Everyone's A Critic

This week Kopano and Nick got stuck into some true crime so beware: trigger warnings about content some listeners may find disturbing abound! First, a look at two documentaries about Thabo Bester and Nandipha Magudumana, and their crazy story involving murder, prison breaks, shopping at Woolworths and a PR launch from a cell. Next, two crime documentaries from the USA that are so weird that you might confuse them with the films of David Lynch!

Today, Nick and Kopano dive into two shows where people are connecting without ever seeing each other face to face. One is the genuinely disturbing Unknown Number: The High School Catfish in which a pair of young sweethearts are in for the shock of their lives. The other is the highly entertaining Love Is Blind UK, where people get married to someone who they've never clapped eyes on during the dating process. We also tried to watch The Secret Lives of Mormon Moms. We did. We tried. We really tried.

Nick and Kopano finally got some time to watch a few things and top among them was the new Superman movie, in which Superman turned out to be not as Super as Kopano would've liked. There's was also time to watch a highly disturbing documentary about the Biggest Loser and to dissect the ongoing Married At First Sight: Mzansi Shenanigans! Enjoy!

Married At First Sight: Mzansi is back and Kopano has a bit of an inside track since she's the show's producer! Nick and Kopano talk about the first episode and also dissect President Cyril Ramaphosa's fireside chat with the country about reports of police corruption (NO WAY!). Speaking of cops and corruption, we also watched the first season of HBO's grind house cop show Duster, which is worth checking out !

What do Belle Gibson, Amanda Riley and Elizabeth Finch have in common? They all faked horrible illnesses to make money, build their brands and advance their careers! The cads! Nick and Kopano have a look at three documentaries about these women and the lengths they went to in order to con thousands of people through appealing to their sympathy and need for hope. Make sure you're not in a bad mood when you start listening. This one's a doozy!

Nick and Kopano watched the new(ish) Jason Statham film this week and discuss the finer points of action films, the state of action stars and why so many action films have human traffickers as the villains....

This week Nick and Kopano discuss the 100% tariffs that Donald Trump has announced of foreign films, what they mean, who they will affect, and whether or not they'e even workable. We also watched The Accountant 2, the new action film starring Ben Affleck, Jon Bethnal and Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who Kopano nearly met IRL. Untrue story!

This week Kopano and Nick watched Sinners, the new horror film starring Michael B. Jordan and also starring Michael B. Jordan. Kopano loved it because it has Michael B. Jordan in it (TWICE)! Nick liked it because he enjoys horror films and is ambivalent about Michael B. Jordan. Want to know what this film was actually about? Have a listen!

A bit of a dark episode this week as Nick and Kopano get to grips with some pretty disturbing shows. First up, the brand new season of The Last Of Us, in which a young girl tries to survive in a world with feral creatures, hostile humans and crushing disappointments. Then a look at the documentary on kid influencers, Bad Influence, in which survivors tell their stories of exploitation at the hands of a Momager. Really, we didn't know which show was darker...

This week is a bit of a mixed bag as Nick has been watching the new season of dystopian drama The Handmaid's Tale, while Kopano settled in for a detective comedy show in ShondaLand, The Residence. Kopano also got to go to the launch of The Roast of Helen Zille and her preconceptions on Helen were well and truly blown!

This week Kopano & Nick indulge Kopano's podcast true love: true crime! The two tales of woe under discussion are Con Mum - in which a British chef gets conned by a woman claiming to be his mom - and The Puppet Master - in which an English conman pretends to be a secret agent to control his vulnerable targets. Strap in! This is a hard listen. ...

How real is Reality TV? Kopano know quite a bit about this since she's produced numerous reality TV shows - Date My Family and Married At First Sight among them. So after she and Nick have watched a couple of shows - Love Is Blind on Netflix and Love Triangle on Showmax - the pair of them sit down to discuss how contestants can learn to game the system in these shows, and how this can affect what viewers see on screen.

This week's pod sees Nick & Kopano going from Soshanguve in Gauteng to Montecito in California! First, they take a look at "Sterring", a movie that just opened at the Johannesburg Film Festival in which a young actor takes a shot at the big time after foiling a mugging. Then it's off to Meghan Markle's kitchen to see how the Duchess of Sussex entertains at home. One of these shows has no budget and is bursting with life and authenticity. The other is phonier than a Telkom warehouse. Enjoy!

Is it the USA's final season? No, we're not talking about what's going on in the news. But Netflix recently released Zero Day, a tech thriller in which the USA goes to hell in a handcart, thanks a technology flame out. Nick and Kopano review the new show (helmed by the ever-virile Robert De Niro) and how it's just the latest Netflix property that shows the end of the USA as we know it.

Kopano and Nick check into the Thailand branch of the White Lotus for Season Three of HBO's exotic drama. Nick is new to this luxury hotel but Kopano is an experienced hand, happy to explain all about awful rich guests, harried and put-upon staff and impending violence. ...