Tag: the death of stalin

Movie of the Week: The Death of Stalin.

….Speaking of which.

When they first announced The Death of Stalin (plot synopsis: just what it says on the tin) as a dark comedy I was, I think legitimately, wary.  Turns out it was very good.  No romanticizing of the Stalin regime here: everybody important in the film is awful, none of them are particularly heroic, and you root for Khrushchev in the end because he’s the least bad option and Steve Buscemi (the guy who plays him) is an all right fellow.  Oh, and the actual Marxists out there in the review world hated, hated, hated this flick.  Some of the angrier reviews are worth tracking down. Continue reading Movie of the Week: The Death of Stalin.

Is the graphic novel version of The Death of Stalin any good?

The movie’s probably going to be a Movie of the Week when it finally comes out on DVD — The Death of Stalin is eminently suitable for the honor — but if the graphic novel version of “The Death of Stalin” is stupid then I don’t want to spend money on it.  Of course, usually if the movie’s good then the thing that it was based on is at least not wretched, but that’s not a completely reliable rule.  Anybody out there read the comics?

Hey. So maybe The Death of Stalin doesn’t suck.

A 95%/81% score on Rotten Tomatoes isn’t half bad; and of the negative reviews for The Death of Stalin, easily the most incoherently vitriolic is by the woman who put all her Commie affiliations in her Rotten Tomatoes bio.  I was wondering why the site was even bothering to include people of that ilk, but upon reflection it’s obvious. It’s fun to watch them impotently fume.

Anyway, I may end up seeing this in theaters after all. If I can find one in my area that’s showing it. It’s not exactly blockbuster material.