Kevwe Ogunje (Bamidele) Esther Cooper, Issabela Botu, Theodora Ibekwe-Oyebade, NG Thompson, Danny Erskine; Tolulope Yesufu, Marie Gomez, Toyin Moore, Jazzie Fizzle etc.

Storyline: At Home Abroad is a gentle nudge to Africans in diaspora, to remind them of the basic ethics from Africa and the importance of raising their kids right. The movie is about Bamidele, a young man traveling  ”abroad” for the first time to meet his biological father who until a few days before his arrival, had no clue he even existed. Bamidele is thrown into this whirlwind of sorts where everything is different.

The movie attempted to demonstrate the uniqueness, challenges and strengths, as well as the rich cultural heritage of Africa and struggles people face in adapting to life abroad. It also tries to showcase the realities of life abroad culturally compared to what it is in Africa. Steeped in Comedy and a whole lot of Drama. The movie was put together from the series At Home Abroad which is set to start airing soon. 

This is a real life issue and the story needs to be told. In Africa, children are brought up to respect elders including their teachers at school. If children in Africa misbehave, there is a measure of discipline that follows. However, in the diaspora, children have been given too much rights that if you touch a child, it is called child abuse, so children in the diaspora are spoilt. In Africa, a child cannot call an elder by name, but in the diaspora, a teenager calls someone of their parent’s age by name.

I must therefore commend Toyin for attempting to tell this powerful truth. However, probably because the movie is just a part of the series, parts of the story were not left concluded. Bamidele was bullied in school and although we do not encourage violence, a typical boy from Nigeria would have stood up for himself even if verbally. I would have liked to see more of Bamidele and African culture being highlighted in the second half of the movie and his making a positive influence on the siblings. That said ang bearing in mind my thoughts, I think it was a good storyline and would like to award 8 out of 10

Sound quality: The sound quality was not particularly good. Where it was good, it was good, but where it was bad, it was awful. There were buzzy sounds in most scenes and especially when the camera is switched between characters. There was at least one occasion when there was a loss of when Ayo and Bunmi were chatting. In that particular scene,  all one could here was music playing and then Ayo saying "Baby it's not like that" when Bunmi left crying. Also there was loss of sound where Bamidele was being bullied

In its current state and in  view of the afore-mentioned, I would award a 5 out of a possible 10 for sound.

Picture quality: In my view the picture quality was not excellent, yet it was not bad. It was at best average. The picture quality was a bit hazy and blurry in some scenes. An example where the picture was shaky was in the  classroom  when the teacher was speaking with Bamidele. Not really much to say about picture quality but I will give this category  a 6 out of a possible 10

Cast: The role of Bamidele played by Kewve Ogunje and Ayo played by Ken Smart brought the whole movie to light. I must say I was very impressed with the both characters. Ayo displayed a typical Nigerian father with such parenting skills. He expected much from his wife in terms of cooking African food and expected the children to take part in house chores and he maintained his grounds.

On the other hand, Bamidele took on the character perfectly in the accent of a typical Nigerian boy, he looked the age and played the part excellently. Put in other words, he demonstrated and brought to light the character of a very naive boy so full of respect.

The character of Nikki played by Marie Gomez was also fantastic it show cased a typical teenager who believed she was old enough to make her own decisions, talking back at her father and her father basically unable to control her. Kudos also to Jazzi Fizzle {her father), typical Nigerian dominating father. Her character is a direct contradiction to that of Bamidele.

in my view think Ayos wife (Monica) was a bit unnatural especially when she was crying about Bamidele with Nicole her friend. However I give her credit as the movie continued, she gets better in further scenes and plays her role properly.

By and large, there was a mix of characters and I believe that overall justice was done to the storyline. I was really flabbergasted to say the least by Kevwe, I don’t quite seeing anyone else playing that role. I see Kevwe as an upcoming Nollywood star. If he keeps focus, he might even star in Hollywood someday.

I was impressed overall by the cast in this movie and I do not hesitate to give for this category 9 out of a possible 10 points.

 
Overall performance: The concept of this movie has a great and I would like to give a kudos to Toyin and her team for that. However, the movie was all over the place a point. I was impressed by way each character were brought to life, however I was disappointed by the movie ended. I realise that there were cuts in the movie ass I had seen the trailer, but I believe some parts that were edited out could have been left and other parts cut out.

I was also expecting to see more of the movie revolving around Bamidele's family how his Ayo’s in-law warmed up to him at the end, or even having one of the friends of his sibling having a crush on him  or making friends both at home and school. I would also have liked to see Bamidele exceling in school. It would have been great to see Monica cooking African food and as a result Ayo openly breaking up with Bunmi. Also, we should have seen a conclusion to  the accusation brought against the teacher about having an affair with a student. I am guessing we would see some of these in the series coming up, but as it has been premiered as a movie, there should be some form of conclusions.

For overall effort I would award this movie a 3 star out o a possible 5+ star for this movie. As stated the concept is great but what I saw were different clips of  sitcom episodes pieced together to form a movie.

Watch the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V4hFDn2bYk&sns=em

Review of London Premier of Omede Osazuwa's Odumamwen

The movie Odumamwen A hustler’s story was directed by Amen Imasuen and produced by Omede Osazuwa. The movie premiered at Greenwich Community College on the 25th May 2014. The event was not a full premiere of the movie but a limited viewing after which the DVDs were launched. babso.org had the singular honour of being given a copy of the DVD to watch so as to review the film. My review therefore is based on what I saw at the viewing and watching the movie at home.

Storyline: According to the  synopsis of the film, A hustler story is a musical film, which mirrors the life and times of our talented youth in the society left without a job, hence a dire need for survival. It was intended in the movie to expose the audience to the naked reality of what the youth in our society go through just to attain a status within our society and become  somebody in life. Jerry and Odaho’s paths crossed for the better when Jerry made a trip to the village. Little did he know that by meeting Odaho, a very talented singer, both of them will be heading for fame, and stardom

This movie also tells the story of the ugly side of the streets and how youths are lured into all kinds of shady deals by a mob boss just to make ends meet. They had no options but to risk their lives working for a heartless mob boss.

Apart from this reality, the movie a hustler is filled with dance, music and lots of party and a bit of comedy, to act as a comic relief.  Above all, the movie is about how trust in a relationship is very vital. In summary, the movie is a about street hustle, talent accomplishment, and a touch of love, which they say conquers all.

The movie is an Edo movie with subtitles. I must say that the subtitles were bad. There were a lot of spelling mistakes e.g short your mouth instead of shut your mouth, arguement instead of argument, competetion instead of competition, surgestion instead of suggestion, hursling instead of hustling, sit instead of seat to mention a few. Seems there was no post production editing. I do not speak Benin or Edo but it seems some lines far exceeded what was subtitled.

Towards the end of the movie Jerry and Odaho were meant to be singing or miming a song but they did not do that justice. Initially, they were not miming and eventually they did not mime to the beats. For the story line out of a 10, I would award 6

Picture Quality: The picture quality was not exceptional but not too bad. Having researched when headroom is needed, the movie could do with some headroom. Also arial view pictures could be improved. That said for picture quality, I would award a 6 out of 10.

Sound: There were some scenes where there were buzzy sounds and interference with what was being said. The sound was also escalating up and down in scenes, sometimes high and sometimes low even though what was being said was heard very faintly. Just for emphasis, one of such scenes was where Jerry and his friend from the village were practicing at home and his mother came in. The point here was there was no consistency in the sound.   For sound, i would award a 5.5 out of 10.

Cast: There were no known names amongst the actors and I did not see any extra ordinary actor or actress worthy of mention, but I think the cast just played the roles assigned to them. However, I watched some characters very closely and in my own view the mob boss did not really act like one would expect, very fierce looking and hard. I must say that the actor tried hard but  not hard enough. I think Odaho played his role just right and I see him as a promising and upcoming talent in the Nollywood industry. Nothing spectacular, would award a 5 out of 10

Overall performance: I would like to commend Omede for looking at a societal ill and telling the story in an indigenous manner. However, I feel a lot of time was spent in telling the story hence making it boring for non Edo speakers. Also, the post production as it is now on DVD could have been better. There were too many errors with subtitles that could easily have been corrected before premiering and eventually putting the movie on DVD, that shows lack of attention to detail. In his next production, I think there should be some members of the cast that should stand out and wow the audience. Although I am happy not to see the regular UK Nollywood actors, I still missed that wow factor. To me, it was a simple story told by a simple cast.

Overall for effort and having given it serious thought, I would like to award this movie a 3 star out of a possible 5+ stars. There were definitely good things in the movie and somethings not too good. The question remains if i would ask people to buy the DVD. For an Edo person, they would appreciate the movie and I guess that is the targeted audience, but for non Edos, I believe they would get bored easily.

I cannot ask to watch the trailer as there is no trailer on the internet.

New Review Criteria

Hi to all our Nollywood Directors, Producers, Crew, Cast, sponsors and of course to all the supporters of the industry.

At Babso.org, we listen to positive feedback as we do not claim to know it all. In the light of the above, from our next movie review, we would be looking at the following criteria and  awarding the following marks:

Storyline: We would look at the message that the movie is trying to bring out and how successful the message actually went out

Cast: We would look at the skills of the cast and how they portrayed the storyline. We would mark down for actors/actresses that cram their lines and do not portray the message via the roles they play

Sound: We are looking for clarity of sound where people can hear what the cast are saying and where props like gunshots are properly done. We would mark down for any kind of interruptions in the sound

Picture Quality: This is essential and we are looking for clear pictures from professional cameras. We can spot where pictures are bad due to the fact that professionals are not involved.

All the above criteria would be marked over 10.

We would write an overall performance but instead of using an average, we would look at the entirety of the movie and rate between 1 and 5 stars. In doing this if one gets a 4 star and another a 3 star, we are saying the 4 star is an overall better movie than the 3 star.

We pride ourselves in excellence and would continue to listen to what you are saying. It is important that script writers research their scripts as we would also dock marks for lack of researched scripts.

Together we can make the Nollywood industry better,

Review of London Premier of Helen "Gold" Osabutey's 18 Carat Mama

The movie was premiered on Friday 2^nd May 2014 at the Odeon Cinema Greenwich.

18 Carat Mama showcases some of Nollywood’s best actors and actresses including Helen "Gold" Osabutey, Theodora Ibekwe-Oyebade, Toyin Moore, Fred Aseroma, Lanre Balogun, Mac Edobor, Marie Gomez, Tolu Yesufu, Ade Bello and Mabel Ayeko Osabutey amongst others.

The movie was written and produced by Helen "Gold" Osabutey and directed by Titi Jacobs-Aseroma.

The premiere was hosted by the very fabulous DJ Abass and present on the red carpet were Ruke Amata, Fred Aseroma, Theodora Ibekwe Oyebade, Toyin Moore, Helen Gold Osabutey, Ayo Oyebade, Marie Gomez, Danny Erskin, Titi Jacobs-Aseroma, Mabel Osabutey, Godwin Osabutey, Pauline Long, Collins Archie-Pearce, Nelson Spyk, Tolu Yesufu, Lanre Balogun, captains of the UK Nollywood industry and members of the public.

Storyline: The movie is about giving women an awareness about the need to have a smear test with the view to an early detection and/or prevention of cervical cancer and treating cancer early if detected before it spreads.. It is written mainly around the three main female characters who live their lives without a care in the world, until one day tragedy struck. It is both a comedy and drama. While it is aimed primarily at the African woman who take issues of their health with levity more so the dislike of the intrusion of their privacy, it is a story for the family and the general public.

The story is mind-blowing, thought-provoking, educating, entertaining and full of laughter. It is a story of total friendship, loyalty, endurance, trust and reality of everyday life situations.

From the beginning of the movie, there was humour, a mix of new entrant Toyin Moore (Lynne), Theodora Ibekwe-Oyebade (Crystal) and Helen Gold Osabutey (Yetty) herself.  Although there was a major theme in the movie, as a reviewer and critic, I was impressed that there were other what I can call sub themes such as the theme of a family woman who was always trying to present herself to the society above her means. This was well demonstrated in the movie by Yetty. There could also have been the theme of miserable husbands and boyfriends. Again this theme was well demonstrated by the “3 musketeers” and their husbands as well as Kate and her boyfriend  (Mike).

This is one movie that I would give FULL credit to the story writer and those that edited the script. Without hesitation, for the storyline, I have no choice than to give a resounding 10

Picture Quality: Generally, the picture quality was brilliant. However, there were scenes where there was no headroom. Having thought of it long and hard, the balance was in favour of brilliant picture quality as opposed to a few scenes where there was no headroom. As a result of this for picture quality, I would award another mark of 10. However, in future productions, I would like to see the issue of headroom addressed.

Sound: Again generally, the sound in the movie was great. However, in my view, it is important that when music is playing and a new scene is to be introduced, the music needs to be lowered. Also, Sound there were slight buzzy sounds in one or two scenes. As a reviewer, the question I need to consider before issuing a score is whether the afore-mentioned points are enough to deprive the movie of maximum points in this category. In reaching my decision, I have asked whether the average viewer who watched this movie noticed these points. A post-movie survey I carried out showed that the viewers did not notice these points. In the light of the above, I would be issuing another 10 for the sound quality. However, I would like to put a caveat that the sound can be improved even better.

Cast: The movie showcased lots of talented actors and actresses including Nollywood veterans Lanre Balogun & Fred Aseroma, Theodora Ibekwe- Oyebade, Toyin Moore, Helen Gold Osabutey, Ayo Oyebade, Marie Gomez, Danny Erskin, Titi Jacobs-Aseroma, Ade Bello, Tolu Yesufu, Sarah Bello, Hilda Williams, Victoria Nicholas, Tyna Sonuga, Tiya Odebode, Mac Edobor, Mabel Osabutey, Godwin Osabutey, O'Tega Oyovbaire, Olakitan Adebayo and Jediah David.

What can I say about the cast? The audition was perfect as the cast played their roles professionally. I always like encouraging new acts and worthy of mention was Toyin Moore (Lynne). Although Tolu Yesufu (Kate) is not a new act and has produced a movie, she played her role naturally. Helen Gold Osabutey (Yetty) was first class. I am not sure if she has featured in other movies.

Experience also added to the glamour of the movie. The likes of Lanre Balogun and Fred Aseroma added the much needed balance to the cast. I love Ayo Oyebade in any movie he acts. He may not get major roles but does justice to any role he is given. Again, he did this in this movie. I cannot do justice to this category without mentioning I would like to Sarah Bello (Sharon’s daughter). Although she played a minor role, she did it with all excellence and I see her as an upcoming Nollywood talent.

While thinking about this review, I thought hard as to whether to mention names of people I did not think were up to par with their acting. As a reviewer and critic, I would not be doing justice to my review if I do not mention this. This is not a witch hunt, but while I am commending those that I think made the movie stand up, I should also make mention of those I think let the movie down.

In my view, I don’t think Danny Erskin (Tom) is quite ready for roles in the Nollywood industry. A good actor acts and does not speak so as to convince those that are watching him. In this movie, all I saw was Tom forcing himself into character and more or less cramming his lines to fit that role. In all honesty and I say this in good faith and without regrets, I think if Danny wants to get good roles and stay in this competitive industry, he should enrol and go for some acting classes so that when he comes back into the industry, he has all it takes to be a success. Diction is an integral part in the role that one plays.

In this case, on a balance of probabilities and having looked at the cast as a whole, I would be giving a 9 for the cast.

Overall performance: As a reviewer and critic, I do not always say this, but this movie was well researched in spite of little errors here and there. I am impressed with the major message of the movie which has to do with cervical cancer.

In reality, there is a lot of ignorance in this area and women tend to overlook what are possible symptoms of cervical cancer. While I understand that it is not only cervical cancer that has these symptoms, that was the main thrust of this movie.

I also like how at the end of the movie, there were scripted text messages highlighting the symptoms and what to do if any of these symptoms are noticed. This was relevant as people may have missed the message of the movie in the midst of the comedy and humour. It brought the movie back to its principal message.

Overall, this movies did me proud and so far I have not said this for many movies. For overall performance, I cannot but give this movie a resounding 10.

Out of a possible 50, I have awarded a well-respected 49. This gives the movie a 9.8 on average. I would like to conclude by saying that this movie ranks pari-pasu or in the same stead with movies that I have given the full marks of 10. Everything about this movie smells of excellence, well though out and well directed.

I would like to commend the Director, producer, cast and crew for a job well done.

Not only would I recommend it people to watch this movie, I would recommend that the Producer considers showing this movie in cinemas around the country.

Watch the trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3r5_LruUv0

Review of Sidi Diallo's London premiere of The Soul

This movie was premiered at the Lighthouse Camberwell on Saturday 26th April 2014. There were organizational issues which included the movie starting pretty late leading to the director and one of the promoters Ikenna Obi doing damage control and having to apologise at the end of the movie. Those present on the red carpet were members of the cast  including Ikenna Obi, Olivia Eze, Fatima Jebe Maada Bio, Collins Archie-Pearce, Bella Gassama, Sidi Diallo, members of Nollywood UK including Theordora Ibekwe Oyebade, Ayo Oyebade, Marie Gomez, Toksy Bello, Niyi Towolawi, M A Benson, Riyike Alayande. Also noticeable were Gospel singer Kenneth Benson, Uvi Orogun. The night started with entertainment by Saxy on the saxophone and and Jdove. The MC for the night was Collins Archie-Pearce. 

Storyline: The Soul was written, produced, directed by Sidi Diallo who also played the lead character. The movie was centred around a tale of two beautiful sisters (Mary and Hannah) both top models, in love with the same man (Alex). However the man was only in love with one of them. Love brought conflict, envy and hate between the sisters which ended in one of the sisters being murdered.

The storyline was great but the production and director’s cut were appalling and all over the place and it was so hard to follow. As a critic, watching the first 15 minutes of a movie, I should have an idea of the theme of the movie. However, in this movie, the beginning of the movie did not correlate with the rest of the movie and I am still trying to understand the relevance.

Although we are told that the story is based on a true life story, part of the storyline was unrealistic. A typical example was where there was a murder enquiry and a serving police officer asks to be paid to carry out the investigation in the UK and is drunk. No suspected gets interviewed under caution in a police station, This is all phony and unrealistic. I am of the view that when you want to tell a story, you must research properly how to present the story to the public. It might have been better if the policeman was presented as a PI rather than a policeman. For a murder enquiry, no policeman would be interviewing witnesses in the park and in some cases not taking notes but in a police station under caution and witnesses making witness statements.

While I appreciate effort and understand that this was meant to be based on a real life story, I cannot give more than 4.5 for the storyline.

Cast: The cast included Sidi Diallo, Fatima Jabbe Maada Bio, Uche Odoputa, Ikenna Obi, Collins Archie-Pearce, Atto Eric, Ferguson Jack, Bella Gassama, Olivia Eze, Happiness, Chica Michelle, Craig Melbourne, Labinot Zeqiri. Joy Oyakhilome, Christianah Awotayo, Princess Abiye and LB Brown.

There were a mix of experience and non experience. As a reviewer and critic, I need to look at the good and the bad sides. Let us start with the positives. Some of the cast were natural and brought their experience to play. In this regard, I would like to mention Collins, Uche, Fatima, Ikenna & Olivia as they used their experience to try and tell the story.

However, some of the cast were just like they crammed their lines and were all over the movie. Diction is also important when trying to tell a story. If one is trying to play American or British with an accent, they need to have that accent or just be themselves and stick to what they know. In this movie, I could tell that even Sidy was African which was good, but some of the actresses tried to speak in British accent and they failed woefully. I must also mention consistency. In some scenes for example Collins was presented as a father looking old even to his teeth and in some scenes he was looking young even though he was still playing the role of the father. I saw him in a different light when he looked old and that was good, but was spoilt when they forgot the role he was actually playing. For the cast, for effort, I would award 5.5

Sound: One could hear buzzy sounds in most scenes. An example was when mother and son were speaking at the house. Also sometimes background music and buzzy noises overshadow the voices of cast. A typical example was at the party and at Ben's home. There was also poor sound mix at the modelling office between Ann and Mike. In most cases the buzzes and music made it difficult to hear what the cast was actually saying. Bottom line, the sound was not too good. I would award 4.5 for sound.

Picture quality: in some cases, there was not enough headroom, most of the character was were not in the camera frame as was evident in most of the scenes. In the birthday scene, there was no headroom and it seemed that the camera was moving. In this scene, the pictures were so shaky. In some cases, the picture was so dark and it seemed as if the colour grading was not in existence. In my honest opinion, I think the recording was not professionally done. In some cases, these issues made the movie difficult to watch. I would recommend that the Director should go back and watch the movie and see how some of these issues can be addressed. For picture quality, I would award 4.

Overall: To me, if the movie was properly researched and the story told properly, my review would have been different. Like I said earlier, the story in itself is good but the packaging was the problem in my honest view. When people begin to sleep in a movie, it tells a story. I have been to late night movies and seen movies and still not slept, I have watched movies including Nollywood in languages I don’t understand with good sub-titles and still did not sleep. There were elements of humour in this movie and there was passion and enthusiasm form the writer.

However, I would recommend that in future, as a script writer, the same person should not produce and direct so that someone else can see what migh have been missed, Two eyes they say are better than one. Our passion at Babso.org is to see Nollywood Movies compare to Hollywood Movies in the near future, but this would take research, resilience and excellence. Overall, I would issue this movie 5.5. I think Sidy should see these as positive criticisms that would enable him go back to the drawing board in his next project.

My overall score out of a possible 50  is 24  which would rate the movie as 4.8  out of a possible 10

Watch the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf63qgzoSoE&feature=youtu.be

Review of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun

This movie was premiered at the Odeon Streatham. Although our team could not be at the movie, we were privileged to watch the screening at the Odeon Greenwich on Monday 21st April 2014.  According to their Facebook page, the movie is based on a book by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and was written and directed by Biyi Bandele.

Storyline: The movie was based on the adaptation of a 450 page and was centred around the effects of the Nigerian-Biafran war. The effects of this war is depicted through relationships between four people's lives. After the British leave and Nigeria gets her independence, the lives of the main characters are torn apart. The storyline was as close as it could possibly have been to what happened in post independent Nigeria and how there was corruption, ethnic issues that eventually led to a military coup in Nigeria and the Eastern part of Nigeria declaring its independence as a new country called Biafra. The story also depicted how the subsequent war between Nigeria and the breakaway Biafra led to the loss of many lives, destruction of property and changing the lives and destiny of people.

Olanna and Kainene are glamorous twins from a wealthy Nigerian family. Upon returning to a privileged city life in newly independent 1960s Nigeria after their expensive English education, the two women make very different choices. Olanna shocks her family by going to live with her lover, the "revolutionary professor" Odenigbo and his devoted houseboy Ugwu in the dusty university town of Nsukka; Kainene turns out to be a fiercely successful businesswoman when she takes over the family interests, and surprises even herself when she falls in love with Richard, an English writer. Preoccupied by their romantic entanglements, and a betrayal between the sisters, the events of their life seem to loom larger than politics. However, they become caught up in the events of the Nigerian civil war, in which the lgbo people fought an impassioned struggle to establish Biafra as an independent republic, ending in chilling violence which shocked the entire world.

Although I have not read the book, I was so intrigued how the story was told leaving no doubts in my mind. From beginning of the film to the end, I could not take my eyes off the screen. There was a bit of everything, humour, brutality, love etc. At the end of the movie, we were told what happened to the major characters. I also enjoyed seeing props such as old cars like the Volkswagen and Peugeot 404, the old style radios etc. Based on the above, especially as it is an adaptation of a book, for the storyline, I give a 10

Cast: The movie showcased lot of talented the cast  which included Academy Award nominee Chiwetel Ejifor as Odenigbo,  BAFTA award winner Thandie Newton as Olanna Odenigbo's wife, Onyeka Owenu as Mama - Odenigbo's mother, O C Ukeju as Aniekwena Odenigbo's cousin, Genevieve Nnaji as Lara Adebayo, Joseph Malwe as Richard, Anima Noni Rose as Kainene - Olanna's twin sister, John Boyega as Ukwu – houseboy, Zack Orji as Cheif Ozobia Olanna's father, Wale Ojo as Minister Okonji, Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Captain Dutse, Tina Mba as Mrs Ozobia and Gloria Young as Olanna's Auntie.

Again, I was intrigued by the way the cast worked together and played their roles properly. While I would not want to commend the experienced actors, I must make mention of a few people that I thought did absolutely well in the roles they were given. I would like to commend John who played the role of a houseboy Ukwu. I have never seen him in any movie before, but he is a natural talent and someone that would go places if he remains focused. I have seen Onyeka Onwenu act in some movies and she has been here and there, but in this movie, she played the role of an arrogant mother and if you came from some homes, you thought that was your mother. Well done! Let me take one more actor. Joseph Malwe, I was seeing for the first time who played the role of Richard a lecturer from the UK. Again, you would think he lived in Nigeria during the period of the movie as it just came naturally to him. The use of film pictures as the visit of the Queen to Nigeria or speeches by the Biafran leader also added colour to the storyline.

It is one thing to have a good storyline and another thing to have the cast that can tell the story. This production married both properly and as such for the cast, I would give a 10.

Sound: I was overwhelmed as I watched the movie. I am used to hearing background noises or buzzes in most movies I review. However, as hard as I tried (and there may have been noises or buzzes), but both myself or my harsh Associate did not have any cause for concerns as we did not hear any other sounds apart from the voices of the actors and the effects e.g. the sound of bombs. For the sound therefore, I give another 10.

Picture quality: The picture quality was also solid with a mix of black and white videos depicting the 60s and clear pictures in other scenes. If I was to be so strict, there was a place where Mamas face was hidden. That being the case, not many people would have noticed this and this can easily be edited. On a whole for the picture quality, I give another 10.

Overall: On the whole, this film was properly researched and the correct cast played the correct roles. The props were right and there were a lot of extras but the movie was just natural. There was a flow and I was impressed. I cannot say more. For overall performance, I give another 10.

I have reviewed some movies in the past months and I cannot be give this film a 10 out of a possible 10. Very easily, I would recommend that people go and watch this movie. To the Director, cast and crew, I say well done!!

Watch the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gd9DXfXlxY

Review of Ortega and His Enemies

The movie Ortega and his enemies was premiered on Friday 4th April 2014 at the Odeon Cinema Greenwich, The movie was written and directed by the renowned award-winning director M A Benson, also the producer and director of (“Forget The Pact” and Phantom of Fury”) and was hosted by the very fabulous DJ Abass

The Red carpet showcased people from different walks of life including Cyril Uchenna Gwam, Minister/Head of Political Affairs of the Nigerian High Commission and his team, representatives of the entertainment industry including multi award winner from South Africa, Kunle Ayo and his wife, representatives of sponsors Lomo Mobile, Benalex Media and Vox TV, representatives form the press and Nollywood movie lovers. The Nollywood UK industry was represented by award winning actress Theodora Ibekwe Oyebade, award winning cinematographer and director, Nelson Spyke, Award winning actress Roseline Sanni Ajose and her husband, award winning director Ruke Amata, Danny Erskine, cast and crew of the movie led by Director M A Benson, Rita Nzelu Okoro,  Darrel Las Quevas, Aldi Alfa, Collins Archie Pearce etc.

Picture quality: The qualities of the pictures could have been a bit brighter and in most scenes, the background was dull. However, the pictures were clear to the extent that one could see that the cast of the movie had done make up. For picture quality, I would award a mark of 6.

Sound quality: For most parts of the movie, the sound was perfect. This was evident as in outdoor scenes, one could clearly hear the casts speak over the sounds on the background. However, there were cases of hissy or buzzy sounds that could be heard and on some scenes, I had to stress to hear what a particular actress was saying and did not end up hearing a phrase or two. In the court scene, the background music was distracting and should not have been on. Overall the sound was not bad and I would award a score of 8.

Cast: While I am a strong supporter of collaborations in Nollywood Movies, I believe that a Nollywood movie should be what it is, Nollywood. The balance of the cast should be in favour of the Nigerians/Africans. In Hollywood or Bollywood, that is what one would see. Although the movie was shot in the UK, and is claimed to be a British Drama with Nollywood twists, I believe there were too many non-Nollywood actors and actresses. Furthermore, it was advertised to the Nollywood audience and most of those present were Nollywood lovers. The premiere at Odeon Cinema was also done in the characteristic manner in which Nollywood premieres are done. The list below would prove the point. In fact looking at the list of actors and actresses, one would find it difficult to call it a Nollywood Movie. The names of the lead actors and actresses are not Nollywood. I must state that I am reviewing this movie as a Nollywood critic and reviewer so these points must be brought to light.

Ortega showcases a new height of global intrigue and suspense with British and Nollywood heavy weights including Rita Nzelu Okoro (International Games) playing Grace and Uche Odoputa (Last Flight to Abuja) playing Gary Chucks, Darrel Las Quevas (starred alongside Hollywood stars such a Morgan Freeman) as John Ortega and emerging UK talent Adi Alfa (Lead actress in Tamla Rose) as Sara. The film also featured  Alexandra Johnston as Lee, Dean Ekperigin as Frankie,  Gary Douglas as Maxwell Tobi, Sharan Atwal as Mia Patel,  Theo Handen as  Anooj Patel, Jenis Adams as DC Martha, Lucien Morgan as Richard Darlington QC, Stephanie Page as PC Taylor, Steve Ward as PC Steve, Amelia-Jeanette Nettie Prentice as Sara Peterson QC, Robert Scott as Attendant Matthew Martino, Ernest Gromov as Seregay, Collins Archie Pearce as Mr Anthony.

Additional cast included Jill Buchanan, Steve Martin, Fay Jones, Dominique Lynch, Katrina Gulbrandson, Amandla Miisho, Paul Dellow, Daniel Osgood, Joelle Koissi, Penny Judd, Anna Kolesnik, Michael Chapman, Jessen Aroonachellum, Chris Walker, Kevin Allen, Loula Kazantzi, Martin Wheatley, John Fisher, Briggitta Makk, Solene Marvian, Peter Y Kyei, Marian Keogh, Jan Rook, Shane Salter, Marco Flammer, Keith Ackerman, Fabio Vollono, Julie Vollono, Amy Beales, Raquel Raposo, Tracey Williams, Roberta La Placa, Jaimie Yates and Kadine Watson.

For a comprehensive list of cast and crew, visit http://www.ortegaandhisenemiesmovie.com/.

In my professional view, I believe that the cast was properly chosen and did what they were briefed to do. John Ortega played the role of a frustrated man, Franklin did well as a fraudster or as we call it in Nollywood “419”. The car park attendant was also natural and so were most of the cast. However, in some scenes, there were elements of overacting. If I were to review the cast as an ordinary film and not as a Nollywood movie, I would have scored the cast more, but based on my above concerns, I cannot score the cast more than 6.

Storyline: Prior to watching the movie, I went to the website above and read the synopsis of the movie. It read in part:

“The story is an original and intriguing British drama with some Nollywood twists. The film set in London and Essex unfolds the life of an anger management patient John Ortega (played by Darrel Las Quevas) whose world is torn apart when he cannot manage Sara’s adversaries (his fiancé played by Adi Alfa). With deceit, brutality and police chase, will John be able to overcome the forces of antagonism from DC Martha, Maxwell Toby, Sara’s step dad, the cross dresser, ex police officer, The manipulative Lee (played by Alexandra Johnston) a vengeance seeking single mum and Franklin Macintosh (played by Dean Ekperigin), Sara’s ex boyfriend who would not take no for an answer. With these enemies’ individual evil plot against John, will he survive and still make it to the altar with his soul mate Sara?”

On the storyline, I would like to start from the positives and then go to the negatives. Firstly, I would like to commend the writer for researching how an arrest is made and ensuring that the proper cautions were made. However, people are arrested for offences or on suspicion of offences. In one of the scenes, someone was arrested for an incident that happened in a venue. That does not happen in real life.

I would also want to commend the  court scenes. A real Magistrate Court was used and  for the offences of criminal damage, theft and assault occasioning bodily harm that Ortega was arrested and charged for, the Magistrate Court has jurisdiction. However, when someone appears in court for the first time, he is asked to confirm his name and address and then the charges and read to him and his plea taken even before any arguments for bail. In the movie, the defence lawyer was arguing for bail and stated that her client was going to plead not guilty. That was the wrong order and never happens in that way in the British legal system. The ruling for bail was well researched. However, one of the conditions for bail would always be for the accused person to appear either in the Magistrate Court or if the matter would be adjourned to  the Crown Court. You may think these are little things, but a ruling was given on bail, this should have been done properly.

I must commend the parts of the story line reflected real life incidents, how parking attendants knowingly hide, watch people and issue tickets and make people pay unnecessarily. I have seen this happen in real life and there were have been incidents reported on news where yellow lines have been covered by snow so that people park and get to pay a fine, so watching those scenes was like watching real life incidents. I must also say that there were few humorous scenes in the movie.

As a reviewer, I would not be doing justice if I do not mention the following points. When one goes to watch a movie, in the first few minutes say 15 to 30 minutes an expectation should be built and people should have an idea where the movie is going even if they are wrong. Had I not read the synopsis, I would have been lost as the beginning of the movie dragged a lot and some people were even sleeping as in wake me when the real action starts.

Movies also send a whole lots of messages and one of the messages this movie sent to me was that crime pays. I would elaborate. Orterga committed a series of crimes even after he was bailed and at the end of the movie, we see him still roaming the streets in a ferry. Sara committed murder and at the movie, we see her taking her passport and intending to travel. Even if the movie did not show it, some lines at the end to say that Orterga was apprehended and sentenced to prison and Sara was arrested at the airport and also sentenced to prison would send the right message. If someone was as hurt as Orterga in real life and watched the movie, they might get ideas.

There was also the issue of the rape. I really wander why that scene was added if much effort was placed on the parking tickets and the outcomes thereof whereas the issue of the rape was inconclusive and there were no emotions attached or shown in the movie. I have seen movies where people are raped and how emotionally tortured they are. That part of the story seemed to be lacking in this movie.

Also funny to me was the scene where someone was hit with a shoe I believe it was and blood was gushing out from his head I also presume and still the person could blink his eye. There were also little details that could have been looked at. An example was where the DC told Max that 5 people had been put in hospital by John whilst counting there were only 3, the parking attendant, the lady at the pound and the police officer. Overall as a reviewer and critic, I believe I know what the writer was trying to portray, but I believe that the script was not properly concluded and dragged a lot. In view of this I would award a 6

Overall experience: I spoke to several people after the movie and the reviews were mixed. While there was an outright condemnation from some, others praised the movie. By and large there was ambiance especially at the gallery. For overall experience, I would award 6.5

The question that remains is would I be recommending this movie to people. I would say if you are expecting a proper Nollywood Movie, your hopes may be dashed, but although there are criticisms about the movie, I would still recommend people to watch it. However, I would like the writer to consider concluding it properly even if it is with sentences saying what happened at the end.

Overall score is 32.5 out of 50 which gives a rating of 6.5

Watch the trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QMH0w9MQY4