Entebbe Ya Nyinimu

Here is another surprisingly delightful piece of entertainment from one called Phillip Omwana W’Abandi. Entebbe ya Nyinimu loosely translated “as the seat that belongs to the head of the house” is about a mysterious three legged chair that holds spiritual significance in the home of a certain family. The director/actor is Phillip Omwana W’Abandi and he plays the role of patriarch. We also have Phionah Nalubegga, Akram Mubiru, Fahad Waligo and Sophia Namwanje. 

The story is about a family that has some secrets. There is a son who refuses to go see his father. A sister and brother who are looking to are looking to get ahead. A medicine man who has the pulse on the challenges in his community. A brother in law who is struggling to find relevance in the family he married into. Children who seem invisible and who play with the invisible (plot spoiler).

I enjoyed the story because there were lessons about history and consequence. Some insights into the supernatural and how the netherworld can intervene in the lives of humanity. Even if I have been critical of the guys who do voice overs, they offer interesting depths into cultural nuances that you may be unfamiliar with as you watch the presentation. In addition to this, anyone who wants to make sense of life in Uganda especially in the villages where traditional religious belief reigns, will do well to study some of these theatrical works for perspective. 

Citadel

 

I have posted the standard Wikipedia summaries that I usually enjoy in this piece. What we have done differently is simply release them as images. So you have a very brief image describing the show as well as the central characters and then you have what some of the critics said about the film. 

In my view it was a good show. The action scenes were really intense. You could say they were ‘Johnwickesqe’ clearly the style of close shooting in the series featuring the famed actor from the a John Wick movies was employed here. The rapid fire shots to the head and the gore that emerges from this. The use of multiple fighting styles that seems to almost be dance like. Then there is the choice of characters. Stanley Tucci is amazing with his one liners his wit and his nonchalance. Lesley Manville excels in her presentation of a brutal and calculating minister with a history in the world of espionage and abound to pick with her adversaries. She is conniving and cruel. The twins I like the most with the bearded look they are an unusual pair of viscous villains. We are accustomed to other types of antiheroes…maybe slightly thinner and taller with darker hair. We might even see the occasional white haired or even black tall bad guy. But a bearded one is a fresh look and the actor does this role justice. I like the way the film takes you through the complex histories of the main characters and the decisions that they have to make. I like the love story that is woven in the series and the issues that divined those who chose a life in service of a greater good. This is what the show portrays the life of espionage involving the greater good of not just nations but serving on a global scale. There is an interesting line in the series in which the two doomed lovers are confronted with their feelings and a statement is made to the effect of “you cannot be a spy and a saint at the same time”. 

Then there are other issues such as memory that are explored. Maybe even the idea of life after death in the sense that those who go and maybe return must make the choice to live on or relive their past lives and meet their old loves in a new frame? There are also interesting explorations about memory and the idea that these can be preserved and maybe even wiped by the push of a button. 

Overall I would say maybe 80% for me. For the combination action, history, the exploration of science, global dynamics, relationships, love, broader themes like justice and equity. 

City of God

This is one of the best pictures that I have seen this year…okay probably ever. The guy who put this together has mastered the art of story telling. Where the film starts is where it ends. And that is a story within itself. Then he weaves together a tapestry of characters moving seamlessly back and forth from person to person from location to locations as he masterfully gives you a glimpse into the lives of the people who will make up this complex story. 

There are tales about poverty and race relations in the early seventies and eighties and Brazil’s attempt to deal with these issues. Then there are the lives of a few young men who lived in these difficult circumstances but who somehow managed to create a life albeit of crime out of this existence. He takes you through these lives and the families in which they lived and the struggles they endured as well as the bonds they created. He shows you how important it is to begin to think strategically at a young age and how this can be a valuable asset even if in this case it is in a life on the other side of the law. He demonstrates how young men made decisions some for the better others for the worse and how these decisions affected their lives. He shows you how change happens and how events seemingly unrelated can lead to changes in the lives of young people that are almost irreversible. He tells stories about growing up and falling in love and making love or at least trying to. He tells stories about the racial divide as well as the wealth gaps that exist in society. He tells tales of the life that many must navigate to survive and the systems they establish to make it work. The story is reminiscent of black hawk down at least in the communication networks that were set up to alert the residents when raids were about to take place. This time though, the ecosystem was created to move ‘product’. The introduction of an unlikely hero is also interesting as is the emergence of one who will perhaps not necessarily be seen as one although in many cases the challenge is really just to survive and live to tell the tale. 

If I were to summarize the movie with a few words I would say, the chicken, the camera and the gun! 

Omuzimu Gw'obulogo

What would it be like to be raised in the woods to take care of the shrines of the ancients? That is the question this one looks to answer...and many more. It takes you through the lives of some that are received and others rejected and what it takes for those that are received to become part of the 'fellowship' to serve the 'gods'. As always the presentations are full of humor and references only those who have grown up in the village will appreciate. John Bosco Kasirye, Bbaale Richard, Moses Magezi and Ntege Moses are some of the actors that feature in this one. 

Obusungu Bw'eddogo

The graphics work in this one are interesting. It is the story of about life in the village and the struggles that the community has to go through when almost every member has some kind of access to the mic arts. An Kidde Eastled and Mutebi Ronald Film, this presentation has a large cast of notable personalities and follows the lives of villagers as they engage in tit for tat fights against each other. There battles are also generational between kids, adults and also 'doctors' as we refer to them here. There is an interesting interplay of activities between the one generation that is more attended to the magic arts than another and the way in which the two generations 'transfer' power one to another. 

If you are not a believer you might be when you watch this. The writers have a skill in making you realize that you are watching fiction but leaving enough doubt about the daily activities that you go through. 

Circle

The experts do not seem to think much of this film. Oh but it is so much more given the current debate and back and forth between social media giants, a maor research group and several governments and their opposition counterparts (many of whom are crying foul). Emma Watson already put on a fantastic performance in Beauty and the Beast. And they managed to serve up two Emma in one!

Anyhow this time around Circle is dealing with heavy stuff...and not faltering. A social media group with quite an audience is having some discussions abut growth when one of the employees comes up with the brilliant (or not so) idea of using this influence to transform the democratic process. The circle is written in a world where we are connected frighteningly close to the point of imprisonment and surveillance. 

The film therefore attempts to deal with Quesitions that could arise in a connected world with the usual presentations about crime free settings. It almost feels a little like what happens in robocop when the machine can scan through its databases while looking at a crowd to discover and identify the perpetrators of crime and carry out instant arrests. 

The film felt like it was an indictment to social media and it's corresponding businesses and the relationship between Chiefs felt Iike a parallel between CEOs currently in the limelight and their female colleagues-in a moment thrust into the front row to deal with a sticky situation. 

Tom Hanks delivers as he always does. It's just a little uncomfortable seeing him as the bad guy! 

Omusajja agwana mukalegga.

This one feels much more like it would have flourished as a series. It has the largest cast I have seen in a single movie. The story is done well and has quite a number of twists and turns. It is effectively about a guy who gets the girl...but gets a ton more than what he bargains for. 

This is a film about duality. A presentation of two practitioners of traditional. The real (one guy who seems to deliver) and the fake (another who simply uses his networks and technology). it also has two women. One content while the other not. It has two men one rich and one seeking to be rich. It is done by Ramon Productions. They have made a name for themselves for being the go to group for Action Sequences. Some have even described the director of these as the Ugandan Quentin Tarantino. 

His films are headquartered in Wakaliga which has become known as Wakaliwood. This crew gave us Who Killed Captain Alex, they also gave us Ani Mulalu (who is really crazy) which went far beyond the usual NGO funded projects about saving the lives of children and awareness raising to an effective local action packed hit. Maybe the film was slightly negative in its portrayal of rich people as kid snatchers but these are the ideas that have filtered through the press. His most recent one talks of collaboration with Dolph Londgren. Another one that Is out is called Million  Dollar Child-about a wiz kid who has developed a tool that helps him control people. It is also described as the Uganda's version of the Expendables (operations kakongolilo).*

*Kakongolilo is a maize cob.