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  • The Front

    May 10

    I find it interesting that so many people were disappointed with the actual political content of the film when it was made.  It seems… Read more

  • Baikonur

    May 10

    The part about Baikonur that made me think the most was Gagarin's decision to leave Baikonur and return to the antiquated lifestyle of his youth… Read more

  • The Bony Leg

    Apr 8

    I thought Diamond Arm reflected a shift in focus away from international problems to more domestic ones.  Before it seemed like the films were full of… Read more

  • Don’t Look Back

    Apr 2

    Well, the word communist was mentioned once in this film, in the last two minutes while they were discussing the classification of Bob Dylan as… Read more

  • Peaceful Coexistance

    Mar 18

    Personally, I like having this as a final film before we leave on spring break.  On top of it being slightly hysterical, there were… Read more
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  • Diamond Arm

    May 10

    Throughout the Cold War, the Soviet Union was constantly behind the United States in terms of movie quality, as 'Diamond Arm" shows. Watching this film… Read more

  • Don’t Look Back

    May 10

    If I had to choose which of the films we saw this year I liked the least, it would be "Don't Look Back", the main… Read more

  • Baikonur

    May 10

    When watching a film, a typical viewer does not just view the the personalities of the characters and their actions, but also the setting, giving… Read more

  • Why Do We Have A Nuclear Triad In The First Place?

    May 3

    Ever since the atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima in 1945, the United States has maintained a quantitative superiority in nuclear weapons over other world powers… Read more

  • AN UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY

    Apr 15

    When I first heard of "The Front", I assumed that it would be about the Eastern Front in World War 2, based solely on the… Read more
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  • The Front

    May 7

    To revisit the film that I neglected to write a post on in a timely manner, The Front is a Martin Ritt film from 1976… Read more

  • Final Paper

    May 3

    Mharnois_CWCPaperRevised Read more

  • Baikonur

    Apr 30

    I think "whimsical" is a good word to describe this film. The juxtaposition of the Kazakh lifestyle with the modernity of space exploration is a… Read more

  • The Diamond Arm

    Apr 15

    I think this is my favorite movie we've watched yet. The characters are SO vibrant and over-the-top, which may have rubbed some people the wrong… Read more

  • Don’t Look Back

    Apr 8

    Like others, I found myself pretty alienated by Dylan in this film...I spent all of spring break watching it in 20 minute intervals because I… Read more
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  • Baikonur

    May 6

    I believe that Baikonur represents the failure for the human race to meet expectations people had growing up during the space race. Children envisioned space… Read more

  • The F-Bomb

    Apr 16

    The Front has a lot of right things in the right places, meaning the Front conveys its argument persuasively because it had the right actors,… Read more

  • Diamond Arm

    Apr 9

    Last semester I saw "Operation bl" presumably by the same director. It is not the funniest thing you will ever see but the actors are… Read more

  • I won’t look back.

    Apr 2

    It took several days for me to get through this documentrary. I use to be passive of Bob Dylan and his songs, but now seeing his tour… Read more

  • The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming….

    Mar 18

    Yes indeed, the Russians are coming (take a shot). In a submarine off the coast of an civilized yet isolated U.S. island the Russians contemplate… Read more
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  • Baikonur

    May 5

    I like that we were able to watch a film by (or at least partially by) people from a former Soviet Republic. The main characters… Read more

  • The Front

    Apr 14

    The Front is a film that critically examines McCarthyism in the entertainment industry during the 1950s. I thought that the film was a good start in… Read more

  • Diamond Arm

    Apr 7

    I found Diamond Arm to be quite entertaining. I have seen a few Soviet comedies now and I wonder if all of them contain a… Read more

  • Don’t Look Back

    Mar 31

    When I finished this film, I found that I liked Bob Dylan much less than I originally liked him.   I can't place my finger… Read more

  • The Russians are Coming

    Mar 17

    I was largely unimpressed by this film. Like Dr. Strangelove, the film was absurd. But unlike Dr. Strangelove, the absurdity felt silly and pointless. The… Read more
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  • Baikonur

    May 5

    Baikonur, a 2011 film directed by Veit Helmer, is the first post-Soviet work we have watched. Taking a light hearted and engaging look at… Read more

  • Apr 14

    The Front, a 1976 film directed by Martin Ritt and starring Woody Allen, is perhaps best described as a "comedy-drama." However, at points I… Read more

  • The Diamond Arm

    Apr 7

    The Diamond Arm, a 1969 film directed by Leonid Gaidai, is the first soviet comedy we have looked at in this course. Though much… Read more

  • The Russians are Coming

    Mar 19

    The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming is a 1966 film directed by Norman Jewison. It satirizes the reactionary and hostile relationship that… Read more

  • Dr. Strangelove

    Mar 11

    Though last week Ivan's Childhood very effectively portrayed the human costs of war and the potential darkness of the human experience I found this… Read more
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  • Baikonur

    May 3

    Baikonur, our final viewing for this course, is markedly different from the other productions we've watched this semester, both in the era - Baikonur was released… Read more

  • The Front

    Apr 11

    Walter Bernstein's 1976 The Front almost approaches Socialist Realism in its exaggerated message of "doing the right thing." That said, the movie's premise is still believable, and… Read more

  • Diamond Arm

    Apr 5

    It's easy to draw parallels between Diamond Arm and our other recent comedy viewing, The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming. Both are intelligent comedies with a… Read more

  • Dont Look Back

    Apr 1

    As the first documentary film we've looked at, Dont Look Back is thus the only picture free of Russian-American conflict, either in the previous portrayals of… Read more

  • Русские идут!

    Mar 16

    It's interesting to watch the quality of Cold War productions increase as we move forward chronologically. The Russians Are Coming is most aesthetically pleasing than the… Read more
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  • Baikonur

    Apr 29

    This film certainly stands apart from the films we've watched this semester. Baikonur is set in Kazakhstan, and features very little interaction with Russians no interaction with… Read more

  • The Front

    Apr 14

    This film says a lot about how sentiments about the Cold War and communism had changed in the United States since the 1950s. In The… Read more

  • Songs About Hares: The Diamond Arm

    Apr 7

    Our first Russian comedy! It's interesting how many similarities there are between the character of Senya from this film and Walt Whittacker from The Russians… Read more

  • Don’t Look Back

    Mar 28

    Don’t Look Back, the 1967 film about Bob Dylan’s tour in London, is a peek into the mindset of 1960s youth. Dylan questions everything. Whenever… Read more

  • “Everybody on Island Is Crazy!!”

    Mar 17

    This week's film, The Russians Are Coming, The Russians are Coming! is my favorite that we've watched so far this semester. Not only was it… Read more
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  • Baikonur

    Apr 28

    Baikonur (2011) is the first film we’ve looked at that primarily concentrates on neither the Americans nor the Russians. Instead, this film gives us a… Read more

  • The Front

    Apr 15

    The Front paints a clear picture of what the TV and film industries faced at the height of McCarthyism.  The devastating affects of the Black… Read more

  • The Diamond Arm

    Apr 7

    I found The Diamond Arm (1968) less entertaining than the comparable American comedies of the 1960s Dr. Strangelove (1964) and The Russians are Coming! The… Read more

  • Don’t Look Back

    Mar 31

    Don’t Look Back shows us both the charming, gentle side of Dylan as well as the hostile one.  From the first interview in the film… Read more

  • Soviet Life Presentation 3: Sayan Complex

    Mar 21

    Happy Soviet workers constructing the Sayan apartment complex in Siberia   Read more
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  • Combating Communism on the Home Front

    Apr 15

    Morgan Aguayo Arlene Forman  RUSS 222 April 14, 2013 Combating Communism on the Home Front Through prison alarms and police sirens, convict Vince Ryker makes… Read more

  • Keep a Good Head and Always Carry a Lightbulb

    Apr 1

      The documentary Don't Look Back (1967)  was an enlightening window into Bob Dylan's early life as a flourishing young musician.  While I thought… Read more

  • The Norwegians are Coming!

    Apr 1

    Clearly Kubrick’s genius satirizing the Cold War in Dr. Strangelove resonated with director Norman Jewison, who soon released The Russians Are Coming, the Russians… Read more

  • Strange Love Indeed

    Apr 1

    I can definitely see why the release of Stanley Kubrick’s film, Dr. Strangelove (1964), captured the attention of cinematic audiences around the world.  Even… Read more

  • A Traumatic Childhood

    Mar 5

    Of all the Soviet films we've viewed thus far, Tarkovsky's Ivan's Childhood (1962), is the first one to appear conventionally modern to me.  I actually appreciated… Read more
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