Mr. Nobody Against Putin (2025)
Directed by David Borenstein and Pavel Talankin this is an Oscar winning documentary. A man working at a school in Russia sees his life and the life of the students change following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
It is incredibly depressing to see the banal oppression come to small town Russia. Everything is so down to earth it makes what is happening even worse. Fantastically made and at great risk to the protagonist.
4/5
The Musician Monkey (1878)
Directed by Emile Reynaud this is an early short film. A monkey plays the violin.
A simple little short with some charm to it. The animation is way ahead of its time. Unfortunately the version I saw was rather low resolution.
3/5
Les Deux Espiegels (1878)
Directed by Emile Reynaul this is an early animated film. Two girls toss a cat up and down on a blanket.
Really impressive for the era it is from. The art is very cutesy, predicting the sort of animation to come years later. Survives well.
3/5
Cancan (1894)
Directed by Georges Demeny this is an early short film. Two women dance.
A nice little short despite how brief it is. I like the outfits which have some character to them. Survives in decent quality.
3/5
Clin d'eventail (1894)
Directed by Georges Demeny this is an early short film. A woman peaks out from behind a fan.
Not a huge amount to this one and you do not see much of the subjects face. Does manage to have a bit of playfulness about it. Survives in okay quality.
3/5
Baisers envoles (1894)
Directed by Georges Demeny this is an early short film. A woman blows a kiss to the camera.
Simple in content, pretty much what it claims to be. Decent image quality for the age of the film. Not that different from some others of the period.
3/5
The Russia House (1990)
Directed by Fred Schepisi this film based on the novel of the same name stars Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer. A British book publisher is contacted by a Russia who wants to leak nuclear secrets.
Somehow this film manages to pull off having both a happy and melancholy ending which is rather unusual. A nice twisting narrative that looks at the human desire for peace in a system against it. Both well made and well acted with some lovely on location shots in Russia.
4/5
