Dear Comrades! Directed by Andrey Konchalovskiy ****

This intense black-and-white film redramatizes the horrific 1962 massacre in Novocherkassk, in the southeastern corner of Russia, at which between 26 and 80 persons were killed for peacefully protesting hikes in food costs.

Wages were lowered. Hunger was killing people.

A staunch defender of Stalin, protagonist passionate totes the party line, but knows socialism is a disaster. Yuliya Vysotskaya  stars as this Lyuda who actually has a high-up position in the party. She feels all instigators against the regime must be killed, but it all comes back to backfire on her and when her daughter who marched in the protest goes missing, she sets out to find her. However, she seems to be a little less naive about the goodness of the party. A really great film about a dark moment - largely forgotten and those implied swore to secrecy. Though people thought it was the army that shot upon the crowd, it was in fact the KGB. The tragic event comes to live again in this film - a town massacre in Russia’s brutal past that is largely forgotten.

 

 

MAX CLOUD, directed by Martin Owen **

In this crazy film, reality collides with science fiction space ship fun. It’s s a throw-back to the era of video game mania.  Is this film a spoof or number to put on a kids’ must-have list? I would say both. The futuristic pink set is scene -stealer because the characters are corny and childish. The story is about a video game being played by rebellions Sarah who is catapulted into the game itself. Now she joins the macho captain with some of his crew – all stuck inside their pretty-in-pink space ship on the planet Heinous. The young man in the film becomes Sarah. Confusing yet entertaining, this light-hearted film will be laughed at by Star Trek fans, while novices will watch it in wonder. We aren’t exactly biting our nails in fear during the fight scenes; rather biting into popcorn is more fitting for this absurdly spacey film.