So I finally watched Shuga…

There’s a bunch of things I like about it.

• I like that it shows more than it tells. There is so much information delivered subtly by the movements of the actors, and no pointless narration. A common [and extremely irritating] characteristic of some movies is the endless speeches. I like that in this film, the script is succinct. My props to the actors too for expressing emotion so well! Totally cool.
• I especially like that the characters don’t constantly call each other by name like in those Mexican soaps:

“Forgive me Orlando de la Monte Cristo, it was not my intention to harm you.”

“But you did harm me Maria de Almeida and I will never forgive you. Never!”

“But Orlando de la Monte Cristo, they made me do it! Please Orlando de la Monte Cristo, you must be-lieve me!

“No Maria de Almeida, I will never believe you!”

Or, more recently…

“Rose, you must live.”

“No, Jack, not without you.”

“Live Rose, you must live.”

“I’ll never let go Jack, I’ll never let go”

Blah blah blah. I am so glad there was none of that in this movie.

• I like that the Christian crowd in it is cool. Christians are always portrayed as boring and prudish in movies, so it’s nice to see some actual real normal-type Christians.
• I like that the virgin girl is funky too. Again, girls like that are often portrayed as lost, prusidh and shady. Yet Valerie somehow made virginity look cool. Virginia, not so much.
• I like that the issues showed through without sounding preachy. That’s really rare. Most times when someone tries to do a movie or a song with a message, it ends up sounding annoying and dumb. Just try listening to the ‘Save the whales’ song by Simple Plan. I think it’s called Crazy, ironically. Now that right there is punk rock at it’s lowest. Tsk tsk.
• [For the record, j’adore Simple Plan, but something about that song is just wrong. No, everything about that song is wrong. Srsly!]
• The quality of production in Shuga is just brilliant!! The shots are beautiful, the soundtrack flows seamlessly, is totally mood-appropriate, and is neither overwhelming nor submerged. The editing is superb, the acting is natural, the sex scenes appear totally unforced and tasteful, the actor’s reactions are authentic, and there are very few corny lines. Nice!
• The wardrobe is superb! Did you see all those shoes?
• [With the one exception of the singing church-girl’s hair. That’s just wrong.]
• And why was everyone wearing those immensely annoying scarf thingies? What are they called again? Now I know I’m utterly a fashion misfit, but seriously, those things are just shady. Seriously.
• Yes, I am aware that nobody says  *cough* cough*shady*cough* anymore.
• That Leo is just soooooooooooooo pretty! Can anyone say Cougar?! YUM!!
• [He is no competition whatsoever to my beloved Sailor, but man, that Nicholas Mutuma (that’s his birth name) is hot! Rrrrrr. ]
• What. I like pretty boys. **cheeky grin**
• Still on the pretty boy, I like that they used the gorgeous one to be Mr Nice Guy for once, instead of the standard assexual dopey side-kick type nice guy.
• And I like that they had a boy feeling guilty about impulse sex. Usually it’s just the girls that do that. Maybe because we’re emotional and have more to lose.
• It’s interesting that I didn’t notice His Prettiness until close to the end of the movie. In the first scene where he was labelled ‘fly guy’ I was just like pfft. But then he turned on the nice and suddenly, zee aaaiiiiiiiz! I think the sweetness makes him more attractive. He probably wouldn’t be as yummy playing, say, Skola.
• Heeheehee Dr Roundhead Sheath.

The one thing I didn’t like about it was the artist placement. I mean I know big names sell, and it was perfectly ok to see DJ Adrian spinning in a club, and Antoneosoul and Valerie had active roles, so that was cool. But I really don’t see how Nonini, Nameless, and Jimmy Gait’s cameo appearances helped anything. I’m just saying.

Also … panty removers? Is that like a cocktail or something? I mean, I’ve heard of Archer’s Smirnoff Ice Panty droppers, but panty removers? Really?

I am so old.

Oh, the subtitles. Heh heh heh. Somebody needs to check the subtitles. Minister of Choomz, that’s all I’m saying.

Bring on the pretty jail-bait prey **rubbing hands** Those eyes! That smile!

Yep. Two separate pictures. God bless google images. *wrist on forehead*eyes shut*dramatic victorian swoon*sigh*

Ok, now that my silliness is done away with, I’m off to get tested. This movie has done good. Much good. Kudos and all that. Somebody please get these Vimeo Bomb people to make many, many, many more; they’re so much fun-ner than Bollywood.

I’m not entirely sure I liked this movie. One reason I sense this is because after using an entire gig of bandwidth streaming it, I watched all three episodes simultaneously [in mini-bites, pun intended] and after it was done buffering, I didn’t bother to replaying it to watch the smooth version.

A second reason is that apart from Nicholas ‘Leo the Pretty Boy’ Mutuma, I didn’t bother to check the credits.

I always check the credits.

I’m the chick in the movie hall that the sweepers hate coz I won’t leave till the screen goes completely blank.

So the fact that I didn’t bother with the credits means it didn’t impress me much.

This coming from a girl whose favourite book is Wuthering Heights, favourite movies are Minority Report, Kill Bill, Shawshank Redemption and Castaway, and who liked Wanted so much she watched it two times in a row. I got to the end, rewound it, and started again.

Yes, I did say rewound.

That said, there is a lot in Shuga that I liked. And, in case it isn’t clear yet, what I loved most was the acting. The scenes were all so real, and that was totally cool. The soundtrack was excellent too. And the pretty shoes. For that alone I say bow down.

♫ I’ve got a loaded gun [god?] complex, cock it and pull it ♫

♫ Sugar we’re going down ♫ Fallout boy ♫