Translated material
The third one is not superfluous
Watch from May 17 on Moscow screens
"Shrek the Third" (USA, 2007, Chris Miller and Raman Hui). Having married Princess Fiona, the green troll Shrek was faced with both an honorable and tedious task - he must sit on the throne of the Far Far Away Kingdom, and Shrek did not want to move from his beloved swamp to the palace. Therefore, taking with him his old friends Donkey and Puss in Boots, the troll goes in search of a contender for the throne, and meanwhile Prince Charming, rejected by Fiona, is going to take the capital of the kingdom by storm... The third episode of the fairy-tale vinaigrette turned out to be no less witty and funny than the first two - oddly enough, the idea of mixing heroes of different fairy tales in one plot, which from time immemorial was used by the scriptwriters of Christmas tree performances in Soviet cultural centers, continues to work to its fullest.“Miss Potter” (USA-UK, 2006, Chris Noonan). A film biography of the famous English children's writer Beatrice Potter (Renée Zellweger - "Bridget Jones's Diary", "Chicago", "Cold Mountain"), the author of the book "The Story of Peter Rabbit", beloved by many generations, an animal lover and a very brave lady who does not want to put up with prim manners of Victorian England. In our country, Peter Rabbit is known, to put it mildly, somewhat less than, for example, Peter Pan and his creator James Barry, to whose life the recent and similar film “Finding Neverland” was dedicated, but “Miss Potter” is worth watching. Everything was staged and played very dignified and sensually, and Zellweger was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy of Science Fiction prize for her leading role. Also starring Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson, Barbara Flynn, Jane Howe and Lloyd Owen.
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (UK, 2007, Michael Winterbottom). It is believed that Lawrence Sterne’s classic novel “The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy,” which in the 18th century anticipated many postmodern attitudes and represents the protagonist’s stream of consciousness, is categorically not amenable to film adaptation. But director Winterbottom (“Butterfly Kiss,” “24-Hour Party People,” “Nine Songs”) resorted to a trick: he made a film about how they made a film based on “Tristram Shandy,” which under no circumstances could be made... Witty, intellectual a provocation that will not appeal to every viewer, but those who understand what the trick is will certainly enjoy it. Starring Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Keeley Hawes, Jeremy Northam, Ian Hart, Naomie Harris and Gillian Anderson.
“Scenes of a Sexual Nature” (UK, 2006, Ed Bloom). The film is in the genre of multi-figure composition from the “walking, chatting” series that became familiar in the mid-90s. In the field of view of a movie camera in London's Hapstead Hill, seven very diverse couples come into view - spouses and newly met, gays and straights, sorting things out mainly, of course, on the topic of love and sex. Cute, but very predictable. Starring Ewan McGregor, Holy Aird, Eileen Atkins, Hugh Bonneville, Sophie Okonedo, Tom Hardy, Adrian Lester, Catherine Tate and Paulie Walker. Only in "35 MM"
“The Hitcher” (USA, 2007, Dave Myers). A remake of one of the most famous, one might say, iconic thrillers of the mid-80s, which became an unconditional cult in Russia during the times of video stores and the first home viewings. The place of Rutger Hauer in the role of a ruthless and, it seems, infernal maniac voting on a night Californian road was taken by Sean Bean (The Lord of the Rings, Dark Forces, Silent Hill), the general idea remained the same, but call the new version successful still hardly possible. The main thing is gone - the feeling of real danger that literally permeated the original, and its place was taken by rather primitive bloody scares from the arsenal of an average teenage horror film. Which is a shame, since previous remakes of classic horror films created by the same production team (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Amityville Horror) were much better. Also starring Sophia Bush, Zachary Knighton, Neal McDonough, Carl Davis and Kurt Bryant.