‘Motherland’ Review: An Ominous Portrait of the Oppressive Culture of Cruelty in Post-Soviet Belarus

, which tells the real-life story of the high-stakes legal battle that took place to secure the rights to the iconic game.In the film, Taron Egerton stars as Henk Rogers, a Dutch video game designer who travels to the Soviet Union in 1989 to meet the game's creator, Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Yefremov), and attempt to secure handheld rights to the game, so Tetris can be distributed alongside Nintendo's revolutionary new Game Boy system.«I always just feel if you seek to humanize somebody and make them relatable and three-dimensional, then you are doing them the right service,» Egerton says of taking on the role in ET's exclusive behind-the-scenes look at , which also includes interviews with the real-life Rogers and Pajitnov, who recall their first meetings in Russia in a secretive, dimly lit room that «definitely had some KGB guys in there.»«It was strange to watch somebody else be me,» Rogers admitted of watching Egerton, though he praised the actor for doing a «good job.»«Tetris crosses boundaries,» adds Rogers' daughter, Maya, who is now the CEO of Blue Planet Software and managing director of The Tetris Company. «It brings people of all cultures together… Not only is Tetris an amazing game, it was only possible because of this amazing friendship between Henk and Alexey.» premieres March 31 on Apple TV+.

Taylor Swift quietly made donations to food banks in cities where she was playing shows for her ‘Eras’ tour.The tour kicked off last week in Glendale, Arizona, which was temporarily named ‘Swift City’ in her honour, and it was reported on Monday (March 20) that while she was there, she made a sizeable donation to the Arizona Food Bank Network.Swift didn’t publicise the donation, but news of her generosity became known when the food bank told local news outlet AZ Central what happened.“It’s not every day that you get a call from someone who works in PR for Taylor Swift, so we were dubious at first, but happily, it turned out to be absolutely real,” said Terri Shoemaker, Vice President of External Relations at the Arizona Food Bank Network.Shoemaker said Swift’s PR agent had told her that Swift planned to make a positive impact in the communities where she was touring, beginning with Arizona’s food banks. One in nine people and one in six children in Arizona struggle with food insecurity, according to Shoemaker.A few days later, a food bank in southern Nevada, Three Square, revealed that Swift had also left them a large donation ahead of her ‘Eras’ gigs in Las Vegas last night (March 24) and tonight (March 25).“We don’t know about you, but we’re feeling grateful on this day, March 22!” the organization wrote on its official Instagram feed.

Motherland, a “dark and monumental” film about neo-nationalism in Belarus, earned the top prize tonight at the prestigious CPH:DOX festival in Copenhagen.

Lise Pedersen The top Dox:Award at CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen documentary festival, has gone to “Motherland” by Ukrainian-Belarussian director Alexander Mihalkovich (“My Granny From Mars”) and Ukrainian director Hanna Badziaka. Described by Variety as “an ominous portrait of the oppressive culture of cruelty in post-Soviet Belarus,” the film follows Svetlana, whose son died during his military service as the result of violent abuse, in her quest to expose and prosecute those responsible for his death. Dedicating the award to “all the Ukrainians fighting Russian aggression and to Belarussian political prisoners,” the directing duo thanked all those who helped them make the film, in particular the protagonists, “who were brave to stand in front of the camera and patient with us as it was a long journey of four years.”

Taylor Swift live in Las Vegas.The 12-time Grammy winner is playing back-to-back nights at Allegiant Stadium as part of her ongoing ‘Eras Tour’ on March 24 and March 25 and tickets are not cheap.At the time of publication, the lowest price we could find on seats for the two concerts was $502 before fees on Vivid Seats.To be fair, that’s almost $1000 cheaper than it would cost you to see Adele who has her final two shows of her ‘Weekends With Adele’ residency at Caesars Palace at the same time.That being said, if you attend a Swift concert you will be treated to a career-spanning greatest hits set list, outfit changes, stage dives and maybe even a dancing security guard.In short: yes, it’s worth every penny to see the “Lavender Haze” singer live.Want a complete breakdown of how much it costs to see Swift perform from the upper deck all the way down to floor seats?Keep reading, Swifties.We’ve got everything you need to know below from prices to opening acts to insider Tay Tay tips.We broke down all upper deck, lower deck and floor seats below.(Note: The New York Post confirmed all above prices at the publication time.

Among the tracks are three re-recordings, including a pair of cuts she wrote and recorded specifically for the The Hunger Games soundtrack, which was released more than a decade ago.The two tunes are “Eyes Open” and “Safe & Sound,” which credits musicians Joy Williams and John Paul White as featured acts. At the time the song was originally made available, those two were in a duo known as The Civil Wars, though now they work independently.Also included in Swift’s offering is a new version of “If This Was a Movie.” That tune was originally released as a track on the deluxe edition of Swift’s third album Speak Now.But perhaps the biggest surprise for Swifties is the final song on the list, “All of the Girls You Loved Before,” which has never been heard before.The cover used on YouTube is from her album Lover, so it appears the cut was written and recorded around that time.

Elena Rybakina is the champion!

Kelsea Ballerini was so concerned about opening night of Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour that she put one of her own shows on pause to ask a question.

Kelsea Ballerini is a major Swiftie.

Taylor Swift made her triumphant return to the concert stage Friday night to kick off her Eras Tour in Glendale, Arizona, where she told the boisterous 70,000 fans at State Farm Arena how much she's missed them.The songstress soaked up the atmosphere, looking up and all over the crowd while donning a shimmery dress. After catching her breath, the 33-year-old singer grew emotional as she shared with fans that the roaring reception was giving her all the feels.«I don’t know how to process all of this in the way that it’s making me feel right now,» she said.

Taylor Swift made her triumphant return to the concert stage Friday night to kick off her Eras Tour in Glendale, Arizona, where she told the boisterous 70,000 fans at State Farm Arena how much she’s missed them.

Taylor Swift made her triumphant return to the concert stage Friday night to kick off her Eras Tour in Glendale, Arizona, where she told the boisterous 70,000 fans at State Farm Arena how much she's missed them.The songstress soaked up the atmosphere, looking up and all over the crowd while donning a shimmery dress. After catching her breath, the 33-year-old singer grew emotional as she shared with fans that the roaring reception was giving her all the feels.«I don’t know how to process all of this in the way that it’s making me feel right now,» she said.

Taylor Swift is about to begin her Eras Tour in the newly entitled Swift City (Glendale), Arizona.Fans' excitement and speculation about the tour, her first in five years, is through the roof. Will we catch a rare glimpse of Taylor's boyfriend Joe Alwyn? What surprise celebrity guests might appear (Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively... Harry Styles?!)? Taylor Swift performing during her Reputation tour in 2018But perhaps the biggest source of stress is whether the singer will be able to perform everyone's favorite hits on the night.

New Music Friday! The weekend is here, which means more streaming, new playlists and the best that music has to offer. ET has you covered for everything in between.Taylor Swift released four previously unreleased songs this week, a celebration of the Eras Tour kickoff in Glendale, Arizona, on Friday night.

Frank Rubio, NASA’s first Salvadoran American to go to space, is currently stuck on the International Space System after their spacecraft got a coolant leak. He might be stuck there for a full year, but the astronaut is staying positive. In a recent interview he assured that there will be new opportunities for Latinos.Rubio and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin launched a mission on the ISS aboard the Russian Soyuz MS-22 on September 21, 2022, and were supposed to return to Earth in March 2023.

@VP Kamala Harris shares her thoughts on Gov. Ron DeSantis calling the war in Ukraine a “territorial dispute.” #Colbert pic.twitter.com/ig1vPFEXRIDeSantis had voiced his concerns about America’s billions in monetary and military aid to Ukraine in an interview with Fox News last week.“While the U.S.

Selome Hailu The world premiere of “Tetris” gave the crowd at South by Southwest a whole new look at Taron Egerton. From Egerton’s first appearance on screen, the Austin audience couldn’t keep quiet, cheering and applauding for his impassioned speeches, dad jokes and 1970s porn-stache. The film, which reveals a political thriller hidden within the history of its titular video game, stars Egerton as video game entrepreneur Henk Rogers. After a simple deal at a Las Vegas electronics convention goes wrong, Rogers finds himself embroiled in overlapping conflicts between every gaming company worth its salt, an English billionaire and the Soviet Union itself, with his life threatened multiple times along the way.

There’s a promising and even semi-adult comedy at the heart of “Tetris,” an otherwise corny action-adventure based on the real-life story of how the iconic 1980s computer and video game was licensed outside of Russia. Most of the plot of “Tetris” concerns the political maneuvering and corporate espionage required to smuggle “Tetris,” the iconic brick-laying puzzle game, out of Moscow and away from greedy businessmen.The lead protagonist of “Tetris” (the movie) also happens to be its main hero, an uncomplicated leading man whose personal motives don’t matter so much as the vague and never credibly represented virtues of “Tetris” (the game).

Full Disclosure: Sue me but not only have I never played 80’s iconic video game Tetris, I had never heard of it before encountering this new film, Tetris, which world premiered tonight at SXSW and comes from Apple Original Films, I realize that probably makes me a bit of an oddity to the Gameboy generation, but I can only say my lack of knowledge on this product did not hurt one bit in being wildly entertained by a movie that tells its origin story. In fact it seems to be part of an encouraging, but unlikely, new genre this young year: movies all about the backstory of well known products – Blackberry from IFC and Paramount; Flamin’ Hot from Searchlight; and now Tetris from Apple. All three have been on display this week at SXSW (Blackberry actually premiered at Berlin), and if you think watching the emergence of a smart phone, a Cheetos brand, and a single player video game is , well uh, less than compelling, think again.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic At last, a video game movie that’s more than just a video game movie. In theory, “Tetris” — that primitive and highly addictive block-stacking strategy game — doesn’t lend itself to the big-screen treatment any more than Rubik’s Cube or Tic-Tac-Toe might. But Noah Pink has found an ingenious solution to a classic puzzle. The screenwriter realized that there’s more to Tetris than most people knew. Namely, there’s a terrific backstory about how this Soviet-hatched computer software made its way over the Iron Curtain, and telling it could play like a Cold War thriller as three teams of Western rivals race one another to Russia to secure the rights.