London Has Fallen

"Lonon bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down"... ok enough of that, let me just cut straight to the chase, this is not a English film, it was made by America, and only as one English actress in it (if i'm correct), by the name of Charlotte Riley, who plays a MI6 agent, and the only other geogragpically close person, is the producer Gerard Butler, who is Scottish, who also plays the lead role of US secret service agent, but hey it is an American film sequel to the 2013 action thriller Olympus Has Fallen, which will see the reprised role's  American actors and actresses, despite what the title and poster might suggest. Set to be released in january 2016 the movie was even slammed by the British public as being 'insensitive' for promoting its trailer and the capital’s destruction days before 7/7 bombings anniversary this year. Judging by surrounding controversy and other issues i've just mentioned, i'm not sure London Has Fallen will get a good reception from the British public, as it falls short on praises.

Synopsis and trailer

U.S. Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) springs into action when terrorists attack London during the funeral of the British prime minister.

Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller

Director: Babak Najafi

Produced by: Gerard Butler, Mark Gill, Danny Lemar, Mat O'Toole, Alan Siegel, Les Weldon

Written by: Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt, Chad St. John

Starring: Gerard Butler, Aron Eckhart, Morgan FreemanMusic Composed by: Trevor Morris

Production company: G Base, Millennium Films, Nu Image

Initial release: January 22, 2016 (USA)

Hitman: Agent 47

I've been a fan of the Hitman franchise since 2002, when i played the second video game, which as had other releases till today, plus novels. The first movie came in 2007 and was a box office success, even though it didn't recieve critical kudos, it raked in just under $100 million, which is not bad at all considering the budget was $24 million. The Hitman stories follow a genetically-engineered assassin known only as agent 47, his name comes from the last two digits of a bar code on the back of his head – 640509-040147. Tall, balled, blue eyed, stiff jawed, no nonsence guy who usually wears a black suit and red tie, with strenth, speed and intellegence above the human average, he's the perfect killing machine. Directed by firsts-time director Aleksander Bach, Hitman: Agent 47 is a action packed thriller that shows what the new director is capable of and he's already got other projects lined up.

Synopsis and trailer

  A genetically engineered assassin (Rupert Friend) targets a mega-corporation that wants to use the secret of his origin to create a whole army of killers. 

Here's a break down of the plot and story line by the producer, director and lead actor.

HITMAN: AGENT 47 centers on an elite assassin who was genetically engineered from conception to be the perfect killing machine, and is known only by the last two digits on the barcode tattooed on the back of his neck. He is the culmination of decades of research ­ and forty-six earlier Agent clones -- endowing him with unprecedented strength, speed, stamina and intelligence. His latest target is a mega-corporation that plans to unlock the secret of Agent 47's past to create an army of killers whose powers surpass even his own. Teaming up with a young woman who may hold the secret to overcoming their powerful and clandestine enemies, 47 confronts stunning revelations about his own origins and squares off in an epic battle with his deadliest foe.                

Written by
20th Century Fox.

Here's the second trailer that tells us more about the lead female role.

  

Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller

Directed by: Aleksander Bach
Produced by: Charles Gordon, Adrian Askariah, Alex Young, Skip Woods
Screenplay by: Skip Woods, Michael Finch
Story by: Skip Woods
Based on: Hitman by IO Interactive
Starring: Rupert Friend, Hannah Ware, Zachary Quinto, Ciarán Hinds, Thomas Kretschmann, Angelababy
Music by: Marco Beltrami
Cinematography: Óttar Guðnason
Edited by: Nicolas de Toth

Production company: TSG Entertainment
Daybreak Giant Pictures

Distributed by: 20th Century Fox

Release date: August 21, 2015
Running time: 1hr 48mins 

Black and White

Released in the year 1999, this movie was well directed, edited and also inventive in its way of telling a story of a documentary within a movie which explores the growing facination that white kids have with the hip-hop culture scene, starring an array of talented and famous actors, actresses, musicians and sports personalities, the story follows a rapper called Rich, who's big on the hip-hop scene, other characters include a couple, Sam and Terry who are the documentary filmmakers, filming the teens as they share their fascination with black culture, Sam and Terry's life seamlesly interchanges well with the other characters in the movie, such as the character of Raven, one of the fascinated and rebelious teens being documented who is always ready to voice her opinion through out the movie. When i heard that 'Wu Tang Clan' was involved with this project i had to watch it since i'm a fan, and rightly so because it did not disappoint, the story line was captivating enough to keep me interested in the characters and whats going to happen with them. There was a scene in which Mike Tyson who plays himself as an altercation with the character Terry, played by Robert Downey, Jr., which i found rather funny, Ben stiller is also in this movie playing the role of a sleazy cop, even Brett Ratner, a great director of hip-hop music video's and blockbuster movies such as 'Xmen: The Last Stand', makes an appearance as himself. Apparantly whiles filming, most of the scenes were improvised, which works well for this type of movie, all the cast members did a great job but the character that really stood out for me was that of Raven, played by Gaby Hoffmann, she nailed it. i would definitely recommend this movie if you're a hip-hop fan or just someone who likes watching a good movie.

Synopsis and trailer

Rich Bower (Power) is an up-and-coming star in the hip-hop world. Everyone wants to be around him, including Raven (Gaby Hoffman) and her fellow upper-class white high school friends. The growing appeal of black culture among white teens fascinates documentary filmmaker Sam Donager (Brooke Shields), who sets out to chronicle it with her husband, Terry (Robert Downey Jr.). But before Bower was a rapper, he was a gangster, and his criminal past comes back to haunt him and all those around him.



Plot

(Spoiler alert)

Sam (Brooke Shields) and her husband Terry (Robert Downey, Jr.), make a documentary in which they follow a group of white teens, Raven (Gaby Hoffmann), Charlie (Bijou Phillips), Will (William Lee Scott), Marty (Eddie Kaye Thomas) and Wren (Elijah Wood), who are fascinated with the culture and so go out to mingle with the black hip-hop crowd. A rapper by the named of Rich ( Oli "Power" Grant) who is a mover and shaker in the hip-hop scene is the guy to be seen with and who's apartment is a favored hang out spot for the in-crowd, including the group of white teens.
When Rich's friend Dean (Allan Houston, of the New York Knicks) who is a talented college basketball player, takes a bait to throw some games, he is left with a proposal from detective Mark Clear (Ben Stiller) to either give up his friend rich or go jail, Rich learns of this and in fear of Dean ratting him out for his criminal past, he asks one of the white kids that hang with him to do away with Dean.

Here's a music video from the all hip-hop soundtrack

Genre: Drama, Music, Crime
Directed by: James Toback
Produced by: Daniel Bigel, Michael Mailer, Ron Rotholz
Written by: James Toback
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Gaby Hoffmann, Allan Houston, Jared Leto, Method Man, Joe Pantoliano
Bijou Phillips, Oli "Power" Grant, Raekwon
Claudia Schiffer, Brooke Shields, Scott Caan, Mike Tyson, Elijah Wood, Ben Stiller
Music by: American Cream Team
Cinematography: David Ferrara
Edited by: Myron Kerstein
Production company: Palm Pictures
Distributed by: Screen Gem
Initial release dates: September 4, 1999 (1999-09-04)
Running time: 1hr 38mins

Team America World Police

From the creators of the popular series South Park, comes this somewhat classic poppet movie, and i call it a classic for the simple fact there's never been anything like it and probably never will be, this movie brings back supermarionation in the 2000's. Supermarionation which is a puppetry technique devised in the 1960s by British production company, AP Films, who created the Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Stingray t.v series with a more advance version of marionette, which was just a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings, the new found techniques for t.v shows was very popular during the 60's to the early 90's. This 2004 revamp of a trend from the past is for adults, unlike its past predecessors which were kid friendly, this is feeled with adult themes and crude humour, and nothing like the poppet tv shows of the 60's, infact some might find it offensive, depending on your stance and sensitivity to political, sexual and pretty much any social issues, but on the flipside, it is a comedy so it can't be taken too seriously, just make sure you lock the kids away first, because this is no Thunderbirds.

Synopsis and trailer

When North Korean ruler Kim Jong-il (Trey Parker) orchestrates a global terrorist plot, it's up to the heavily armed marionettes of the highly specialized Team America unit to stop his dastardly scheme. The group, which includes the thespian-averse technology expert Chris (Matt Stone), not only has to face off against Jong-il, but they must also contend with F.A.G., the Film Actors Guild, a cadre of Hollywood liberals at odds with Team America's "policing the world" tactics.

Directed by: Trey Parker
Produced by: Scott Rudin, Trey Parker, Matt Stone
Written by: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Pam Brady
Starring: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Kristen Miller, Masasa Moyo, Daran Norris, Phil Hendrie
Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams, Marc Shaiman
Cinematography: Bill Pope
Edited by: Thomas M. Vogt
Production company: Scott Rudin Productions
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Initial release dates: October 14, 2004 America (Denver)
Running time: 1hr 39mins

Osuofia in London

This movie took me by surprise because it was actually a well directed and edited comedy storyline by Kingsley Ogoro, that had me laughing out loud, i was not really a big advocate of films from Nigeria until this 2003 release. Osuofia in London stood out from the long list of uncreatively boring stories and almost painful to watch movies since the boom of  Nollywood (Nigeria's own equivelant to Hollywood) in the 1990s and 2000s. The movie was filmed on location in Nigeria and London, England, and stars the comedy actor Nkem Owoh, who played the hilariously entertaining lead role of Osuofia, which tells the story of a country bumkin (bushman) who travels from a small village in Nigeria to the very different city of London, England. Osuofia's character was already funny in his own village, then on arrival in London, the interactions with his new surroundings made this movie even more humorous. Osuofia in London was the first Nigerian movie that really caught my attention, when i watched it, i saw hope for Nollywood, and sure enough many movies have improved a lot since, and Nigeria’s film industry is currently ranked as the 2nd largest film industry in the world (after India) based on the number of films released per annum and it is worth over US $ 3.5 billion.
 

Synopsis and trailer

The eponymous Osuofia arrives in London straight from his village in Africa. He has inherited the vast estate of his deceased brother who left the village years before and amassed a business fortune in London.

Director: Kingsley Ogoro

Produced by: Kingsley Ogoro

Written by: Kingsley Ogoro

Cast: Nkem Owoh, Francis Odega, Mara Derwent, Cynthia Okereke, Charles Angiama, Sebastian Hall, Victoria Summers

Genre: Comedy

Country: Nigeria

Language: English, Igbo

Running time: 1h 5mins

Initial release: 2003 (Nigeria)

Hard Boiled

If you claim to like and know about action shoot em up's, and you've never seen or heard of this classic, then i'm sorry my friend, because you've been left in the dark. Released in 1992, Hard Boiled is a shoot em up fest of epic proportion that lasts for over two hours. Written and directed by the critically aclaimed John Woo, who is famous for this type of movie's and his trademark use of slow-motion, With this being his best work in my opinion, and the last one he made in Hong Kong before his American endevours, John Woo never really impressed me again as much as he did with this movie, Hard Boiled is a classic, that should be on every action junkies list. Even though the action was prominent in this movie, i liked the way the Jazz soundtrack composed by Michael Gibbs, smooths things over at times when it was needed to give the action a break, it was also a good idea allowing the lead role of Inspector "Tequila" Yuen, played by Chow Yun-fat, to be able to play the clarinet, i felt that these aspects added depth to the character and movie, also the dark humour at times allowed the movie not to take itself too seriously, which i also enjoyed, and not forgetting the finale sequence of the hospital, which are amongst the best action scenes ever, and probably inspired the movies original poster. Hard Boiled picked up Winner of the 1993 Hong Kong Film Award for Best Editing, and shot John woo and Chow yun-fat into the Hollywood limelight, i'm hoping that one day, Woo and Chow decide to work together like this again, because they have such great chemistry. A video game sequel titled Stranglehold was released in 2007, developed in collaboration with John Woo, and even stars Chow Yun-fat in a revival of his role as the Hard boiled cop, Stranglehold was cool and worth looking into if you're a gamer, it was also the last time we saw Woo and Chow colaborate since the movie, and would be great to see them work together again on a movie project.

"Give a man a gun and he thinks he's Superman. Give him two and he thinks he's God."

Quote from the movie

Video game sequel of Hard Boiled

Chow Yun-fat says this about the film in Hong Kong Action Cinema: "The film is seventy percent action, thirty percent story!" But this increase in action may have some base in reality. Chow goes on to say "In America, the policeman must shout 'stop' before he shoots you. Here [in Hong Kong], he can just shoot you any time, without warning! That comes across in the films."

Hard boiled was filmed in the 90's during the time of Asia's rising crime rate when triads were very active, thats why John Woo decided to create the character of 'Tequila' as a hero cop figure, to give the people hope, he himself made a cameo apearance as a bartender in a scene where he can be seen conversing with Tequila.

Synopsis and trailer



Chow Yun-fat

A cop who loses his partner in a shoot-out with gun smugglers goes on a mission to catch them. In order to get closer to the leaders of the ring he joins forces with an undercover cop who's working as a gangster hitman. They use all means of excessive force to find them.

Director: John Woo

John Woo

Producers: Terence Chang, Linda Kuk,
Written by: Gorden Chan, Barry Wong,
Story by: John Woo
Starring: Chow Yun-fat,  Tony Leung,  Chiu-Wai,  Teresa Mo,

Music by: Michael Gibbs
Cinematography: Wang Wing-Heng
Edited by: John Woo Jack Ah David Wu Kai Kit-Wai

Production company: Golden Princess Film Production, Milestone Pictures

Distributed by: Golden Princess Film Production (Hong Kong)

Running time: 1hr 28mins
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese, English Dubbed

Release date: 16 April 1992 (Hong Kong)

Straight Outta Compton

Theatrical movie release poster

Dubbed as 'the worlds most dangerous group', N.W.A was one of the first rap groups i listened to growing up, when i heard them, it was like the best thing ever, their music and lyrics were so street, raw and uncensored, that it demanded attention, and thats exactly what they got, after a few listens, i personally felt like the song 'Fuck tha police', (from their first album with the same name as the movie) was going to be my favourite song of all time, forever, 'Fuck tha police' is even on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. I was glad, to say the least, when i heard the news of N.W.A's biography movie was being made, and even more happy that this movie is produced by two of the original members and even stars one of their sons, in a tale of how they came Straight Outta Compton. In this biopic it was the role of Eazy-E played by Jason Mitchell that stole the show, he gave a really good performance, also O'Shea Jackson Jr. who played his father Ice Cube was impressive in his role but then he is his fathers son so i expected nothing less. This was an enjoyable watch for me and that's not simply because i'm a fan of N.W.A and Hip-hop but because it told a great story.

Here's a picture of N.W.A's first album cover with the same name as their movie, 'Straight outta compton'.

N.W.A's first Album, released in 1988

History

It all began in 1980s California, Eric Wright (Eazy E), O'Shea Jackson (Ice Cube), Andre Romelle Young (Dr Dre), Lorenzo Jerald Patterson (M.C Ren) and Antoine Carraby (DJ Yella), formed the group in Compton City and revolutionized music and pop culture with brutally honest songs about life in the hood. The groups first album (Straight Outta Compton) which came out in 1988, and went multi-platinum, was released on Ruthless Records, a label owned by group member Eazy E, who unfortunately died due to aids in 1995.

Cast

The cast members in the movie look very similar to the real members of N.W.A, Ice Cube's son also plays his father in the movie.

  O'Shea Jackson Jr.     Corey Hawkins           Jason Mitchell                 Aldis Hodge             Neil Brown,

Here's a music video from 1988 of N.W.A performing the Song “Straight Outta Compton”

 

 Synopsis and trailer

In 1987, five young men, using brutally honest rhymes and hardcore beats, put their frustration and anger about life in the most dangerous place in America into the most powerful weapon they had: their music. Taking us back to where it all began, Straight Outta Compton tells the true story of how these cultural rebels-armed only with their lyrics, swagger, bravado and raw talent-stood up to the authorities that meant to keep them down and formed the world's most dangerous group, N.W.A. And as they spoke the truth that no one had before and exposed life in the hood, their voice ignited a social revolution that is still reverberating today. - Universal Pictures

Inspired by the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton, Dr. Dre released his first album in 16 years on August 7th 2015, exclusively on iTunes. The album features old and new artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Ice Cube, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and The Game, amongst others. All proceeds of the record will be donated to help fund a new performing arts facility in Compton California.

Compton: A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre (Album Cover)

Me

To promote the new Straight Outta Compton movie...
There's a website to show where you're from by personalising the logo with your own text.

Get yours at

http://www.straightouttasomewhere.com/

 

Official red band trailer with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre narrating at the start.

Cast and crew

Director: F. Gary Gray

Produced by: Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Tomica Woods-Wright, Matt Alvarez, F. Gary Gray, Scott Bernstein

Music composed by: Joseph Trapanese

Cinematography: Matthew Libatique
Edited by: Billy Fox

Production company: Legendary Pictures, Cube Vision, Will Packer production
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Running time: 150 minutes

Release date: August 14, 2015 (USA)

Attack On Titan

Attack On Titan is a Japanese manga (comic) that dates back to 2009, The story is set in a world where humanity lives inside cities surrounded by enormous walls as defence against the Titans, gigantic, humanoid creatures that eat humans. A television anime adaptation came out in 2013, after only the first series, plans went ahead to make the feature lenght movie, like many other people, i enjoyed the first series of the anime show and was eagerly anticipating the second. When news of the movie came out i was pleasently surprised and although changes were made to the story and main characters, the movie still stuck with the core elements of the original while introducing us to new characters and ideas, which works for me, and something that does not change in true manga action fashion is the gore, so yes expect a lot of gore. The movie was released on 1 August 2015 and went straight to number-one on its opening in Japan, followed by a second part, Attack On Titan: End Of The World, to be released on 19 September 2015, also a second series of the anime version as been confirmed for 2016, so theres quiet a few things to look foward to with this great franchise.

Synopsis and trailer

            

                 Military faction emblems for guards of the city

Trainee Squard,  Garrison Corps,  Survey Corps,  Military Police,

Over one hundred years ago before the story begins, giant humanoid creatures called Titans appeared and nearly wiped out humanity by devouring and feasting on them. What remains of humanity now resides within three enormous concreet walls: the outermost is Wall Maria, the middle wall is Wall Rosé and the innermost is Wall Sina, with three military factions inside these walls, humanity has lived in peace for one hundred years with many people growing up never seeing a Titan. This all changed when one day, a giant 60-meter tall Titan mysteriously appears and breaches the outer wall of the Shiganshina district, a town at Wall Maria, allowing the smaller Titans to invade the district then the carnage begins all over again, humanities only hope are the brave men and women in the military who are trained to kill the giant monsters. A young man in particular by the name of Eren, stood up to the task, along with two of his friends Mikasa and Armin, they join the militery to bring the battle to the Titans.

Second trailer

(Female lead role)

(Male lead role)

  

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy

Duration: 1hr 30mins

Director: Shinji Higuchi
Screenplay: Tomohiro Machiyama, Yuusuke Watanabe
Original creator: Hajime Isayama
Character Design: Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Kouji Tajima, Takayuki Takeya 
Art Director: Takeshi Shimizu
Director of Photography: Shouji Ehara

Release date: Part 1, 1 August 2015, Part 2, 19 September 2015.

Hear Me Move

USA as done it many times, India does it all the time, now its South Africa's turn! thats right, a dance movie. Screened at both the Cannes and London Film Festivals, Hear me Move is a landmark movie that follows the story of a young man named Muzi, played by new actor Nyaniso Dzedze, set in Johannesburg, and directed by Scotness L. Smith, here is a brief outline of the story, “The son of a famous street dancer tries to discover the truth about his father's tragic death 12 years prior. When he joins forces with his father's dance partner, he finds himself embroiled in a bitter rivalry that pushes him to his limit”.

Remarks Smith: “Was I going for the poverty grade in movies such as Tsotsi and
Yesterday? No, I wanted vibrant colour, sweat, glistening skin and we were
actually shooting during the bloom of graffiti in Jo’burg”.

Urban theme from set

 Here's the full synopsis (spoiler alert) and trailer

Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, Muzi is a street dance prodigy struggling to keep a promise he made to his mother to never dance again after his equally gifted father was murdered at a street party twelve years earlier. Little does he know that his father's death was not as everyone believed it to be. When his father's ex-dance partner, Shoes, approaches Muzi to join his dance crew, "Sbujwa Nation", Muzi has to choose between finding out the truth about his father's death or disappointing his mother. What he does not realize is that by joining Shoes's crew, he will make himself mortal enemies with Prince, the former leader of Shoes's crew and head of a new dance crew that's taking the city by storm. As Muzi struggles to adapt to his new crew, Prince garthers support throughout the dance community by upstaging Sbujwa Nation whenever he can and gaining popularity ahead of the big dance competition that everyone is working towards, titled Hear ME Move. Muzi has to dig deep and come up with something that the crowds have never seen before, while at the same time fighting to keep the crew together in the face of backstabbing, jealousy and his budding romance with Khanyi, the stunningly beautiful girl in Sbujwa Nation and Muzis school mate in college. Eventually he finds an old VHS tape that his father left him before he died, and that proves to be the game changer.

Producer Wandile Molebatsi, who also plays the part of Thami Skhulu, says it’s a film maker’s dream come true, The director Scotness L. Smith also had this to say about the landmark movie, 'It may not look like it, but this is a political film. Because it's the first film which lets us talk in a language that is our language. The language of our dance'.

The dance form in the movie is called, Sbujwa, which originated from Pantsula, the South African dance form from the 50s and 60s

Dance scene from Hear Me Move

Hear Me Move features energetic "sbujwa" and "pantsula" dance sequences, choreographed by the award-winning Paul Modjadji, that play out against the backdrop of a gritty urban Johannesburg seldom seen on the silver screen. Smith says, "We opted to focus on sbujwa and pantsula, our home grown urban street dances, because we wanted South Africans to see themselves and be proud of their contemporary culture."

Here is an interview with Bontle Modiselle who plays the female lead role

Sbujwa Nation

Running Time: 1h 2mins

Genre: Dance, Music, Drama

Release Date: 27 Feb  2015                                

Language: English/Zulu with English Subtitles

Age Restriction: 13

                                   

Cast:

             Thembi Seeti, Amanda Du Pont, Boity Thulo, Lorcia Cooper, Khanyi Mbau, Nyaniso Dzedze, Bontle Modiselle, Mbuso Kgarebe

Producer: Wandile Molebatsi 
Director: Scottness L. Smith
Choreographer: Paul Modjadji.
Music: Zethu Mashika

Njinga, Rainha de Angola (Nzinga, Queen of Angola)



Njinga, Rainha de Angola (Nzinga, Queen of Angola) is the 2013 movie about the true story of a leader, warrior and queen, who fought against the Portuguese and their expanding slave trade in Central Africa. This movie was very well directed with a good cast, custumes and breathtaking scenes that pulls the viewer into the moment. Directed by the portuguese director Sergio Graciano, and starring Miss Angola 2008 (Lesliana Pereira) in lead role, who by the way does a excellent job in bringing the character to life, in which lead to her role being nominated for a best actress award in 2015. The story of Queen Njinga alone makes this a worthwhile watch as a part of African history, something that the people of African descent can be proud of rather than the American slave movies that we so often see and i personally grew tired of. This movie is a captivating adventure of epic proportion that everybody, not just Africans should watch.

 Synopsis and trailer

 In 17th century Angola, a woman leads her kingdom in a 40-year struggle for freedom and independence. Her name is Njinga. She will be known as Queen Njinga. Born into a patriarchal society, Njinga defied tradition to become queen at the age of 50 with the aim of ensuring her people were kept safe from the Portuguese slave traders. A true story of unrivalled determination, Njinga stands today as a symbol of resistance, fully embodying the motto: “those who fight, fight to win”.

Lesliana Pereira

The lead role was played by Lesliana Pereira the Angolan beauty queen who represented Angola in Miss Universe 2008. Lesliana is also a model, T.V presenter and fashionista.

Lesliana in character as Queen Njinga

More on the story of Queen Njinga

Queen Njinga (1583-1663) Also known as Ana de Sousa Njinga Mbande was a 17th century queen of the Ndongo and Matamba Kingdoms of the Mbundu people in Angola, South West Africa. As ruler of Matamba, She was a military leader who waged war against the  Portuguese,European invaders and inspired other African leaders to join in the resistance. Njinga was born to Ngola (ruler) Kiluanji and Kangela in 1583. According to tradition, she was named Njinga because her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck (the Kimbundu verb kujinga means to twist or turn). It was said to be an indication that the person who had this characteristic would be proud and haughty. According to her recollections later in life, she was greatly favored by her father, who allowed her to witness as he governed his kingdom, and who carried her with him to war. She also had a brother, Ngola Mbandi and two sisters Kifunji and Mukambu. She lived during a period when the Atlantic slave trade and the consolidation of power by the Portuguese in the region were growing rapidly. Njinga first appears in the historical record as the envoy of her brother, the Ngola (the ruler), Ngola Mbande, at a peace conference with the Portuguese governor João Correia de Sousa in Luanda in 1622.

Title: Njinga, Rainha de Angola (Nzinga, Queen of Angola)
Category: History, Biography, Adventure
Duration: 1h 49m
Director: Sergio Graciano
Release Year: 2013
Language: Portuguese
 

District 13

District 13 or Banlieue 13 as known in France is a 2004 action packed movie that introduces parkour (freerunning) to the movie world and does not hold any punches with its intense fight scenes and enemy evasiveness using techniques and movements from the phisical activity known as parkour. The term ‘Parkour’ was first introduced by one of its co-founders David Belle in 1998, Belle also stars in this adrenaline filled movie in which he can be seen all the way through performing amazing skills in parkour making this movie unique and ground breaking to the point that the American rapper, actor and director Rza (Wu Tang Clan) decided to remake it in 2014 with the title Brick Mansions which also stars David Bell alongside the late Paul Walker. Before its American remake the original had a sequel called District 13: Ultimatum which came out in 2009. Theres enough for any action junkie in this movie and if you like parkour its an extra, i mean why would'nt you, even if it is only from a spectators point, its still breathtaking, so sit back and take a ride thhrough District 13.

Official synopsis and trailer

“ In 21st-century Paris, a member (Cyril Raffaelli) of an elite police squad must enter a crime-ridden ghetto to defuse a bomb that has fallen into the hands of Taha (Larbi Naceri), a powerful hoodlum. The cop joins forces with a civilian (David Belle) who must rescue his sister (Dany Verissimo) from the same criminal who holds the bomb.”

This movie was written and produced by the critically acclaimed, award winning french director Luc Besson and see's the directorial debut of Pierre Morel who directed Taken.


Directed by: Pierre Morel
Produced by: Luc Besson, Bernard Grenet
Written by: Luc Besson, Bibi Naceri
Starring: David Belle, Cyril Raffaelli, Dany Verissimo, Bibi Naceri
Tony D'Amario
Running time: 1hr 26mins
Country: France
Language: French   
Release dates: 10 November 2004 (France)

Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice

So DC as finally merged two of their biggest franchise in a full lenth feature film for the first time, we all know its been a long time coming because we've seen it done in comic books and cartoon animations many times before but never like this. Lots of fans have been waiting for this moment and judging by the new and detailed trailer that features Lex Luthor and wonder woman, amongst others, it seems like this is going to be the begining of the story that leads into the the formation of Justice League (DC's equivalent to Marvels Avengers) it's also been confirmed that Aquaman and Cyborg will be making an appearence. With all that in mind it will be interesting to see how the director Zack Snyder who also directed the last Superman movie brings it all to the big screen. The film was announced at 2013 after the release of Superman Man of Steel.

"... after Man of Steel finished and we started talking about what would be in the next movie, I started subtly mentioning that it would be cool if he faced Batman... You're in a story meeting talking about, like, who should [Superman] fight if he fought this giant alien threat Zod who was basically his equal physically, from his planet, fighting on our turf... You know, who to fight next?... But I'm not gonna say at all that when I took the job to do Man of Steel that I did it in a subversive way to get to Batman. I really believe that only after contemplating who could face [Superman] did Batman come into the picture."

— Snyder, on how Batman came into the film

Ben Affleck plays a older and more mature Caped Crusader with grey hairs and unshaven look whiles Superman is still played by the british actor Henry Cavill from the last Superman movie.

Ben Affleck                                                                          Henry Cavill

Official Warner Bros. synopsis and trailer.

“Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.”

 This movie is set to expand and bring the DC comic book universe to the big screen, it's already been unveiled that cast members from Batman V Superman (Dawn Of Justice) will also star in Justice League movies and other spin-off's.

Justice League

 Here's the DC Entertainment break down of the trailer

Directed by: Zack Snyder
Produced by: Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder
Written by: Chris Terrio, David S. Goyer
Based on Characters published by: DC Comics
Starring: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, Gal Gadot
Music by: Hans Zimmer
Cinematography: Larry Fong
Edited by: David Brenner
Production company: DC Entertainment, Atlas Entertainment, RatPac Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films,
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Country: United States 
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Release dates: March 25, 2016 (United States)

Ghostbusters (2016)

Actresses in the new Ghostbusters movie

The all new female ghostbusters cast gives an interesting and easily marketable twist to the reboot of the great franchise, judging by the picture posted online by the director with the members in their ghostbusting outfit and gear i can pretty much guess by the female actresses who's persona they will have from their past male counterparts and even a cameo's from Dan Akroyd and Bill Murray are confirmed. The orignal came out in 1985, then the second in 1989, so yes it as been a while and people are eager to see what will happen with this third installment. Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kirsten Wiig and Kate McKinnon all look totally kickass in the picture posted on social media site Twitter by the director Paul Feig with the hashtag, #whoyougonnacall Ghostbusters is due for release in 2016.

#whoyougonnacall pic.twitter.com/hnrSjhCqSl

— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) July 10, 2015

Synopsis

Erin Gilbert (Wiig) and Abby Yates (McCarthy) are a pair of unheralded authors who write a book positing that ghosts are real. A few years later Gilbert lands a prestigious teaching position at Columbia University, but her book resurfaces and she is laughed out of academia. Gilbert reunites with Yates and others when ghosts invade Manhattan and she and her team have to save the world.

Paul Feig also twitted other pictures, included was the new ghostbuster mobile (ecto 1) with the hashtag #whattheygonnadrive
and another picture of the new Proton Pack with arrows pointing to and detailing functions of the equipment.

It all seems very similar to the original idea apart from the obvious changes to the characters of cause, i for one think the idea is to keep in mind the die hard fans of the original Ghostbusters while also trying to appeal to a new demographic to bring the franchise back in this genaration.

The new Ghostbusters in uniform

Ghostbusters Release Date

 In Theaters July 22, 2016 

Rated: PG13

       

  Ghostbusters Credits

            Starring: Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Kristen Wiig
            Written by: Katie Dippold and Paul Feig       
            Directed by: Paul Feig
            Produced by: Ivan Reitman                               
            Distributor: Sony / Columbia

Besouro Mangangá

This movie Besouro (beetle) tells the amazing story of the legendary capoeira fighter Manoel Henrique Pereira, who would eventually become the icon Besouro Mangangá. The movie's story begins in 1920s Brazil when slavery has been abolished but in the poor town of Bahia the plantations are still run by men who hold the local population as slaves. When his capoeira master is murdered by the evil Col. Venancio, Besouro wages a one-man war against the colonel and his men and even against death itself. This movie artistically incorporates the Brazilian martial arts capoeira with African spiritual systems and delivers it in a well choreographed way by Ku Huen-Chiu of 'Crouching Tiger', 'Matrix' and 'Kill Bill'. Despite the fact that this movie follows the typical clichè of matial arts movies about a student avenging his teacher, it still works, and although i would have also liked to have seen more action scenes from the choreographer, the ones we do see are great. Known as 'The Assailant' in English speaking countries, Besouro was directed by João Daniel Tikhormiroff and came out in 2009.

Acion scene from Besouro

Here's the trailer

 

Follow this link for more on Besouro Mangangá

More on Capoeira

Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics and music, and is sometimes referred to as a game It was developed in Brazil mainly by West African descendents with native Brazilian influences, probably beginning in the 16th century, capoeira today is now an intangible cultural heritage of Brazil.

The music in capoeira sets the tempo and style of game that is to be played within the roda (circle). The music is formed by instruments and singing. The main instrument called berimbau, controls the rhythm with a tempo that differ from very slow to very fast, depending on the style of the roda. Two capoeiristas enter the roda and play the game according to the style required by the musical instruments rhythm.

Musical inatruments used in Capoeira

Roda (circle)

 

Capoeira is a unique art form for the fact that it can either be described as martial arts, a dance, or a game. In a sense, Capoeira is to Brazil what Parkour is to France and Thai Boxing is to Thailand.

Here's how Capoeira looks when put against another form of martial arts, in this scene from a movie called Tom-Yum-Goong or as known in North America ‘The Protector’ we see a Capoeiraista called Lateef Crowder Make an appearance.

Follow this link for more on Capoeira

Initial release: October 30, 2009 (Brazil)
Language: Portugese (English subtitles)

Director: João Daniel Tikhomiroff

Written by: Patrícia Andrade Bráulio Tavares
João Daniel Tikhomiroff

Running time: 1h 35m

Initial DVD release: February 10, 2010 (Brazil)

Music composed by: Pupillo, Rica Amabis, Tejo Damasceno