Friday, May 6, 2016

Moscow-based Movie Critic Mark Teeter on the film, "Captain America: Civil War" (from Facebook)


Mark H. Teeter added 2 new photos.
Yesterday at 4:46pm
THE PRICE OF CROSS-CULTURAL GRANDPARENTING:
You Have to Go to Tedious Movies You Wouldn’t See Otherwise – and in a Foreign Language; or 2½ Hours That Flew by Like 4
***"Captain America: Civil War"/"Первый мститель: Противостояние"***(USA, 2016)(Area theaters from May 5)
--> The good news was the *literal* price: I said “1 old guy and 1 handicapped kid” and the lady gave us 2 tix @ 100 roobs a pop. How can you not love a first-run blockbuster for a buck and a half?
It's pretty easy, actually. This cine-outgrowth of Marvel Comics consists entirely of costumed super heroes fighting each other and occasionally bad(der) guys for well over 2 hrs. at very high volume. Yikes. And whatever snappy patter there is in the original script – the Tony Stark/Iron Man character has had some good lines in his own movies (which I’ve enjoyed, btw) – did not survive, as I knew it wouldn't, the transplant into Russian.
OK, there *are* all manner of expensive-looking FX in this $250 mln-budget epic. But so what? The next time I’m asked whether some movie’s special effects are good, I’m going to respond, “Good for what?” The attraction of “effects gratia effectis” simply eludes me.
But not Grandson, of course, who was busily enjoying his eardrums out all by himself in the 2nd row. The kid’s not wholly uncritical – the new Spiderman character, he said later, was “way too juvenile” (wait til I tell Grandma that one!). But basically every giant explosion (many) and super-fight (even more) was for him, judging by the back of his bobbing head, nothing short of a wonderment. When they finally let us out, he couldn’t wait to ask, “So what did you think of *that*?” I dodged a bullet with, “That was something, all right!”
And it was. I have no idea what. But I am glad, really, that 100 rubles can buy my Grandson that much fun.

Like
Comment
JB comment: Doesn't Cpt A look a bit like Vova? How's that, "strategic communications" theorists might say -- using one form of "enemy" propaganda -- to your own advantage? Entertain the masses by letting them see a "blockbuster" enemy film -- to justify VVP himself being a "Captain Russia" stronger than the enemy -- as defined in the film -- his very own russkii himself. But, more seriously, I suspect -- bottom line -- that screening Hollywood blockbuster films in "Russian World" po-blatu Russia just brings in a lot of money to Russian "entreprenoors" with real estate in Manhattan/L.A.







Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)