Blogarama: The Oldest Blog Directory

The Devil's Advocate is a horror fantasy thriller and courtroom drama starring Keanu Reeves, Charlize Theron and Al Pacino. Following the shooting star trajectory of Kevin Lomax, a hot shot… Read More

As the host of Talking Movies, as part of movie review programme that has been running for almost 10 years, there are a few things you pick up along the way. Stephen 'Spling' Aspeling better… Read More

The first two episodes of Blood Psalms, the first Showmax Original fantasy series, are now streaming. Early reviews are glowing, with TVMzansi calling it, “Without doubt, the best TV s… Read More

South Africa is only starting to realise its capacity and capability when it comes to the horror genre. We're still coming to terms with the fact that unless we lean into found footage, horr… Read More

The streaming service revolution is upon us with Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, Google Movies and Showmax among others. It's become a crowded space for service providers… Read More

Op Soek na Reënboë (In Search of Rainbows) is a made-for-TV film written and directed by Stefan Enslin, a marriage portrait drama about a couple struggling through a crisis of fait… Read More

Stanley Kubrick is a master filmmaker whose work speaks volumes, responsible for a string of iconic films including: The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket… Read More

What an exciting and scary time to be alive. It is Donald Sutherland's character Mr. Harrigan in the mystery horror thriller that has some fascinating and haunting "premonitions" about the m… Read More

James Cameron's Avatar has made $2.922 billion at the box office to date. Edged out by The Hurt Locker to win Best Picture at the Oscars, it's a miracle of a film from the Titanic director w… Read More

Zack Snyder's Justice League is testament to the power of fandoms in today's world. Having been substituted with another director taking over the reins of Justice League, the full scope of h… Read More

BraveStarr is an animated TV series from the 1980s that followed on from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and ran for 65 episodes. Trying to recapture the runaway success of He-Man, th… Read More

Stephen 'Spling' Aspeling has served on the critic's panel at the AFDA Graduation Festival for 9 years running since 2014. The film school bases their final assessment on responses from indu… Read More

The Fabelmans is a deeply personal portrait of a twentieth-century American childhood, a cinematic memory of the forces and family that shaped Steven Spielberg's life and career. The semi-bi… Read More

When the December holidays roll around you can be sure that Christmas movies will be getting some serious replay time. There are the cockle-warming classics such as National Lampoon's Christ… Read More

As we draw to the end of 2022, film critic Spling takes a look at which Netflix movies made the biggest impression. Performing especially well in the animation genre, Netflix's best movies t… Read More

IMDb's Top 250 list has been a go-to for many film fans wanting to broaden their horizon when it comes to cinema. Loaded with classics, cult favourites and modern masterpieces, it's a pretty… Read More

It's hard to believe that The Matrix is celebrating its 25th anniversary next year. Mostly because Keanu Reeves is still firing guns, kicking ass and just being the nicest bad-ass out there… Read More

The Oscar nominations for 2023 are on the horizon. Which films are going to be lauded with the most nominations? Which are going to fall to the wayside, snubbed? While the ratings for the ac… Read More

If you're a budding filmmaker with a feature film screenplay in the works, your big break could be just around the corner. Showmax is seeking proposals for a slate of ten live-action films f… Read More

It seems as though Roald Dahl's beloved childrens books are in the spotlight again. Having just released another film adaptation of Matilda, it seems as though the author's imagination is in… Read More

Stander is a biographical crime thriller directed by Bronwen Hughes and starring Thomas Jane as Captain André Stander, a police officer turned bank robber. Set in the wake of the Sowe… Read More

The need to create new and more exciting ways to present products, film funny scenes or even keep up with social media trends, is pushing video editors to take the best out of their hat and… Read More

Spling is recording his 500th episode of Talking Movies on Fine Music Radio on 25 February 2023 at 8:15am... that's 500 consecutive, individual broadcasts of 3 movie reviews in just as many… Read More

It´s hard to find a good movie that stands by itself only by the quality of the acting, or power of its script. There are some other very important elements that transform a good movie… Read More

The Crow was released in 1994, making it 30 years since Brandon Lee's tragic death and almost three decades since the dark gothic thriller's grand unveiling. Based on James o' Barr's comic o… Read More

The alluring world of gambling is a common theme in movies and one of the biggest factors that's shaped its perception in popular culture. Watching the scenes of large, sophisticated casino… Read More

Bullet Train director, David Leitch, told Forbes he sees his latest film starring Brad Pitt as a universe. There's no clear sign that a sequel is in the pipeline but from Leitch's comment, i… Read More

The 95th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on 12 March, 2023 representing the pinnacle of awards season. Since it's 9th ceremony, South Africa has had its share of Oscar hop… Read More

Quentin Tarantino has led the kind of career many promising filmmakers would relish. Having started with My Best Friend's Birthday, a film that had its final reel destroyed in a lab fire, it… Read More

Keanu Reeves is wanting to take a break from the John Wick franchise now that John Wick: Chapter 4 has been unleashed. Having found a second wind and stumbled into a renaissance with the Joh… Read More

Liam Neeson is an instantly recognisable Hollywood star who's now wrapped his 100th film. At the age of 70, the actor's not showing any signs of slowing down, continuing his prowess as an ac… Read More

Aqua's pop anthem 'Barbie Girl' will not be appearing in the upcoming Barbie movie due to a troubled legal history over the song. Yet, the lyrics "I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world. Lif… Read More

Most people settle on a formula for picking which movies to watch. Before the Internet, this may have involved wandering around the video rental store until a movie poster or cover grabs you… Read More

Air is a back room coming-of-age sports drama in the vein of The Big Short and The Social Network. A behind-the-scenes dramatisation of a significant big business turning point, it gathers a… Read More

Stephen 'Spling' Aspeling has been resident movie critic at Fine Music Radio without missing a week of Talking Movies in 10 years. The first broadcast of Talking Movies with Spling was on… Read More

Stephen 'Spling' Aspeling has been a film critic since 2007 when he decided to test the extent of his passion for movies by writing a review a day for a year. The experimental challenge prov… Read More

We've come across our fair share of shock docs in the new age of streaming, where these compelling documentaries get a much broader release platform and ultimately reach more people. Documen… Read More

As a film critic, Stephen 'Spling' Aspeling has literally watched thousands of films over the years. Being South African, the local film industry has been a strong point of interest to gauge… Read More

The Smashing Pumpkins have been a musical force on the global scene since they released their first studio album in 1991. Now over 30 years, they're still at the cutting edge, putting on spe… Read More

'The Essence of Dreams: An Anthology of Film Reviews' is what the cover says... a contemporary collection of film reviews spanning across the career of film critic, Stephen 'Spling' Aspeling… Read More

It's hard to believe that Harrison Ford is 80 years old. Born in Chicago to a radio actress and actor turned advertising executive, Harrison Ford started out as an average student, dropping… Read More

What happened to the next generation of movie stars? It seems as though we've been hanging onto the same name actors for ages. Tom Cruise was a star in Top Gun in 1986 and nothing's really c… Read More

It's funny to think that it's still so prevalent in an age where we've never had so much readily available and inexpensive entertainment at our fingertips. Most pirates have to pay for their… Read More

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, which began just after May Day, is now in its third month. The strike is the first major work stoppage in Hollywood in 15 years, and it has had a s… Read More

Cillian Murphy is an easily recognisable actor, best known for his on-screen intensity. The Irishman is the star of the highly anticipated Christopher Nolan film, Oppenheimer. He plays the t… Read More

Australian actress, Margot Robbie, is one of the most popular and adored actresses in Hollywood and a role model for women. She's starred in everything, from critically acclaimed dramas to b… Read More

Greta Gerwig's visionary take on the Mattel icon has been met with rave reviews and record crowds at cinemas in South Africa. The fantasy comedy, inspired by the popular and nostalgic line o… Read More

You get toy brands and then you get mega toy brands. While a Hot Wheels movie hasn't come about yet, unless you count The Fast and the Furious as an adequate approximation... especially Fate… Read More

In its 17th year, the South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) ceremony is set to take place in September and Gaia is sure to be one of the favourites of the night. Having garnered… Read More

The subject of one of the most fascinating music documentaries ever, the 81-year-old Sixto Rodriguez passed away in his sleep at his home in Detroit on 9 August, 2023. The acclaimed Mexican… Read More

In 2015, South African animation studio Triggerfish launched a pan-African talent search for animated films and series. Supported by The Walt Disney Company, The Triggerfish Story Lab receiv… Read More

Fck'n Nuts is an absurdist horror comedy short film from writer-director Sam Fox and creative producer Joe Badon (The Blood of the Dinosaurs). Inspired by her own experience of growing up wi… Read More

A news story broke this week about a PR firm called 'Bunker 15' and their dealings with Rotten Tomatoes certified critics around the Shakespearean film adaptation, Ophelia. While the company… Read More

Past Lives is "a mature love story that feels powerfully real" written and directed by Celine Song in a "remarkable" feature directorial debut. The heartrending modern romance stars Greta Le… Read More

Stephen "Spling" Aspeling, the host of the long-running film review radio programme Talking Movies on FMR 101.3, is pleased to announce that his show is now being broadcast on Stellenbosch c… Read More

This is a bit of a tricky topic to cover. Are movie trailers still necessary? The short answer is 'yes'. Movie trailers are essential to a film's marketing campaign and form a major prong in… Read More

If Barbie and Oppenheimer showed us one thing it's that we need to get more excited about movies. Both box office success stories, much of their overwhelming domination can be attributed to… Read More

Charlize Theron is one of the best actors working today. Fiercely independent, she's commanded fear and respect more than charm and likability, injecting much of her personal verve into her… Read More

Horror has continued to scare and enthrall with movies that are designed to chill or unsettle audiences. Dealing with supernatural beings, such as ghosts, demons, and monsters, many are also… Read More