₦airaland Forum

Baddestguyp:
Nolan is my favorite Hollywood director but i fear he has fumbled with The Odyssey.

Was discussing with some colleagues at work who are also fans of his and no one is holding out any hope for the movie.

I have not seen a single positive thing about the movie. From the trailers to the costumes to the casting...everything feels so wrong and out of place for someone like Nolan.

I don't know if he was pressured or what? But right now I have zero hopes for the movie.
It has all the tellsigns of a terrible movie so far

The same was said about the Matrix, flight club and others. Calm down, I'll be watching a screening in two weeks. People have always underestimated Nolan anytime he was doing something new and he has always clapped back with performance, I honestly don't see anything wrong with the costume, my only problem is the casting

oyaskii:
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‎Side note: On the subject of casting misappropriation, if they eventually make a sequel to "Michael" (2026) and cover the period where MJ transitioned to full on white, do they recast him with a white actor, or do they simply keep Jaafar Jackson and “leather him up” with makeup? 👀

I remember telling abduleez that Michael will make a billion definitely and he said no 😂😂, the movie already has 700 million and it hasn't even opened in some of its key markets yet

oyaskii:
Film Music...My Father's Shadow (2025). A case study

“Music is a character in the film.” — Howard Shore

One of my favourite aspects of a film is always the music behind it. Film is best described as a visual medium, yet one of its most effective storytelling tools is the music. Even before the characters speak or any significant plot movement occurs, you can often tell where the movie is going simply by listening to the score or song. Long after you've seen the movie, you begin to associate its sound not just with the film, but with different emotions and facets of the human condition.

When you hear Hans Zimmer’s Cornfield Chase, you aren't just associating it with Interstellar (2014) anymore, you now associate it with space, ascension, transcendence, interstellar travel. Or when you hear John Williams’s The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s theme), you instantly think of authority, totalitarianism and menace. Hearing James Horner’s Southampton from Titanic (1996), immediately evokes voyage and longing. I could go on and on, but the point here is that film music is the very heart and soul of cinema.

In Nollywood, the blatant neglect of this important aspect of filmmaking is perhaps why many modern films feel devoid of soul... unnecessarily loud, yet emotionally empty. There is simply nothing connecting you to the story. At least old Nollywood used to try in this regard. They developed scores to give “life” to scenes. There was that particular “gong” sound whenever someone was about to do something sinister, and once you heard Stanley Okorie singing "Why Is the World So Wicked", you instantly knew Nkiru Sylvanus had probably just been orphaned, while Patience Ozokwor, playing the wicked aunty, was somewhere plotting to make her life even worse! 😩

This is perhaps why our pop culture is still dominated by "Old Nollywood". The sound bites, the scores, the dramatic cues content creators still use them today because they remain excellent reference points, instantly recognizable even beyond these shores. But take something like "Behind the Scene" (2025), a supposed student of "New Nollywood"… what exactly is there to reference years from now? What is there to dominate pop culture? Certainly not the story, and most definitely not the music or sound design.

Watching My Father's Shadow the other day, I was particularly impressed by the score,soundtrack and sound design. It felt so thoughtfully put together and, at times, helped me connect to the story even more deeply than the action unfolding on screen. I quickly went to Apple Music and was pleased to find that the soundtrack had thankfully been digitally released.

I haven’t followed the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards for years because they’ve always had a knack for rewarding mediocrity, but I checked this year and saw that this film won Best Score/Soundtrack, among other notable awards, and I was genuinely so pleased. Very, very deserved 👏🏿

If film music is the heart of the movie, then the screenplay is undoubtedly its skeletal system—the invisible architecture that holds every emotion, beat, and revelation in place.
In the same way that "Old Nollywood" understood the power of a dramatic "gong" to signal impending doom, its writers also understood the power of a singular, driving conflict. In the rush to join "New Nollywood," many modern screenwriters have traded that honesty for hollow "aesthetic" dialogue—scripts that look good on paper but lack the marrow of real human experience.
This is why My Father’s Shadow (2025) feels like such a breath of fresh air. Dthe film doesn't just present a plot; it weaves a "magical and gritty portrait" that feels deeply rooted in the complexities of Nigerian life, much like his previous work Lizard. The writing here is patient—a rarity in a sea of films that feel like they’re shouting to keep your attention.
What struck me most about the writing in My Father’s Shadow was the nuanced handling of intergenerational trauma and memory. The dialogue isn't just there to move us from Point A to Point B; it’s used to explore the "processes of understanding trauma," where the lines between reality and fantasy often blur (Howard, 2026). We aren't just watching a story about a family; we are watching the internal collapse and reconstruction of characters who are trying to find "a workable meaning" for their lives amidst the weight of their lineage.
While many modern Nollywood scripts feel like a collection of social media tropes stitched together, it treats its characters with a level of psychological depth that justifies its recent AMVCA accolades. It’s a script that understands silence. It knows that sometimes the most profound "writing" isn't a witty comeback or a shouted monologue, but the quiet, heavy realization of a character finally seeing their father's flaws for what they truly are—shadows that they no longer have to live within.

abduleez1:
Great night...... Dominance. 🤞🏽😎

I literally had no doubt this would win. It's the most thoughtful and visually compelling movie I've ever seen from a Nigerian. First time I saw it if I can remind you, I wasn't even calling the director a Nigerian or even labeling it as a Nollywood film cos in my opinion it wasn't.... at the time mostly because I worked with mubi for the distribution rights to the film and even knew the editor Omar Castro so I thought it was like Beast of no Nation kind of movie. So I was pleasantly surprised.
So congrats on your movie. You all did fabulously well, hope your name is in the credits

oyaskii:
lol yeah i could easily see the work that went into making this, and it came out beautifully.

Like the discourse we have always have here, Nigeria has such a great history across many facets, that would make for such wonderful period piece motion pictures, but our producers here are so "scared" to indulge, they will rather dance around the same shallow, loud, razz, soulless films because they are safe bets and to claim the title of biggest box office return every year, with no lasting impression. I was having a discourse with someone about ,"Micheal" (2026) , and we joked about how there has never been a "Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti Biopic" , i mean this guy popularize "Afrobeat" which is such a force now worldwide, and there isn't a specific film about him?. I did a little digging, and found out the film is actually in development since 2023, and you guessed right, an American production company secured the rights from his estate. So if it takes foreign inputs to tell our stories, i am all for it tbh.

I care deeply about this industry so so much, unfortunately 😞....i have so many good people around me, invested in it, in someway, you included now lol..
So i really do hope it continues to succeed, like this film has just done 👍🏿

I think I've said this to abduleez before.
We need to have a serious conversation about why a definitive Fela Kuti film or an actually solid Civil War doesn't exist yet. The talent in Nigeria isn't the problem—we have world-class cinematographers, sound designers, and editors who are proving their worth on every new project. The problem is a chronic lack of investment in anything that isn't a guaranteed commercial hit.

Right now, the Nigerian film market is essentially a one-trick pony. The data shows that if it’s not a comedy, and if Funke Akindele isn't on the poster, the money isn't coming. This 'comedy-first' economy is stifling our ability to tell the stories that actually defined us as a nation. A Fela biopic requires the kind of budget, research, and global distribution that usually requires Hollywood involvement. We have the brilliant minds right here in Lagos, but until we bridge the funding gap through strategic international partnerships, our most iconic stories will continue to be told by outsiders or not told at all.

The danger of this current trend isn't just financial; it’s a matter of cultural preservation. When we allow the market to be dictated solely by what is 'easy to sell,' we inadvertently outsource our own history. If Nollywood doesn't find a way to fund these heavy-hitting historical narratives, we will eventually find ourselves watching a Fela biopic produced entirely by a foreign studio, featuring a foreign lead, and told through a foreign lens—simply because they were the ones willing to put up the $50 million required to do it right.

We need an environment where a gritty, historical epic can coexist with a blockbuster comedy. We have already proven we can handle the technical complexity; our colorists and sound engineers are ready for the challenge. Now, the challenge lies with the investors and the government to create the fiscal frameworks—tax rebates, film funds, and co-production treaties—that make 'the big story' a viable investment. It’s like we’re driving a Ferrari in a school zone. We’ve got all this insane horsepower—all this talent and technical skill—but we’ve got nowhere to actually let it run. We’re revving the engine just to crawl at 20mph because nobody wants to take a financial risk on anything that isn't a 'safe' laugh.

We have the 'Ferrari' ready to go; we just need someone to stop treating the industry like a playground and actually give us the open road to tell our real stories.

abduleez1:
Euphoria S3......


I don't know where this new season is taking us to, but so far so good with the first 2 episodes I've watched, I'm liking what I've seen so far.

Somewhat promising even tho I haven't really gotten the central plot yet, there's still a few constants from the show we know.... The need for validation and unspoken competition between Cassie and Maddy.

I'm so hesitant to watch the s3 cos s2 was ass

The fuckn guy who thinks he's Truman in the Truman show is pissing me tf off
from From

Achilles100:
Best theory I have seen about FROM

I'm literally watching From right now from the beginning and I can't understand why they can't just lock all the fckn windows and doors!!! Like padlock them in the night so it won't be so easy for fckn kids to open, they're just fucking dumb asf in my opinion.
No spoilers tho. The show is pissing me off, there are too many people in that town dumb asf people

abduleez1:
Lmao..... Nah, it's not the highest box office opening of this year. That title goes to Super Mario Galaxy.

This one has the highest opening for a biopic tho.
Still, I'm struggling to see that much talked about $1bn+ y'all have been seeing before now.

$200mn+ while it's really good and impressive ain't really a billion dollar player unless it's in December. So jury is still out on this one.

Ok boss, just checked

abduleez1:
Lmao.... Bohemian Jacksody keh?? 😂😂😂

But IGN really ain't a trusted source for getting anything authentic from reviews pertaining to movies.

Remember movies like this are for the audience and the audience loves it! It already has the highest box office opening of the year. 200mn+ already. There's a big chance it gets more than a billion. Like I said last year

3RN3ST:
Are you serious, with those hype online..

It's a great movie

Just watch Michael 😂 and I wonder how this movie has a 27% did we watch the same thing or what 🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️, not the best movie if all time but a great watch nonetheless

DieRich5:
First time Prime cancelled a show worth canceling

There was no story to begin with

joseph1832:
I'm curious how Anissa is going to blend in. It shows from my POV, she might turn out to be a man hater. Lol.

Bouta watch Anissa grape the hell outa Mark

abduleez1:
Lmao..... Where $1bn go go like dis?? 😂😂😂

I've also been hearing that the reviews are all bias, it's no where close to 27%

BlackManta:
I had such high expectations for this movie.

I was really looking forward to it.

WTF happened

Honestly, this is so sad. I get to watch the movie in 5 days 🤦🏿‍♂️. I'm sure this happened because they had to cut a lot from the movie because of allegations

GloriousGbola:
actually dled the books sometime back for the kids

let me go and see if there are more

Where did you download the books please

BlackManta:
It's been three years since season 1.

How long does it take to make an animated show

That's why invincible is goated, they better keep churning out the series with its abysmal animation, we don't care

MSGAMBLE9:
Are you not hyped for Dark Matter 2, From 4 and The Punisher: One Last Kill?..

no, I haven't even watched any of this

Lana1:
The last time I seriously sat down to watch movies was more than 2 years ago.

There's too much Movies and TV being churned out regularly that I've just decided to forgo movies and focus on TV

honestly! the only movie and show I am definitely watching and anticipating for is less than 10 - Dune Part 3, Odyssey, Toy Story 5, Disclosure Day, The Harry Potter series, Spiderman BND, House of the Dragon, finish

Man I've not been watching a lot of movies and it is sad

Beorn:
Ovoko!! 😂🤣🤣🤣🤣

hope you know this is normal

joseph1832:
Wrong, very wrong. Casting a black Snape doesn't give credence to what you just said. There are students in that school, who are also from different race. Dean Thomas and Lee Jordan are black, it didn't stop them from mixing or being somewhat popular. Lee Jordan comments on the Quidditch games. There is also Cho Chang who is very much Asian. Also, Pavartil Patil is very much indian. So ones race or even skin color, doesn't stop one from mixing or even being popular in school.

Casting a black Snape is very wrong, as J.K Rowling description of him, isn't anywhere near black. The character Snape himself, always wanted to be popular. He envied the Marauders and wanted to belong. This is typical in any school, as some students are known to suffer from inferiority complex. This is what Snape suffers from.

To even buttress my point, ones race or skin color doesn't actually mean anything in the Harry Potter franchise, what means alot, is your pure blood status, and also, what makes you an outcast or even hated, is your muggle born status or love for muggles.

So, casting a black Snape is way too much and going out of context. I'm even surprise, J.K Rowling isn't batting an eyelid about it.

You’re not wrong that Hogwarts is already diverse — Dean, Lee, Cho, the Patils — and yeah, blood status is the main thing that divides people in that world.

But that doesn’t really cancel my point, it actually supports it.

Snape was never isolated for just one reason. It was a mix of his background, his personality, his bitterness, his obsession, and the fact that he didn’t fit in socially. Adding race into that doesn’t replace anything — it just adds another layer to why he feels like an outsider.

And using Dean or Lee as examples doesn’t prove racism couldn’t affect someone differently. Even in real life, two people from the same background can have completely different social experiences. Snape’s whole character is built on feeling rejected and out of place — so giving him another reason to feel that way actually strengthens the psychology behind him.

Also, the “Half-Blood Prince” identity already shows he’s trying to create something powerful because he doesn’t feel like he belongs anywhere. Adding racial context just makes that hit harder, not contradict it.

And about accuracy — adaptations change things all the time and still work.

People complained about Ariel being Black, but Halle Bailey ended up being loved in the role.
Idris Elba played Heimdall — a Norse god — and nobody questions it now.
Samuel L. Jackson literally redefined Nick Fury so much the comics changed to match him.
Even Robert Pattinson as Batman got dragged at first, and now that version is one of the most respected takes on the character.

So it’s not really about matching a physical description 100%. It’s about whether the character still feels true — or even deeper.

If the writing keeps Snape’s core the same and just adds more weight to his isolation and identity, then it’s not “wrong casting” — it’s just a different interpretation that could actually make the story hit harder.

Achilles100:
Somebody will now come and tell me , "Oh its fiction ". Anybody can play any role.

If you aren't going to stick with the Canon, at least let it be close and a swalloable pill, not the whole other end of the spectrum.

Good luck to all of them involved. HBO might have bitten more than it can chew with this one.

Broooo what the fck! are you saying do you know what Harry Potter is
1. The IP is too enormous
Harry Potter has generated over $25 billion across films, merchandise, theme parks, games and books. Warner Bros. and HBO are not gambling — they're activating the most reliable franchise in entertainment history. Netflix cancelled shows with 10 million viewers. Nobody is cancelling Harry Potter.
2. Controversy drives viewership, not away from it
The Rings of Power got brutalized online before it aired — racist abuse toward Black cast members, boycott campaigns, everything. It still became one of Amazon's most watched shows ever. The Witcher, Bridgerton, House of the Dragon — all had massive pre-release controversy. All performed. Outrage is essentially free marketing at this point.
3. The "fracturing cast" point is weak
Lithgow didn't quit. Essiedu is still playing Snape. Signing an open letter while working on a show isn't fracturing — actors disagree with producers all the time and still deliver great work. That's professionalism.
4. Nostalgia is an unstoppable economic force
Every person who grew up with Harry Potter between 1997 and 2011 — that's now adults aged roughly 18 to 40 — will watch the first episode out of pure childhood attachment. That's hundreds of millions of people globally. The show could be genuinely mediocre and still pull massive numbers.
5. The 11 year old situation actually backfires on critics
Writing articles dissecting an eleven year old child's skin colour is so obviously indefensible that it discredits the broader anti-casting movement in the eyes of normal people. It doesn't build momentum — it repels moderates.
You guys tend to forget Twitter and Reddit are not the audience — they never were. The average person who will sit down Christmas 2026 to watch Harry Potter with their family has never heard of this discourse and doesn't care. The toxicity exists inside a very loud, very small bubble.. He's measuring the show's survival by the temperature of online fandom. But franchises don't survive on fandom — they survive on casual audiences, nostalgia economics, and brand power. Harry Potter has all three in abundance that no amount of Twitter rage can touch.
Harry Potter isn't going anywhere. 😭

joseph1832:
They should continue. Black Snape is a catastrophe. I don't even want to wonder what they were thinking.
It's Black Snape, bro.

I probably was the biggest hater of the casting but somehow it has actually grown on me as i just finished the books again and I can totally get their point. The argument being made is that casting a Black Snape actually gives a much more coherent, grounded explanation for his isolation at Hogwarts — he wasn't simply born cold, but was actively shaped by a society that refused to let him in. His outsider status, his need to forge an alternate identity as the "Half-Blood Prince," his desperate need to belong somewhere — all of that hits differently with racial context added. It deepens the character rather than contradicting it. The show has actually set itself up to make Snape more sympathetic than ever, which makes Harry's hatred of him feel even more poignant when the full truth comes out. Done right, this casting doesn't create a racism problem — it creates a richer story.

joseph1832:
I know social media isn't going to let this slide one bit. They're going to troll the this character to the fullest.

#BlackSnape

wtf is this

abduleez1:
A December to remember.....

All this in CHristmas is insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oyaskii:
For a film franchise that was so successful and still a tad popular till this day, i am still struggling to see the point of this reboot, if they are just gonna do almost 100%, the exact same thing the film did? Like what actually is the point of this series? or maybe i am having a "reboot fatigue" as not many remake has landed successfully in recent times. The first four films were extremely done, so if they had rebooted the later films, then that would have made a whole lot of sense to me.

Well, there are media that i am genuinely excited about, coming out this year, and this ain't one of them... clapping for you guys, excited about it from the sidelines tho.

That BG score bangs tho, so it seems Hans Zimmer has cooked, if for anything, i am excited for that 👍🏿.

I totally hear you on the "reboot fatigue"—Hollywood definitely loves a copy-paste lately. But that’s the thing: if this were just a remake of the movies, I’d be right there with you. It would be pointless!

But as a massive HP book nerd, I’m telling you, this is the restoration we’ve been waiting for. The movies were basically the "Greatest Hits" version, but they had to cut so much because of two-hour runtimes and 2000s tech. This isn't a reboot of the films; it’s finally a proper, page-to-screen adaptation of the books as an original series.

Think about it—we’re going from a 2-hour rush to 10+ hours per book. We’re finally getting the thousands of scenes and characters that were left on the cutting room floor. And like Variety mentioned, we’re actually going to see the stuff the books only talked about—full backstories for Dumbledore, Nicolas Flamel, Hagrid, and Draco. We’re finally getting the "Director’s Cut" of the entire universe!

It’s exactly like the Robert Pattinson and Heath Ledger situation. Everyone asked "Why another Batman?" until they saw it was a deeper, completely different take. This is a chance to move past the 2001 limitations and see the scale of the magic done right. I’m clearing my schedule and watching with zero bias—it’s gonna be legendary. Mark my words!

BlackManta:
It looks pretty good

I don't understand why people were hating on this show and calling it woke.

It is not woke the only thing they actually hate is Black Snape

[quote author=pu7pl3 post=138890158]What do y'all think?

First trailer for the ‘HARRY POTTER’ series.

Releasing this Christmas on HBO. pic.twitter.com/X5PPZ3ME46

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) March 25, 2026

thought it would come out next year! I can't wait honestly!

It's certainly not for you then

DieRich5:
One Piece
This series is too childish, hearing them speak with English just makes it worse, the story is not even close to interesting

I give up, I really want to see S2 but I can’t waste my beautiful time

This is the first time in literally smiling from ear to ear 🥺🥺🥺😂 I love this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIu4sFKGi6E?si=OY4wAOZc_4GqrfF5