1. They're all the same

• 2. They're all the same 😰😰😰

Kemi Adetiba's "King of Boys": My Thoughts

NOTES:

i) I 'judged' this as I would any political genre made anywhere else. No excuses. This is a big budget movie. I'm judging it as I would any other movie from anywhere else.

ii) No matter what my review states, you should this movie. In this current industry of rom-coms, comedy, wedding movies, overflogged love stories, Kemi Adetiba's "King of Boys" is a breath of fresh air and while I think it could have been done better, it's a start and I hope others build on this.

iii) This movie should count as an experiment that has disproved widely held beliefs that only comedy sells in Nigeria, that Nigerians don't watch all those big guns and political movies. I think Kemi laid all that nonsense to rest with "King of Boys".

iv) It was exciting to see that "King of Boys" was executive produced by Kemi Adetiba and Kene, who if I am right used to be one of the proponents of sticking with comedy because according to him, who will watch all those big big scripts people are writing? How will investors make their money. I'm glad (if it's the same Kene of Filmhouse Cinemas) that he's been able to see for himself and that he is actually making money from it. Long may this continue.

v) Is it not normal that the review of a 3-hour movie should be long as hell too? 😂

My rating will be placed at the end of this review.

****

When I watch Nigerian films, subconsciously, I watch, expecting to be disappointed, so when I am, I simply move on and point out what disappointed me. Sometimes, I watch with tempered expectations, so when I watch, I sigh and say, yeah, the film tried but...

Kemi Adetiba's "King of Boys" was different. I watched it prepared to have the afternoon of my life because well, it's Kemi Adetiba. And when the movie started with such grace and poise, I was almost certain my afternoon was made.

Sigh.

Kemi Adetiba's "King of Boys" is that film that excels and is celebrated because it's way better than what's obtainable in the industry and she chose a genre that for the better part of last decade had not been explored.

In an industry littered with wedding movies, comedy and overflogged love stories, throwing a political thriller into the mix is bound to get instant attention, even if the delivery was below par both as a work of art and by the standards Kemi herself had set as an artiste. That the like of it has not been seen in the industry does not will away the inconsistencies, the failure of the style she chose, and the lazy way the movie was resolved.

Kemi's King of Boys is itself a rebellious work of art. The kind that showed rules and conventions the middle finger and just created art. But if you're going to show rules the middle finger, maybe it's always good to be sure that the content carries enough weight to support that rebellious act.

For originality, the story was brilliant. A truly Nigerian story steeped in Nigerian experiences. This is not one of those works that localise American stories. She gets an A- for originality.

I should have no real issue with the length if some of the scenes that made the film that long weren't absolutely unnecessary. There's such a thing as killing your darlings. As the writer of the script, Kemi probably fell in love with a lot of unnecessary scenes and dialogues that allowed the movie to just stretch on. Perhaps, brevity could have saved the film?

I don't know what happened or what went wrong but shots and camera angle was the last thing I ever expected to talk about in a Kemi Adetiba film. For the love of God, how is this even possible? There were scenes shot from very bad angles. Zoom ins and outs that looked ridiculous. Remember that place where Sola Sobowale and Akin Lewis had a face off? Where she raked and they stood eyeball to eyeball, I don't know, but did we really have to zoom in and have their heads alone fill the screen to show the tension in that scene? It felt like watching one of these low budget telemundo films where two people face off and then a low Indian song is playing in the background. And that part where Sola Sobowale went to fortify herself in white garment, did we really have to shoot from that angle? From inbetween the gate? It looked like there was a big reveal, like somebody was watching from behind that gate. If that isn't true as we found out, why was there a need to shoot from there? Like, it added nothing to the art itself and if nothing, it made concentration really hard. It was like watching something shot on a phone held by someone with shaky hands which could only be acceptable if the scene being shot was a porn scene.

Sigh.

The dialogue was almost brilliant. I'd give a B for dialogue. She didn't try to get characters to speak English by force. She had them talk exactly the way they would talk in real life. Apart from a few false dialogues that just wouldn't be said in real life (yes, this is a film, but your dialogue has to be original, has to be something people would say), she did well with dialogue. The thing about creating dialogue is not just to make sure that your characters are not saying things that no human being would say but to also make sure they are not stating obvious things that don't even need to be said. Art imitates life. This should apply to dialogues too.

The acting started off topnotch, then dipped. Reminisce was of course both the breakout and standout actor. He killed the scenes. He is a natural and for all of our sakes, I hope we see more of him on the big screens. The Governor was a natural for that role too. The way he carried himself in that short appearance he made, it was cool.

Now, Sola Sobowale is a good actress. Maybe excellent one too, depending on the role. But she can also be extra if she is allowed to. I think perhaps those having her scream like a deranged person in adverts, series and movies and doing her a disservice. She has the potential to be a lot more but the stereotypical roles are limiting. It's getting to a point where I'm tempted to believe that they are writing characters that scream and shout aimlessly for her.

Sola is a natural. She has the action, the subtlety, the ability to become characters entirely and we reduce her to a screaming maniac? I'd give her a C for her role in this movie but she could easily have scored an A if perhaps there wasn't a script that had her screaming when she could easily have been more subtle.

Kemi Adetiba's style was flawed too. To me at least, but I probably don't matter, so, no qualms. I get the part of her trying to break away from the norm of telling stories solely through flashbacks by telling two stories simultaneously, but she didn't pull this off well and the result is a movie that stretched on and on to the point of boredom.

Every genre has its uniqueness. Things that have to happen when. No matter how rebellious you are, your story better have those things or you'll be selling hokum. If you're shooting a romantic movie, they do the runaround, fall in love, have an obstacle and almost lose each other, and then get back together somehow. It's something along the three-act structure.

If you're doing a political thriller, viewers must never be bored. It has to have actions and reveals. While Kemi's film had some of these, the reveals were not surprising enough to make up for the length of the movie and the actions did not happen frequently enough or even have firepower enough to sustain the number of minutes viewers had to sit through it.

Yeah, Eniola was a child that ran away from home because her father abused her mother. She got caught up in a prostitution ring and eventually got a rich man to take note of her and start dating her. She carried cocaine for him and then orchestrated the death of his family and him and inherited his life and power. One of the girls she was in the prostitution ring with was sick and made her promise to take care of her only daughter and give her a better life. That grown daughter is present day Adesua Etomi who managed Sola's business and followed her everywhere.

Did that warrant an alternative storytelling? Yeah, flashbacks may look too cliche, but in that instance, considering that the alternative was to make a 3-hour movie, would brief flashes to reveal this not have been a better alternative and provided better storytelling?

Towards the end, when Eniola (Sola) had lost everything after Makanaki (Reminisce) killed Kemi (Adesua) and her son committed suicide, and then she got depressed and started seeing all of them (her children, her younger self, the family she killed), that was some stroke of genius from Kemi Adetiba. Perhaps, if more of that had happened in the telling of the story, it could have worked better?

The resolution was lazy. Kemi took the easy way out to resolve the film. It's easy to start telling a story, being realistic in carving out the ending is perhaps the hardest.

Powerful groups and secret societies are built on strength and show of force. If you were strong, you led. If you were weak, you got removed, if unlucky, you got killed.

Eniola got to lead that group because she showed strength, murdered the leader and took power. Nobody could stand up to her. When she got weak, Makanaki had the guts to stand up to her and end her reign.

Now, this is where the lazy resolution came in because maybe Kemi Adetiba had fallen in love with Sola's character and was determined to have her live to say the "Someone cannot play with you" dialogue at the end.

Makanaki was at the top of his power. He had just killed everyone powerful, murdered Eniola's children and almost killed Eniola. He had shown strength. Eniola on the other hand was on the run, hiding out in the US. There was no way in hell that Eniola could have convinced Ill Bliss's character to kill Makanaki. There was no way in hell that Makanaki's boys could have ALL connived with Ill Bliss sent by an on-the-run Eniola to stand aside and watch their boss, Makanaki gunned down that way at a time when he just showed strength and killed the former head's children, crumbled her empire and sent her on the run. A former head that had long stopped feeding them and was collecting 40% on each operation compared to the equal share rule that Makanaki as new leader was offering. Hell no! Lazy resolution.

See, I'm going on and on. But really, I feel like this could be better. Is the story good. Yeah, maybe she gets 55% for the story. If she had cut out all those unnecessary scenes and dialogues, maybe she could have gotten 70 or 80%.

There's a lot more to say that I did not, because this would be way too long if I did.

Rating: 3.5/10


PS: Let me help you with the insults you probably want to insult me:

1. Which one you don write?

2. Go and do your own.

3. All these people comparing Nollywood to Hollywood, I don't bother arguing with them.

Add more if you have, and thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

Oshisco!

The First Step
Lessons from my first gym experience

The starting point is usually the hardest part of anything. It could be writing a novel, starting a business, writing a blog post etc. We are all usually nervous about taking the first step.

I felt the same way when I decided that I needed to change my lifestyle. I wanted to become healthier, more fit and in fact, lose weight. I knew what I wanted but it took a really long time to start.
The truth is until you commit actions towards your goals, they'd never become realities.
I had to take the first step and indeed I took the first step.
In crossing “the first step hurdle” I learned very valuable lessons that I would love to share with you:

1. Do it Afraid
Cliché, isn't it?
But this is the first step in crossing the hurdle. People assume that they have to be confident and super sure before trying out something new but that isn't always necessarily true.
I was afraid of going to the gym because I didn't want anyone to know that I cared about being fat. So I basked in my pretense of being fat and fabulous but honestly, I wasn't loving it.
Other than being fat, I also knew I wasn't healthy or fit, I was in a mess but I was afraid of getting out of the mess even when I knew I had to do something.
It took months of battling with myself before I walked afraid to the gym. Yes, I walked afraid.

I did it afraid.


2. Make do with what you have
Going to the gym required fitness gear and clothing that I didn't have. So what did I do? I borrowed from my cousin. From my running shorts to my running shoes, everything was borrowed.

Yes, you read me right.

The only thing that was mine, was my undies. But I knew if I had encouraged myself to wait until I had bought all my I needed myself, I would never have started on my first day. I would conveniently shift starting to the next week and just keep on procrastinating.

I would be enabling my lazy ass.
Start with what you have, you can utilize what you have until you get what you want. You don't need a laptop to become a blogger, or a YouTuber or an editor.
Start with your smartphone until you get what you want.

Just start.

3. Laugh at yourself.
The moment I walked into the gym I felt like the donut girl. Everyone was in shape and I became intimidated. I still am but am not running away. I'd work on myself until am confident enough to fit in. After my first workout session, I fainted. That was really very embarrassing but I didn't quit, and that really made me laugh, it's a memorable experience that I would always remember.

The same thing applies to the mistakes we make when trying out new things, don't be harsh on yourself because of a mistake.
Laugh and Learn!

I really hope you learned a few things from my experience about taking the first step.
Good luck darlings

And remember, just do it.

ITEL MOBILE REWARDS STUDENTS WITH HALF A MILLION IN THE #IGOTTHEMOVES DANCE COMPETITION

Lagos, 9th November 2018 –  Reiterating its commitment to empowering Nigerian youths to showcase their talents through various levels of passion, energy, and creativity; Africa’s mobile giant, itel Mobile has just concluded a seven-campus dance activation in Nigerian Universities geared towards creating awareness for its selfie-centric flagship – itel S13.

The activity tagged #iGotTheMoves dance competition started earlier in October with a visit to Nigerian universities such as Laspotech, Yabatech, Lasu, ABU Zaria, University of Ibadan and FUNNAB. In addition to this, an online contest for fans was held which also had participants battle for amazing gifts items and a whopping sum of N500,000 by dancing to itel’s theme song.

The campaign was concluded with Ogundare Adenike Tosin, an undergraduate of Hospitality management in Lagos State Polytechnic emerging the winner with a cash prize of N300,000 as the offline dance champion while a sum of N100,000 each was awarded to the online winner and runner-up winner, Oreoluwa Oladapo and Akinyele Temidayo from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic and Lagos State University respectively.
Speaking on her victory, the ecstatic dance champion, Ogundare Adenike said:
“ This is a dream come true. I had contested earlier in the campus dance competition and won N50,000 and now I won again the finals. Dancing has always been my passion and I’m grateful to itel Mobile for creating this platform for me to showcase my talent and pursue my dreams of becoming a professional dancer. With this cash prize, I can finally enroll in a dance school and become someone great. I’m so honored. Thank you itel Mobile”.



Addressing the media on the competition, Oke Umurhohwo, Marketing Communications Manager, itel Mobile, said the essence of the competition was to promote the dance culture of Nigerian and project the amazing camera sensor mounted on the itel S13 for clearer selfies
“itel Mobile over the years has grown from just a feature phone brand to a smartphone brand, that understands the needs of young Nigerians, and while we have continued to tailor our devices towards providing the best mobile experiences at an affordable rate. Having the opportunity to start this dance competition is our way of showing that we care and we celebrate creativity amongst our target audience.”
The electric atmosphere at the grand finale of the competition had in attendance amazing acts like Terry Apala, Victor AD, Junior Boy, and a host of other top-notch Nigerian artistes along with students Lovers of the itel brand, and lovers of dance.

Creative ways Nigerians celebrated Independence Day - 1st October 2018

Today being the 1st day of October 2018 is Nigeria's 58th year as an independent Country. Nigeria, popularly described as the giant of Africa is located in the western part of the continent. Nigeria is a country blessed with mineral resources as well as human resources, the country boasts of over 350 languages and multiple ethnic groups with diverse cultural backgrounds.

Although the country has been recently plagued with terrorism, economic depression, and bloodshed, its citizens still celebrate its Independence day through diverse forms of creativity. They express their love, despair, and hope for their nation, Nigeria.

Image 1 :

We are absolutely in love with these images by popular lifestyle blogger Aderonke Enoabasi Adefalujo. She's an award-winning style influencer with over 199k followers on Instagram. She's also the brain behind Rhonkefella brand on Instagram.
You can learn more about her and follow her on IG using this LINK

Image 2:




We are absolutely in love with these photos because they represent the rich cultural heritage which Nigeria is known for. They have a carnival and celebration feel that we are absolutely vibing along with.

Image 3:


There's something about this dress that screams Nigerian and class which we love. Nigerians are known for their classy and expensive wears at social gatherings and events and this stunner is the perfect attire for any social gathering. It is the perfect outfit for a wedding, naming ceremony, you name it. We love this look and the bold flower on the right shoulder is a shoe stopper.

Image 4:




What is a naija celebration without food? These food images were made with so much creativity. We especially love the first cake photo which recreates a Lagos scene, we love the danfo, the street sign boards. We also love the rice and peppered stew with plenty orishirishi, and the green leaves as a prop just makes the photo pop.
We love!

Image 5:


Lilian Afegba totally killed this look, this photo makes you so thirsty, you're probably thinking of grabbing the cocktail from her hands. Lilian Afegba is an actor, a vlogger, an award winning producer and a fashion influencer with over 110k followers on Instagram. You can connect with her on IG by clicking this LINK

Image 6:





We love these Independence day inspired makeup looks. We gushing over the creativity behind these.

Image 7:


 It's time for some hair inspiration. We especially love the second look because she looks like a goddess of lightening. We love the afro centric vibes we are getting off these photos

Image 9: