A new trend has emerged. That of turning your beloved canine friend into a mobile work of ‘art’. I use the term ‘art’ loosely here, of course.
Essentially people are cutting and dying the hair of poodles and other unfortunately fluffy dogs, to resemble other creatures, such as Panda’s, Pirates and Fairy’s. It is as crazy as it sounds and the results are just as mind numbingly hilarious.
Last night I had the privilege of attending the premiere of Leon Schuster’s latest film Schuks Tshabalala’s Survival Guide to South Africa.
Every South African knows of the legend that is Leon Schuster. He is our original prankster, made famous by his uniquely South African candid camera work. Although he may have departed from his original film tactics in recent productions such as Mr. Bones and Mama Jack, Schuks Tshabalala’s Survival Guide to South Africa sees Schuster return to his comedic roots.
Schuks Tshabalala’s Survival Guide to South Africa is pure Schuster. If you have enjoyed any of his previous candid camera focused movies, you will no doubt enjoy his latest foray into slapstick South African comedy.
The film attempts to weave each candid camera scenario into a larger background story, in this case a Mr Schuks Tshabalala offers a tour of South Africa to a group of poorly acted ‘foreigners’. However, all these slapstick interludes serve to do is annoyingly retract from the real comedic elements. Even though some of the lyrics to a few of the Highschool Musical inspired interludes were brilliantly tongue-in-cheek, they felt somewhat disconnected from the story as a whole. I would equate it to like watching a reality show on MTV which is split by music videos.
Although there were quite a few gems in terms of the candid camera work, the Helen Zille and Seapoint squatter camp scenario’s being among them, Schuster has not attempted to push the proverbial envelope in any way. Instead, each candid camera scenario is simply a rehash of something we have seen from him before: Golf Club scene? Check. Fooling rookie cops? Check. Scaring taxi drivers and occupants? Check, and so on and so forth. This is by no means a bad thing, after all, as the adage goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Even so, it feels like a missed opportunity for Schuster to push the boundaries in the same way he did in the 80s with You Must Be Joking.
Nevertheless, if you enjoy South African slapstick humour then Schuks Tshabalala’s Survival Guide to South Africa is not to be missed.
Verdict: 6/10.
The film opens nation wide on Friday the 28th of May 2010.
As is always the case with any Sterkinekor event, there were many delicious snacks and ample refreshments for all red carpet guests as well as numerous paparazzi. I have got to give it to Sterkinekor , they always make you feel like a star when visiting their ‘happy place’ during premiere events.
Until the next time “Milieunairs”!
Any self respecting person has owned and built a Lego creation of some kind. Goodness knows that I own my fair share of Lego products, probably more than I would care to admit. Even now, at the tender age of 24, I still find myself browsing through the isles of Lego products available at any and all Toys R Us stores. In all honesty, and I am sure you will agree, Lego has no age limit.
This entry is focussed on stop-motion Lego filmography. A hobby which no doubt exists for people who really have nothing better to do with their time. Regardless, it really is very cool, especially when done properly.
Alex Kobbs is one of these stop-motion Lego fanatics. He has spent the last six years creating a Halo themed 25-minute short, based on Halo’s Zanzibar map, completely out of Lego. How awesomely insane is that?!
The short film is called The Battle of the Brick and features ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ battling it out *Halo fan high five*. The completed video is expected to hit the Web in early 2010, but for now you can have a look at the tantalising trailer:
If Lego stop-motion filmography is your thing, you can follow the progress of Kobbs’ work at the Kooberz Studio Blog.
That’s not all folks. I have one more fantastic piece of Lego filmography to share with you.
Every gamer and geek who has watched The Matrix will agree that it is one of the best science fiction and action movies of all time. However, you have not seen anything until you see The Matrix lovingly created in Lego stop-motion!
In honour of the 10th anniversary of The Matrix, a group of fans recreated nearly 900 frames of the film. The entire sequence is animated without any additional effects. What this means, is that the short was filmed ‘in camera’ without the aid of wire removal, Photoshop or any additional special effects; other than what can be created with the Lego blocks themselves. Very impressive stuff! The entire project is said to have taken around 440 hours to complete. For more information and additional videos detailing the projects immensity, check out www.LegoMatrix.com.
How cool would a Lego Matrix game be?! *Waits patiently for Travellers Tales to scoop the rights to create the game*
Until the next ‘blocky’ post “Milieunairs”!
Other than the KGB, playing Russian Roulette, drinking copious amounts of Vodka and selling their women online *cough* Russian brides *cough*, it turns out that those Russians also know how to ‘spank those planks’.
I have got to give it to those soldiers. When you can move like that, who needs guns?
Until the next time “Milieunairs”!
It all started with this tweet:
“Marge Simpson has a surprise for her fans in the November issue of Playboy” ~ High Hefner
Back in August, courtesy of Twitter, Hugh Hefner hinted that everyone’s favourite blue haired cartoon character, the lovely Marge Simpson, may appear in the November issue of Playboy magazine. Today, TMZ broke the news that good old Marge will, in fact, be the cover girl of the November issue.
Marge, it appears, is quite the kinky cougar and will be ‘appearing’ in Playboy to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Simpsons. TMZ also reported that she will even have a three page spread in the magazine, where she will not only show off her “bangin bod” but also a variety of ultra sexy cartoon lingerie.
It is worth noting that there will be a ‘real-life’ human Playboy Playmate in the issue as well. Just in case ‘hentai’ is not a part of your forte. Doh!
Bear in mind that Marge Simpson is by no means a stranger when it comes to appearing in or on Magazines. Other than Playboy, she has also adorned the cover of Maxim magazine and was given a spread in Harper’s Bazaar, among others.
UPDATE: Check out the album for a myriad of photographs including the November 2009 Playboy spread featuring Marge Simpson herself (NSFW: Cartoon nipples)!
There is no doubt that Homer will be downing a keg of Duff beer in celebration of his wife’s achievement, whereas Bart will have to fend off his horny-short-eating friends, while Lisa runs a campaign to promote feminine empowerment. Maggie will no doubt suck her dummy while continuing to plan for world domination. Until then, let’s celebrate with Marge… by crumping!
Until the next time “Milieunairs”!
