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Tag Archive | "movies about Africa"

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In my Country – tumultuous times in post-apartheid South Africa

Posted on 22 April 2010 by Codrin Arsene

In my country is the type of movie one might see no reason in reviewing. The seriousness of the topic combined with the predictability and banality of some of the characters, the sloppy writing and the cheesy nature of some of the scenes makes me just want to get through my review as soon as [...]

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Sarafina (1992): making a musical about apartheid or a swing and a miss

Posted on 23 February 2010 by Codrin Arsene

The idea that you can make a musical about apartheid gives me chills. To see it on my laptop screen seems even more inappropriate. In recent times, some wise directors tried to give a new perspective on the Holocaust by using movie genres other than dramas, and they succeeded. I cannot say the same about [...]

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White Hunter, Black Hurt (1990): layers and layers of scenes signifying nothing

Posted on 18 February 2010 by Codrin Arsene

After I reviewed Clint Eastwood’s latest movie, Invictus, an anthropologist I care deeply for sent me an email with her insights on the movie. She had this to say at the time: “I have complex feelings about Eastwood and his libertarian politics: for me, he has never understood social processes, and works with lone, heroic [...]

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Blood Coltan: What Congo has and Western companies would kill for

Posted on 14 February 2010 by Codrin Arsene

A French team of journalists traveled to Congo, Brussels and Paris in order to reveal to the general public some of the reasons why the Democratic Republic of Congo is still a war torn zone. Instead of providing the audience with a larger picture, something I would have done instead, they focused on one commodity [...]

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State of Denial (2003): The Age and the State of Betrayal in the battle against AIDS

Posted on 13 February 2010 by Codrin Arsene

The State of Denial is a heartbreaking documentary that explores the difficulties HIV-infected South Africans face on a daily basis. And their inspiring struggles. It provides an insider’s view, South African born director Elaine Epstein, into the complicated factors that allow HIV/AIDS to spread at such an alarming speed. The documentary focuses on what used [...]

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Blood Monkey (2007): this movie is so bad it can make you cry

Posted on 12 February 2010 by Codrin Arsene

Blood Monkey is a movie set in Africa which is not even worth the envelope Netflix used in order to ship the DVD to me. It is so bad that I find it is my civic duty to write this movie review and convince you never to borrow or buy the movie. Blood Monkey features [...]

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Senator Obama goes to Africa (2007)

Posted on 11 February 2010 by Codrin Arsene

Senator Obama goes to Africa is a travelogue / movie propaganda made by Bob Hercules and Keith Walke. The directors follow the then senator Obama through this short African odyssey. In this documentary, Barack Obama visits the city of Kisumu in western Kenya, the capital of the country, Nairobi, as well as South Africa and [...]

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Allan Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls (2008) – just about the worst movie I have ever watched

Posted on 30 January 2010 by Codrin Arsene

Allan Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls Is a 2008 direct-to-DVD movie  loosely based on H. Rider Haggard’s classic novel King Solomon’s Mines. It stars South African actor Sean Cameron Michael as Quatermain. The movie was actually shot in South Africa, with mostly local actors and the story is somewhat similar to the original book. Quatermain is [...]

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Disgrace (2008): human bestiality, decadence and dispair in the age of plenty

Posted on 01 January 2010 by Codrin Arsene

There are no easy solutions in life, and Disgrace, the movie adaptation of Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee’s Booker Prize winning novel of the same name, tends to express that reality more dramatically than any movie I have watched in recent years. Before going into details about the movie, I would to stress the fact that [...]

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Animals are Beautiful People (1974): funny hyenas, intelligent ducks and hangover baboons

Posted on 27 December 2009 by Codrin Arsene

Written, directed and filmed by famous South African director Jamie Uys, this hilarious documentary about the anthropomorphized creatures living in the Namib Desert will most likely be enjoyed by children, young folks and adults alike.  Animals are Beautiful People is dedicated to the creatures that were able to adapt to the extremely harsh conditions of [...]

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Awesome quote of the day

I’m going through my research material from Uganda as I’m preparing to write my masters thesis. I just came across one of the most hilarious quotes on my tapes. Check this out (it’s by a woman craft maker):

 

A  man who speaks and gives orders is that who has money to meet the needs of his wife. But if a man cannot fulfill those duties, then he is not a man after all, right? He’s just a nagging woman with a penis.

 

 

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This Vanguard reportage deserves to be seen.

I don’t normally post things that are not Africa-related but this young man from Taiwan is simply amazing. Lin Yu Chun participated in a Taiwanese version of the American Idol called Super Star Avenue, singing the song I will always love you by Whitney Houston. I’ll keep it short: his version of the song is clearly better than what Mrs. Houston is capable of singing right now. Some dubbed him the “Susan Boyle of Taiwan” and there might just be something of this young man. Check it out yourselves. I’m sure you’ll be surprised as well.

To all of us who have experienced the adventure that is a boda-boda (motorcycle-taxi in East Africa, primarily in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo)








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A Romanian in Africa by Codrin Arsene is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at csarsene@gmail.com.

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