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nollywoodforeverdotcom
Time and money wasted!
I would scan the internet looking for reviews to read in a bid to know whether or not to buy a film and would find NOTHING...
Hence the creation of: www.nollywoodforever.com
On this page I review Nollywood (Nigerian and Ghanaian) movies that I have watched. The old, the new... The good, the bad... The excellent and the disastrous.
Reviews
Bursting Out (2010)
A Simple Story But Well Executed
Genevieve Nnaji plays Zara Williams a hard nosed workaholic who is always single because she is too busy for love. Her friends are determined to find her a man and set her up with a guy played by Desmond Elliot, a self centred arrogant bore who they deceive her into having dinner with. After this failed attempted she swears herself off dating men her friends set her up with however ends up turning to them in desperation after needed a date for a work Valentines Ball. She goes to the ball with Tony, played by Majid Michel but everything is not what it appears to be.
I love love loooooove Majid and Genny together. They have amazing chemistry and make a wholly believable couple. Susan Peters is so underrated. I love watching her, especially in comic roles like this one. I heard her once referred to as a Nigerian Paris Hilton but I must say that she holds more value for me than a Paris Hilton. Bishop Imoh was great, he always brings the comedy. Omoni and Nse were great as the meddling girlfriends. The movie was well casted.
In conclusion I would recommend the movie. It was solidly good and well worth watching, however I was a little disappointed because it the storyline was so ordinary and nothing different to what we have seen countless times before. I think that perhaps I was expecting too much, and it just didn't live up to the hype, however the picture quality and sound were excellent, acting was great and in general the movie was well executed.
Weeping Soul (2011)
Mercy Johnson Cries a River Of Tears
Grace's mother's death throws her life into disarray. She is unable to return to school and complete her education as her uncle has stolen all her mother's savings and is encouraging her to take up a trade and get married instead. Unable to raise funds to continue her schooling she takes the opportunity to go with a family friend to Lagos with the promise of a living with and being educated by her sister's family. Things are looking up, but how long will it last?
We all know Mercy Johnson can cry a river of tears and boy did she do that here. An absolutely excellent performance from mercy Johnson throughout the movie and particularly an early scene where she confronts her uncle over his refusal to pay for her education. She was excellent as the naive village girl. Mercy Johnson doesn't just do sexy as occasional watchers of Nollywood may think. She really is versatile and can do it all. In this movie she does the heavy sobbing dramatic crying as well as the tears welling up in your eyes crying. Kenneth Okonkwo did a great job in his performance but I felt like the casting was wrong. It felt like he was supposed to be younger than he was, in the way that he was acting, but was around the same age as Mercy's dad. They should have cast someone younger in the role. It beats me why they are always casting him and younger men when he clearly looks to be in his 40′s.
I really enjoyed the movie. Mercy Johnson was the standout performance and did a phenomenal job as the downtrodden Grace. I loved the ending then hated it all at the same time. This movie took me on a roller-coaster ride of emotions. If you watch it you will know what I mean. All in all a very good movie heavily driven by the performances. The story was run of the mill but the execution made up for it. Grab ya copy now!
Kiss and Tell (2011)
A Lighthearted RomCom That All can Enjoy
Bernard (Desmond Elliot) and Ike (Joseph Benjamin) are friends and partners at BlueQuest a firm that they run together. They have a friendly rivalry when it comes to picking up girls. Ike and Bernard make a bet that if Ike sleeps with Delphine (Mona Lisa Chinda) a gorgeous divorcée that has sworn off men he will get 5 percent of Bernards's company shares and if not he will give up 5 percent of his own shares which means that the person who wins will have a controlling share of the company. Ike enlists the help of employee Mimi (Uche Jombo) to search all the major networking sites to find Delphine so that he can conquer her and win the bet. Things are made even more difficult when Bernard throws a spanner in the works by telling Delphines's friend Tena (Nse Ikpi Etim) that Ike is planning to bed her and that she should beware. Ike has ten days to accomplish the mission, who will win?
I loved the interaction between Mona Lisa and Joseph Benjamin in one of the first bar scenes. The dialogue was quick witty funny and some brilliant social observations were made about the different expectations men and women have when entering a bar. Joseph Benjamin is definitely one to watch out for and I have thought that ever since I saw him in Jungle Ride. His performance was smooth and very believable. Nse's character Tena was hilarious as Delphine's meddling and over concerned friend. She definitely was the stand out performance for me. Her pidgin English was flawless and she happened to have the best lines in the movie. The whole cinema roared with laughter every time she graced the screen.
I would recommend the movie, although predictable it was a nice feel good romantic well acted comedy, nothing great, but most definitely good.
Mad Sex (2010)
A Crazy But Enjoyable Movie!
Four siblings played by Ini Edo, Uche Jombo, John Paul Nwadike and Junior Pope Odonwodo are out of control, and show nothing but disrespect towards their parents. We see Amara come and meet a prospective suitor in front of her parents, drunk and making inappropriate gestures. Her sister Nkem returns from the United States hooked on cocaine and the two brothers behave like terrorists in the house, from selling their father's car without his knowledge to raping the house help Ifunaya. Their parents have reached the end of their tether and vow that they will not accept the behaviour anymore, however it takes much more than that for change to happen.
Eve Esin was brilliant as the deeply tortured house girl. Ini Edo playing the bad girl was on point, every time she would do her bad Gal dancing it would crack me up. Junior Pope too on point, John Paul Nwadike on point
Uche Jombo the coke-head, great job. I thought it was a good choice of cast as all four siblings meshed well and had good chemistry. I loved the banter between them. The dialogue was rich. When I saw that Ruth Kadiri was responsible for the screenplay I knew that I wouldn't be disappointed on that end. THUMBS UP RUTH! Ini Edo was the stand out performance for me. It probably helped that she had some of the killer lines.
What I would really like to see in a Nollywood movie is a bad ass character that does not drink or smoke. Drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes does not mean that one is capable of morally reprehensible acts as far as I am concerned and for every inherently bad person to be portrayed as a drinker or smoker or *gasp* both makes the characters cliché and one dimensional. We see the siblings all smoking like chimneys and we are automatically supposed to assume them bad or gangsta. Let's switch it up please!
I would recommend the movie, it was definitely entertaining to watch despite the flaws I have highlighted and the cast did a brilliant job playing their characters. There wasn't one person in the movie that made me shake my head in horror. It would have been better if there weren't so many cliché things happen like the smoking and drinking to show badness and the dad dying of shock, nevertheless a good effort.
Bent Arrows (2010)
A cleverly woven tale of betrayal, incest and revenge!
Lola, played by Omoni Oboli is a free spirit who is fed up of her parents constantly comparing her to her late sister Kemi. There is great fiction in their household because of this. Ngozi, played by Stella Damasus is a student who is struggling to support her mother and younger siblings. Her friend persuades her into joining her in town doing runs. She also embarks on a mission to exert revenge on the person that plunged her previously wealthy household into poverty. A teenage girl played by Sylvia Oluchi is being sexually abused by her uncle, and we see the repercussions of this.
It has been a while since I saw Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs acting alongside each other, and it was wonderful to watch. The same goes for Stella Damasus. Stella is brilliant. I actually forgot how good she was. She was wholly believable in her role. Omoni Oboli too was great. She has come along was from movies like Behind A Smile. It is so great that she is now selective in choosing her roles. It really does make a different. Mercy Johnson take note. This is my first time seeing Sylvia Oluchi in a movie. I gotta give it to her. It was a stellar performance. I actually felt emotional myself when she discovered that she was pregnant for the second time. I Hope to see her again.
I would recommend this movie. I loved the way that all the stories in the movie tied into each other so cleverly. It was an all star cast and a performance driven movie that kept you gripped, however the way that it descended into some born again Christian propaganda video was off putting to me. Others of you may love that. Even though the ending let it down for me but still give it the thumbs up.
Anchor Baby (2010)
Fantastic Movie Covering Very Real Issues
Pregnant Joyce Unanga played by Omoni Oboli and her husband Paul Unaga played by Sam Sarpong are illegal immigrants in the United States. Their visas have expired and their time in the USA is up. They were offered voluntary deportation 3 months previously but refused to take it Joyce has 4 months until she gives birth and has agreed with her husband that they will lay under the radar hiding from immigration until the baby is born. This anchor baby will act as a device for the family to gain legal foothold into the United States;. Joyce isn't so keen on the idea but her husband Paul is desperate for their child to be born in the United States and have an American passport so that he/she can be afforded the same opportunities as American born kids.
After a raid at Paul's workplace, where Paul drops his phone after running from immigration officials immigration and are hot on their tails and one morning while Joyce is out on her daily walk they pounce and grab Paul. Joyce has no choice but to evacuate the apartment if she too doesn't want to be caught. She is left alone, homeless and pregnant looking for a place to stay when she comes across a Good Samaritan by the name Susan played by Teri Oliver in a doctor's office. Susan comes in to save the day and offers her her basement to live in until the baby is born. It sounds too good to be true. Is it?
This is a movie that I thoroughly enjoyed and I would definitely recommend. It was well shot and evenly paced. The drama, tension and suspense was good but could have been picked up a notch, nevertheless I loved the storyline. It was one that raised very real and important issues about illegal immigration and showed us the gritty reality of life as an illegal immigrant and the misfortune that can fall upon you when you have no rights. Anchor baby won the Best film Harlem Intl film festival, Award of Merit L.A Cinema festival of Hollywood. It made the Official selection Africa Intl film festival and official selection Fans of film festival and all with good reason. Grab ya copy