video
Notes: 24
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Clint Eastwood
Sergio Leone's 1966 Spaghetti Western and its star, Clint Eastwood — unknown, evidently, to a Soviet-raised film buff more familiar with…
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Action-Film Icon of the 1980s-90s
Arnold Schwarzenegger, an American bodybuilder, businessman, and film actor of Austrian origin, became an action-movie icon of the late 1980s and…
Baywatch: a 1990s television phenomenon
Baywatch at its 1996 peak: the most-watched show on Earth, its stars, and why Malibu Lagoon Beach became a pilgrimage site.
Brigitte Nielsen: Pop-Culture Icon of the 1980s
Brigitte Nielsen (née Gitte Nielsen, born July 15, 1963) is a Danish actress, model, and singer who became one of the most recognizable faces of…
Commando (1985) -- Arnold Arms Up
The 1985 Schwarzenegger action film "Commando" and its outsized cultural role in early-1990s Russia's video-parlor era.
Jean-Claude Van Damme: the "Muscles from Brussels"
Jean-Claude Van Damme (real surname Van Varenberg) is a Belgian actor and martial artist who became one of the most recognizable action stars of the…
Jurassic Park
The 1993 Spielberg blockbuster that hit Russian VCRs, mostly via pirated tape, as a genuine window onto Hollywood's new special-effects age.
Kimila Ann Basinger (b. December 8, 1953)
Kimila Ann Basinger is an American actress, singer, and model, born December 8, 1953, in Athens, Georgia.
Lethal Weapon (1987)
The 1987 buddy-cop classic whose fifth-generation bootleg copy becomes an impromptu VCR quality test — Mel Gibson and Danny Glover's faces the…
The Film "Lethal Weapon" and Its Copies
A full account of the movie, its stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, and the physics of videocassette bootlegging that explains exactly why a…
Magmafilm: a German Erotic-Film Studio
In the early 1990s, the company Magmafilm was one of the best-known European studios producing adult films. Founded in 1988 in Germany under the…
Marisa Tomei (b. December 4, 1964)
Marisa Tomei (born December 4, 1964, Brooklyn, New York) is an American actress of Italian descent who, by 1995, had already become one of the most…
Michael Dudikoff: Star of "American Ninja"
Michael Dudikoff is an American actor, model, and martial artist, born October 8, 1954. He gained fame for the lead role in the "American Ninja"…
Sergio Leone's Film "Once Upon a Time in America"
"Once Upon a Time in America" (Italian: C'era una volta in America) was Sergio Leone's final directorial masterpiece, released in 1984. The four-hour…
Predator: the 1987 action film behind Zhorik's advice on love
The making and legacy of the 1987 Schwarzenegger film "Predator," referenced in Zhorik's warning about falling in love.
Pretty Woman and the Edward Lewis template for 90s Russian businessmen
Pretty Woman and Richard Gere's Edward Lewis — the corporate-raider-turned-romantic template Roman measures his own reinvention against.
Rambo: an Icon of 1980s Action Films
John James Rambo is a fictional character who first appeared in 1972 in a novel by American writer David Morrell, "First Blood." But the character…
Rob Lowe: the Brat Pack face on the magazine handed to the surgeon
Rob Lowe's status as a Brat Pack icon and 1990s beauty standard, and why his photo made sense as a template for Roman's reconstructive surgery.
Sylvester Stallone: Star of "Rambo" and "Rocky"
Sylvester Stallone is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer, born July 6, 1946, in New York. Stallone became one of the iconic…
The A-Team: an 80s show that lent its name to 90s Russian business jargon
The 1980s NBC hit The A-Team, its cast and catchphrases, and how the name became 1990s Russian corporate shorthand for an elite task force.
The Studio Private: a Pioneer of the European Adult-Film Industry
The studio Private is one of the most influential companies in the production of pornographic content, its history closely tied to the development of…
The Studio Vivid Entertainment
The American company Vivid Entertainment Group, founded in 1984 by Steven Hirsch and David James (real name Dewi James). By the early 1990s, the…
«Гленгарри Глен Росс» — культовая драма о мире продаж
Glengarry Glen Ross — the 1992 sales-floor drama that became a dark-capitalism icon on 1990s Russian pirate VHS
Голди Джинн Хоун (Goldie Jeanne Hawn, род. 21 ноября 1945)
Goldie Hawn — the Hollywood standard of feminine beauty that reached 1990s Russia through the video-rental boom