Soviet Union Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Mikhail Gorbachev has died at the age of 91, according to reports.

EJ Panaligan editor Mikhail Gorbachev, the Russian politician who served as the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, has died at the age of 91, according to the Associated Press. The Central Clinical Hospital in Russia provided a statement to Russian news organizations that Gorbachev died after suffering from an undisclosed, long-term illness. Gorbachev served as the leader of the Soviet Union during its demise in 1991. He resigned on Christmas of that year after spending the last few months in office watching different republics declare independence. His initiatives and reforms led to the end of the Cold War but resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Mikhail Gorbachev has died at age 91, social media revived a Pizza Hut commercial from 1998 with the former Soviet Union leader dining out at the American chain in Moscow. But was it really him or a lookalike?Yes, that really was Gorbachev and his granddaughter Anastasia Virganskaya in the ad, which was filmed in December 1997 and aired internationally — but not in Russia — in January 1998.

Former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev has died at age 91, according to Russian news agencies. His cause of death was not immediately released, but Gorbachev's office had said earlier that he was undergoing treatment at the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow, according to The Associated Press.Gorbachev served as the eighth and final General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader, has died at the age of 91, according to local reports.

EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Stern has joined the cast of the Apple TV+ series for Season 4 as a series regular.

Mikhail Gorbachev, who ushered in an era of reform in the Soviet Union and played a role in ending the Cold War with the West, has died, Russian state media and other outlets reported on Tuesday.

Her Majesty The Queen has formally congratulated Ukraine on the country’s 31st anniversary of Independence from the Soviet Union. In her address to the nation’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday 24 August, the 96 year old monarch said: “It gives me great pleasure to send Your Excellency and the people of Ukraine my warmest greetings on the celebration of your Independence Day.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Seasoned Finnish producer Ilkka Matila (“The Eternal Road”, “All the Sins”) of MRP Matila Röhr has signed with Estonia’s Taska Film and locked early support from the Finnish Film Institute and local commercial channel MTV3 for the $2.7m film “Between the Hammer and the Sickle.” Nordisk Film holds Scandinavian rights. To be pitched on Aug. 24 at the Nordic Co-Production Market in Haugesund, Norway, the title will be one of Matila’s most defining projects, a feature which he believes will stay, along the lines of the multi-awarded “Mother of Mine” or “The Eternal Road.” “Between the Hammer and the Sickle” will be one of the first features ever to portray Finland’s illustrious former president Urho Kekkonen. Head of state for nearly 26 years, Kekkonen served as the longest-serving Finnish president from 1956 until 1981 and masterminded his country’s policy of neutrality, keeping at bay the threatening Soviet Union with which Finland shares 800 miles of border.

The Dnipro Kids charity chairman has successfully got the backing of his fellow Perth and Kinross councillors to mark Ukraine Independence Day.

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast, co-host Mike DeAngelo launches into one of the best sci-fi series currently on television, “For All Mankind.” The show began as an alternate history version of the 1969 space race in which the Soviet Union beat the United States to the moon, kicking off an increasingly different reality that keeps the space race running towards new goals for decades.

Armie Hammer and his family are the subjects of a new shocking docuseries. On Wednesday, discovery+ debuted the first trailer for "House of Hammer," a special that "chronicles the deeply troubling accusations leveled against critically acclaimed actor Armie Hammer and the dark, twisted legacy of the Hammer dynasty." In the trailer, two of the 35-year-old’s exes, Courtney Vucekovich and Julia Morrison, are seen speaking out about their experiences with the disgraced star.They also shared troubling text messages and voice notes they alleged are from Hammer.

a CNN report of a U.S. offer to exchange American citizens detained in Russia, WNBA star Brittney Griner and former U.S.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter“For All Mankind” has been renewed for Season 4 at Apple.The announcement was made Friday as part of the show’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con. Production on the new season is scheduled to begin in August. Season 3 of the series debuted on the streamer on June 10.“For All Mankind” is an alternative history series that explores what would have happened if the global space race had never ended.

EXCLUSIVE: A little known episode during World War II involving three of the most powerful political figures of the time that could’ve changed the future of the Western world is the subject of a limited series in development at Sony Pictures Television starring and produced by Emmy winner Jharrel Jerome. Thriller drama Night Of the Assassins, based on the New York Times bestseller by Howard Blum, comes from Blum, Terminator 3 director Jonathan Mostow, the Emmy-winning Homeland and 24 duo Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa and their executive Glenn Geller.

In partnership with Amex Gold UnsignedNME and American Express have announced the final shortlist for their American Express Gold Unsigned initiative, with the six selected artists set to play at a decisive live showcase in London this week – check out the unsigned artists below.Launched back in May as a new partnership between NME and American Express, Amex Gold Unsigned will give one new artist the chance to soundtrack and feature in a forthcoming American Express advertising campaign.The chosen artist will also receive a £10,000 sync fee, mentoring from music industry professionals and a slot at Wilderness Festival on August 5.The six shortlisted artists for Amex Gold Unsigned are:Hailing from Reading, Split The Dealer – real name Sam Brett – describes his sound as “fundamentally honest, walking the wire between 90s influence and modern pop”. Brett recently became an official Sennheiser artist, while his single ‘Dreamstate’ featured on the popular gaming app Dream League Soccer 2022.The music of Megan Buckley, AKA Megzz, spans R&B, pop and neo-soul.

Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes,” premiering Wednesday on HBO, exposes the shocking lies the Soviet government fed its citizens in an effort to downplay the dangers of the Chernobyl explosion — even as officials who knew better protected themselves.Among the recently discovered and previously unseen footage is video originally shot to be propaganda as the country scurried to downplay the severity of the event. “The Soviet government played fast and loose with the truth,” director James Jones told The Post.

Ukraine begin to bite.In a move that helps Russian exhibitors save face and avoid expulsion from a major global industry body, the Russian Association of Cinema Owners (RACO) said it had submitted an application to “exit UNIC.” It comes after Hollywood majors exited the Russian market following President Vladimir Putin’s decision late February to invade Ukraine, turning Russia into an international pariah state. The move broadens Russia’s isolation from the rest of the world at a time when its domestic cinema is facing near total collapse.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorKarlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival’s industry section, Eastern Promises, has unveiled its lineup of 35 film projects, which will be showcased during the Works in Progress, Works in Development – Feature Launch, First Cut+ Works in Progress and Odesa International Film Festival Works in Progress presentations.

paid 20.0Ξ — which equates to $39,535 — for an NFT titled “Devotion.” The work is one of “The Wild Within” series (which consists of 13 NFTs in total) by artists Ryan Koopmans and Alice Wexell, who capture abandoned buildings from the USSR. The image shows a dilapidated Soviet-era sanatorium in Georgia — specifically, the once-famed Tskaltubo resort, which was a popular health destination known for its therapeutic waters.“This one stops me. James Joyce said that’s a good thing.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“January,” Viesturs Kairiss’s autobiographical film set in the former Soviet Union, has been acquired for world sales by The Yellow Affair. The movie will have its world premiere at Tribeca in the international narrative competition. The coming-of-age film sheds light on the political upheaval in the early 1990’s.

Die Zeit. “It simply isn’t right to romanticise Russia with lyrics like: ‘I follow the Moskva/ Down to Gorky Park…Let your balalaika sing’“.The band have changed the lyrics to: “Now listen to my heart/ It says Ukrainia/ Waiting for the wind to change,” which are projected on a screen behind the band as they perform.Released in 1991, the perestroika power ballad is the German hard rockers’ most famous song; it was voted song of the 20th century by viewers of the public broadcaster ZDF in 2005.Even though the song was released over a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it is widely remembered as the soundtrack to the era of economic and social changes in the former Soviet Union that heralded the end of the cold war.Meine said he composed the words on September 3 and 4, 1989, a month after Scorpions performed at the Moscow Music Peace festival.Elsewhere in the interview with Die Zeit, Meine discussed his friendship with Hanoverian ex-chancellor turned Russian gas lobbyist Gerhard Schröder, whose fifth wedding party he attended in 2018.“I haven’t spoken with Gerhard Schröder for a while,” Meine said.

Christopher Vourlias In the days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, organizers of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival quickly shifted gears to offer whatever support they could.

Apple TV+’s “For All Mankind” was built on a fascinating alternative historical premise: “what would have happened if the global space race had never ended” after the Soviet Union succeeds in the first crewed Moon landing ahead of the United States. So, in other words, it just keeps escalating and escalating, in part because the U.S.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticThe world is not the same place it was in 1986, when “Top Gun” ruled the box office. In Ronald Reagan, America had a movie star for a president, and producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson as its honorary ministers of propaganda.

Alexander Gabelia Veteran Georgian director/writer Lana Gogoberidze is editing documentary feature “Returning to Life.” The film is about her mother, Nutsa Gogoberidze, who was the Republic of Georgia’s first female film director, according to Film New Europe.Born into a rural teacher’s family in Saingilo, she studied philosophy in Germany, before becaming a film director. But her career ended abruptly in the years of the Stalinist terror.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentVersatile British actor Ben Whishaw, best known globally for playing Q in five James Bond films, has been cast in what’s bound to be the one of the most complex roles of his career.The actor will play the titular character in “Limonov, The Ballad of Eddie,” a new English-language film by revered Russian auteur Kirill Serebrennikov (“Petrov’s Flu,” “Leto”), about radical Russian poet and political dissident Eduard Limonov.The film, which will be presented as a promo reel to buyers in Cannes on May 17, is inspired by the best-selling novel “Limonov” by French writer and director Emmanuelle Carrère, which was translated in 35 countries.“Limonov” delves into the story of Eduard Limonov, who lived many lives. He was an underground writer in the Soviet Union who escaped to the U.S.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentIconoclastic Russian auteur Kirill Serebrennikov (“Leto,” “Petrov’s Flu”) will be unveiling footage in Cannes from his new work-in-progress film “Limonov, the Ballad of Eddie,” starring Ben Whishaw as radical Russian poet and dissident Eduard Limonov and Viktoria Miroshnichenko (“Beanpole”) as his wife Elena.Serebrennikov, who will coming to Cannes with his latest completed work “Tchaikovsky’s Wife,” premiering in competition, was shooting “Limonov” in Russia when the war broke out. The director has since been able to leave the country and will complete the rest of the shoot in Europe.A “Limonov” promo reel will be unspooled for buyers in Cannes on May 17.

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of preparing to invade Russia and told soldiers they are fighting for the future of their 'motherland' in a Victory Day speech in the country's capital on Monday (9 May).

Vladimir Putin has flexed his military supremacy and arsenal of nuclear weapons in a chilling new threat to the West.

“Incomparable Grace: JFK in the Presidency” by Mark K. Updegrove (Dutton)Nearly six decades after his assassination in Dallas, President John F.

Amber Heard must be immediately discounted, a prominent psychologist has said. Dr Taylor says similar arguments can be made about borderline personality disorder which she branded ‘yet another junk diagnosis thrown at women’ Dr Jessica Taylor’s warning comes after a psychologist hired by Johnny Depp’s legal team to evaluate Ms Heard, his ex-wife, testified she has borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder.

Since the breakup of the Soviet Union and the loss of arts funding, the Lithuanian national cinema has struggled to make a dent in the Western festival circuit, though that may be changing. Trickle-down from venue-hunting international productions, more generous tax incentives, and co-production agreements have the potential to cultivate a new generation of filmmakers in the same kind of fertile dramatic soil from which, for instance, the Romanian New Wave was harvested: contested historical trauma and an ambivalent transition to the Eurozone.

From today, April 15th, Operation Mincemeat is in cinemas. Colin Firth takes the lead role in this blockbuster portrayal of a bonkers operation carried out by British intelligence during World War II.

The new season of “Stranger Things” promises an epic battle unlike any seen before.

Eleven has lost her powers at the end of Stranger Things’ third season and they don’t appear to have returned in the first trailer for the long-delayed fourth season of the Netflix supernatural drama series.