You know that relatable feeling where you have to write about something because it's a series and a thing you do every week but this week there's legitimately nothing to say and you have no idea how you're going to hit that word count so your editor will feel okay publishing your story? Same. This week at South Africa's box office nothing happened. Sure, Kingsman 2: The Golden Circle jumped one up to two as Emoji Movie dropped to three, and, sure, The Snowman opened in fourth, and maybe Victoria & Abdul hopped one up to ninth, but other than that? Nothing remotely exciting. So instead here are some "fun" facts...
With Halloween just around the corner, I decided to brave the terrifying landscape of “found-footage” horror films so that you, the reader, can truly learn what fear is. If you have the desire for a terror-filled All Hallows’ Eve, or just like soiling yourself in the general pants area, this piece has been specially tailored for you. This article contains vivid description of violence, pure evil, and unfathomable insanity. Please enjoy. Disclaimer: One of the entries in this article has been removed due to the unprincipled practices used in the film's production. The Blair Witch Project The Blair Witch Project tells the story of...
Update, 18 October 2017: Netflix has since clarified the pricing in an interview with Memeburn, saying that they are indeed transitioning to local currency. "We're working on it. It should come... hopefully very shortly," the company's Yann Lafargue said. "With Kwese... we have it in rands..." But are the below prices accurate then? We posed this to the representative during a separate roundtable discussion. "I don't know, we have to check." Original article: Streaming colossus Netflix has quietly confirmed pricing in South African rand for its offering. The company traditionally offers three subscription tiers, in the form of a US$7.99 tier, US$9.99 category and...
Thanks to the internet, human beings are forced to endure pain and suffering on a scale we were never built to comprehend. But out of this pain comes goodness -- and the internet is good for that too. Case in point: this viral video of a dog being reunited with her family after she went missing during the California wildfires that have so far taken the lives of 40 people. According to Beckyjean Widen, who posted the story to Facebook, her parents' dog Izzy ran away during the confusion of evacuation, and her mother was unable to chase after her without risking her...
Star Wars: The Last Jedi had its official trailer release last week, and no major blockbusters were willing to compete with that screen time. The result? A week of smaller trailers that may not have the budget, but may just have the heart. Here they are. Star Wars: The Last Jedi I'm adding Star Wars: The Last Jedi here for formalities, because I'm sure the majority of people who wanted to see it already have -- but, hey, one more time can't hurt. As a recap: Luke is afraid of Rey, who has no idea where she belongs. Maybe with Kylo Ren? Maybe not. The Last Jedi is out in SA on...
The remnants of Hurricane Ophelia is currently battering the south-western coastline of Ireland, but much of the country doesn't seem to be taking it very seriously. #Ophelia is currently trending worldwide on Twitter at present, and obviously in Ireland. But while that hashtag does include updates on the storm, alerts and citizen reports, it also includes a healthy dosage of memes. The snarky comments emanating from the emerald isle is as humourous as it is worrying, considering that Ex-Ophelia (as the UK Met Office is calling her) is still packing wind gusts in excess of 170km/h. This must be a the strongest...
American recording trio Major Lazer may have been slammed in the past for making coin from cultural appropriation, but its latest track brings out the best in South Africa's and Nigeria's music and cinematography scene. Co-produced by South Africa's DJ Maphorisa, and starring SA rapper Nasty C, and Nigerian artists Ice Prince, and Pantoranking, "Particula" is a reggae banger that this week received the music video treatment. Said video was also directed by Cape Town-based Adriaan Louw. "Particula" does not feature Table Mountain however, but rather the Hillbrow Tower. Major Lazer's 'Particula' is filmed in Johannesburg, but features both Nigerian and South...
Actress Rose McGowan, who has been using her Twitter account to speak out against Hollywood production studio The Weinstein Company, has had her account temporarily disabled. TWITTER HAS SUSPENDED ME. THERE ARE POWERFUL FORCES AT WORK. BE MY VOICE. #ROSEARMY A post shared by Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) on Oct 11, 2017 at 9:19pm PDT Last week, The New York Times revealed that powerful producer Harvey Weinstein had been paying off sexual harassment accusers for decades. Rose McGowan was one of the first women to disclose that she had signed a settlement with Weinstein after an "episode in a hotel room" in 1997, and has been using...
Rapper Eminem unleashed a four-minute-long freestyle criticising US President Donald Trump at Tuesday's BET Hip Hop Awards, and the South African responses have been split. In the freestyle, the rapper says that, among other issues, "racism's the only thing fantastic for". He also bashes his "distraction" tactics of focussing on the recent NFL protests rather than disaster-relief for Hurricane-hit Puerto Rico. Eminem goes so far as to tell any of his Trump-supporting fans that he's "drawing a line in the sand; you're either for or against". The FULL verse that EVERYBODY is talking about! @eminem BODIED THIS! #HipHopAwardspic.twitter.com/zoS0wEwjQF — BET (@BET) October 11, 2017 Former-NFL...
Netflix launched in South Africa more than a year ago, officially supporting the region with TV shows and movies. But the streaming service has also recently added South Africa to its monthly ISP Speed Index. Now, for the month of September, the service has revealed its top ten ISPs in the country. Fibre-based ISP CoolIdeas was in the top spot, at 3.80Mbps, followed by Vodacom and Vox Telecom (3.19Mbps each). MTN and Cell C rounded out the top five, at 3.18Mbps and 3.08Mbps respectively. Check out the full rundown below. "The Netflix ISP Speed Index lists the average prime time bitrate for...
The Star Wars franchise may be going through some trials of will and creative differences, but it's time to brush that all aside so we can revel in the sheer coolness of the what is to be The Last Jedi. It's finally here: the much-anticipated trailer for the sequel to The Force Awakens -- the blockbuster that brought in over US$2-billion for Disney's Lucasfilms. It's currently the highest-grossing Star Wars film (and the third highest-grossing film of all time) -- but all that could change come December. Be warned: Director Rian Johnson has suggested that "if you want to in clean, absolutely avoid ". I a legitimately torn....
Have you ever been ashamed to tell someone you enjoy something because of a fear they might associate you with the worst part of the fandom? The people who tweet death threats to anyone who dare disrespect their favourite show, or those who feel superior because of what they like? Almost every group of fans has a bad side -- but some groups are so obnoxious that it becomes difficult to find the casual viewers, the ones who could actually engage in productive conversation. These are, in my opinion, the internet's fandoms with the most obnoxious bad sides. Dates are taken from the...
Blade Runner 2049 has crashed into the top of South African box office charts this weekend, but it doesn't seem enough for the blockbuster. Despite raking in rave reviews -- Rolling Stone called it an "instant classic" -- the film has not pulled in the opening weekend it expected. Many predicted the long-awaited sequel would make around US$45-million in the US, but after a disappointing opening weekend, Blade Runner 2049 only managed US$31.5-million. Its production budget sits around US$150-million. But what about the rest of the chart this weekend? (6 - 8 October) The Emoji Movie has defied gravity (and Pennywise the Clown) to jump up from third spot to second, forcing last week's number...
There's a massive list of major films that were promoted last week: from super-hyped franchises and serious Oscar contenders to trashy movies that know exactly what they are. Here's the list. Justice League Justice League is still pretending that Superman is dead despite the fact that everyone saw the dust rise off his coffin in Batman v Superman. There are some theories as to why they're upholding the ruse, and my favourite is that Superman is the villain of this film. Scandalous, I know. Also revealed in the trailer is a super hunky Aquaman, a bantering The Flash, and a life-saving Cyborg -- all gearing up to save the...
Netflix is raising two of its tiers' prices for US users, but that won't affect South Africans, a spokesperson has said. Though the prices in SA are hinged on the dollar, the fee hike is for US-users only. According to Mashable, come November Netflix's middle tier product will go from US$9.99 to US$10.99, while the premium will rise from US$11.99 to US$13.99. The company says the hike is to accommodate "more exclusive TV shows and movies", "new product features", and the improvement of the "overall Netflix experience". Facing more competition than ever, Netflix is racing to stay ahead in the streaming service game by producing more quality original content -- and...
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