A CERTAIN LEVEL of cold-bloodedness seems a requisite in writing a critical biography of someone the author loved dearly, with the knowledge that strangers will read this book. And that the publisher wants a serious work on the shelves. But an enormous level of skill is necessary in […]
Take an old and revolting story of disrespect and abuse, of entrenched behaviour and broken dreams. Put it into the mouth and sensibilities of young filmmakers and you may find yourself in the presence of an unexpected bit of pure poetry. This is what you can anticipate in […]
THE GROUND THAT you think is firm enough to hold you and your history and values may not be as solid or kind to you as you think. Or hope. It’s a concatenation of ghosts, of the detritus of dead buried there and of the messy issues associated […]
EPISODE 19 OF the podcast series The End of the Line takes the premises of the project and reaches into an even more complex situation than a quizzical ‘why don’t you want to have babies?’ posed by a stranger to a pretty young woman. Naomi, played by Jennifer […]
IT ISN’T EVERY day that one hears of a South African artist who took their work to the ultimate in commercial possibility, without, on many levels, allowing it to lose its idiosyncratic flavour. With an oft-spoken injunction against ordinariness that punted being extraordinary with a bit of naughtiness […]
WHEN YOU LIVE in an overtly political context, wherever in the world you are, the issue of having babies is coloured by The Struggle. Why? Is it because it’s another sensibility to march on your side? Another voice to sing to your tune? Perhaps. This is the focus […]
IT’S BEEN DEEMED one of Netflix’s most watched productions, and has been followed by a slew of vehement critical opinions, both for and against, but does this mean it’s a good film? Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up is an engaging satire about the imminent end of the world […]
FROM THE FIRST extrapolation of ‘Gorgeous!’ in the mouth of Celeste, the whole of the American Midwest is evoked, with all its texture and brashness, enthusiasm and disappointment, history and perspectives. Played by Kim Tatum, episode 17 of The End of the Line takes the complexity of sexuality […]
THE ABILITY TO cast a beautiful yarn in plain language is a very special skill. It’s about cutting the fat that words can spew if they’re not restrained, as it is about the luxury of being able to form characters with your pen and insights, impeccably. Like writers […]
WHEN YOU HOLD a match to something flammable, you will get an explosion. But it need not be a destructive one: Pantsula dancer Ayanda Nondlwana aka “Fire Starter” or “Ace” was that kind of flammable, in the dance sphere. All the people who touched his life enabled him […]
Recent Comments