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Cheburashka (2023)
Quite a good-feeling family movie with disadvantages
"Cheburashka" has collected more than 3 billion rubles in just its first ten days, who make the film the highest grossing film in Russia.
Of course, Cheburashka simply has no competitors in Russian cinemas today. In general, to be honest, I did not plan to go to the cinema for Cheburashka. But it turned out that on New Year's holidays this year there is nothing more to go.
The Soviet annimation films about Crocodile Gena, Cheburashka and Shapoklyak, of course, I remember very well. I think that it is nostalgia that drives many people to the film: after all, this is a beloved and already familiar character, and Soviet animation came out half a century ago - it's time to look at them in a new way. In the Soviet short film "Crocodile Gena" by Roman Kachanov, Cheburashka is found in a box of oranges (there is absolutely no point in referring to the original by Eduard Uspensky in the case of modern Cheburashka). Then the audience learned that he came to the USSR from some kind of tropical forest. At the beginning of 2023, they decided to show us what kind of orange plantations they are.
The viewer meets Cheburashka among the trees and evil male workers, who are pissed off by the thief of oranges. They shout at Cheburashka in some incomprehensible language. As we will understand much later, it was Spanish. Suddenly, a tornado begins in this Spanish-speaking place, which takes Cheburashka to Russia, unfamiliar to the audience. We find ourselves in some seaside town (maybe Sochi), where the houses are built in the Soviet Art Deco style, and palm trees grow on the streets. A tornado brings down a real downpour of oranges on the town, and along with the fruits, Cheburashka also falls to the ground.
It seems like this is the beginning of the plot: a story about a "hit", who is mastering a new area for himself. He accidentally meets the gloomy janitor Petrovich (of course, his name is Gennady - the crocodile in this story has a human face). At this time, Rimma also arrives in the town - an adult woman who wears unusual headdresses and runs a business - a chocolate factory. Judging by her behavior, her management methods were formed somewhere in the 90s. From there, the unbearable character of the modern old woman Shapoklyak.
This entire exposition lasts about thirty minutes - to be honest, it is very long even for adults who timidly laughed at a few gags at the beginning. Children's enthusiasm from the indistinctly mumbling Cheburashka was also not heard in the hall. But during the entire two hours of this story, you can perfectly hear how the hero of Sergei Garmash, Gena, growls. Let me remind you that the crocodile in the Soviet cartoon did not growl at all, but this one is just annoying.
The filmmakers suggest that we fall in love with the gloomy and annoying old man Gena, whom Garmash plays half-heartedly, and the rather crookedly drawn CGI Cheburashka. I would be glad to know that someone really managed to immerse themselves in the chemistry of this duo. But in the end, it turns out to be more interesting to watch the family of Gennady Petrovich: his daughter makes her own chocolates and is very offended by her father. Her small business is threatened by the appearance of Shapoklyak with her factory. Rimma's faithful servant - let's call him Lariska out of habit - is trying to spoil the local business, recalls the boss's anecdote: "Small business is constantly stormy, that's why we are big" and is trying to buy out a candy store and take possession of the recipe. Such a battle.
In Russia of 2023, this is unimaginable: they are striving for a policy of peaceful coexistence. And, of course, there is no politics in Cheburashka. If you remember, in the Soviet animated film, the little eared and his senior mentor wanted to join the pioneers. In the modern interpretation, the heroes just want to be left behind.
I don't know if this is part of the problem: it was easy for me to associate myself with Cheburashka, who found an older friend, taught people and animals around to be friends, and he himself strove to grow up and even decided to go to school. The modern Cheburashka not only does not look very nice, but also does not know who he is - he himself comes up with the name Cheburashka at the end of the film. Cheburashka will learn to speak only by the middle of the film, but even then only in order to make awkward jokes about urine a couple of times (and it doesn't matter at all that these jokes periodically refer to Soviet classics). In the Soviet film, we found ourselves in reality, where there is a talking Cheburashka, there is an understandable world around. The modern Cheburashka ended up in an expensive Soviet sanatorium - it turns out that he went on vacation "to the south", where, of course, he meets Gena and his family.
Of course, there are pluses in this film - the filmmakers should have spent 850 million rubles (about 12 million dollars) on something good. For example, the costumes and sets look great: they are really very beautiful and well thought out. The social layer of the characters' relationship - the conflict between father and daughter and the grater of business - is also very clear to the viewer. Separately, I note how cool Cheburashka works with female characters: not only was Gennady's wife a professional tough athlete, but also the business conflict is built around two strong women - the local Shapoklyak and Gena's daughter. In one of the scenes, the creators were not even afraid to gently and amusingly ridicule the feminists: "It turns out that we are Three musketeers and two female musketeers!". Nobody got offended. But all the advantages of the film are broken by the fact that the story of Gena and Cheburashka is not built on chemistry between the characters and not on a new reading of a familiar story, but on the fact that the viewer should feel nostalgia. But it was hard for me to just believe in Cheburashka: I could not even imagine that in such a bright, contrasting and unnatural world, a painted eared ear can stand out. And when I managed to accept the rules of this game for a second, the music began to play in the frame - so loud and inappropriate that it rather spoiled all the cute moments. This is especially felt in the climactic scene, in which for some reason Sevara's "I'm Not There" plays. Parallel, but at the same time deadly straightforward editing, to the music, apparently found by searching for a "tragic and sad song" in a search engine, is just bad direction.
In short, if you suddenly find yourself watching Cheburashka, try to enjoy at least something in this film. And if you find yourself in a movie with children, find out why they liked this eared so much. It is unlikely that this hero will teach them something, but the answer "he is cute" will be enough. And when you come home again, revisit the Soviet classics - this is the case when it really was better before.
Balkanska medja (2020)
Impressive non-Hollywood action movie
Although there was some who said there were no Russian soldiers in the airport before the arrival of the troops. There were 18 soldiers from the Russian special forces who were there under the command of Yunus Bek-Yevkurov, that also was the film's consultant. While we do not know what was their mission. The only thing we know is that there were no casualties. Either way, it's a feature movie, not a documentary. And it's one that well made. There's drama, action, thriller in part, horror and romance. I recommend it to anyone. This Russo-Serb movie is a good entertainment. I am very pleased that they did excellent linguistic work here: the Russian speaking Russian, the Serb speaking Serbian and NATO officials are speaking English. Also, while the Serb actors are fluent in Russian, they pretend to speak very little Russian, so the Russian are forced to speak to them in Serbian (there are three Russian soldiers that speaks Serbian for them). In terms of research they did very good job here, and it's really enjoyable.
Karamora (2022)
Russia that we did not lose
The plot is centers around an alternative reality in pre-revolutionary Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. A young Russian anarchist nicknamed Karamora loses his beloved Alina in a clash with representatives of a secret organization that protects the interests of the rulers of Russia, the Romanovs. Now he is ready to do anything to avenge his lost love. Having revealed the main secret of the enemy, Karamora realizes that these protectors are a Vampires.
Given the bad reputation of the Russian film industry in general and Kozlovsky in particular... I'm just pleasantly surprised.
Still, filming a series in Russia in which terrorists kill stereotyped corrupt officials - one even needs to have the courage. But the theme of vampires perfectly makes it possible not to dwell on the theme of terror with its many contradictions, but to go into the fertile expanse of fantasy. The creators were not too lazy and did NOT make a typical story about how the noble Kozlovsky fights against the vile inhuman ghouls who rule Czarist Russia and the whole world from behind the screen before the First World War.
No. They took and made vampires ambiguous: Here are the anarchists (who are actually led by a provocateur from the secret police) are fighting injustice with very dubious methods of terror. But vampires, who suddenly, are also trying as best they can to fight the injustice of the world. And of course their feeding on the blood of the dead is also very doubtful.
That is, it is essentially the same thing. Surely the series will choke in the hatred of the supporters of the USSR, because it contains historical characters, like the Bolsheviks. Shown is not positive way. And in the same hatred of the fans of Czarist Russia. Because it was allegedly controlled by ghouls in general. But trying to please at least one of these radical groups is not a very rewarding business.
Judging by the first episodes, 'Karamora' is an excellent genre product with a clear intention to sell to a major Western platform. And the fact that one of the characters is a foreigner, and almost the entire second series speaks English, clearly hints at certain goals of the creators, and this is commendable. There is information that Danila Kozlovsky invested all of himself and even personal money in the project, taking a loan to make the series at a decent international level.
The pilot series is built in such a way as to capture the viewer once and for all, where there are no snot and torment, everything is multiple and to the point, a lot of action, blood and erotica. Kozlovsky in the project is listed as a producer, director and plays a major role. He walks a lot, runs, again whispers something indistinctly, shoots, falls and kills someone. And already at the end, the authors clearly outline the goal of the hero, so that the viewer understands where and how the further story will develop.
The second series is already quieter and with a separate vertical case, which refers to the English historical detective stories about Jack the Ripper, as the antagonist hunted prostitutes. There is humor in the series, albeit insignificant, there are a lot of references to Dracula and the Czar's story, Mayakovsky, Felix Yusupov, Tolstoy, Rasputin and others historical figures appear.
As an entertaining alternative history with some banter and a reference to modern reality, affecting corruption, power and the fate of ordinary people it is very interesting approach of the idea.
Interstellar (2014)
Great but not the finest
Although this is indeed a great film, the design effects and story are superbly made, I still felt it was one of Nolan's weak films.
As in many of his films the prologue is in fact the epilogue, the voice of the woman in the background is in fact the voice heard in the museum ostensibly used as Cooper's home. The man who lived for so many years in a kind of paradox of time and the realization of the grandfather paradox...
The film is well made and everyone does their job great, but I felt that the film sometimes falls into scripted clichés and especially in some need to fill some box, "Here I made a space film". Nolan is a great director from life and everything about him is grandiose and of course, with a crazy production budget from the Warner Bros. Behind him, what can you expect?
In the future we will no longer see him make a film with these studios and maybe that will make his next film, Oppenheimer, more personal, who knows. But sometimes the sense of grandiosity in his films qualifies for a coherent plot as also happened with his latest film, "Tent", which in my opinion is the weakest of his films and only because of that, Interstellar, is a better film.