Nose to nose: "Pinocchio" and other New Year's hits on the screen

There are only a few days left before the release of the most intriguing project of the season. Igor Voloshin's "Pinocchio" is a film that is really expected. For almost a year now, its creators have been sparingly sharing with us the details of this musical film tale one by one, but the result of their efforts will only be seen on the first day of the coming year. The Pinocchio company will be made up of Cheburashka 2 and Prostokvashino, and this weekend the new Three Heroes will also be released. The Good Doctor is intended for comedy lovers, and Jim Jarmusch's Father Mother Sister Brother is intended for connoisseurs of original, truly artistic cinema. Izvestia tells you where to buy tickets for the upcoming weekends and holidays.

Pinocchio, 6+

Director: Igor Voloshin Starring: Vitaly Kornienko, Alexander Yatsenko, Anastasia Talyzina, Stepan Belozerov, Mark Eidelstein, Alexander Petrov, Victoria Isakova, Ruzil Minekaev, Fedor Bondarchuk, Svetlana Nemolyaeva

Tell me, what's his name? Everyone has already remembered, of course. "Pinocchio" is without a doubt the main release of the New Year holidays, the obvious box office leader. There are only a few days left before its wide distribution, but some lucky people have already managed to see the picture at the secular premiere in Moscow. And they all seemed to like it.

Igor Voloshin is today the chief expert of Russian cinema on fairy tales. Last New Year, he released "The Wizard of Oz" (and next year, by the way, a sequel will be released, he is also the director, and there the third part is not far away), now here is "Pinocchio" — and everywhere Voloshin's vision hits exactly the target. Who would have said in the noughties, when he brought his first films "Nirvana" and "Me" to Kinotavr, that 20 years later he would turn into the most successful Russian director? But here is Pinocchio, here is the recognizable author's style of the creator of Nirvana, but at the same time all the intonations are guessed so that this is not an arthouse, but a full-fledged fantasy blockbuster. And, by the way, like "Nirvana", it's also very musical. We are all really looking forward to this fairy tale.

Cheburashka 2, 6+

Director: Dmitry Dyachenko Starring: Sergey Garmash, Elena Yakovleva, Olga Kuzmina, Fedor Dobronravov, Polina Maksimova, Sergey Lavygin, Dmitry Lysenkov, Artem Bystrov

The first Cheburashka is still the most commercially successful film in the history of Russian distribution. And, apparently, it will remain for now. There will be serious competition in the family content segment these holidays, but we can say for the time being that Cheburashka 2 does not seem to be the leader yet. Of course, he has a huge fan base, the children have watched the first movie at home more than once after the cinema, and yet it is clear that now they will have to compete with Pinocchio, Prostokvashino, and Bogatyrs, so it will be difficult for the visiting eared creature.

The plot of the new part is Cheburashka's growing up. A year of living with Gene led the baby to the fact that he began to turn into a difficult child. He has behavioral problems, Gena can't cope, and Cheburashka's pranks lead to new conflicts within this unusual family. And then Cheburashka runs away from home with his friends, and not to the next street, but straight to the mountains, for adventures. And who is to blame? Of course, the "parent". That is, the unfortunate Gene.

"Three heroes and a wedge of light", 6+

Director: Darina Schmidt Starring: Sergey Makovetsky, Yulia Zorkina, Dmitry Vysotsky, Oleg Kulikovich

A week before the New Year, a new cartoon of the "heroic" franchise is released, and due to this handicap, he has a chance to collect quite a decent box office. Children love and expect it, and not only children: a whole generation has grown up who have been used to watching and reviewing these films since kindergarten, so this is one hundred percent family content. And let the fact that this is the 13th issue in the series not hurt him. Moreover, this week it is the only more or less noticeable release, although somewhere on the side of the pre-show service there is a fresh "Avatar" lurking.

The plot here, as we are used to, is quite cosmetic. While the heroes are performing feats somewhere far from their capital, the merchant Kolivan attacks her with a magical army. The prince, of course, is inactive, the people are silent, and the only hope is for the knights without fear or reproach and for their heroic strength. There will be a lot of adventures, humor, aphorisms and gags with the participation of the horse Julia, the mascot of the series.

Prostokvashino, 6+

Director: Sarik Andreasyan Starring: Roman Pankov, Ivan Okhlobystin, Lisa Moryak, Pavel Priluchny, Anton Tabakov, Pavel Derevyanko

On January 1, side by side with Pinocchio and Cheburashka 2, ambitious cinephile Sarik Andreasyan releases his family fairy tale, a game version of his favorite children's cartoon Prostokvashino. And in many ways, it literally reproduces the original — down to the word, down to the composition of the frame, down to the hairstyles of the characters. But what's more interesting is what Sarik and Gevond Andreasyan have come up with and exactly how it will work on the big screen. In the case of "Manyun," they guessed everything correctly and made a completely national hit. And people have been laughing at Prostokvashino all this time on the Internet, but maybe in vain, especially since the project is supervised by Soyuzmultfilm, for which there will be not only image losses in case of failure.

One of the strengths of the film is the cast with Okhlobystin, Derevyanko, Priluchny and other serious actors. In addition, even the promotional materials show the work done by costume designers and production designers - the latter actually built an entire village for filming. All this makes us take the project quite seriously, although the computer Matroskin is a character that still needs to get used to.

"Good Doctor", 12+

Director: Nikita Grammatikov Starring: Yuri Stoyanov, Viktor Khorinyak, Anastasia Kuimova, Elena Valyushkina

French comedy is like French cheese or French wine. It's impossible to do better. And yet, how not to try? "The Good Doctor" was released in Russia during the pandemic, right on the eve of the closure of cinemas across the country. And then he became a super hit on the small screen because people were scared and everyone wanted such a brilliant doctor to help them, even if he had to send a young idiot instead.

Then the Italian remake came out, now it's time for the Russian one. It's just called "The Good Doctor," but everyone immediately understands what it's about. Starring the impeccable Yuri Stoyanov, the script was adapted to Russian realities by Ilya Kulikov. Viktor Khorinyak, the country's first hero and main disobedient, plays the role of a blockhead. Besides, comedies are okay, but we definitely know how to treat as well as in France, so we need such a film too. It will be released on January 8th.

"Father mother sister brother", 18+

Director: Jim Jarmusch Starring: Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Majem Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krips

While family content will rule the rental, those who consider cinema to be art will go to this movie from January 1. Here, every name makes one's blood run cold, these are all celestial beings, cult figures, the mere mention of which already makes the hearts of cinephiles beat faster. Jim Jarmusch is the genius of American independent cinema. For many, the author's cinematography began with watching some of his work, whether it was "Mervets", "Ghost Dog" or "Night on Earth".

Tom Waits is an American music legend, Adam Driver is the leading artist of his generation. Cate Blanchett, Charlotte Rampling, Vicky Krips. They can even do nothing, just be in the frame and go about their business, and still everyone will be watching, unable to tear themselves away for a second. "Father Mother Sister Brother" won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. These are several stories about how native people are trying to become relatives to each other again. And is it possible to find a topic more important than this? You just have to go and watch it in a movie.