During the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington, D.C., swings from a ghost town to a protest epicenter. Sergei Kostin, a local activist moves between these extremes daily. His days are split between the roaring chaos of street demonstrations and the tender moments with his aging dog, Snoball. Against the backdrop of a divisive election that brings thousands to the heart of America's capital, Sergei faces a more intimate challenge - the painful preparation to say goodbye to his beloved dog.
One of the reasons I love watching movies is that, much like books, they serve as windows into other times and different places. Productions from around the world offer valuable insights into the history and culture of their respective countries. And just like literature, cinema can help us understand the present by showing us the past.
We can criticize depictions from old media, but they weren’t simply “good for their time”. They were fighting and struggling in a world we can’t imagine.
Remakes. Reboots. Reinventions. Redundancy. It's the common practice in Hollywood of late, sometimes offering us victorious reimagining of what can be considered cinematic classics while also, more often, falling flat on their UN-imaginative faces in utter defeat and lackluster results. Admittedly, with this in mind, I went into the newest incarnation of "The War of the Roses" with typical trepidation and cautious optimism.
How closely should film adaptations follow their source material? Let's take a deep dive into "Norma Rae", and find out.
'The Invisible Man' triumphs in tension even as it drops the ball on genuine surprise for the audience.
