Author: Osamudiamen Joe

I am going to attempt to draw a parallel between the short film, Gasper, and Inland Empire (2006), the last feature film by acclaimed American director, David Lynch. As a critic, I find that sometimes, to better understand a work, I need to think of any other film(s) it reminds me of, and then compare both. It’s a fun exercise to do since cinema is filled with different examples of styles and approaches to trace newly released projects back to. First Look: Winifred Iguwa Unveils First Teaser for ‘9TH FLOOR’, Sci-Fi Thriller Short Film Gasper, created by Cheyi Okoaye and…

Spoilers Ahead You’ve seen this show before. Probably under a different name. Maybe it was called Elite, and set in Spain. Or Riverdale and set in the US. Or Sex Education, and set in the UK. The point is Far From Home drowns in all-too-familiar tropes found in the High School drama subgenre, give or take a few blends and changes. And yet, from the title of this review alone, I bet you can tell that I didn’t enjoy this show as much as most people, or as much as I’d have loved to. That’s only because Far From Home,…

There’s a moment in Ema Edosio Deelen’s Otiti, where the titular protagonist is passing through a market, and as is the unfortunate practice in a lot of Nigerian markets, she is being touched and pulled by a thousand and one vendors eager to earn her patronage. This moment, lasting only 15 seconds and played out in slow motion, serves as an efficient visual metaphor to communicate to the audience the state of Otiti’s mind and life. At any point in time, there are multiple things demanding her attention, whether it is an impatient customer expressing their displeasure at the fact…

One emotion we humans are all too familiar with is pain. The happiness or excitement we experience cannot go on too long without being interrupted by something painful, such as a breakup, losing a job or a close friend or family member, coming down with a pretty serious illness, or even just the general existential dread that comes with being alive. It is quite possible to carry pain for years, decades even, and have it invade every part of our lives, showing up in both unexpected and all too familiar ways. ‘Samaria’ Review: In Cinema, as in Life, Things are…

Samaria is a highly subversive film and a particularly good one at that. If a film is subversive or if it “subverts expectations,” this means that it uses plot twists in its story to surprise and challenge the audience. A variety of techniques are used to achieve this. The twist should make sense within the context of the story while enhancing character arcs and challenging genres. Sometimes, the subversion is used for shock value, sometimes it is an attempt by the filmmaker to deconstruct a specific genre or trope. Short Film Review: Biddy-da-dum, ‘BOO’D UP’ Delivers an Engaging Watch Some…

Given everything that happens in this film, BOO’D UP is a pretty ironic title. This was the first thing that came to mind right before the fade to black. To be boo’d up or booed up means to be in a romantic relationship. It means to be “paired up” and basking in the enjoyment that presumably comes with having a significant other. Except no one in the Chukwuka Osakwe-directed short seems remarkably content with their lot, as far as love and romance go. The story focuses on three characters— Nonso (Taye Arimoro), Vee (Gbubemi Ejeye), and Jeff (Aderinto Stephen)— who,…

Juju Stories, the 3-part anthology film by Surreal16, is finally on streaming– it was released on Amazon Prime Video on October 7. The stories feature a lot of magical realist elements, combining the mundane aspects of Nigerian society with the seemingly metaphysical. Movie Review: ‘Juju Stories’ is an Occultic Rhapsody In this review, the critic describes Juju Stories as “tales about magic sans any magic.” Rob Rector at Film Threat says the film features “vignettes that explore the more magical elements of Nigerian culture,” and the reviewer at Movie Freak mentions that even though everything looks “simple and real” on…

I talk about the French New Wave a lot. Whenever I get to be part of a discussion about film, whether online or in person, I find a way to smoothly transition from the topic at hand to the group of people who pioneered a movement that greatly revolutionized our approach to film production and theory, namely, Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol, Agnes Varda, and Jacques Demy. I do not even usually have to try that hard; the influence of the French New Wave is everywhere. Writing about Godard’s debut film, Breathless (1960), in 2003, the late…

I do not think we’re meant to see films once. Stanley Kubrick once said, “The whole idea that a movie should be seen only once is an extension of our traditional conception of the film as an ephemeral entertainment rather than as a visual work of art. We don’t believe that we should hear a great piece of music only once or see a great painting once, or even read a great book just once.”  If you share the above sentiment, then you agree that films should be seen again and again, in different eras and under different societal conditions.…

At only six episodes, it might be possible to watch all of Ludik in the space of one afternoon, probably on 1.5 speed and with lots of snacks to boot. However, the chances are you won’t. The reason is simple enough. Even though Ludik, a Netflix original crime drama set in South Africa that serves as an Afrikaans first, turned out to be marginally more engaging than I anticipated, it falls into the same pitfalls as the others. The problem lies in the characters– specifically the main character, Daan Ludik (Arnold Vosloo). At no point does the series make a…