The Darkest Hour

It happened exactly 69 years ago, on the night of the Summer Solstice: The Nazi Attack on the Soviet Union. The night before, the country's high school graduates were happily celebrating their graduation. Now, at the dawn of June 22nd 1941, all the celebrations died off and the Western part of the biggest country in the world was sleeping... only to wake up to a nightmarish bombing attack coming from an ally, Germany.

To say that the country was not ready for the war with Germany is to say nothing. Millions of Russians (Soviets if you wish) died only during the first days of the war, because they simply did not have guns to shoot with. "Get the guns from the enemy!"- that was the high commander's advice. The person in power, though, the notorious Stalin, was probably surprised by the attack more than anybody else. He thought USSR had at least a year to prepare..

Clearly, Stalin did not care as much about his people as he did about defeating Germany and showing everybody the advantages of the communist regime. However, today, looking back at the Great Patriotic War, I think if somebody even an inch softer than Stalin was in power, we might have been defeated, enslaved, and annihilated, and whatever else was in Hitler's plans. Who else other than Stalin would have ordered to shoot any soldier who tries to back up and flee the battle of Moscow?! Yet, the battle was won... Not to deny that it was Stalin himself that brought Russia to its knees in the beginning of the war, by simply killing off all "white" Russian generals and whoever else was not "red" enough.

Even despite all that, that war is the single most horrible and glorious part of Russia's history that I hope none of us will forget. For Americans, US has clearly won the war ( so what if it was the only one to ever use atomic bombs? No biggie, right?), Brits can make the same claim, French-not so much after their surrender in 1941. For me and for any Russian, at least I hope so, there was only one winner, the one that was bleeding with 22 million hearts lost forever. 22 million! Has any other country ever lost so many lives??? Can any other country even perceive this number??? No.

That is why WWII will be the most touching topic you'll ever ( and better not) discuss with me. Too much to forget (and we'll never forget), too few that still live to remember. There's never going to be enough words to express our gratitude to the veterans who fought for Russia 69 years ago... and shame to feel for Neo-Nazis and skinheads proliferating in the very same country today...Oh well, each country has its darkest and brightest moment. I hope that my country will be strong enough to reinvent itself one day like we did back in '45.

The best movies of early 1990s ( my version)

Recently I have watched "Dirty Dancing" and "Terminator 2" (I know, they are two VERY different films) and realized how much I love movies that were made in late 1980s and early 1990s. I started thinking to myself how romantic movies were much more erotic, but not as vulgar then. How many good sci-fi movies were made and how few now. Nostalgie! That's what it is! These are the movies I grew up with, of course they are the best and I can watch them over and over again!

So here's the list, in no certain order.

1. Terminator-2 (1991). My father loooved movies with Arnold Schwartzenegger and so do I. Terminator-2 is my all-time favorite of his. By the way, if you don't know, James Cameron ("Avatar" 10 years later, anyone?) directed it and it was voted one of the best sci-fi movies of all time! So, it's not just me and my love for a muscular Austrian governor.

2. The Bodyguard (1992). My father's and my love #2 (or #1) is Kevin Costner. Yes, I know that he got a gazillion of Golden Razzies and is still picked on. But, guess what? I don't give a damn! And my absolute favorite among all Costner "masterpieces" is The Bodyguard. I have watched it at least 15 times and know it by heart. Whitney Houston played the main role brilliantly, I think and, boy, was she gorgeous! Plus, soundtrack! It must be one of the best songs ever! I will always love... it!

3. Pretty Woman (1990). I mean, is there a better romantic comedy? Not for me, at least! When I watched "Valentine's Day" this year and in the very end of it Julia said her famous line from "Pretty Woman" " It was a big mistake, HUGE!", I was totally elated! Ever since "Pretty Woman" I am a big fan of Julia Roberts, her smile and laugh. It pretty much makes the whole movie, as good as it already is. About Julia Roberts and her "Valentine's Day" salary. She got paid $500,000 per minute or $3,000,000 total for 6 minutes on the screen! And you know what? She made it worth, every second of it! She came a long way since "Pretty Woman" (for which she only got $300,000) and she's still THE STAR.

4. The Ghost (1990). Here come the two movies with Patrick Swayze, which are absolutely fantasic and which both were blockbusters back in the days. The most sensual and touching romantic drama ( is it a movie genre?) ever! An incredibly beautiful love story, gorgeous performance by Demi Moore and Patrik Swayze and, of course, Woopi Goldberg, who not only added a comical element to the movie, but also snatched an Oscar for a supporting role! The soundtrack, "Unchained Melody" by The Righteous Brothers is yet another masterpiece.

5. Dirty Dancing (1987). Wow, just wow! The best dancing romantic movie of all times! Man, how sensual and erotic were all these dancing routines, but nothing vulgar, nothing as disgusting and degrading as contemporary "how low can you go?" Well, Patrik is of course a great dancer, but what a performance of her life Jennifer Grey gave!.. Turned out it was THE performance of her life, because after an unfortunate nose-job she became unrecognizable and her career (with the capital "C") practically stopped. But, back in 1987, it was hers and late Patrick Swayze's triumph as they were enjoying the much deserved success of the movie. Watch it and you'll be dancing like "Baby" from Dirty Dancing!

The world turns FOOTBALL!

FIFA World Cup is only couple of days away, and the world is going ballistic!!! Mind you, all of us, even the ones not usually following soccer games or other sport events, have been swept away by this wave of worldwide excitement!

I, myself, am a rather dedicated football fan... every other 2 years :) Seriously, I would have had a nervous breakdown already, if I was following all the championships and club games! I watch regularly only Euro Cups and World Cups, saving myself a lot of nerves. I can still remember the "end of the world" in 2006, when Zizou was sent away from the field and France lost. I can hardly remember another time I cried like this! And here lays the difference between girls watching a game and boys doing the same thing. We get emotionally involved, first, of course, with cute players and then with the game itself. Not everybody considers Zidane "cute", but he's simply another level of a person and football player. In fact, I would have been much more excited if he was playing this year. but we all know that his professional career ended 4 years ago.

So, I found myself trying to get pumped up ( at least to the level of my bf) about this World Cup and thought about the rest of the female soccer fans that are now picking a team to cheer for... going over the list of the hottest players. Here is my personal list of favorites, teams and players.

1. La France. Simply because this team is the successor of Zidane. Last World Cup everybody was super negative about them, just expecting them to drop dead on the field, because they were "too old" and "too slow." In other words, France can always bring surprises, negative as well as positive. The team's hottie or maybe anti-hottie is Frank Ribery, a very talented guy with a scar. Watch him play without Zizou.

2. Germany. Another European team. Germany is always strong and interesting to watch... especially Mr. Michael Ballack!
After I wrote this, I decided to google him, only to find out that he has also been injured and is not going to participate in World Cup! This is just too much! No Beckham, no Ballack. I mean, who am I supposed to watch on the field??? Well, there is some hope left.

3. Brazil and Kaka. The football's only dream team, Brazil is always expected to win. This time is no exception, especially with Kaka and always smiling Ronaldinho in its line-up.

4. Portugal. Under the leadership of Scolari, Portugal became one of the best teams in the world. Even though it still didn't get a title yet, Portugal is yet again striving for gold with notorious and extremely popular Christiano Ronaldo as it's captain. Personally, I am not fascinated by Ronaldo and think that Portuguese fall too much during the game. Yet, the great Louis Figo used to be Portuguese captain once, so keep your eyes on Ronaldo & Co.

5. Spain. Still looking good, I say, as good as ever after winning Euro 2008, España is lead by its charming goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

6. Argentina. After previous 2 shameful World Cups, Argentina seems to be revived by the young and incredibly talented Lionel Messi. What may be even more sensational is that Diego Maradona with his "hand of God" will be guiding Argentina's team as its head coach in this mondiale.

How interesting will that be???

P.S. After watching England-USA game today, I finally realized that I totally left out the former.

7. England. The inventors of football haven't won a major title since forever, to be precise, since 1966, when they won their only mondiale championship. True Beckham is not going to be on the field, but, hey, he's on the coach bench! :) Besides, England has a bunch of other uber-talented (if not equally hot) players, like Gerrard, Lampard, and Roonie. Go, mates!

"Sex and the City 2"-you get what you want!

I know, I know, so trivial, and yet I couldn't resist writing about this movie that so many girls dreamt about for the last 2 weeks... at least!
In the beginning of the movie I got a feeling that the authors simply ran out of things to say (not new crazy outfits to show, THIS will never happen with Sex and the City!) I mean, how can you continue a story where in the last movie the main heroine finally got married to the man of her life?! Sure, you can continue this story. The question is how entertaining will it be. BUT, all in all, I think the people behind "Sex and the City" managed to pull it off once again!
The only thing in Sex and the City that I may criticize is actually the outrageous outfits!!! They are really not from this world. Not even from NYC, which I visted just 2 weeks ago. And, no, I haven't seen a woman even slightly resembling Carrie Bradshaw (now Preston) in her clothing style. Actually, how can one describe her style? It's not even pret-a-porter...or maybe it's just an opinion of a person who doesn't really follow high fashion. The fact is though that Carrie in the 2nd movie wears high heals even in her apartment, which is all posh of course. If, in the TV series we could, at least from time to time, see her wearing small heals or sandals, in this movie it's only ridiculously high glittering heels and designer dresses even on the sofa (which is also designer, of course.) Bit this is not the most outrageous part about Carrie & Co's wardrobe! As we all know, the quartet travels to Abu-Dhabi... Looking at the movie posters I thought that only on the posters were they wearing high heels and crazy sparkling designer outfits in the desert. Turns out I was wrong. In the movie they actually wore all these in the desert! Can it get more unrealistic? Can these four be more unreal?
But then again, Sex and the City is a dazzling fairy-tale for grown up girls, (most of which will never be able to afford anything from Carrie's wardrobe.) In the end, the audience gets exactly what it wants! I, myself, was leaving the cinema totally satisfied, happy, and enlightened, not by the glitter of the outrageous outfits, but by the girl advises that Carrie keeps giving us. Every relationship and marriage is different and, thus, Carrie concludes and then proves that each couple should make up its own rules. This is the way to happy ending that we traditionally see in every Sex and the City series or movie...An absolute chick-flick, but, boy, do we love it!

American countryside and Russian “dacha”, a cross-cultural comparison

“So similar and yet so different.” This is a countryside-dacha comparison in a nutshell. They are both the same thing and serve the same purpose, providing city-dwellers with an escape from a busy urban life. Nevertheless, Russian and American views of suburban living cannot be more different!
For practical and very logical Americans countryside is a place of tranquility and relaxation. While for not-so-conventional Russians “dacha” has a multidimensional application. For example, it can be another place where you work from dawn until late evening, another realty that boosts up your social value (How? You don't have a dacha?!), another hot gossip spot for grandmas (it's so much easier to be uptodate in a smaller venue than in a city.) To the defense of Russians, first “6 acres” were distributed by the communist government in 50s, 60s, and 70s and back then you had nothing, so if you were given something you took it even if you didn't need it or couldn't afford to developing it. That is how for millions of Soviets and later Russians dacha became another place of work. Even when they were leaving their work where they were building communism and better future, they kept on building better future in their countryside, hoping that someday they could finish these ambitious projects and finally relax. For some, who could not afford hiring construction workers (this is the absolute majority), such projects are still on, and only now more and more people are starting to hire workers instead of doing everything, from building a house to planting tomatoes, all by themselves. As a result, nowadays “on the dacha” instead of the sound of peace and serenity, you are more likely to hear the sound of a saw, construction work, and complaints on how much work there is still to be done. Classic!
Such obvious reasons to buy a dacha as to have a source of fresh air and a picturesque and healthy place for kids to grow up for Russians seemed to come behind the ones listed above. Then again, many Russians in 50s and 60s have just made it in the cities, their parents still living in rural areas, so there was a place to send your child for the summer and there was no such appreciation of and no imminent need for fresh air.
Americans, on the other hand, buy countryside houses (and houses in general) when they expect to have children. By then, they are usually rather well-off and can, at least ,afford a credit from a bank. In this manner, an average country house in the US has all the appliances as the main house or apartment. That is, a washing and drying machine, a TV (the good old 100+ channelles), gas (duh!), bathroom and toilet in the house ( Can it be anywhere else?!), and, of course, Internet. Meanwhile, even 10-15 years ago, most of the Moscovites didn't have Internet or computer in their city appartments! Toilet, 100 TV channels, a washing machine, and Internet still seem pretty crazy to imagine even in the suburbs of Moscow. But, let us go back to Americans. What do they do in the countryside? Relax and enjoy the nature, and that's it! After all, that's exactly why they bought a country house, isn't it? No need for annoying neighbours and their dramas, it's so much better to invite friends over-the house can comfortably fit more than one family! It's not a problem to have a BBQ or cook in the countryside, because kitchen is exactly how it is in the city, with gas and water and even a microwave. American countryside is exacly what it is supposed to be, a place of tranquility, an escape from work and busy life. In Russia, people still buy gallons of gas for their dachas and get water from a well. The latter, of course, very nature-friendly, but it does make cooking process much more demanding and long.
The funny thing is that city dwellers in Russia, 99% of whom live in small apartments, need dachas and fresh air so much more than Americans, many of whom communte to work from suburban areas where they live in big houses in rather quite areas. If Americans suffer from a daily commute to work, Russians, on top of it, suffer from a weekend commute to dacha! Here, I speak mostly of Moscow and the 4 hours drive to our dacha that is 50 miles away! 8 hours there and back of plain torture, how worthless it seems when you spend only 2 days in the countryside! In the end, in US everything serves its own purpose and nothing else.That is how, in Russia, the search for a better place and better future (aka the tranquility of the countryside) turned out to be so never-ending and complicated that many Russians forgot why they had dacha in the first place, some of them even forgetting from which grandmother they inherited it.

P.S. The descriptions of both American and Russian countryside living are given solely from my experiences and my point of view. The suburb life in Russia is just now starting to slowly change to a more comfortable and relaxing way of living... at least from what I've heard.

Up in the Air

All these great reviews of the movie were definitely true, and I really didn't expect anything less of George Clooney and Vera Farmiga. The latter I simply adore for no obvious reason other than she is a great actress without being a celebrity. The former is, oh well, he is George Clooney, the sexiest man alive, any movie with him is worth watching simply because of his smile. AND he is also a great actor! Haha
But back to the movie. Very original, despite this whole corporation theme, which starts to freak me out already. Maybe because of my age, maybe because I grew up in Russia and not in the US, the cradle of capitalism, but I never realized what a big deal this corporate relations/culture/life was. If not in the whole world, but here, in America, CEOs and business people rule the game, which is quite scary. Just remember “Duplicity” and “Deception."
“Up in the air” starts out very depressingly too, with George Clooney playing the guy who is hired to fire people. Indeed the movie talks about the worst time for American economy-2008, when thousands of people were fired every month. Yet, at the same time, “Up in the Air” talks about different people, their different lives and their different views of lives, represented perfectly by 3 main characters played by Clooney, Kendrick, and Farmiga. You can make your pick: who are you, a fresh college graduate with naïve and idealistic view of life, a hard-core realist middle-aged business man or a cold-hearted business woman, who claims herself to be Clooney's character just with a vagina? Three very different perspectives, and different characters who evolve and will surprise you! Moreover, “Up in the Air”, although being a comedy, is definitely not a romantic comedy whose predictable endings are so annoying, it has a drama element and an ending that will surprise you. Going back to people who got fired. The movie reminds you that family, (not a career, money, or a social status ), is the most important thing, something that really matters and that will get you through even the toughest times of your life.

The end of the world.

I just happened to be watching “2012” for the 2nd time on my long drive from south Florida to Virginia. And that is how I came to thinking that all these movies, as “The Day After Tomorrow”, “The Happening”, and even “Apocalypto”, despite their seeming unrealism, do have a very sensible message, which, pretty much, goes like this: “Stop messing with our planet, or it will mess with you...really bad.” The funny thing is how popular are these catastrophe-movies, yet how little these movies influence people in the right way. We become incredibly touched and shocked by the scenes of thousands of people dying and whole cities being wiped out of the face of the Earth. Too bad that these scenes are so impressive (such as on the pic) that they really are the only things we remember from these movies. The audience clearly wouldn't be able to tell you what was causing all the disruptions in “The Happening” or “2012”, yet the answer is one-humans civilization. But knowing this, we, even petrified as we are after such movies, will fight away all the scary thoughts and continue on with our lives, not willing to change anything until we are actually living a scenario of some apocalyptic movie.