Ecstoxica

Africa! Uganda! Movies!

Suddenly, over the past few days, I have been receiving phone calls from friends telling me to take a look at Ramon Film Productions' trailer on YouTube. Initially, I thought it was a new movie slated to be released sometime in the future so I was bidding my time and exploring my new environs. But after one too many phone calls, I opened up to the intrusion, took a break from my mini-vacation and opened the YouTube page to see what the big fuss was. Uganda's "first action movie" trailer, which is tittled "Who killed Captain Alex?" was the reason behind all the fuss. I was a little furious to have my "alone time" disrupted by that. But I also knew why everyone who had seen the trailer was hitting me up. Have you seen it? (If not, open up YouTube right now and search for "Who killed Captain Alex"). The first time I saw the trailer was in the first week of february when I was researching on movie industries outside ghallywood and nollywood. I laughed so hard my tummy ached. I couldn't show it to my white friends in school because I knew they would miss the humor. But seriously though, is this what Africa can produce? Looking at the quality of movies from Ghana and Nigeria, only a handful are worth writing home about. I figure for the production of its first action movie, Uganda could have done a whole lot better. I keep wondering what possessed the brains behind this project to include such ... graphics. Those special effects can only rival those from Hollywood (sarcastically speaking, that is)! And the horrid name of the movie...? Well that is an African thing I guess, so I can't talk about that. I mean, I am Ghanaian and we have titles like "Hot Fork" (that has nothing to do with a fork), etc. So let me shut my trap! I restrain from putting a link of the video here.... Yes! It was that much horrid. So visit YouTube if you must (please help increase the number of views...I am sure they need it)! My final thoughts about this project will forever die with me. This is afterall, a first movie. It can get better... Right? At least I hope it does... For all our sakes!

"INCEPTION" Review

Inception is easily the best big budget film of the year so far and probably one of the most beautiful, well written, and fully realized high dollar films of the last five years. Inception is the story of Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a thief of the mind called an extractor who enters the dreams of high powered individuals and steals their secrets via an architect. The architect is responsible for building the world of the dreamer, convincing them their surroundings are real. Dom is assisted by his friend and colleague Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the voice of reason in Dom’s life. We’re brought into the beginning of the story in the middle of an extraction, in the mind of sleeping energy company CEO Saito (Ken Watanabe). What seems to be a routine extraction turns into what the entire film ends up being; a question of what is what, when, and who is aware. Christopher Nolan pulls together a top notch cast to fill out the world of Inception. Ellen Page is great as Ariadne, Cobb’s new and highly talented architect. Page plays Ariadne with both strength and vulnerability all at the same time. She, in many ways, becomes more of an asset to Cobb than long-time partner Arthur when it comes to dealing with deeper issues. While Arthur probably knows Dom better than anyone, he’s not emotionally open enough to say many of the things that Ariadne does. As Arthur, Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays yet another part to subtle perfection. Gordon-Levitt picked a fantastic vehicle to step out of the indie circuit and into a big budget production. Arthur is the rock to Cobb’s sometime erratic shifting-sand personality. They are a complimentary team, and it is great seeing their interaction on screen. The biggest surprise is probably Leonardo DiCaprio. In almost everything he’s done to this point, the impression is usually that of watching DiCaprio perform a part, but always being present. Be it Romeo, Howard Hughes, or Jim Carroll — it was always that character as presented through the prism of Leonardo DiCaprio. Not so in Inception. DiCaprio is Dom Cobb. DiCaprio sells the film the moment he’s on screen, and you’re glued to him from start to finish. Dom spends most of the film attempting to mute his own emotions, hiding his painful secrets. When he’s finally no longer able to keep them under wraps, DiCaprio puts on an incredible performance. Ken Watanabe brings heart to Saito, a man who is morally black nor white, and provides the audience a connection to him that’s much appreciated. Tom Hardy has a ton of slick swagger as the forger Eames, and Dileep Rao does much with limited screen time as the chemist, Yusuf. As much as it may seem like I’ve given away, I’ve really only scratched the surface. In a lot of ways, I have not told you much of anything. That is the really amazing thing about the ten years of work that Christopher Nolan put into bringing this story to the big screen. Inception has a very cerebral plot, big on emotion and deeply connected to the exploration of the subconscious — but it’s an action film, and a beautiful one. Wally Pfister’s cinematography is amazing and the digital effects work is seamless. Inception is not only a treat visually, but matched by the music from the first scene on. This movie is what The Wachowskis wish the rest of The Matrix films after the first could have been; a head trip with outrageous action sequences and a strong emotional attachment to the story. Nolan proves again, that he’s wholly capable of bringing his unique voice and vision to the screen in a way that few writer/directors can. Inception will be well worth your time and cash.

"SALT" Review

"SALT" is one of those rare action movies that has non-stop hard-hitting action for ninety minutes straight and is all done with a brain. It was originally written for a male lead star, which Tom Cruise was the primary candidate for, but after he turned it down because it was too similar to his role in Mission: Impossible, the makers changed the script and Angelina Jolie played the same role reworked for a female main lead. Jolie plays the role of Evelyn Salt, who is a C.I.A. officer amazing at her job. She has done everything to protect the United States. One day, as she is leaving work to go home to her husband for their anniversary, a strange man walks into the C.I.A. offices with an odd accusation about Salt( We later find out who this man really is). As she and her partner, Ted Winter (Schreiber), listen to hear him talk, things start to get a little crazy. This man (who is considered a defector), claims that Evelyn is actually a Russian spy who has been planted in the United States to kill the President. Salt freaks out, thinking that this can’t be true, and makes a run for it. Ted is on her side at first, but as the counter-intelligence officer Peabody (Ejiofor) steps in, he starts to realize that Evelyn could actually be a Russian spy. Her actions of running away are not helping her but she wants to make sure that her husband is safe, even if that means risking her life. As the movie goes on, we learn more and more about who Salt really is. The question is whether or not she can prove her innocence before being captured. The action is absolutely non-stop but the best part about it is that it’s believable. Director Philip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger) does not go over-the-top to the point where the action seemed unreal. This movie is about 90 percent action and there is great story-telling occurring as well. The twists and turns in the plot are very surprising and shocking and will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time. Throughout the entire film, you will be wondering who Salt really is. As the story gets deeper you start to become attached to the character but the best part is that you don’t really ever know her true intentions. Jolie has finally bridged that gap where one is able to look at her character as an action star, rather than a female or male. Every performance in the film is strong from Jolie to the amazingly talented actors, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Liev Schrieber. The film is short (100 minutes running time), fun and you get to see Angelina Jolie kicking butt and looking hot. It is best watched on a big screen. Director: Philip Noyce Cast: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Daniel Olbrychski Rating: 4* out of 5

Movie Industry In Ghana

The disappointment of the Ghanaian movie industry is unparalleled, in my opinion, to any other. With the amount of publicity we channel into them, we do not give the audience quality movies in return. This is not something we should be proud of. It is very heartbreaking, to say the very least, to see Nigerian movies do so well on the open market while the interest in Ghanaian movies dwindles day in and day out. And why wouldn't it, when we produce amateur-like movies or straight up soft and hard pornography. 

 Over the years, I have watched enough Ghanaian movies to recognise a very obvious pattern in the industry. There are different classes of films, I have observed, and each class has pretty much the same actors and actresses in them. I typically categorize them into three: Tier one has people like Van Vicker, Jackie Appiah, Nadia Buari and John Dumelo; Tier two has Yvonne Nelson, Majid Michel and Nana Ama McBrown; Tier three has the likes of Prince Dave Osei, Martha Ankomah and Juliet Ibrahim. 

I will go into a lot more detail. These tiers in themselves, are not of any high standards. Truthfully speaking, if I was criticising the quality of Ghanaian and Nigerian movies on the same scale, these pre-defined tiers above will drop about 3-4 levels and tier one would be made up of the likes of Mawuli Semevor, Rama Brew, Akorfa Asiedu and even Kwaku Sintim-Misa. These are people who, obviously, are in no way anywhere close to the likes of Denzel Washington or even Angelina Jolie. 

They are, however, people who have a lot of our culture reflecting in their acting and hold their own. They are natural in whatever role they play and one never got any sense of exaggeration like we do in these recent movies. Over the past couple of weeks... months.... years even, we have started to honour these new faces in the Ghanaian movie industry. 

What exactly, if I may probe, are we honouring them for? Are we honoring Jackie Appiah for being able to still act like she was 16, Nadia Buari for being the love interest in every movie she has a role in, Martha Ampomah for trying her hardest to exude sex on the screen and even Juliet Ibrahim for her lack of acting skills. I ask again, WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE HONORING THESE ACTORS AND ACTRESSES FOR? 

I am asking because I do not see anything that they have done that makes any of them deserve these honors that are being accorded them. It is about time we stopped trying to westernize the very essence of one of our main expressions of culture and do what we know how to do best. We ought to embrace our uniqueness and in this, we have to take a leaf out of the book of the Nigerians.

 It is about that time where we realized there is no way we are going to be doing what the likes of Brad Pitt and John Travolta do and stick to perfecting what we do best and what defines us as a nation and a people.