War and Peace AKA Voyna i mir

War and Peace AKA Voyna i mir

Mosfilm

14 March 1966

Historical Drama

DVD
D+

A little stilted, and I'd forgotten what a jerk Prince Andrei is, especially to his wife.  But the costumes and sets are nice.  Sergey Bondarchuk directed, co-adapted the Tolstoy novel, and played Pierre.

Stalingrad AKA Сталинград

Stalingrad AKA Сталинград

Columbia etc.

10 October 2013

War Drama

DVD
D-

Not just boring but so forgettable I had to replay several minutes of the movie when I went back to it after a few hours, because I couldn't remember what happened, and it's the same dreary lighting throughout.  This is based on the book by Ilya Tilkin, and directed by Fedor Bondarchuk.

Sputnik AKA Спутник

Sputnik AKA Спутник

Vodorod Pictures etc.

23 April 2020

Sci-Fi, Horror

DVD
D

I mentally tuned out pretty early on.  Egor Abramenko directed.

Solaris (1972)

Solaris (1972)

Mosfilm

5 February 1972

Sci-Fi

DVD
D+

Slow-moving.  This is based on Stanislaw Lem's novel and directed by Andrei Tarkovsky.

Quackerz

Quackerz

Turbo Films etc.

14 February 2016

Children's, Fantasy, Comedy, Action

DVD
D+

About as good as its title, with a mix of cliches, vivid colors, and a surprising amount of sex humor (e.g. "missionary position") for a kids' movie.

Loveless AKA Nelyubov

Loveless AKA Nelyubov

Arte France etc.

1 June 2017

Drama

DVD
D+

Divorce and misery, with some nice cinematography at times.  Andrey Zvyagintsev directed and co-wrote, a decade after The Banishment.

Guardians AKA Zaschitniki

Guardians AKA Zaschitniki 

Turbo Films

23 February 2017

Action, Sci-Fi

DVD
C-

Maybe it was the dubbing or the relative lack of violence in the first quarter hour, but I almost liked the cheesiness of this.  Sarik Andreasyan directed and co-wrote, 

The Banishment AKA Izgnanie

The Banishment AKA Izgnanie 
Intercinema XXI Century
18 May 2007
Drama
DVD
D

This is incredibly slow-moving (the whole movie clocks in at over 2 1/2 hours) but the scenery was sort of nice, even if opening with a one-minute long-distance shot of a tree is overkill.  Apparently it gets more eventful later, but I didn't care enough to watch.

This is loosely based on Saroyan's novel The Laughing Matter.  Andrey Zvyagintsev directed.