Jack Sparrow vs. Cheburashka: illusions about Russian cinema have been dispelled

Last week on the entertainment air passed under the sign of Jack Sparrow and Co. All episodes of “Pirates of the Caribbean” once again became an occasion to gather at the TV. And, perhaps, catch yourself thinking that now these films look a little different.

For many years, the big Hollywood cinema was something familiar and easily accessible to us. Cinemas, streaming, television – in general, at any time and in any format. But in the new reality, these habits had to be quickly changed. Movie screenings have largely returned to piracy, streaming catalogs are rapidly getting poorer, while everything seems to be the same on television, but it is not clear for how long.

In such a situation, all this foreign luxury on the screen will involuntarily begin to be perceived as the last time. Before death, of course, you won’t breathe, but you can at least take a closer look. And once again to conclude that the film “The Curse of the Black Pearl” twenty years after the premiere is still obscenely good. “Dead Man’s Chest” also looks great, but does not fascinate like “At World’s End”. The fourth film, On Stranger Tides, is a typical movie from the time of the global banking crisis. Not a single battle scene, more conversations. And the fifth part – “Dead Men Tell No Tales” – is again full of energy: as if a slightly stalled franchise was injected with a vitamin cocktail, and it again rushed at full speed.

Probably, it is precisely such films that can make you sad when you have to think that they can also be removed from the air. It’s movies like this that turn optimistic talk about how our cinema is on the rise and we’re still making blockbusters ourselves into hilarious bravado. Movies may be on the rise, TV shows have certainly become much better, but all this is a successful game in the local league.

There is no point in doubting the success of Cheburashka, and The Little Humpbacked Horse probably turned out to be a good family film for both cinema and television. However, all these illusions are dispelled as soon as Jack Sparrow appears on the screen. And it’s not about millions of fees or TV ratings – here we can still argue – but about the quality of the movie itself. In the picture, dynamics, plot, actors, finally.

“We will succeed!” – the chorus of strained optimists assures from the screens. “Tell yourself this more often,” Sparrow notes in one of the scenes. And this sarcasm is not only amusing, but also sobering. It’s a pity that not all of them yet.

THE VALLEY BREAKED THROUGH THE “LOCKS OF PLEASURE”

Larisa Alexandrovna, in a spectacular black dress and make-up with false rhinestones, sings something about “gateways of pleasure” and “slippery pseudo-diamonds”. It looks intriguing on the whole, although the expediency of such a defile raises questions.

In the next issue of the show “Sweetie” Larisa Dolina indulged in her favorite pastime. The pop diva once again proved to everyone that absolutely everything can be done. Having received a song by an amateur author as a competitive task, she easily turned campy synthpop into jazz, and the text about locks and diamonds, apparently, remained for the sake of irony.

Could the popular singer do without this musical comedy? Most likely it could. But, apparently, the desire to trample on new territories turned out to be stronger. Sometimes it seems that at the moment Larisa Alexandrovna is interested in absolutely everything. Here it is with “slippery pseudo-diamonds” – and at the same time with the classics of chanson in “Three Chords”. More recently, she put up with Valya Karnaval and expressed her readiness for the most unexpected collaborations.

From the outside, it may seem that the prima feels a lack of attention and wants to be everywhere and at once. Probably, this is a natural desire for an artist, but still it would be nice to find a border between “keep face” and “not be afraid of experiments.” Larisa Alexandrovna now succeeds, frankly, every other time.

However, no matter how slippery pseudo-diamonds are, they are better than political statements.

VYSOTSKY AS A COOKER

This year, the Eat at Home program turns twenty years old, which is quite a lot for a culinary project. Especially now, when food is cooked on TV at any time and they do it in a big way.

It must be admitted that Vysotskaya has no competitors anywhere. They drive around the cities, look for and search for anything unusual and local in markets and food courts, cook in vans, do not disdain shawarma, joke like a machine gun and still try to save our budget.

Vysotskaya does nothing of the sort. Nothing seems to change in her program at all. She still stands at the stove and enthusiastically talks about sauces and dressings, her recipes are complicated, the ingredients of the dishes are not always democratic, the kitchen can cause a violent attack of envy and, possibly, class hatred.

But all this can be forgiven for a sense of stability. For twenty years, Vysotskaya has been simply cooking, putting recipes above jokes, and there is a suspicion that many men would be more than happy to receive food from her hands. Of course, she is an actress and maybe just plays a cook, but this role is one of her best.