White Wedding

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A groom (Kenneth Nkosi) and his best man (Rapulana Seiphemo) try to make it from Johannesburg to Cape Town, to be on time for the wedding, but everything seems to be going wrong.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Kenneth Nkosi, Rapulana Seiphemo, Jodie Whittaker, Zandile Msutwana, Sylvia Mngxekeza, Mbulelo Grootboom, Marcel Van Heerden, Grant Swanby

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. It's cute for a South African rom-com, but Americans would have done it better. And they have.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: What it lacks in laugh out loud comedy, it makes up for in charm.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: What's sad about it, is learning that there are still groups of people who mourn the loss of apartheid openly and without shame.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It was South Africa's submission for this year's Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Feature category. I can see why they lost.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: I watched Rapulana Seiphemo play a bad ass gangster, earlier this year, in Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema, so it was fun to watch him in a comedy role. The rest of the acting is decent, but some of their accents make them sound like they are having a hard time speaking English.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Aside from one nice transition where everyone is washing their faces, Jann Turner's directing is completely banal.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: This is the aspect that I'm talking about, when I say that Americans would've done it better. From Forces of Nature, to Leap Year, to the upcoming Due Date, to the John Hughes film that started it all, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Americans have made this movie a million times, but with stronger comedy and more moving emotional parts. Then again, there's something to be said for the cultural differences that a South African sensibility brings to the party.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/white-wedding/1430268/trailers

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Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: After Apartheid ends in South Africa, the Black people start to realize that they're not gonna get their 40 acres and a mule, and the only way to get social justice is to steal it by hook or by crook.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Rapulana Seiphemo, Ronnie Nyakale, Jeffrey Zekele, Jafta Mambolo, Motlatsi Mahloko, Robert Hobbs, Shelley Meskin

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! It's like District 9, only this time, instead of aliens, they use Black people to show the racism in Johannesburg.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Of course! Racism is hilarious!... Okay, that's not even funny when you say it as a joke.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Yes, but only because white people are soooo mean!... It's like looking in a mirror.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It's the kind of film that will get a lot of buzz in the Best Foreign Film category, and then not get a nomination.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: A good job was done casting younger actors who look like their older counterparts.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: A lot of shaky-cam, a fair amount of blood and people splatting on the ground after falling from high buildings, but clearly Ralph Ziman is a talented filmmaker with a vision and a voice.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: On some levels it doesn't feel like something you've never seen before, but it certainly makes you question your ideas about right and wrong.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: In South Africa, this film came out before District 9.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/gangsters-paradise-jerusalema/37498/trailers

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Invictus

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: The true story of how President Nelson Mandela of South Africa used the national rugby team to unite whites and blacks after the emotional scars that were left by Apartheid.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge, Patrick Mofokeng, Matt Stern, Julian Lewis Jones, Adojoa Andoh, Marguerite Wheatley, Leleti Khumalo, Patrick Lyster, Penny Downie

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! If any of the words in this script were actually spoken, Nelson Mandela was easily the smartest, most honorable, strongest, most peaceful, most spiritual, inspiring man of unwavering integrity who ever lived. And we all need to be led by a good example more frequently.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: I didn't see any actual attempts at humor, but there is some unadulterated cuteness near the end that might get you giggling.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: It's an inspiration... I only wish Obama and Fox news would sit down and watch it together.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Neither Clint Eastwood, nor his films, seem to be able to avert them.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: When you're dealing with actors like Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman the only thing you're gonna have to worry about is whether or not their South African accents are convincing. They were to me (though a native may beg to differ), but Damon seemed to always be slightly paranoid about the authenticity of his, for some reason.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: I will say this, I left the theater wanting to form a women's rugby league. Luckily, when I went outside, there was a guy in front of the doors waiting to hand me a flyer about a women's rugby league that already exists, so that should save me the trouble of having to start one up. P.S. If I stop supplying you with reviews any time soon, it's because I broke my fingers, arms, or neck indulging in my newfound passion pastime.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: I must've liked it, because I walked out of the theater smiling so wide that I was hit on by a plethora of male suitors, each of whom had obviously assumed that my smile was meant for them. Oh, why am I so hard on myself? It might have had nothing to do with the complex talents of the screenwriter. It might have simply been because I looked really hot.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: As usual, Clint's movie is over 2 hours and therefore too long. The parts that dragged were easily identifiable as occuring during the World Cup section. The crowds, the build up, the games, we get it after two seconds, we don't need 20 minutes of it.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/invictus/30532/trailers

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District 9

(Guest Review by Russ)

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Aliens are forced to live in a militarized slum after their spaceship breaks down over South Africa; twenty years later, while being moved to a new detention area, things start to go terribly wrong.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James, Mandla Gaduka, Vanessa Haywood, William Allen Young

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! District 9 is the definitive science-fiction film of the new millennium. No cute ETs like Spielberg’s creation or ethereal space landings as in Close Encounters, the aliens of District 9 – better known as Prawns – are angry, weird, homesick, violent, caring, curious and maybe up to something. And it’s all presented as if watching a CNN Special Report with Anderson Cooper, once again out there in some foreign locale unveiling some sickening truth about who the real bad guys are.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Despite the relentless squalor, action and violence, District 9 has more laughs than you might expect, springing mostly from the antics of the Prawns and also the innate intelligence of the film.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: If you have any Prawn-DNA in your system you will not only cry, you might not make it through the movie. (This answer doubles as an inside-joke which you will get after you’ve seen the movie.)

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Let’s see, it is now more than midway through August and this is easily one of the best films of the year. So I won’t bet against it come awards time. (And no, I’m not talking about some made-up award like: Best Use of Cat Food In A Movie.)

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Even though District 9 oftentimes resembles a documentary (or docudrama) – and apparently almost all the dialogue was improvised – none of that takes away from the excellent performance of South African star Sharlto Copley. The emotional weight of the movie sits squarely on his shoulders (and it’s a lot of weight) and he really delivers in a believable performance that goes from weasely, nervous and unlikable at the start, to heart wrenching and heroic in the end.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Neill Blomkamp, welcome to the start of your massive Hollywood career. Everything works in District 9 thanks to the direction. The effects, humor, pathos, acting, story and design – everything is in such perfect harmony that it becomes seamless. Blomkamp makes this all look so easy you’ll wonder why every science fiction film can’t be this entertaining. Oh yeah, maybe it’s because not every filmmaker is as talented as Neill Blomkamp (and it can’t hurt to have Peter Jackson as a producer). Hey Neill, hurry up and get working on District 10.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: There is nothing revolutionary about this story, but it doesn’t really need to be. On the surface it’s simple, yet deceptively smart and extremely well executed. Underneath however is a not-so-subtle allegory commenting on South Africa’s sad history with apartheid. But really, that sort of history can easily extend to many countries and therefore District 9 is like a mirror being held up to the human race, reflecting back its tragedies when it comes to racial discrimination. It’s ugly and sad and soul crushing and makes you wonder if we’ll ever be enlightened enough to be capable of better. District 9 deserves as much credit for that thought-provoking question as it does for being a kick-ass entertaining sci-fi action movie.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/district-9/31920/trailers

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