Johan “Rassie” Erasmus has been a rugby fan, player, coach and director over his sports career, culminating in winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. A major proponent of the overwhelming success story that characterised the Springboks in what became their third World Cup victory after 1995 and 2003’s dramatic finals, the story was beautifully captured in a rousing documentary series called ‘Chasing the Sun’.
‘The Menu’ is an elegant yet prickly dark comedy horror from Mark Mylod, which serves as a poetic and political allegory, a spicy blend of art and entertainment.
‘North Hollywood’ is a biographical coming-of-age sports comedy drama, loosely based on writer-director Mikey Alfred’s life and relationship with his father. The film stars Ryder McLaughlin, a real-life skateboarder who does most of his own stunts to create an added level of authenticity in this vivid slice-of-life drama.
Robert Downey Jr. leverages his fame by introducing this documentary directed by Chris Smith, he serves as a sounding board, attempting to redirect the spotlight and there to coax out the real Robert Downey Sr.
For a few decades, it seemed that ‘Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey’ in 1991 was the final chapter of the film franchise, but since the turn of the millennium a script for a long overdue sequel has been pinballed about Hollywood.
‘The Metamorphosis of Birds’ is a curious biographical docudrama from Catarina Vasconcelos – the equivalent of sifting through a family memory box.
‘Wild is the Wind’ is a gritty crime drama centred on two bent cops trying to land a score that will set them up for the rest of their lives.
Pivoting off a dysfunctional marriage on the verge of divorce, this atmospheric and suspenseful horror drama thriller serves as a character portrait and by extension social commentary.
Whatever your thoughts, it’s funny to see ‘Romancing the Stone’ getting its own clone with ‘The Lost City’ starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum.
‘Gaia’ is another name for Mother Nature, a mythological ancestral giver of life. It’s also the title of a local horror thriller from ‘Rage’ writer-director team Tertius Kapp (‘Griekwastad’) and Jaco Bouwer (‘Die Spreeus’).
Having been the subject of ‘The Crown’ and films such as ‘Spencer’, renewed interest in the royal family household has made the timing of ‘The Princess’ documentary quite perfect… maybe too perfect.
‘Do Not Hesitate’ isn’t a music drama but signals by way of a possible tribute to the aforementioned films that things could get heated.
‘Blonde’ is a long-awaited Marilyn Monroe biographical drama starring Ana de Armas from the mind of Andrew Dominik, the writer-director behind ‘The Assassination of Jessie James’, ‘Chopper’ and ‘Killing Them Softly’.
‘Lou’ is a moody, visually-striking and fierce action-orientated crime drama thriller in the tradition of ‘Taken’.
‘I Came By’ is a strange movie title, which comes to serve as an understated act of vigilantism in the context of this dark crime thriller.
Nicolas Cage stars in ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’, a crime action comedy caper that sees the star play a variation of himself in Nick Cage.
‘Pou’ or ‘Peacock’ is one of the best and most elegant horror dramas to come out of South Africa.
Known for starting McAfee Antivirus, ‘Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee’ unpacks the eccentric man’s escape from Belize in the Caribbean after being implicated in the murder of neighbour, Gregory Faull.
‘Everything, Everywhere All at Once’ stars Michelle Yeoh and is written and directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved Sherlock Holmes was reinvented by Guy Ritchie to become an action hero, Watson sold separately.
‘Persuasion’ is based on the Jane Austen novel of the same name. “Based” rather than adapted seems to be the hinge in this case as screenwriters Ron Bass and Alice Victoria Winslow craft a modern version of Austen’s classic “will they, won’t they” romance.
‘The Gray Man’ is an action thriller from Anthony and Joe Russo starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Billy Bob Thornton and Ana de Armas.
‘Blind Ambition’ is a stirring and entertaining documentary about four sommeliers who combine their forces to form Zimbabwe’s first national wine-tasting team.
‘The Grand Bolero’ is a music drama romance turned thriller about a middle-aged organ restorer who becomes a mentor to a young woman after she arrives at a rural Italian church with nothing but a desire to learn.
To say Louis Wain was a cat lover is an understatement of Titanic proportions.
‘The Card Counter’ recalls ’21’, a Kevin Spacey casino heist film based on the true story of the MIT Blackjack team who used their mathematics and card counting skills to rig the system in their favour, winning millions in Las Vegas.
‘Collision’ is a word usually reserved for “Chopper Dave” style traffic reports to help you navigate bumper-to-bumper morning commutes.
Bonnie Rodini is the co-screenwriter and producer of ‘The Story of an African Farm’, a family drama directed by David Lister and starring Richard E. Grant.
‘John and the Hole’ is a strange and unsettling thriller. The simple title becomes ironic and minimalist when you discover a much more nuanced and human story beneath it all.
‘Licorice Pizza’ is Paul Thomas Anderson’s fifth consecutive period film, named after a record store from the ’70s and derived from the appearance of vinyl records.