Thread: NonRussian films (work in progress)

Okay, so some of you have noticed and PM's me that I have been away again for a while.. those darn headaches of mine!!! But as a result of my just hanging around in bed.. I drift in and out and watch lots of movies! DVDs are wondeful to stop and start and rewind! I have no ablility to read these days, so books are out the window for now and the movies have filled there place.

Now I just need to find the time to write up the reviews! Or at least short thumbs up thumbs down. It might be easier if anyone has a question about any of these to just ask me for I have no idea when I might get the mental state to write reviews.

So here is the list:
Alice (Syfy Version of Alice in Wonderland) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1461312/
An Education http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1174732/
Avatar (but remember, not in the theater) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/
The Blind Side http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878804/
Coco Before Channel or Coco avant Chanel http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1035736/
Fantastic Mr. Fox http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432283/
Good Hair http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1213585/
Inglourious Basterds http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361748/
Invictus http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1057500/
Julie & Julia http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1135503/
Meeting Place Should not Be Changed http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078655/
Precious http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0929632/
The Proposal http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1041829/
Robin Williams: Weapons of Self Destruction http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1560169/
Sherlock Holmes http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0988045/
Twilight New Moon http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259571/
Up in the Air http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1193138/
Where the Wild Things Are http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386117/

Originally Posted by rockzmom

Meeting Place Should not Be Changed

Did you like it?

The film about the guy who becomes a Moslem seems very good. I would like to see it. I guess there were no subtitles then?

If anyone is interested in Central Asia region, check out a film called "Chimp" "Maimil" from 2001. Slightly existentialistic film from Kyrgistan. It's about a guy who is drifting around before joining the army and about his reflections on the world around him. 90% in Russian and 10% in Kyrgiz. I thought it was pretty cool and funny. I came across it completely by chance and decided to watch it because I am a bit fascinated by Central Asia. The film is available on the "AsianDVDClub" torrent site.

Originally Posted by Оля

Originally Posted by rockzmom

Meeting Place Should not Be Changed

Did you like it?

Now, let's see.. I watched that one just about a month ago... I can't believe I forgot to post about it! I will have to sit myself down and write a proper review as it is a Russian series (bad girl!). However until then, YES, YES, YES!!! I liked it very much. I would have enjoyed watching that series for years. It is a shame they could not have some how made a t.v. series from that short miniseries. I could just imagine coming home once a week to turn that on and watch it! What a joy to look forward to after an awful day at work or school!

Johanna, have you watched it yet? I don't want to give anything away if you have not. I will be careful and put a spoiler alert in my review.

Originally Posted by rockzmom

somehow made a t.v. series from that short miniseries.

Well, there almost wasn't such thing as "TV series" in Western sense of the word on the Soviet TV. They tended to view such things as very long movies, rather than a category in itself.

The only non-animated exception I can think of is "Следствие Ведут ЗнаТоКи" but even that show wasn't quite something one would call "TV series" nowadays.

And, to be frank... Seing what they did in the sequels(, I'm glad no one tried to make a real series from this.

( I won't even name them. As far as I'm concerned, the sequels never happened. Of course, it's in part because they take place decades later, so no post-war Moscow, no Zheglov and (although he was in the books series were based on) SPOILER on the "meeting": no General Sharapov, who was replaced by a "generic general." Heck, there goes half the best lines from the books. Why Mosfilm, WHY? And that heavily implied sex scene. That never happened in the books FOR A REASON, not because Vayner brothers were prudes. And speaking of that, where is the "Your gun? In a handbag? How... Weird. Women shall not carry guns in their handbags. No, not that, no one should need a gun ever!" moment? /Says a cop to his partner, whom he secretly loves. Or does he? We're never told, unlike the movies. And sorry for me not remembering and translating the lines exactly. / Actors are overacting as if they're on the stage, not on the movie set all the time. Or they don't act at all.

Ok. Must. Stop. Ranting. It's just that such a good movie had such an uninspired sequels...

rockzmom, you are very considerate, thanks! Actually I don't think I have seen that film ("Meeting place...")But I would like to, because it's been mentioned several times here. I'll watch out for the spoiler alert.

I downloaded a whole bunch of classic Russian films a few months back, but then I "parked" them and decided to watch more contemporary films instead; films that show present day Russia. Unfortunately those are more difficult for a learner to watch and only rarely have subtitles.

The older films are really good for learners because the actors speak much more clearly and it's much easier to understand what's being said. I even wonder if they choose simpler words on purpose - there is such a big difference.

Speaking about series: I think the USSR cinema did "miniseries" though. I definitely remember a few running on Swedish TV. The one that immediately comes to mind is "Siberiada" which I did not like at the time but wouldn't mind rewatching at some point in the future.

A site I visited yesterday linked to this interesting BBC story about Russian cinema. Would you agree with the commnents made?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8470156.stm

Originally Posted by Johanna

I even wonder if they choose simpler words on purpose

Of course they don't.

Originally Posted by Johanna

A site I visited yesterday linked to this interesting BBC story about Russian cinema. Would you agree with the commnents made?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8470156.stm

Imho, there's no "fresh blood" in Russian cinema now. Too many today's directors are children of the known parents: Bondarchuk, Konchalovky, Todorovsky, Yankovsky, German... There's no room for ordinary people like Shukshin and many others famous soviet talents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz0qh0GHrW0

At 03:14-03:19, is he alluding to Lewinsky?

Originally Posted by studyr

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz0qh0GHrW0

At 03:14-03:19, is he alluding to Lewinsky?

Actually, Monica was an "intern." Congressional "pages" have also been known to end up having sexual relations with members of Congress. A "page" though is a minor (a high school student) and an "intern" is usually a college student.

here is information about a recent page scandal ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Foley_scandal

I didn't know this was on YouTube!! Let me know if you have any more questions! This was filmed not far from me. I've been in that theatre before.

Just saw Groundhog’s Day on TV, once more of God only knows how many times and it never fails to amaze me. Bill Murray is brilliant.
Call me Bronco.
One adult and…two adults, I guess.
My father was a piano mover.

Originally Posted by alexB

Just saw Groundhog’s Day on TV, once more of God only knows how many times and it never fails to amaze me. Bill Murray is brilliant.
Call me Bronco.
One adult and…two adults, I guess.
My father was a piano mover.

Ya know, I was going to have the girls watch that movie this year! So they actually showed it IN Russia on TV on Groundhog's Day?? Too Funny!

Poor Phil, you get yourself pulled out of a stump by some drunk men with a bunch of drunk hillbillies and a gazzillion tv lights in your eyes and see what you think about life??? Then after that, you spend the rest of the year in a glass box in a library on display!

So, has anyone happen to watch it already? What are the impressions?

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jysji45PKgA

So, has anyone happen to watch it already?

Can you summarise the theme of the film?I don't quite understand. It seems ok.
Afghanistan is clearly "the new Vietnam" for film makers; in the 1980s some good Vietnam films were made, now the turn has come to Afghanistan.. I think it's terrible that foreign countries have been meddling there since the 19th century... They should be left alone to develop at their own pace... I read of British soldiers who have died there almost every day in the papers... Meaningless deaths.

It's not about that. This film is based on a true story, unfortunately there are little info about this incident in English, but here's what I've found:

On 3 August 1995, a MiG-19S fighter operated by the Taliban government intercepted an Il-76TD operated by the Russian airline Airstan and forced it to land in Kandahar. Taliban officials were annoyed at Russian backing of anti-Taliban Afghan forces and wanted to use the crew as hostages for the return of Taliban members believed to be held by the Russians. The Russian government negotiated to no effect; a scheme to perform a commando raid to free the hostages was dismissed as impractical.

However, the crew was resourceful enough to rescue themselves. They managed to talk their captors into giving them access to the Il-76TD in order to keep it in flightworthy condition, and on 16 August 1996, after over a year in captivity, they made a run for it, taking off with three of their guards along with them, and flying at low level to Iran with a huge cloud of dust in the aircraft's wake. Fighters were scrambled to intercept, but the pilots assumed that the aircraft was heading north to Russia and failed to stop the escape.

Here's the Wikipedia article about that in Russian.

My word, that's quite a story. I'd definitely like to see that....

There is another story, it was filmatised as Peshawar Waltz, which you can download from http://depositfiles.com/files/tuecrvnnh (English subtitles).

Originally Posted by studyr

There is another story, it was filmatised as Peshawar Waltz, which you can download from http://depositfiles.com/files/tuecrvnnh (English subtitles).

viewtopic.php?f=61&t=8996&p=224188&hilit=%D0%9F%D0 %B5%D1%88%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BC%2C+% D0%B2+%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D 0%BD%D0%B5#p224188

"Kandagar" looks like a decent movie (and I like Mashkov and Alexandre Golubev, they were both in "Liquidation") but I don't want to see it on big screen -- people getting beaten and tortured and what-not.

I'm lost to all serious cinema at the moment anyway, as I've been watching lots of Bollywood. Hindi cinema used to be shown quite a lot in the Soviet Union as we had (and have) good relationships with India and it found its audience.
My fave so far is Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. An incredibly moving and heart-warming film, full of love, romance, humour, kindness, and great music. Any one else seen it? Shahrukh Khan and Kajol are the most famous romantic pair of Bollywood (in movies, not in real life).

I used to follow Bollywood up until about four years ago when I started getting an overdose of India at work. Suddenly I got completely "allergic" to anything Indian because it reminded me of my incredibly stressful work situation which I wanted to forget about as soon as I left there. Worked with lots of Indians (IT outsourcing)

But I agree with you that the films are entertaining, the plots engaging and the music is fun. Some of it is (at least used to be) incredibly silly, like insane co-incidences and people who are either too sugary nice or pure evil (not enough nuance in the characters).

Bollywood is quite big in England because of the huge numbers of people from an Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi background who live here. (Known as "Asians") Bollywood is often shown at cinema and many white people enjoy it every now and then.

I have a feeling Indian cinema is become a bit more artistic and less kitsch. What do you think?