₦airaland Forum

I agree with Buluti/Streetcyph that many of these issues stem from a lack of substance in the platform of existing parties. Who can whether PDP is more conservative than AC? Will AC implement social welfare programs that ANPP or APGA would reject? There's nothing in the way of easily identifiable ideological stances among any of these parties, so why shouldn't one guy de-camp from PDP to AC, or from AC to Labour etc? There are no stated principles to stay loyal to. At least the Labour Party, by name alone, conveys the image of a workers' association that supports initiatives like unions, workers' compensation issues etc. You would be hard-pressed to find a fiscal conservative who wants a purely market-driven economy running under a party named Labour. We can thank Femi Pedro for introducing that small advancement into contemporary Lagosian politics, at least--choosing a party with a clear ideological stance instead of the inane, noncommital nonsense we usually hear from the PDPs and ACs.

As for running as an independent, I don't even think the serious money-bags of Naija society would want to try it. Nigeria is not ready for Ross Perot-style candidacies--many would perceive the candidate as being too greedy to share spoils with his cronies, and the candidate him/herself would need the protection and strength in numbers that a party provides before the hired killers come and do their duty.

streetcyph:
pedro is trying to run an issue-oriented campaign, i think the problem is the media. they are not bringing to the forefront the things that should really matter.instead of focusing on where each candidate stands on certain issues (medicare, abortion, crime, etc) they are glorifying pdp vs AC battle. Not once has either party come out to tell us their position on critical issues. WHAT IS IRONIC IS THAT TILL TODAY, LABOUR PARTY IS THE ONLY PARTY THAT HAS AT LEAST MENTIONED WHERE IT STANDS ON CERTAIN ISSUES. mr pedro was on radio last week, talking about where he stood on healthcare, education, pension, etc. i mean he was dolling out statistics like a chatter-box, i was so amazed that his team took the time and patience to do a thorough research on these issues.

I have a lot of respect for candidates that do this, even when they're not compelled to. Again, I can't be entirely sure of Pedro's sincerity, but most of our politicians don't even bother to learn statistics as a charade.

I'm not really into animes, but the Crying Freeman series was excellent when I saw it a couple of years ago. I also liked Akira and the great anime sequence in "Kill Bill". Heard good things about "Ghost in the Shell" as well ,

debojyde:
Fantastic four--nice special effects but the plot was WACK,WACK,WACK.Bad movie

FunkyDiva--shey you get two names for this website?

I'm kidding--I agree. It was probably one of the worst superhero movies made recently, which is a shame because I think they had a great story to work with.

Public Enemy--Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos (the Tricky re-make is better though)

Gamine:
TOH, who made u the F***ging authority on Movies,
Kai ,,this girl sef, instead of u to use your talents on E!

Don't mind her--she's a typical movie tyrant.

FunkyDiva--your list is almost complete for recent superhero movies, with the exception of 'The Fantastic Four'. Does it go in the good or bad movie column?

I still find it disappointing that Donald Duke didn't get the presidential or vice-presidential slot on the PDP ticket because I think he would have changed the face of Nigeria. I don't want to be overly optimistic, but this Tinapa project could be the linchpin for serious change in the country. Those of you with land/investments around Calabar should really consider yourselves lucky.

owo2390:
Lost without you is good!

Yes it is--best thing on the album.

-------------------------

Lost without you
Can't help myself
How does it feel--to know that I love you, babe?
Tell me how you love me more
and how you think I'm sexy, baby?
That you don't want nobody else--you don't want this guy, you don't want that guy
You want to touch yourself when you see me ,
I just love to hear you say it
It makes a man feel good, baby
Tell me you depend on me, I need to hear it.


Robin Thicke, "Lost Without You"

Englishman in New York - Sting

The Roots f/ Erykah Badu-- You Got Me

Last Night - The Strokes

Been listening to 'The Evolution of Robin Thicke' album all morning--the music's great, but the lyrics sound like they were written by a bored seven year-old. Can't decide if I like it or not.

Afam--a successful politician is a realist. The Labour Party might have been a wonderful choice for Pedro all along, but there's no way that he wouldn't prefer the backing of a wealthy party like AC. If I'm not mistaken, his route to political relevance was through the old Lagos AD, most of whom have moved over to Action Congress with Tinubu, and they would be the bedrock of Pedro's campaign. I don't know if the guy's really any good or just another crook, but from a purely political standpoint, you can't fault him for thinking smart. Labour Party just doesn't have the money, support, or name recognition of AC/AD, and anyone serious about getting elected has to consider those factors when picking a party.

gidig:
@paddy_lo

I think I get your point but that will be more subjective from the individual posters than a general perception. My opinion is shaped by the era that preceded the home video rush;the more expensive and professional celluloid era where The Ogunde's and Eddie Ugboma help sway. If they can be that disciplined to accomodate subtlety and other rationale disposition that makes films watchable, the people in our age should do more. Now, I am not talking of format-whether celluloid of digital- here because that will be another issue altogether but pure artistic imagination.the type we read in our plays, where 'suspension of disbelief' is expected in works of art.

I think the major difference between well-known Nigerian playwrights and the guys churning out Nollywood scripts is the lack of well-developed film
departments in Nigeria. People like Soyinka went to British universities to learn their craft; they have an artistic lineage and real training in what it takes to develop a world-class standard. The guys that make most Naija movies today are just video camera jockies who would be filming weddings and birthday parties if this industry hadn't blown up. We can't blame them for taking advantage of an opportunity; man must chop somehow. It's a good question to ask whether Naija people (and other Naija movie fans) want subtle, thought-provoking movies with beautiful lighting and scenery etc. though--if they did, why aren't they watching stuff like Ousmane Sembene's movies or the stuff that comes out of FESPACO? I think most of our people would say that kind of cinema "na big grammar" and not something to be enjoyed.

Many Nigerians love to watch their Home video out of nostalgia raher than a pure desire to see a great film.I may be wrong but that is what I have noticed.The point is that we are able to do much more.We have given the world great people in literature and other forms of art, we have enough from our rich minds to generate contents for our films, if we start by telling ourselves that we are not there yet

This is true, and I'm guilty of it. I watch Nigerian films with plotting and acting that I wouldn't tolerate in American or European movies. But I'm a realist; most Nigerian viewers are not interested in those kinds of movies, so it would be overly hopeful to expect producers to serve such a small market.

I think there is something to the whole argument that our culture promotes brashness--if you ask other Africans about Naijas, they always say we're loud, boisterous, confident etc. Our movies are about ostentatious wealth and how to get it; in real life, our careers are focused on the pursuit of money and we want to show it off when we have it. Subtlety might be appeciated as a deep, 'back-in-the-day' proverbial value, but while we're spraying each other during parties, buying new lace and ankara for every event, driving the most expensive cars on the road (couldn't believe the Hummers etc. I saw in VI this Christmas), shutting down a street for an all-night party etc, we've got to admit that subtlety is not our strong suit

By the way, a lot of new Naija movies do have synopses on the covers now. It's usually in small lettering on the back. We're making progress.

Good topic.

dolly -pee:
"JOROMI" BY BOBBY BENSON.
ALL LATE IK DAIRO"S SONGS AND MORE THAT I CANT REALLY REMEMBER.

"Joromi" is by Sir Victor Uwaifo, not Bobby Benson. Unless you're referring to a different version or something.

Ekiti man:
Prince Nico Mbarga - Sweet Mother
Yvonne Chaka Chaka - Unqombothi
Hugh Masakela - Sarafina
Nkonyane Kandaba- Sarafina soundtrack
Majak Fashek- Send Down the Rain
Sarafina- Freedom is Coming Tomorrow
King Sunny Ade- Ayen' reti Eleya Mi
Shina Peters- Afro Juju
Shina Peters- Eja'won L'apon ti'oyo
More Sunny Ade Songs
Bob Marley- turn the lights down low, buffallo soldier, no woman no cry, one love, punky reggea party, Is this Love, Jamming, Three little birds, Could you be loved, Don't worry be Happy
Lagbaja: this is lagos, baby ta ni ko fewa, nothing for you, cooloo temper,

Believe me there's alot more,

Ekiti Man--your list is correct! Add "Waiting in Vain" and "Stir It Up" to your Bob Marley list, and you've got most of my all-time favorites of his. I play Shina Peters' "Eja'wa l'apon ti'oyo" at least once a week cause it's that funky. I hardly listen to any of his other songs but that one does it for me for some reason.

A couple of other favorites my brothers used to play regularly back in the day:

Smooth Operator (Sade)
Your Love is King
There's No Stopping Us ("Breakin'" soundtrack)
Single Life (Cameo)
Candy
A Night to Remember (Shalamar)
Cool it Now (New Edition)

etc. etc.

You people are funny sha--this discussion is never-ending.

Ronkebaby--Elechi Amadi and Buchi Emechita on Donzman's list are pretty well-known (as novelists, at least). This discusssion don miss road a while ago, though. Donzman's insistence on measuring talent through money makes little sense, and I'm sure he knows that. Otherwise, people like Tom Cruise would be winning Oscars every year (he's never won one and was until recently the highest-paid actor in Hollywood/the world), while people like Hugh Laurie (multi-talented novelist, television comedian, Englishman playing an American doctor on the TV show 'House') or Gael Garcia Marquez would be making $20 million each movie. The equation is not that simple.

On the other hand, this stuff about Yorubas being the best actors simply because they're Yorubas is pretty tired and makes no sense. If you prefer the acting in Yoruba movies, just say so and move on. Prefer English movies? Good for you--no yawa. Movie preferences are not exactly a science--I don't get how either side is going to convince the other that their preference is right. Shake hands, slap each other on the butts, swap shirts, and go on to something new

Similarly, it is difficult to choose. Believe it or not, women, it is possible for a man to love more than one woman. Choosing to stick with one means giving up all the others- and guys are afraid of making a mistake.

Also there is the tendency of a girl to transform once she has 'caught' a guy. Sometimes it is so fast it makes your head spin. Then it is guilt and conscience that causes you to remain with her. when you finally leave, there are only bad feelings and, yes, regret.

All these point to one thing: it is hard for guys to stomach a closed relationship, especially one in which they were emotionally invested, and it is difficult to repeat something you regret having done before.

Finally, a person in love, male OR female is a very weak and vulnerable creature. This seems to be ok for women, but our crazy society expects men to be PILLARS OF STRENGTH AND FORTITUDE, which is at odds with this. Sometimes the woman herself may despise the man for being such a pathetic weakling and lose respect for him. Men are terrified of this (being percieved as weak)

All this is right on the money.

Korean director Park Chan Wook, Old boy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance--- quite violent, but stylized and very mesmerizing. Tarantino copies him
French films-- District B13, L'auberge espanole someone mentioned La Haine, but check out other films from the director Mathieu Kassovitz, don't remember offhand, if you like Count of Monte Cristo check out the french version with Gerard Depardieu, long but worth it, Cache etc,
Spanish: y tu mama tambien, Maria full of Grace, Motorcycle Diaries, habla con ella
City of God--- great Brazilian film

I could go onnn, new favourites, Little Miss Sunshine, absolutely delightful, haven't seen The Departed or Babel but heard good things about it, Casino Royale is yummy

Okay--this Park Chan Wook guy must be worth checking out, considering the calibre of people recommending him. I own one of those Yamakasi parkour films and I'm crazy about the parkour stuff--I was telling my brother that the sequence in Casino Royale is nothing compared to watching really good traceurs go at it in some of these other movies. Haven't seen Banlieu 13 though. Thumbs up to Y Tu Mama Tambien and Maria Full of Grace. Pedro Almodovar gets the thumbs up too, although I thought Volver was a little overrated. See The Departed! Even though it's a remake of Infernal Affairs (Hong Kong film), you'll like it--sharp script, great performances all around (except Nicholson's a bit too over the top sometimes) and an original setting with the whole Boston Irish gangsters thing. I liked Casino Royale too and I think Daniel Craig makes the movie--"Layer Cake" is probably the best British film I've seen in a couple of years; better than "Lock, Stock", "Snatch", and even "Sexy Beast", which I liked.

Other recent non-Hollywood recommendations: "Together"/Tilsammans, a great Danish film that got a lot of press in Europe but didn't do so well in the States; "To The Left of the Father" (thoughtful stuff about incest in rural Brazil) and "Madame Sata" (gay capoeira street fighters--can't beat it!); The Dreamers (also has a bit of an incest theme, but set in 1960s Paris during the Commune riots); "Le Placard", which is a pretty funny French comedy that might be remade in the States as "The Closet", and "Housekeeper", which is a good film with a so-so ending.

There's definitely no investment in graphics services and professional stage design for Nigerian news. They're still using techniques that have been outdated for a decade, and the copy editing is terrible--you really, really shouldn't have spelling errors in captions and other graphics on the news.

As for MTV Base, it's mostly fake accents and imitating American veejays from the few times I watched it.

South-south and Middle-Belt represent the "minority" zones o--I don't think they want to get lumped into ethnic-majority zones like southwest and south-east. Who can blame them? Even majority groups are ignored in Nigerian affairs.

I've been trying to read up on Yar'adua to convince myself that PDP's choice wouldn't be a complete disaster. He actually has an interesting history: somewhat educated, humble, and by all reports corruption-free. I still don't think that's enough reason for the guy to have scored the ticket ahead of Duke, but that's the way it goes in Naija. Who knows anything about what he's done for Katsina though? What are the guy's main achievements? It's like the PR machine has worked overtime to give the guy a little prominence in Nigeria, but even Peter Odili (Mr. Corruption) can point to his independent power program as "evidence" of his work over two terms. I sincerely don't know what Yar'adua would use as an example of his success if asked. 6.5 billion naira in the state account is great, but I'm sure there are essential services in Katsina that could be improved by that money. So--anybody know what Yar'adua's "Tinapa" is?

I hear alot of African and Afrocentric women tak about being proud about their features, color and looks. Yet even the most pro-Afro women relax their hair and straighten them.

I don't get it. You never see women with naturally straight hair trying to curl it up or make it look like those with African hair. Even us men used to do it back in the day but we grew wiser.

Hmmmm , now I like to think of myself as an open-minded person, so perhaps Shango can explain the apparent contradiction in this post for us. I am, to quote another Nairalander, confuzzled by this. In another discussion, you posted the picture of a woman and said that was you. Abi there are two Shangos on Nairaland

Honestly, my first preference is for women with natural hair, but it becomes much more of a debate than it needs to be when people think they can judge your politics from your hairstyle. There's an Outkast lyric about this: "Is every nigga with dreads for the cause? No. So don't get caught up in appearance. "

This is such a sick situation. I was down but not surprised when I read about Donald Duke's withdrawal from the race earlier tonight. How insane is it that everyone is okay with this anonymous Yar'Adua and his supposed competition General Gusau, when both of these guys have barely done any campaigning. What record are they running on? What accomplishments are they going to build on? This is such a fraud of an election.

Anybody going this year on the 25th? There are so many complaints about violence etc. I'm not sure it's worth it. But I definitely want to go,

ronkebaby:
thanks for aknowledging that. i guess that is what makes the yoruba actors better. also don't forget that one of the points raised at the ealier state of this arguement is the fact that even in the english genre of movies, the yorubas featured are better and am sure you know why. so it is not because they are acting in english that is the problem, but because one group seems to be more professionaly inclined in the trade with a good thearentical background. yoruba actors acts english movies and are still rated the best, that was one of the basis of this topic! so the medium of expression they use has got nothing to do with this debate. it is more of the experience, background and the professional inclination

I don't particularly disagree with you (although I don't know who are these mysterious people that 'rate Yoruba actors the best in English movies'). I actually think being professional has less to do with it than language fluency (i.e. the lead actors in Tsotsi had never acted before) but it's not that important.

sorry, racheal is an itsekiri woman married to a yoruba man! i wonder when she became igbo! your post just showns how the truth dey pain some people for bodi. but sorry, the truth just has to be told!

I read that she was Igbo, so if I'm wrong, it's my mistake. Obviously, she grew up speaking Yoruba and speaks it fluently. The point about Igbo actors in Yoruba and English movies still stands with people like Hanks Anuku (unless you have some new evidence about him too). Now why are you sorry and why would I be in pain? Nairaland is funny sha--believe me, this isn't even particularly interesting to me. I'm just bored at work.

Orikinla--It's great that you're such an advocate for Yoruba cinema, but I'm sure you can also see that your style of posting is deliberately divisive. Acting has nothing to do with ethnicity--it has to do with being comfortable in your medium and having practice (or abundant natural talent) in your craft, in my opinion. If you love Yoruba movies and the actors in them (as I do), that's great. If you think they're more talented than general actors in English-language Nollywood films, that's great too (so do I). But you seem to be pushing this idea that it has to do with their invisible, intangible, genetic Yorubaness, and that's where we part ways. The Tsotsi that Ronkebaby mentioned was shot in Tsotsitaal (South African slang), Zulu, and Xhosa languages, which allowed the actors to express themselves more believably and connect with an audience emotionally in their mother tongues that they speak every day, as opposed to putting on fake accents to act in a second or third language which Nigerians in the English-language movie genre do. Acting is about emotional honesty, and that's harder to do in a second language. If you speak a little French or Spanish, you'd know how terrible most Hollywood actors sound when they have to speak those languages for a role. Many Nollywood actors--and even the writers--are trying too hard to sound 'foreign' or 'sophisticated' instead of focusing on creating a compelling script and acting it out accordingly. In contrast, people working in their first language, and who often have a wealth of theatrical acting experience, will be a lot more comfortable on screen, i.e. American actors in Hollywood or Indian actors in Bollywood. I know I'm repeating myself, but that's the difference between English-language and Yoruba-language Nigerian movies to me, not this subtle reference to an acting gene. To each his own though; those English-language actors are getting their money and laughing all the way to the bank, so I can't hate them.

Your being Igbo doesn't preclude me from letting you know that I disagree with where you're taking this discussion and characterizing it as an ethnic issue. If you mention Sola Sobowale, I'm sure some equally enterprising person could think of Rachael Oniga as an example of an Igbo actress who performs well in both Yoruba and English movies. You can find other ways to promote your Nollywood work and to market your blog etc. than to stir up arguments like this