"Happiness in an envelope"
The family melodrama “Happiness in an Envelope” is an almanac that combines three touching stories about love, friendship, family values and the connection of generations. Stories are told by post office employees in a small town. The heroes of these episodes are completely different, with their own characters, problems and tragedies. But they are united by letters that can change someone's life.
Svetlana Sukhanova, best known to the viewer as an actress, acted as the director of the picture: she can be seen in the projects of the Policeman from Rublevka franchise, the comedy Tariff New Year and Grandmother of Easy virtue, as well as in other films and series. “Happiness in an Envelope” became for Svetlana Sukhanova the directorial debut in full measure.
All roles in the film were performed by unknown actors. The crew made this decision consciously - so that the viewer would not be distracted by the train stretching behind the media faces, and perceive the shown stories as sincerely as possible. The film involves Efim Kamenetsky, Zalim Mirzoev, Evgenia Glotova, Tatyana Samarina and many others.
Pinocchio (Pinocchio)
Italian director Matteo Garrone continues to explore the European fairytale heritage. A new picture by the director is dedicated to the most famous character of Italian literature - the wooden boy Pinocchio. The main role in Pinocchio was played by the nine-year-old Federico Ielapi, for whom, despite his young age, this picture was the seventh in his career.
The film describes the main events from the classic plot. Puppet master Jepetto carves a boy from a tree and takes care of him as his own son. The naive and hooligan Pinocchio constantly gets into adventures, in which he is faced, among other things, with deception and cruelty - because of which he almost dies several times.
In the work on the painting, a complex technique was used, combining plastic makeup and advanced visual effects. For screen magic, the recipient of two Oscar awards for the best make-up Briton Mark Coulier and the studio One of Us led by Rachel Penfold were responsible.
Read more about the project in the material RT.
"Hear me"
Another Russian novelty is the family-run adventure fantasy drama “Hear Me”. The main character of the film, the boy Vasya, comes with his family from the city to a remote Siberian village. There, she and her sister go on a journey through time (events unfold at the present and in 1917), find themselves embroiled in amazing adventures and change the present through the past.
The director of the film is Vasily Kuzovlev. For him, this work was his debut. The plot was based on real events, which were described by the director’s grandfather who lived in Altai. Kuzovlev also acted as a screenwriter and producer of the tape.
Filming was carried out in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Roles in the film were also performed by debutants - Timur Khasanov, Irina Alibekova, Marina Kuzovleva, Yevgeny Melyadin and Shamil Daitov.
Bloodshot
The first film in a series of comic book adaptations from Valiant Comics - the new Sony-launched movie universe - was a “Blotshot” starring Vin Diesel. After several appearances in the image of baby Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy and Dominic Toretto in the next episodes of The Fast and the Furious, Diesel returns to his classic appearance - a stern superman with weapons at the ready.
The directorial chair of the tape was taken by Dave Wilson, for whom this project is his debut in a feature film. Previously, the director worked only on the series “Love, Death & Robots” (Love, Death & Robots).
According to the plot, a group of scientists rescues the soldier Ray Harrison (Vin Diesel) from death by implanting many microcomputers in his blood. Now the former Marine is a killing machine capable of regenerating and controlling electronics. To manage Ray himself, scientists completely clear his mind of memories. However, in the rank of super-soldier in the secret service of the government, Harrison did not stay long and rebelled against his masters in order to regain his memory and freedom.
Bloodshot is the hero of the eponymous comic, who has become one of the most popular characters of Valiant Comics: since the first publication in 1992, about 7 million copies of the graphic novel have been sold.
Doll 2: Brahms (Brahms: The Boy II)
The director of the horror film “Doll 2: Brahms” was William Brent Bell, who directed the first “Doll”, as well as the horror films “Lost”, “Obsessed” and “Werewolf”. In the center of the plot of the new horror film is the same frightening doll that looks like a real boy. She falls into the hands of young Jude (played by Christopher Convery).
Events unfold in the Hillshire mansion in England. The Judah family moves there after the child becomes closed and begins to behave strangely. His mother (Katie Holmes) believes that his son needs peace. In the forest near the house, Jude finds a doll and brings it home. However, the toy is not as simple as the heroes of the film seem at first glance.
The first reviewers criticized the film. Journalists note that the new horror is not as scary as the first part, and rather causes boredom than horror. Although, according to Katie Holmes, it was not easy for her to work on the film: the production designers made the doll so convincing that the actress was afraid to be alone with her. Nevertheless, the professional rating of the film on Rotten Tomatoes was only 10% (43%, according to viewers).
"Good doctor"
The main roles in the French comedy directed by Tristan Segel were played by the two-time Cannes Film Festival winner Michel Blanc and the young actor Hakim Dzhemili, for whom this project was almost debut (he previously starred in one short film). The first viewers compare the film with Boris Khlebnikov’s Russian tape “Arrhythmia”, noting its “comedic bias”.
In the story, on the eve of the Christmas holidays, an experienced doctor comes on duty. He successfully copes with the flow of customers, while he himself does not feel ill - grabs his lower back. The doctor can no longer ride calls and, in order to avoid dismissal, persuades a familiar courier to replace him. The young man does not understand anything in medicine, but the doctor does not despair: he is trying to quietly advise the courier by phone and solve patients' problems at a distance.