Translated material
Battle Royale
Watch from April 17 on Moscow screens
"Kings of the Streets" (USA, 2008, David Ayer). Not entirely adequate after the death of his wife, Los Angeles cop Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves - "Speed", "The Matrix", "Little Buddha") finds himself unfairly accused of the death of a colleague and finally goes off the rails, beginning to administer justice according to his own, very peculiar rules. A dashing and powerful action movie in the best traditions of the genre, full of urban shooting, moral contradictions and non-stop action. Also starring Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, Martha Higareda, Cedric Entertainer, Jay Mohr and Naomie Harris.“Gentlemen Officers: Save the Emperor” (Russia, 2008, Oleg Fomin). A historical action film from the first post-revolutionary years, turning the basic principles of such cinema inside out - this time the heroes are not the elusive red avengers, but a group of white officers desperately and hopelessly trying to free Nicholas II from the dungeons of Yekaterinburg. Starring Oleg Fomin, Alexander Bukharov, Anna Azarova, Anatoly Bely, Sergei Batalov, Evgeny Stychkin, Marat Basharov and Stanislav Duzhnikov.
“Twenty One” (USA, 2007, Robert Luketic). Based on the best-selling book by Ben Mezrich, the exhaustively excellent title Hit the Casino. How to hit the jackpot: The true story of six students who beat Las Vegas for millions of dollars." A group of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, led by a mathematics professor (Kevin Spacey - "Seven", "The Usual Suspects", "Superman Returns") goes into a nest of vice and excitement to enrich themselves with the help of exclusive card counting systems, general erudition and youth enthusiasm. And they succeed! Also starring Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne, Aaron Yoh and Josh Gad.
“Sigh (South Korea, 2007, Kim Kiduk). Having learned about her husband's betrayal, a housewife unexpectedly (primarily for herself) enters into a strange relationship with a hitherto unknown imprisoned murderer, who, while awaiting a death sentence, regularly tries to commit suicide. Their meetings take place almost without words, and each turns into an amazing performance that makes you remember either “Moulin Rouge” or “Dancer in the Dark”. Perhaps the best film of the prolific Kim in recent times. Starring Chang Chen, Ha Joo-Woo, Park Ji-Ah and Kim Kiduk.
“Real Dad” (Russia, 2008, Sergei Bobrov). A cool kid nicknamed Shilo (Mikhail Porechenkov - “National Security Agent”, “9th Company”, “Liquidation”) spends his leisure time alternating between specific showdowns, intensive training of all muscle groups and aircraft modeling. But this measured life in its own way comes to an end at the moment when a whole brood of illegitimate heirs - fourteen, five and two years old - appears on the threshold of his apartment. Another and, apparently, very amusing variation on the theme of the Russian folk tale “How a Man Was a Homemaker”, which has been developed more than once by world cinema, with elements of Hollywood canons and domestic criminal reality. Also starring Angelina Karelina, Dmitry Dedyushko, Darina Yushkevich, Evgenia Dobrovolskaya, Alexey Gorbunov and Alexey Shevchenkov.
“Ruins” (Australia-USA, 2008, Carter Smith). A chilling exercise about a group of young people whose excessive curiosity led to very disastrous consequences. This time, the place where the bloody drama unfolds is the ruins of Mexican religious buildings of the Mayan era, hidden deep in the jungle. Despite the seemingly unambiguous synopsis, you shouldn’t expect the film to be a familiar knockout game without meaning or style: the film is based on the novel by Scott Smith (the author of A Simple Plan, which once became the basis for Sam Raimi’s thriller), and the cameraman was Darius Khondji, behind the camera on films such as Seven, Stealing Beauty and Evita. So it's not trash at all. The view, of course, is very barbaric, but true. Starring Jonathan Tucker, Gena Malone, Shawn Ashmore, Laura Ramsey, Bar Paly and Jesse Ramirez.