The lowdown on film, books, television, music & happenings

By Staff Writer

Movies:

Pirates Of The Caribbean:

Dead Men Tell

No Tales

Everyone’s favourite pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is back on the high seas in the fifth installment of the swashbuckling franchise from Disney.

This adventure sees Captain Sparrow on the hunt for a mythical object, the Trident of Poseidon, which supposedly gives the user control over all the seas. What’s the catch? Well, an evil undead pirate hunter Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem) just recently released from the Devil’s Triangle is also looking for this object and will use it to wipe out all the pirates from the seas, especially Sparrow. It’s a race for survival for Jack and to find the Trident he needs the help of beautiful astronomer Carina (Kaya Scodelario) and Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) a young man in the British Navy.

The film promises a return to the fun and adventure of the first installment and along the way we’ll see some familiar faces from the earlier films. Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightly and Geoffrey Rush will be reprising their roles as Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann and Captain Barbossa.

Books:

The DJINN FALLS IN LOVE & other stories

—by Mahvesh Murad & Jared Shurin

Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin collected and edited a variety of short stories and poems from authors around the world concerning Djinns—a concept that seems common to a majority of cultures and religions around the world. Some of the stories look at them from a mystical point of view while others from science fiction, while others still are grounded in reality. Each is an original take on the subject and beautifully written while remaining totally relatable to the reader.

Authors who contributed to this anthology are: Nnedi Okorafor, Neil Gaiman, Helene Wecker, Amal El-Mohtar, Catherine King, Claire North,  E.J. Swift, Hermes (translated by Robin Moger), Jamal Mahjoub, James Smythe, J.Y. Yang, Kamila Shamsie, Kirsty Logan, K.J. Parker, Kuzhali Manickavel, Maria Dahvana Headley, Monica Byrne, Saad Hossein, Sami Shah, Sophia Al-Maria and Usman Malik.

TV Series:

Doodal —Malaysian Telefilm

Saim Ali is all set to star in a romance telefilm called Doodal (Malay word for “sweet of love”) produced by Zee Zee Arts Production company in Malaysia. He plays a Pakistani man Bashir, who falls in love with a Malaysian girl on the internet and moves to Malaysia to marry her. He ends up having to prove himself to her family especially her father, who does not approve of him. The film will air in Ramadan on Channel 9 in Malaysia as well as Zee TV in India and Dubai.

Music:

HOT 100

TOP 5