When director Andrey Zvyagintsev first got the script for Loveless, a drama about a divorcing couple who must come together when their son goes missing, he was baffled by just one thing: the film’s title.“I decided to make it a working title and later find a better one,” Zvyagintsev recalls of Oleg Negin’s script. “I had other ideas — for instance, Battlefield. But I got used to this title and even began to love it because in a very precise, surgical way, it expresses the main issue of our film.”Zvyagintsev describes the film about the Moscow couple (played by Maryana Spivak and Aleksey Rozin) as a story “about how people who have been married for 12 years are entering a streak of complete misunderstanding and inability to find a common language and, moreover, develop hatred for each other.” For Zvyagintsev, “loveless” means not just the absence of love but the antithesis of love, “something bigger than banal … [Read more...] about Russia’s Oscar Entry ‘Loveless’ Uses Divorcing Couple to Delve Into Nation’s Moral Issues
Russia
Trump Calls For GOP to ‘Take Control’ of Russia Probe: ‘Witch Hunt…Continues’
President Trump tweet, another reminder that the Russia investigations are nothing but a “witch hunt.”The investigations seem to weighing on the president’s mind today since he has attacked Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) for releasing the transcripts from Glenn Simpson‘s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Simpson is one of Fusion GPS’s co-founders, and his interview about Christopher Steele‘s infamous dossier revealed a plethora of noteworthy details about possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russia.Even though Trump defenders frequently blame the dossier for the investigations hovering over the White House, recent reports suggest that former Trump aide George Papadopoulos set events in motion by going on a drunken monologue about Russian blackmail on Hillary Clinton.[Image via screengrab]— —>> Follow Ken Meyer (@KenMeyer91) on Twitter Have a tip we should know? [email protected] … [Read more...] about Trump Calls For GOP to ‘Take Control’ of Russia Probe: ‘Witch Hunt…Continues’
Russia Box Office: Patriotic Basketball Drama Scores, Beats ‘Jumanji’
Patriotic Russian drama Dvizheniye Vverkh (Going Vertical), focused on the 1972 Olympic basketball victory of the Soviet team in the final against the U.S., became the box-office champion of the long New Year's holidays in Russia, beating Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle and other Hollywood releases.Released by Central Partnership on Dec. 28, Going Vertical has grossed 1.4 billion rubles ($24.5 million) through Tuesday and, according to local trade journal Exhibitor's Bulletin, has the chance to become the highest-grossing homemade movie of all time.The basketball drama beat Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, which brought in $21.5 million since Dec. 21, as well as the most recent installment in the New Year's-themed Yolki franchise, produced by Timur Bekmambetov's Bazelevs ($15.4 million).Rounding out the top five films in Russia for the Dec. 21-Jan. 8 period were homemade animated film Three Knights and the Egyptian Princess ($12.6 million) and Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last … [Read more...] about Russia Box Office: Patriotic Basketball Drama Scores, Beats ‘Jumanji’
BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith Has No Regrets About Publishing Trump-Russia Dossier: ‘Unquestionably Real News’
A year after the infamous publishing of the “dossier” relating to President Donald Trump and his alleged involvement with Russia, BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith has no regrets — despite the document containing pages of unverified salacious info.In fact, while the digital outlet was referred to as “fake news” and “a flaming pile of garbage” by the president himself for the decision, Smith called the dossier “unquestionably real news” in his New York Times op-ed defending his decision to publish it.Smith wrote the following today in the retrospective piece: “A year of government inquiries and blockbuster journalism has made clear that the dossier is unquestionably real news. That’s a fact that has been tacitly acknowledged even by those who opposed our decision to publish. It has helped journalists explain to their audience the investigation into Russian influence on the 2016 election. And Mr. Trump and … [Read more...] about BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith Has No Regrets About Publishing Trump-Russia Dossier: ‘Unquestionably Real News’
Sen. Blumenthal: More Convictions, Indictments to Come in Russia Probe
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Monday that more convictions and indictments can be expected from Robert Mueller’s special investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.Appearing on Morning Joe, the Connecticut Democrat predicted that President Donald Trump will have a face-to-face interview with Mueller (to be a fly on that wall…)“Remember that we’ve had two convictions, two indictments,” Blumenthal added. “The indictments will result in trials, and those trials will be revelatory of additional facts as well, the additional convictions and indictments that you can expect early this year from the counsel. That’s part of upholding the rule of law.”When asked whether we can expect additional indictments, the senator laid it clearly:“Almost certainly in my view there will be additional convictions — guilty pleas — as well as indictments.”Blumenthal went on to … [Read more...] about Sen. Blumenthal: More Convictions, Indictments to Come in Russia Probe