The Old Timers are Better than the New Chaps in today's Nollywood - Hilary

We are "Akonuche", a platform where you air your sincerest opinion, discuss and vent on a particular issue or topic that people want to know more about. We believe your opinion(s) will improve, expose and educate people. please see interview with one of Naija’s top movie reviewer Hilary  CEO  “ThaRevue”- a movie platform that review movies.  Hilary believes that the new chaps are not better than the Old timers in Nollywood, and he also differ on the issue of nudity, romance and all in the industry.…Enjoy !

Please introduce yourself. 

My name is Hilary but most people know and refer to me as Maveriq (a pun on Maverick). It’s a nickname that started as a joke but has somehow stuck. 

Which movie(s) are you seeing at the moment? and which is your favorite of all times ? 

Well, this weekend I saw Alice through the looking Glass, 13 Hours, the Soldiers of Benghazi and The Brothers Grimm. All are foreign movies. I was supposed to see the ATM Movie which is a Nollywood production but didn’t get round to it. I plan to Nolly binge this weekend though. My favorite movie is The Matrix starring Keanu Reeves. I think that movie revolutionized the sci-fi genre and generally the way movies are made. However, I am not so keen on the Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions because I don’t think they were as good. They seemed like an afterthought with the sole aim of maximizing profit 

You have reviewed a couple of Hollywood and Nollywood movies within two months, please rate the Nigerian movie Industry over 100% ? Do you think there is an improvement so far ? 

 Funny enough, I was one of the first people to jump on the Nollywood wagon when it started in the early 90s. I remember seeing Glamour Girls and thinking that there was prospect in that industry. Then we moved to Epic/historical movies which was great and suddenly, we lost our way and veered into occult movies involving a lot of rituals. It was at that point I stopped watching our local movies. But we are now going through a renaissance and our movies are now better produced.

 Our plots /stories are much better and more diverse and our producers, actors and directors are way more professional than they used to be. We are now investing more in our movies and of course this leads to better productions.  I recently saw Road to yesterday as produced by Genevieve Nnaji and I was impressed with how far we have come. 

I actually avoid rating Nollywood productions but we are on the right track and I think we will get there with perseverance and hard work. 

What do you think they need to improve on ? Do you think the new chaps in the industry are better off than the old actors/actresses ? 

 Nollywood is improving but we still have a long way to go especially as regards the way our movies are shot. Different movies are shot in different lighting and camera angles to accentuate/ highlight the movie direction. For instance, Dramas are not shot the same way you would an action movie. In this area Nollywood is still trying to catch up. In all honesty, I don’t think the new guys in the industry are better than the old timers. Let’s consider the budget these guys had to work with to shoot a movie, there was talk of movies being produced with less than One Million Naira. 

The challenges were quite enormous but somehow they still managed to produce fairly decent movies. The problem I have with the new actors is with the influence of other cultures on our acting. Let’s take a Liz Benson for instance, she never spoke with an accent but she still managed to come across as sophisticated. Whereas the new guys must cook up some fake (and sometimes annoying) accents to appear posh. Why is this? Are we manifesting a complex that foreign is better than local? 

Also, we are picking up acting mannerisms that are alien to us and I can’t lie, I do find it rather disgusting. For instance, average Nigerians don’t greet their parents with “Hey Dad”. Ah, you want to die? But I am seeing it in movies now and I just shake my head and sigh. We seem to be loosing our way. 

We see a lot of nudity, kissing, romance and all in Hollywood movies, Do you think this should be encouraged in the Nigerian movie industry? 

 Again, this brings me back to the issue of alien cultures infiltrating our movies. We are introducing vulgarity and nudity in our movies to appear civilized, but I beg to differ. Look at Bollywood for instance, they are a booming and thriving industry with little or no western influence in their culture. They have managed to retain their distinct identity, culture and style in their movies and they are thriving. Why can’t we toe that path? 

Name three Current Nigerian movies that are outstanding and why are they ?

 I recently saw Wives on Strike as produced by Omoni Oboli, I think they did well in that movie because of the message contained in it. I think "Road to Yesterday" was also very good, also because of the plot and the unpredictability of it. Lastly, "Invasion 1897" was pretty decent too. I think we are at our best when we do Epic/Historical movies probably because our actors naturally interpret the roles better. 

Your best epic Nigerian movie and why you think it stands out ?

 Hmmm, that’s a tough one but "Half of a Yellow Sun" was quite good. I think what stood out for me was the professional way it was shot. It seemed like effort went into camera angles and lighting and the such. Even the actors did their part very well and I am not saying this because of Chiwetel.

How do people contact and follow you on social media platforms for  more movie reviews ?

I have a movie blog called “Revue” where I talk about movies that I have watched. I never put up spoilers and I never try to force my perspective on others, I just say stuff from my perspective. One thing I emphasize is that I am NOT a critic because I am not trained (or inclined) to be one. I am just an average Joe who likes to watch lots of movies and talk about it. The Blog address is themaveriq.blogspot.com.ng 
Drop in everyday for new stuff. I am on social media like Twitter (@ThaRevue) Facebook: (tha revue) Instagram (tharevue)

By the way, I must say you guys are doing a good job here at Akonuche. I drop in all the time for my dose of current events and happenings. Welldone! 

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