Lifestyle & Entertainment South Africa weekly newsletter - 21 Feb 2012

Oscar fever

What with the Oscars taking place this Sunday, 26 February, we're seeing some top class films being released in the prelude to Oscar fever. War Horse receives high praise from Daniel Dercksen, as does coming of age sci-fi Chronicle. On the local front Material, starring Riaad Moosa, offers SA audiences a proudly South African chuckle.

Psychodelic threesome P.H. Fat released their free EP for download yesterday, 20 February, and new club in Cape Town Loop launches this Saturday. Want to check it out, then enter our competition which could see you walk away with VIP tickets. And, speaking of competitions, we have a couple more tickets to throw at you; RAMfest, Sowing the Seeds and tickets to the Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts can be won via our Win page.

In other news, travel editor Brain Berkman enjoys the wildlife at Thula Thula while motoring editor Henrie Geyser checks out the cheeky new Punto.

Ruth Cooper, production manager

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The Punto... Practical, pretty, perky

[Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] Fiat launched its 6th generation Punto in South Africa last week just as the car was also being unwrapped in the UK and Europe - and judging by its looks, features and new engines the latest Punto will continue to be the biggest contributor to local Fiat passenger car sales. Read more >>

30-million passengers used SA's airports

Almost 30-million passengers used South Africa's airports between April 2011 and January 2012 and News24 quotes figures from the Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa) that indicate improved air travel despite tough economic conditions. Read more >>

A taxing meander - but in a really good way

[Brian Berkman: contributing editor, travel] About four years ago while visiting Karoo lodge Samara we were encouraged to plant spekboom trees to counteract the carbon emissions we produced in getting there. That was the first time I'd consciously engaged in the impact of my life as a traveller and, rather than feel guilty about it, I was offered a neatly-packaged solution to deal with it. Read more >>

Is that Mabula?

[Brian Berkman: contributing editor, travel] "Where's Nana?" a Somerset West woman sitting behind us, in our game drive vehicle, at Thula Thula shouts, to our ranger over our shoulders. "Baby Mandla" her daughter chimes in, "is so big now." "Oh my God", the mother, close to tears, shrieks "is that Mabula over there, coming towards us now?" Read more >>

Seminar on art in public places at the Infecting The City Public Art Festival

The Africa Centre's Infecting The City Public Art Festival, which will be held in the streets and public spaces of Cape Town from 6 to 10 March, 2012, will feature a seminar on art in public places Read more >>

Kloof Street, Cape Town, boutique opened

Independent local fashion brands Take Care and Adriaan Kuiters have opened the Kloof Street Boutique at 73 on Kloof, Cape Town. The partners share parallel design aesthetics, an obsession with simplicity and similar clientele base. Read more >>

War Horse: overwhelming scale and splendour

[Daniel Dercksen] There's a susceptible sensibility that is eminent in Steven Spielberg's films that, ultimately, reveals itself spectacularly through the lens of the camera, performances of the actors, tempo and pace of the editor, music score by the composer, and the creative team that brings his extraordinary vision to life. War Horse is no exception. Read more >>

Sincere and significant Material

[Daniel Dercksen] This truthful and outstanding local film is a wonderful example of what Proudly South African filmmaking and storytelling are all about. Sincere in its telling and significant in its delivery, writer-director Craig Freimond and his team give us a passionate and endearing portrait of the Muslim community and life in South Africa. It is not a film about comedy, but uniquely explores the ability of humour as a potent and proficient weapon to break down conventional and conservative barriers and embrace cultural and social differences. Read more >>

Corrupted innocence in Chronicle

[Daniel Dercksen] Your mind is guaranteed to explode with this sensational and extraordinary fantasy that combines elements of sci-fi with a unique coming-of-age story and the bond between school friends. It is also a brilliant exploration of how the outsider becomes king and rules his domain with malicious madness. Read more >>

You are not dead yet

[Ruth Cooper] P.H. Fat don't know much for sure, but they do know this: "You are going to die" and if you are reading this you are not dead yet, congratulations. Nothing to do with doomsday prophesies, the EP title "You Are Going to Die", off P.H. Fat's second musical offering ( hitting webs today) is rather an attempt at something truly honest and certain; a fact that we all know for sure. Read more >>

Bach and Friends on Vacation in Darling

[Andra le Roux-Kemp] The small town of Darling (about an hour's drive from Cape Town) is not only home to the (in)famous First Lady of South Africa, Evita Bezuidenhout, but is also, according to the organisers of the seventh Darling Music Experience, the favourite holiday destination of German composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Read more >>

Looped Saturdays launched at ... The Loop

Cape Town's entertainment venue The Loop is launching Looped Saturdays, featuring a "late-night spread of cutting-edge beats, tunes and grooves". They will start at 161 Loop Street, Cape Town on Saturday, 25 February, 2012, from 8.30pm to 4am. Read more >>

Going Back to the Crossroads at Kirstenbosch

[Michael Britton] You might think it incongruous to sit in the idyllic amphitheatre at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and listen to the blues. After all, blues songs open with lines like, "Been down so long it looks like up to me", and "I had the blues so bad one time, it put my face in a permanent frown". But despite the pain of betrayal and the desolation of love lost expressed in so many blues songs, the music is a celebration of life - and what better place to celebrate life than in that magnificent setting? Read more >>

Monday night TheatreSports

[Maike Gevers] Picture a night out at the theatre and chances are you'll conjure up an image of a large hall, dressed-up audience members wearing old-fashioned make-up, the aroma of sneeze-making perfume, a big red curtain hiding elaborate stage props and, of course, the crinkling noise of someone trying to eat chocolate Whispers discreetly . Read more >>

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