Archive for December, 2008

It`s not easy to categorize the new Russian film “Indigo”, that came out in March 2008. It pretends to be the fantasy thriller, but sometimes it looks like comedy. And the most positive emotions are not caused by the jokes of the film, but by the stupid way ther look like on the screen. In general the film could be called the completely failed comedy, and we`ve got used to such phenomena.

The main point of the film is also hardly understandable. It`s not surprizing, that Russian director Roman Prygunov decided to make a film on the popular up-to-date topic of Indigo children, with the intend to create a parody (read: copy) of the stupid American film “X-Men”. And even the film cast was not able to improve the situation. Mikhail Yefremov was really great but… Gosha Kutsenko became the jokes target, because of the numerous films he played during a year.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Roman Prygunov

Cast:

Ivan Yankovsky, Markus Shtandel, Artem Tkachenko, Mikhail Yefremov, Mariya Shukshina , Gosha Kutsenko, Yelena Drobysheva, Lev Prygunov

Production:

VOX Film / Real-Dakota, Russia, 2008

Feature:

Fantasy, Thriller,Comedy

Duration:

95 min.

Alisa (Mariya Shalayeva) lives on the sea coast together with her crack-brained granny and mother regularly inviting touring seamen to their place. There is nothing more boring, than to live in the provincial seaside city. The only place of interest in it - the poster hanging near the entertainment center “We`ll make Your dreams to come true. Guaranteed”. And the girl`s dreams indeed start to come true. For instance, at last she moves to Moscow. The unexpected disappointment meets Alisa in the megapolis. In despair she decides to jump from the bridge into the Moscow-river, but fortunately the stranger (Evgeniy Tsiganov) leaves her behind. The girl saves his life and falls in love with him. Now her moving to Moscow really has sense. But life is not so easy…

“The Mermaid” by Anna Melikyan received the award for the best direction on the prestige Sundance Film Festival. It seems, this charming story could get ahead of the famous “Juno” awarded by Oscar. Among the main summands of film success are: cut in a quite dynamic manner, unexpected courses (for example interesting way of road big boards usage) and clear plot. And, undoubtedly, the talented play of Evgeniy Tsiganov and Mariya Shalayeva is no less important contribution to the film. Mariya was also awarded in Russia (“Nika” and “ Kinotavr”), that is quite unusual for our country, taking into consideration the her young age. Inspired by the up-to-date reality the film is fascinating and tragicomic. “The Mermaid” commonly wins the sympathy both of audience and critics.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Anna Melikyan

Cast:

Mariya Shalayeva, Evgeniy Tsiganov, Anastasiya Dontsova, Natalya Rychkova, Igor Savochkin, Irina Skrinnichenko, Veronika Skugina, Mariya Sokova, Igor Yatsko

Production:

Central Partnership, Russia, 2007

Feature:

Adventure, Tragicomedy

Duration:

114 min.

Vadik (Kharlamov) gets to heaven being drugged on his own wedding. His “personal file” is considered by the honourable old man. In the slow discussion of his life with the new friend Vadik tries to find in it some sense. But there is nothing more than hard-drinking, shoot-outs and lecherous deeds.

The scenario of “The Best Film” is not worth retelling, not that film plot is funny. The director-debutant Kirill Kuzin will not stick in the memory as the box-office hit creator. This film is one of the most awful, vulgar, trivial and disgraceful works the one could imagine. The attempt to make the Russian version of “Scary Movie”, the sparkling parody on the popular films, failed. Even the crowds of promoted by show business characters (like Dmitriy Nagiev, Boris Mioseev, Vladimir Turchinskiy and popular stars from “Comedy Club”) could not shelter the film. It is not funny interesting or creative, it is entirely vacuous. There is an evidence commercial project exploiting the TNT stars popularity. The “The Best Film” could be compared with the household bin full of perishables. If you do not press “Stop” in time, you would suffocate with the terrible smell.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Kirill Kuzin

Cast:

Garik Kharlamov, Pavel Volya, Mikhail Galusyan, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Dmitriy Nagiyev , Rimma Markova, Vladimir Turchinskiy, IosifBuyanovskiy, Boris Moiseyev, Valeriy Barinov

Production:

Comedy Club production, Ego production, Russia, 2008

Feature:

Comedy, Farce

Duration:

106 min.

Stepan Mokhov (Chadov) came back from the army and now works in the father`s (Guskov) auto repair shop. Due to his younger brother Mishka he gets to know the gathering of street racers running around the city to spite the GIBDD. Stepan meets his love here, among the mixed youth. However, the envious group leader crosses him up on the competition forcing to participate in the mass car theft. The criminal action is ordered by the high police rank, being “werewolf in shoulder straps”.

Another one fake produced bu Russian film makers. The task of the film director (whose earlier film “The Witch” also became a complete failure) was to make the Russian variant of “Fast & Furious”. But instead of domestic remake of the western film-hit it turned out a caricature. In the “Street racers” everything looks like a caricature: characters, filming, and story. It is impossible to find the consistency in the deeds of any character. The clothes of thirty-year-old actors possess the ten years prescription style. Pretending to seem glamour they are getting a light from a cheap lighter and speak in the unusual for such circles slang. The film could be considered by the real representatives of city racers subculture as a humiliation. But the one shouldn`t expect the mass hysterics and demonstrations. Everyone has understood already, that Oleg Fesenko in unable to make films.

Trailer:

Directed vy:

Oleg Fesenko

Cast:

Alexey Chadov, Marina Alexandrova, Lev Prygunov, Alexey Guskov, Elvira Bolgova , Nikolay Chindyaykin, Stanislav Bondarenko

Production:

Central Partnership, Studio «Cherepaha», Russia, 2008

Feature:

Adventure, Melodrama

Duration:

103 min.

-Please ask urgently the creative group to come to my office!
-What kind of group?
- Creative! Lesha, Sasha, Slava…
- Is Sasha also the creative one? I thought he is a normal guy…

One more day of our old acquaintances from radiostation “Kak by radio”, known by the film “Election Day”. On this day the general producer Misha and his people appointed the night super marathon. But unfortunately the hour before the ether topic of the marathon was stolen by the competitors. The team must find the new epoch-making topic for the radio audience. At his very moment the small ship in the sea hit trouble on the other end of Russia, with the drunk crew and a couple of circus animals on the board. The situation is interpreted quite another way by the “Kak by radio”: the big ocean liner “Ph. D. Professor Schvarzengold” goes upon the rocks with hundreds of rarest animals on the board. Will this fancy impress the audience, musicians, sponsors, the radiostation owner and general staff – we`ll see…

It is one more cinema remake of “I quartet” performance; one more funny, lively and truthful story. Really truthful, cause the film authors (the scenario was written by the “I quartet” members) know the ins and outs of the radio as one knows his ten fingers. The life experience helped to show the life of radio with humour, irony and wholesome cynicism. “Radio Day” – is a good opportunity both to have a rest and to receive a fat part of essential positive. In the film participated the famous Russian musicians Ilya Lagutenko, Alexey Kortnev, Diana Arbenina, Nikolay Fomenko and the band “Chaif”.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Dmitriy Dyachenko

Cast:

Mikhail Kozyrev, Rostislav Khait, Leonid Barats, Alexander Demidov, Kamil Larin, Nikholai Fomenko, Alexey Kortnev, Georgiy Martirosyan, Emmanuil Vitorgan

Production:

Film-company “Strela”, Russia, 2008

Feature:

Comedy

Duration:

100 min.

The sparkling team of “Kak by radio” (“I quartet”) set out on a voyage along Volga. On the instructions of the oligarch Emmanuil Gedeonovich they have to ensure the 7% of votes to the one of the provinces governor candidate Igor Tsaplin (Vasiliy Utkin). The task seams twice more difficult, when the team comes to know that candidate is the oligarch`s personal masseur. But to deny the Emmanuil Gedeonovich and also to the own director (Mikhail Kozyrev) would be quite unwisely. During the large scale per-election campaign the cheerful team fetches to their point of view the local underworld leaders, the military and cossacks. The task becomes much more difficult when the news about previous convictions of candidate emerges.

It is easy and pleasant to watch the “Election Day”. There is no the crudeness in the comedy, the one can laugh at everything and everyone in it. The cinema début of “I quartet” is worthy to be called the mega successful. The performance of the same name was adapted to the cinema by Oleg Fomin and diluted by the famous Russian variety performers (“Chaif”, “Ivanshki”, Sergey Shnurov, Alexei Kortnev, “Bi2”, Serega, Andrey Makarevich). The one can hear the phrases from the popular film often quoted and Mikhail Kozyrev and Co started the one more performance screening (“Radio Day”). The proverb “make hay while the sun shines” is quite suitable in this case.

Trailer:

Directed by:

Oleg Fomin

Cast:

Kamil Larin, Alexander Demidov, Leonid Barats, Rostislav Khait, Nonna Grishaeva , Vasiliy Utkin, Alexei Kortnev, Eugeniy Steblov, Alexander Semchev, Maxim Vitorgan, Mikhail Efremov

Production:

STAR-T, Russia, 2007

Feature:

Comedy

Duration:

125 min.

It was the first film after the Soviet Union disintegration from which the rapid development of the Russian cinematograph started. Undoubtedly the Russia succeeded in good cinema making also before the “sniper”, but especially the creature of the Stanislav Govorukhin was noticed by the rest of the world. The film is considered to be brilliant due to the Mikhail Ulyanov, who received a great number of awards for the role of Ivan Fedorovich, and also due to its plot.

Three fellows raped the girl being sure in one`s impunity. This was the normal situation for the Russia of 90-ties. The grandpa of the girl after the inactivity of law enforcement agencies decides to take the law into his own hands. But how could the one to set justice in gangster 90-ties?

Trailer:

Directed by:

Stanislav Govorukhin

Cast:

Mikhail Ulyanov, Anna Sinyakina, Alexander Porokhovshchikov, Sergey Garmash, Iryna Rozanova, Marat Basharov, Alexey Makarov, Ilya Drevnov, Vladislav Galkin

Production:

Profit, Russia, 1999

Feature:

Drama

Duration:

97 min.

During the usual excavations four military trophies hunters, Borman, Cherep, Chuh and Spirt find the underground bunker. This time the abundant “take” contains documents, medals, arms. Their credo - unceremoniousness to the remains of fallen during the Great Patriotic War. To rest from the difficult work guys decide to take a swim in the nearest lake. They dive into the water nowadays and come up at the height of operation in 1942. Their further adventures together with the Soviet battle unit make them to reconsider the own views on the history and attitude to the heroic deeds of forefathers.

It`s difficult to say something particularly good or bad about this film. From the one hand the one won`t find here some peculiar crudeness or a show of patriotism. From the other hand the one won`t find in the film the deep cense or impressive filming also. “We Are from the Future” is the right film for the history lessons truants to give them steady and patriotic understanding of the native history. You should see it to learn to distinguish the good from the evil, to see how our ancestors sacrificed their lives defending the native land from the fascism, to meet the true war romance. If you like to have a rest during the film show, if in the film plot you prefer the simple schemes and expected ending, it is obligatory to see it. And don`t forget your popcorn!

Trailer:

Directed by:

Andrey Malyukov

Cast:

Danila Kozlovski, Andrey Terentyev, Boris Galkin, Vladimir Yaglich, Daniil Strahov, Dmitriy Volkostrelov, Yekaterina Klimova, Sergey Makhovikov

Production:

A-1 Kino Video, Russia, 2008

Feature:

Fantasy, Action, Adventure, War

Duration:

110 min.

Khottabich is the new screening of the old idea by Russian stage directors. This film was made in quite up-to-date manner, so it would be interesting to the youth as well as for the older audience.

Gena, a programmer to his fingertips, once ordered via the Internet the jar. Like in the fairy tale he found a gin inside it, ready to carry out three boy`s wishes. Everything is possible with Khottabych - to make millions of false dollars, to fly over the Red Square on the magic carpet and to save the American girl also… The film is a brilliant combination of up-to-date humour with the old plot told in a new way.

Trailer

Directed by:

Petr Tochilin

Cast:

Vladimir Tolokonnikov, Maxim Vazhov, Juriy Dumchev, Rostislav Krokhin, Mila (Ludmila) Lipner, Alexander Ovchinnikov, Alexander Seleznyov, Pavel Sirotin, Andrey Smirnov, Konstantin Spasski, Boris Shcherbakov

Production:

Film-company “Stv”, Russia, 2006

Duration:

90 min.

Feature:

Comedy

In Rus even the villein is no less clever than the prince or boyar council. And if he is also in love with the tsarevna Kseniya Godunova, he could probably do marvels.

When Andreyka was a little boy his family lived in the tsar`s court. It was then that he didn`t understand, why tsarevich Fedor Godunov is permitted to hit him by the sword and he is not. But then Kseniya Godunova gave to the brave boy a piece of unicorn`s horn from the tsar`s gate. That gift became for him a real talisman, which helped the boy to stay alive during the attack of Poles.

Once again Andrey will meet tsarevna by chance in 1612. Kseniya will travel with Polish hetman and barge hauler Andreyka will drag their ship. It is a right moment to take vengeance on hetman, to help the Motherland and to win the girl`s heart…

Trailer:

Directed by:

Vladimir Khotinenko

Cast:

Mikhail Porechenkov, Marat Basharov, Alexander baluyev, Arthur Smolyaninov , Mikhail Zhebrovski, Petr Kislov, Violetta Davidovskaya, Daniil Spivakovski, Valeriy Zolotukhin

Production:

TRITE Studio, RENOVA MEDIA, “Golden eagle” studio, Russia, 2007

Feature:

History, Adventure, Tale

Duration:

144 min.