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cal-Q-L8
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Malunde (2001)
18. Feb 2004 at 09:39
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For more images click on the Title of the profile page above. I've uploaded 30 caps..  they are somewhat grainy as my reception for that channel is a little weak but at least they will give a better impression than just a bunch of words.

SYNOPSIS:

In post-apartheid South Africa, Wonderboy, an 11-year-old street kid, is trying to survive on the streets of crime-ridden Johannesburg. Meanwhile, Kobus, a white decorated former soldier of the apartheid army, is at a loose end, unable to hold down a job. Nagged by his brother's wife who wants him out of her house, he takes a job as a travelling salesman, selling tins of furniture wax. As he stops at an intersection, Wonderboy suddenly jumps into his truck shouting to him to drive off to avoid being car-jacked. In fact, the boy is running from a drug dealer who is trying to shoot him for hiding a shipment of crack. The two develop a friendship of sorts.

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MY COMMENTS:

I'd not heard of this film before I spotted it scheduled for a broadcast on our national multicultural channel. I'm glad I decided to watch it. A very decent little film it is too, one of the best I've seen from South Africa.

The movie only receives a 5.8 viewer rating on IMBd and I suspect that is perhaps because it has been seen mainly by South Africans who probably did not view this movie as a positive reflection on their country.

The young boy nicknamed 'Wonderboy' is played by Kagiso Mtetwa who gives an excellent performance as the very independent streetkid who survives by turning tricks, hustling and shoplifting.

Ian Roberts plays the hapless guy whom the kid attaches himself to via a series of incidents. Their relationship is at first very tenuous but gradually they develop a strong bond.

The ending of the film is very moving but well directed and unsentimental.
  
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josephk
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Re: Malunde (2001)
Reply #1 - 18. Feb 2004 at 11:00
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Cal, about the rating on IMDb, the low result probably has to do with their very flawed top secred method for calculating "weighted averages". Here's who they explain it:

Quote:
IMDb publishes weighted vote averages rather than raw data averages. Various filters are applied to the raw data in order to eliminate and reduce attempts at 'vote stuffing' by individuals more interested in changing the current rating of a movie than giving their true opinion of it (*).

The exact methods we use will not be disclosed. This should ensure that the policy remains effective. The result is a more accurate vote average.


What this means, probably, is that some votes are given more weight than others. They probably have some sort of formula for evaluating user profiles decide how much weight to give their votes based on their voter history.

They can't tell us how they calculate this, or else people could find ways to cheat it.

This is necessary. Otherwise, people could create one-time 50 profiles to vote 10 on a movie they loved. If you had a bunch of people doing that to a movie, they could significantly influence the results.

However, what I found is that often small or obscure movies suffer from this calculation. It's likely that the people who appreciate these kinds of movies tend to be given less weight, whereas those who hate them tend to be given more weight. I don't know why that is, but it seems to be the case with a lot of these movies.

Malunde is a perfect example. If you look at the ratings in more detail, you'll see that the 17 voters on IMDb gave it an arithmetic mean of 7.2, which is very respectable. The "weighted average" brings this rating down to 5.8. Only one person gave it a 4, and everyone else voted 5 or higher.

Sorry for the long-winded explanation/rant. Smiley

This looks like a good movie. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
  
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Sir Jacob
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Re: Malunde (2001)
Reply #2 - 18. Feb 2004 at 13:18
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Gee, that's rude, if just one 4 can bring down all of those higher votes that much.    Undecided

This does sound like a good movie, though.  I'll look for it on my Independent movie channels here.  Thanks for mentioning it, Cal.  Smiley

Love,
Sir J
  
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Re: Malunde (2001)
Reply #3 - 18. Feb 2004 at 15:43
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You hadn't heard of "Malunde"?  Well, maybe you should read this board...

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« Last Edit: 12. Jan 2009 at 21:56 by hosenhaus »  
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josephk
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Re: Malunde (2001)
Reply #4 - 18. Feb 2004 at 16:35
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Smiley Hosenhaus is always one step ahead of everyone else. It's not that we don't pay attention. It's just that we don't have a very good memory. Sir J and Cal can blame it on old age - but I don't really have any good excuse. Tongue
  
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Re: Malunde (2001)
Reply #5 - 18. Feb 2004 at 16:35
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Oh man, I do remember your post about Malunde now, myself, hosenhaus. That was during the pre-Christmas rushing around, and I never even responded.  Sorry about that.  Shocked

I remember it mainly because of this quote from you:  <i>This is a good one. Recently released on DVD in the US. I laughed; I cried...</i>

You also said it was <i>a wonderful movie!</i>

Anytime I hear that from hosenhaus, I'm going to believe it.   Grin

Thanks to you and Cal both, for bringing it to our attention, and not letting us forget about it.

Love,
Sir J
  
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cal-Q-L8
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Re: Malunde (2001)
Reply #6 - 18. Feb 2004 at 20:16
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Akkkkk,

You know I thought the name sounded familiar. I checked the database first and we didn't have it listed so I incorrectly assumed we didn't have anything on it.

Perhaps Bijou can work out a way to generate a list of the movies we have in the reviews forum. Such a list could be posted from time to time so posters can simply add comments to existing threads.

Anyway, hosenhaus, those pics in your thread are much sharper than the ones I managed to cap... Smiley

..and the good thing is we both came to the same independently favourable opinion about the movie.

Joseph...  that was a very interesting explanation about the rating system. Thank you for that. Imbd should give two scores IMO..  the mean score could be placed in brackets in lighter type. It would give readers a much better assessment about movies that only have a smallish number of votes.
  
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Re: Malunde (2001)
Reply #7 - 18. Feb 2004 at 21:19
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Cal, you can check the arithmetic mean of any movie on IMDb by clicking on the "vote here" button. This will take you to a graph that shows a breakdown of all the votes. Underneath the graph, it says "arithmetic mean = __. median = __"

A little further down, there is a further breakdown by age, sex and us/non-us residency, as well as the rating by the top 1000 voters, when applicable.

But I agree with you that putting the arithmetic mean on the main page in brackets would be a good idea.
  
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