Nigerian Times

Without doubt or dispute Chineze Anyaene's IJÉ the Journey is the most financially successful Nigerian movie at the local box office and won an award for setting a box office record in Nigeria. The second is Kunle Afolayan's Figurine . But in terms of screenplay and cinematography I rank Faruk Lasaki's Changing Faces above IJÉ . Would IJÉ have been so popular without Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jalade-Ekeninde? Of course Chineze did the right thing that any smart filmmaker would have done in Hollywood or Bollywood by using the most popular actors and actresses to attract their teeming fans to the cinemas. In fact IJÉ should have made more than $1 million in Nigeria alone if Chineze explored all the opportunities and possibilities by also showing the film in as many halls as possible and charging less than the tickets sold at the Silverbird Cinemas and Genesis Deluxe Cinemas. But she seemed to be satisfied with the amount she made in West Africa and is moving on to the n...

Nollywood Star Alex Lopez’s role in Changing Faces and other movies If Chineze Anyaene’s IJÉ the Journey brought out the best in Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, then Faruk Lasaki’s Changing Faces did the same for Nollywood diva Alex Lopez. But the only difference is that she did not make a big splash over the challenging role she played as Franca the caring Nigerian wife of a brilliant white Architecture whiz kid Dale, a born again Christian whose dignity is accentuated by his fidelity. But Franca’s marriage hit the rocks when Dale met the sexy fun loving, free spirited and lively young reporter Lola at an Architectural conference in a beautiful hill top hotel in Ibadan. Imagine how you would feel if you caught your darling husband having raunchy sex with your housemaid. You can see how the whole drama played out when Changing Faces opens at the Silverbrd Cinemas and other cinemas on December 16, 2011. Many people don’t know that Alex’s father was Brazilian, but her moth...