The Man Who Invented Christmas
The idea of the film "An Unusual Story for Christmas" is reflected in its original title - The Man Who Invented Christmas ("The Man Who Invented Christmas").
The fact is that until the release of Charles Dickens' novel "A Christmas Carol" in 1843, the British generally did not attach much importance to this holiday.
Interest in him remained mainly in small villages, in one of which Dickens lived for a long time.
The book about the old curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge was published with some difficulties, but after the release of "A Christmas Carol" gained popularity in the UK and later in the United States, largely shaping the image of Christmas as a family holiday.
How Dickens created his book and how it influenced the attitude of the British towards the holiday is described in the film by Bharat Nalluri.
According to the plot, after a series of setbacks, the writer was thinking about quitting his career.
However, suddenly inspiration comes to him, in particular, during the funeral of a rich but lonely old man.
The author begins to work on his story, interacting with the invented characters as the plot develops.
Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) starred in the film, while Canadian actor Christopher Plummer played Scrooge.
The world premiere of the film took place three years ago.
The tape was warmly received by both critics and viewers: its ratings on the Rotten Tomatoes website are 79% and 77%, respectively.
Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland (Come Away)
Two more famous children's stories formed the basis of the adventure fantasy Brenda Chapman ("Brave").
The film is a kind of prequel to the fairy tales "Alice in Wonderland" and "Peter Pan".
In the story, Alice and Peter were brother and sister.
After their older brother David dies in an accident, the parents (Angelina Jolie and David Oyelowo) become desperate.
The family gradually disintegrates: the mother begins to drink, and the father seeks solace in gambling.
Children, in turn, are immersed in imaginary realities: in Wonderland and Neverland.
According to film critic Jeffrey Lyles, "Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland" is not so much a children's fairy tale as a fascinating drama with fantasy elements.
The reviewer notes that the authors of the tape managed to harmoniously combine the two classic stories and show the presented events through the eyes of children.
Alice and Peter were played by Cyrus Chance and Jordan A. Nash as children.
In the image of an adult Alice, Gugu Mbata-Rowe appeared on the screen ("The Dangerous Game of Sloane", "Motherless Brooklyn").
"On the edge"
Before delving into directing, Eduard Bordukov was professionally engaged in athletics, won the title of international master of sports in long-distance running.
Stasya Miloslavskaya starred in the street football drama Box, directed by Bordukov, who got one of the main roles in the director's new project.
In the film On the Edge, Bordukov explores the behind the scenes of the world of fencing.
Saber fencer Alexandra Pokrovskaya (Svetlana Khodchenkova) has reached almost all heights in professional sports - all that remains is to win Olympic gold.
But in her place is the young and ambitious Kira Egorova (Stasya Miloslavskaya), who only recently arrived from the provinces and is making a name for herself in Moscow.
For filming in a film about sports, the actors had to go through serious training.
The performers of the roles of commentators also needed consultations, so that their remarks not only sounded believable, but also contained enough information: fencing is not the most popular sport, and the audience needs to be informed.
The premiere of the tape "On the Edge" took place within the framework of the 42nd Moscow International Festival.
The picture became the film of the closing of the screening.
"Artificial intelligence" (Superintelligence)
Carol Peters has many problems: not only does the girl fail on the personal front, she also lost her job.
However, the heroine's life changes dramatically when the artificial intelligence that controls every device on Earth chooses her as a model for observation, based on the results of which it prepares to draw a conclusion about all of humanity.
In case of unsatisfactory results, the planet will be destroyed.
Carol has only three days to prove that people are worthy of salvation.
Melissa McCarthy played the main role in the film.
As the actress said in an interview with People, it was initially assumed that the male character would be in the center of the plot, but she liked the story so much with its humor and humanistic idea that McCarthy wanted to get into the project.
She stressed that "Artificial Intelligence" is a very positive and encouraging film, especially relevant nowadays.
"Dreamland"
Dreamland is the second full-length work by Miles Joris-Peyrafit, winner of the 2016 Sundance Festival Prize for As Is.
The events in the new film are set in Texas during the Great Depression.
Young guy Eugene lives on a farm with his family and can barely make ends meet.
One day he learns that the government promises a large reward for the head of the robber and murderer Allison Wells.
Soon the hero finds the criminal, but instead of handing her over to the authorities, he falls in love.
The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2019.
The tape received mostly positive reviews from critics.
They were especially impressed by Margot Robbie's convincing performance.
However, according to the Associated Press's Jocelyn Novek, the main character in the film is Eugene played by Finn Cole.
As noted by the film critic, some key scenes of the film are set in such a way that the viewer primarily focuses on the battle unfolding in the soul of the hero.
"The Man from Podolsk"
The story of ideal policemen with a touch of absurdity became the debut for the playwright Dmitry Danilov and brought him the Golden Mask.
As a performance, the audience first saw "The Man from Podolsk" on the stage of the Moscow "Teatr.doc" in 2017.
Another interpretation appeared at the Praktika Theater in 2018 as part of the play The Man from Podolsk Seryozha is Very Dumb, which combines two of Danilov's plays.
Theatrical director Semyon Serzin chose The Man from Podolsk for his first film.
The premiere of the tape took place at Kinotavr 2020, where the jury awarded the original soundtrack with the Mikael Tariverdiev prize.
According to the story, a resident of Podolsk Nikolai (Vadik Korolev) is arrested by the police.
However, the employees of the department are not interested in offenses, but in the peculiarities of his inner life.
The questions asked by the police make the detainee wonder if he is living right.
“I was just interested in simulating situations when an irrational force invades the life of an ordinary person living a completely unremarkable, measured, calculated life and breaks (albeit for a short time) his usual routine, knocks down the usual perspective of looking at the surrounding reality and himself himself, ”says Dmitry Danilov about his work.