Thursday, 27 August 2015

CALLING ON ALL FUN WRITERS/DIRECTORS

After the international success of its first two feature films, Triggerfish Animation Studios is establishing the Triggerfish Story Lab with the support of The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) and The Walt Disney Company.

We are looking for storytellers with high concept, original ideas, to submit their animated stories to our panel of experts. The top entries (minimum of 6) will enter the Story Lab where they could become Africa’s next animated hit.

So if you are a writer or director and a citizen or a permanent resident of any African country, then enter online by the 31st August, 2015.
So hurry now

Friday, 21 August 2015

FRIDAY THRILLER: PRESTIGE ROAD BY RESHMA93

Murders escalating on Prestige Road; 14 dead

On what should have been an otherwise happy anniversary, ended tragically when a couple identified as Marylynne Andrews (35) and David Smith Andrews (35) were found with their throats slit in their car on Prestige road late last night. Authorities say that the couple were out for dinner for their first anniversary and were driving back home when the incident occurred, making their murders the thirteenth and fourteenth to occur on that road in the last five days. The number of murders are quickly escalating and the police warn the public to avoid that road.

“Prestige road is very long and has many diversions. Until we get word from the top, we can’t put up streetlights in the area. We are doing all we can to prevent further incidents, but we currently lack the manpower. We advise the public to avoid Prestige road at all costs,”

Derek King, a police official said.

“We have a partial description of the murderer according to a few witnesses. We would like to stress on the fact that this description is only based on reports we have received and may not be 100% accurate. We would appreciate it if anyone who knows anything related to the case comes forward.”

From eyewitness’ statements, a description of the potential murderer has been released.

A criminal analyst says,

“Due to the strength required to commit the murders, we believe the murder to be a male of considerable height, around or a bit more than six feet. He should be athletically built with dark blonde hair. He could have a limp, but that is still unclear. If anyone sees or hears anything, please call us on 98***0000.”

 

* * *

She read the article. Once, twice, thrice. Sweat trickled down her back and she jumped every time she heard a sound.
Checking, again, to see if her doors were locked, she turned off the car light. ‘I knew I shouldn’t have taken this road!’ She thought, ‘stupid, stupid, stupid!’

She was late and needed to be back home soon. But something, some feeling made her take the shortcut through Prestige road. And by some cruel trick of fate, her car tire burst and she was too scared to get out and fix it.

“This is why I need to buy a cellphone!” she punched the steering wheel.

The horn sounded, letting the entire world hear her location. Her blood left her face. She was dead now. Seeing no other option, she waited, and waited.

Almost an hour later, a pair of headlights became visible up the road, and slowly the car made its way towards her. She prayed the car would continue and not stop. Her luck had run out.

The car stopped in front of her and the engine was turned off. Out stepped a man. The first thing she noticed about him was his height. He was tall. Tall, and he looked like someone who worked out. You don’t get those kind of muscles sitting behind a computer screen.

“A male of considerable height, around or a bit more than six feet.”

Those words from the newspaper flashed though her mind. The man came up to her side of the window and tapped it. She figured the best thing to do was continue to stare ahead and ignore him.

“Hey, my name is Austin Sam. Do you need help with your car?” His southern accent sent shivers down her spine. She saw his dark blonde hair and her heart stopped cold.

“No thanks,” she managed to squeeze out, “I’m just waiting for someone. My husband.”

He laughed. “Look ma’am, I was just passing by when I saw your flat tire. You need my help. Either I help you or you’ll get caught by that killer… murderer.. or whatever.”

She was adamant, “I’m fine. Really. You can leave now.”
“And leave a poor helpless lady alone to fend for herself? What kind of a monster do you think I am?” he joked. “You can sit inside if you want. Lock your doors. I’m going to change your tire.” With that, he set out to work.

She remained frozen in her seat. She knew he was dangerous. Knew it to her bones. And she was alone with him. And she was terrified.

 

* * *

The voices had returned. Two voices. Both evil. No matter what, they couldn’t be turned out. Trying to fight them was a losing fight.

“Come on, just do it,” One taunted.

“It’s not like you’ll get caught. The newspaper article doesn’t matter. You won’ get caught. You never got caught.”

“The police won’t find you. You can clear the scene better this time.”

“This is the last time. We promise. One last time and we’ll leave.”

“Just start by making small talk. It’ll take that fool by surprise.”

“Come one, last time. The last time. This time we mean it.”

 

* * *

“This blue Camry you have. It looks new. You mind if I give it a spin once I fix your car?” He grinned.

“No.”

“No, its not new? Or no, I can’t ride it?” He laughed.

“Both.”

“You’re not much of a talker are you?”

She didn’t reply.

This worked for a while. She was quiet and glued to her seat while he hummed a tune while fixing her car.

“I say, you’re real pretty. Do you mind giving me your number?”

She didn’t reply. But then again, he didn’t expect her to.

She started feeling lightheaded. She was suffocating. She had to get out now. She clutched onto the steering wheel and struggled to keep herself inside the car. But black spots were appearing in front of her eyes and she had no other option. She grabbed the emergency swiss army knife she kept in her dashboard and hid it in her blouse. Unlocking the door, she stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire…

 

* * *
New murder on Prestige road; Cops baffled.

Early this morning, passerby’s noticed a blue Camry stopped by the side of the road. Only on closer inspection did they find the body in the drivers seat with the neck slashed.

There was a flat tire thrown on the side of the road.

The victim has been identified as Austin Sam, a Texan tourist. He has blond hair and was passing…

Thursday, 20 August 2015

DC VS MARVEL

I just thought my blog wouldn't be complete, if I didn't compare these two companies. Before I compare, let me give a brief history of the two companies.
Dc (detective comics) founded in 1934 as National Allied Publications is an American comic book publisher, a company of warnerBros entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner. It is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in American comic books and produces material featuring numerous well-known characters including Batman, Superman, wonder woman, green arrow, green lantern, flash, Aqua man, Hawkman, Shazan, Justice league amongst others, as well as well known villians such as cat woman,  the joker, lex Luther and so on.

While Marvel Worldwide Inc on the other hand, commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formely Marvel Publishing Inc. was founded in 1939 as Timely Publications. Its parent company, Marvel Entertainment was acquired by Walt Disney.  Marvel counts among its characters, spider man,wolverine, Iron man, captain America, the hulk, thor, the silver surfer, daredevil, ghost rider, avengers, fantastic four, xmen, guardians of the galaxy as well as antagonists such as doctor octopus,  green goblin, loki, kingpin, magneto, Dr doom, red skull,  hydra and thanos.

So now, my take on the two companies, the thing is, I've always been a big Dc fan but looking now at the two companies and their achievements,  I've got to hand it to Marvel Comics, I mean, they make the best movies and have the more popular characters. I remember the first Superman movie I watched, for a good 30 minutes into the movie, all I heard was the piano playing...yawns... However,  Dc, makes the best cartoons. I mean avengers cartoon cannot compare with the Justice League. Marvel or Dc, what do you think? Feel free to drop your comments.

Tuesday, 18 August 2015

THE FISHERMAN BY CHIGOZIE OBIOMA MAKES THE UK GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARDS LONGLIST

It has been a good year so far for Nigerian author, Chigozie Obioma as his debut novel, The Fishermen' which was shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Award in July is long-listed for the 2015 Guardian First Book Award. 
Guardian First Book Award is a literary award by British national daily newspaper The Guardian that annually recognizes one book by a new writer. It was established in 1999. The prize is worth £10,000. 
 The Fishermen” is a biblical parable set in the 1990s, when Nigeria was under the military dictatorship of Gen. Sani Abacha. Nine-year-old Benjamin, the narrator, is the youngest of four brothers. His father is a progressive man who works for the Central Bank of Nigeria. Education and professional ambition, he believes, are the only antidotes to the canker of corruption that has spread into every corner of his country’s life. Benjamin’s father wants his children to “dip their hands into rivers, seas, oceans of this life and become successful: doctors, pilots, professors, lawyers.”

Monday, 17 August 2015

STRAIGHT OUT OF COMPTON

For you movie lovers out there looking for what's hot, Straight out of Compton, is definitely what's up now. It's currently number one on US box office list with an 8.5 rating on IMDB which is rare for an all black movie.
So, this movie is about a group, NWA, that emerges from the mean streets of Compton in Los Angeles, California in the mid-1980s. NWA revolutionizes Hip Hop culture with their music and tales about life in the hood.
This movie includes casts such as Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Neil Brown amongs others. Its release date was last Friday (14th August, 2015). So it's new and it's hot! You're welcome!

"ON THE EDGE OF A CLIFF" BY FREAK

He stood at the edge of the cliff. All he needed was a push. A mental push.

The water below looked blue. Crystal clear.

He mentally calculated the distance to the rocks below. If he would have been in his swanky office complex now, he would probably have been standing on the balcony of the third floor.

The only difference was that this was not his office and there was no balcony here.

He reminded himself that he had quit his job sometime ago. He had a menial job slogging on his workstation for some client whose only reasons of hiring people in India were that labor and real estate were cheap. He was paid, but not much. He used his brains while working, but not much. In a nutshell, his life was like most of the white collared, educated, salaried labor class that this country specializes in producing. No, his work life was not the problem. The problem was something else. Something more profound. Something whose roots lay deeper. His life appeared pointless. His money appeared worthless. His clothes, his shoes, his watch and all his material belongings seemed pathetic. His life was not so bad a couple of months ago.

The commute to his office was mostly uneventful. He had to endure the typical sights and sounds of the torture chamber called the “public transport in India” every morning. Every neatly ironed shirt got hopelessly crumpled within the first ten minutes of the journey. Weird smelling hair oils on random heads chocked his nostrils everyday. And the shoes. He had the habit of polishing his shoes everyday till he had started working. The commute to office changed all that.

On normal days, the number of feet that may have left their mark on his shoes could be somewhere around ten. On some days, it went up to twenty. Hopelessly, he had given up polishing before he left for his work resorting to using the services of the poor boy near his office who worked in a makeshift arrangement where he not only mended shoes but also polished and shone them. He was a person he met daily. He had dirty hair and probably two sets of tattered clothes which he wore on alternate days. His lips were dry and his finger nails were dirty. He looked no different than any rag-picker that anyone from outside India loves to take a photograph of and show it to his wife back home. He had big brown eyes though. Those eyes were beautiful.

Their initial interaction remained strictly business related. The boy polished his shoes and he paid him. Not a word was exchanged for the first couple of months. Gradually, their meetings got informal. It took some time but smiles were followed by occasional chit-chat. The duration of their interaction still remained limited to those five minutes per day only partly because of the fact that he had a habit of reaching his workplace right before his shift was about to start.

Two weeks ago, for the first time, the boy had a request to make. By then, their occasional chit-chat had turned into crisp conversations with more meaningful sharing of information. At the outset, his request seemed strange. This conversation was different. It had money involved.

The boy had requested him to lend him some money.

He had promised to return it though. “Why do you need the money?” had had asked the boy.

The boy had not replied but he had probably seen a tear drop at the edge of his eye waiting to gain in volume and roll down his cheek. The boy had wiped his eyes with his dirty hands before that could happen.

“I think I have to go see the doctor.”, the boy had said.

“I have been coughing a lot of late. There is a lot of blood. I am scared.”, the boy had said crying.

He had stood there unmoved. He was not sure he believed the story. A lot of similar stories from a lot of urchins he had met on the roads had an almost similar, albeit slightly tweaked, theme. “Bulls**t”, he had thought to himself.

“I shiver at night too. I have no one in this world who I can call my own. I am lonely. And scared. Please help me sir. I have no money.”, the boy had continued.

“Yeah right! As if this was the first time I am hearing something of this sort from someone of your social standing.”, he had thought to himself.

“Let me see what I can do for you. Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine. I am there for you. I will take you to the doctor tomorrow.”, he had told the boy softly caressing his hair.

His words had seemed to calm the boy. He thought he had taken care of the matter.

He had it all figured out. He would not break the boy’s heart right away by showing that he did not believe in his story but there was no way that he was falling into his trap and letting him get away with what he considered blatant extortion.  From the next day onwards, he had started using the second entrance to his office, the one on the other side of the building.

He had started a practice of packing his neatly polished pair of shoes in a plastic bag and carrying them while his commute to work, which he suffered wearing a pair of sandals and then changing into his shoes before he entered his workplace. He avoided the first gate even at the end of his shift, even though he was pretty sure that the boy would not be there then, just to be sure that the boy could never see him again. He thought that he had done pretty well in his attempts at avoiding the boy.

Today had been a different day than all the previous days though. He was just about to enter his office building through the second gate in a slight hurry since he had to change into his shoes before entering the office and he was running out of time. It was then that he saw the crowd near the first gate. It seemed odd. There appeared to be some police-men and what looked like an ambulance from the pre – independence era. He walked towards the crowd partly out of curiosity and partly because he felt a gentle force pulling him towards the scene.

What he saw, froze the world around him. There was the boy on the ground, covered in blood. There was blood all over his tattered shirt, around his lips and on his chin. There were open wounds in his body. Blood had oozed out of them and had coagulated. He appeared skinnier than when he had last seen him two weeks ago. He looked pale and dead. He walked away, as if in a trance.

He quit his job that afternoon and jumped from the edge of the cliff that evening.

You too can have your short stories published here on melonyzblog. Just send your short stories to melonyzblog@gmail.com

Saturday, 15 August 2015

MY THOUGHTS ON JURASSIC WORLD

So I finally watched Jurassic World and I know that i'm totally going to sound like a hater but I have to admit I didn't enjoy it as much as its box office success promised. I don't know, something was just missing there for me, I mean this movie made over 1 billion dollars! There was something about the script or the acting that just didn't work for me. Luckily, the directing and production were on point. I mean the idea and presentation of a Jurassic world where dinosaurs are made scientifically and modified genetically looked believable, and maybe sometime in the future, there would be one.
Rating this movie, I'd still rate it the 7 that it is on IMDB without the 0.3 ofcourse. I think what helped with its box office success was the anticipation of a new Jurassic movie after 22 years and the fact that it doesn't have any real box office competition currently.

Friday, 14 August 2015

NOLLYWOOD THEN AND NOW

So I watched two nollywood movies yesterday, one, Golden Moon, a lot older than the other could be seen to represent the old nollywood. And the other Memories of my Heart, could represent the new generation NOLLYWOOD.
Golden Moon Review: watching this movie made me really miss the good ol' nollywood days. You know the days of Saint Obi, RMD, Liz Benson, just to mention a few. Saint Obi particularly beacause he starred in this particular movie. His acting was epic. There were no downplaying or overacting in any scene, and even funny sometimes because natural reactions to some certain scenarios can be funny. Also in this movie were Chioma Chukwuka, Monalisa Chinda and Mona's friend (Itoro) whose actings were also on point.
However, as it represents the old nollywood, there were also goofs, such as from side attractions and the poor acting by the policeman. But the goofs could be easily ignored due to the captivating lead actor and actresses. All in all this movie is a definite must watch.
Memories of my Heart Review: This movie includes casts Ramsey Noah, Ini Edo and Nse Ekpe amongst others. The acting in this movie was very poor. Ini Edo looked like she was confused most of her scenes on what facial expression to have, Nse Ekpe on the other hand was trying to hard with her scenes. The only two somewhat close to acting naturally were Ramsey Noah and Uche Jumbo. Even Monalisa's wannabe diva acting was bad. I think the producers focused more on the story rather than the acting, which was a huge mistake because the story was not even believable.
So comparing these two movies our this week's sofas and popcorn definitely goes to Golden Moon.

Monday, 10 August 2015

ABOUT LAST NIGHT'S PROJECT FAME PERFORMANCES

Was it just me or did everybody watch the drama Deinde performed after his performance last night??! During that scene I had to cover my face, literally . For those of you who missed it, let me just say I 'used' to like him (noticed how I used past tense? Yeah... That explains it all). By the way, his performance wasn't even all that, it was only carried by the popularity of the song.
So Ada was definitely the lady of the night, rendering a beautiful performance of Meghan Trainor's all about the base. There were also beautiful performances by Arewa, Joy, Jeff and surprisingly from the two new wildcard contestants. In my opinion, more people should have been put on probation because the wildcard contestants performed better than most of the contestants who have been in the house for a week.
But hey guys, don't forget to vote for your favourite contestant. Voting closes 3pm Friday.

Saturday, 8 August 2015

AND SO ENDS THE IMPOSTER

If this was a Q and A section on how the telenovela, the imposter ended, through the answers, we would found out (for those of us who missed it) that: A. According to the story, Raquel turned out to be the real imposter. B. Eduardo was valentina and Adriano's son. C. Adriano had two sons. D. Christobol's Adriano and Raquel's child. E. George became the 'lost' child (and can I just say George was the worst character... He was always looking so clueless which he was basically all the time). F. And blanca and eduardo lived happily ever after.
What I do not know however was what happened to Raquel in the end. I missed that part. Somebody help me out there please. But I'm guessing she killed herself to meet her forever lover Ivan Montenegro in hell. He made it look so enticing for her.
Also, who was Christobol kissing in the new-year party? I missed that part too. Christobol and Mariana were my two favourite characters. I also like Careena and Raphael. Too bad his character (Raphael) had to be shot.
For those of you that missed yesterday's episode or others like me, who missed some part of it, there's hope... There's going to be reruns today (Saturday) for this week's episode (Monday to Friday) and final episode reruns on Monday.
What are your views on the telenovela and any top notch currently airing telenovela to watch out for.

Monday, 16 February 2015

BOX OFFICE THIS WEEK

MOVIE                                                PROD.COM    CURRENT     TOTAL     BUDGET  W          

1
$81,670,000
$81,670,000
$40
1

2



$35,600,000

$35,600,000

  $81

1

3



$30,540,000

$93,673,000

$74

2

4





$16,435,000

$304,133,000

$58.8

8

5



$9,430,000

$32,551,000

$176

2

6



$4,153,000

$13,423,000

$95

2

7



$4,150,000

$62,343,000

$55

5

8





$3,525,000

$79,657,000

-

12

9



$3,400,000

$59,743,000

$23

5

10



$2,730,000

$19,560,000

$12

3

PREDICT THE OSCARS

BEST PICTURE

ACTORin a Leading Role

  • Foxcatcher
  • American Sniper
  • The Imitation Game
  • Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
  • The Theory of Everything

ACTRESSin a Leading Role

  • Two Days, One Night
  • The Theory of Everything
  • Still Alice
  • Gone Girl
  • Wild

ACTORin a Supporting Role

  • The Judge
  • Boyhood
  • Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
  • Foxcatcher
  • Whiplash

ACTRESSin a Supporting Role

  • Boyhood
  • Wild
  • The Imitation Game
  • Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
  • Into the Woods

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

  • Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
  • Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight
  • Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold
  • Tomm Moore and Paul Young
  • Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura

CINEMATOGRAPHY

  • Emmanuel Lubezki
  • Robert Yeoman
  • Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
  • Dick Pope
  • Roger Deakins

COSTUME DESIGN

  • Milena Canonero
  • Mark Bridges
  • Colleen Atwood
  • Anna B. Sheppard
  • Jacqueline Durran

DIRECTING

  • Alejandro G. Iñárritu
  • Richard Linklater
  • Bennett Miller
  • Wes Anderson
  • Morten Tyldum

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

  • Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky
  • John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
  • Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester
  • Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David Rosier
  • Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

  • Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
  • Aneta Kopacz
  • Tomasz Śliwiński and Maciej Ślesicki
  • Gabriel Serra Arguello
  • J. Christian Jensen

FILM EDITING

  • Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
  • Sandra Adair
  • Barney Pilling
  • William Goldenberg
  • Tom Cross

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

  • Poland; Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski
  • Russia; Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev
  • Estonia; Directed by Zaza Urushadze
  • Mauritania; Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako
  • Argentina; Directed by Damián Szifron

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

  • Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
  • Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
  • Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White

MUSICOriginal Score

  • Alexandre Desplat
  • Alexandre Desplat
  • Hans Zimmer
  • Gary Yershon
  • Jóhann Jóhannsson

MUSICOriginal Song

  • Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
  • Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
  • Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
  • Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
  • Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

PRODUCTION DESIGN

  • Adam Stockhausen (Production Design); Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration)
  • Maria Djurkovic (Production Design); Tatiana Macdonald (Set Decoration)
  • Nathan Crowley (Production Design); Gary Fettis (Set Decoration)
  • Dennis Gassner (Production Design); Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration)
  • Suzie Davies (Production Design); Charlotte Watts (Set Decoration)

SHORT FILMAnimated

  • Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees
  • Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
  • Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
  • Torill Kove
  • Joris Oprins

SHORT FILMLive Action

  • Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
  • Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
  • Hu Wei and Julien Féret
  • Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
  • Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

SOUND EDITING

  • Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
  • Martin Hernández and Aaron Glascock
  • Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
  • Richard King
  • Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro

SOUND MIXING

  • John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
  • Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
  • Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
  • Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
  • Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

VISUAL EFFECTS

  • Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick
  • Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
  • Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould
  • Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
  • Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer

WRITINGAdapted Screenplay

  • Written by Jason Hall
  • Written by Graham Moore
  • Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
  • Screenplay by Anthony McCarten
  • Written by Damien Chazelle

WRITINGOriginal Screenplay

  • Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
  • Written by Richard Linklater
  • Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
  • Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
  • Written by Dan Gilroy