Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

mchenrykrm My first ever Russian movie musical and I absolutely loved it!I enjoy Russian made movies, especially those about the war and life during the Soviet era so the synopsis interested me. When I realized it was a musical I nearly stopped watching. Glad I did not!The costuming, acting, dancing and music is top notch in my view and I felt like the leads really captured the spirit of the story-line. The plot had a familiar feel to it with Mels, the young man drawn away from the stoic norm by romance and a desire to escape the status quo. He becomes Mel and adapts a wild look complete with and outlandish Pompadour hairstyle.The fact that it is set in Soviet Russia and based on a little known episode in history gives it a flavor its own. It also has plenty of twists and turns to keep it unique.I find it interesting that they adapted exaggerated looks based on the very limited access they had to American culture. Fred, the leader of the Stilyagi who is also the son of a high official is the first to shed the look to take on his high position in Soviet government. Mel can't accept it when Fred returns from the US and tells him that there are no Stilyagi in America. I now feel some compulsion to research the Stilyagi and learn more about this little known tale of a counter culture in the post Stalin era. A really good film overall and I will be watching again. I could really see this being turned into a Broadway show. Would not be surprised if someone is already working on it.

Lee Eisenberg To the numerous movies about generation gaps we can now add Valeriy Todorovsky's "Stilyagi" ("Hipsters" in English). It focuses on an assortment of youths in 1950s Moscow who are really into western music and fashion, to the disfavor of Soviet authorities. I particularly liked the scene where Fred plays Mels the boogie woogie song: it's gotta be the first time that anyone's ever heard an old-style rock 'n' roll song entirely in Russian.The movie emphasizes that the authorities considered jazz a form of western imperialism. While I was in grad school, some students from Russia co-rented a house with me and the other US students. One of them noted that this was in fact the case, but that the authorities still allowed Frank Sinatra's music. That sounds counter-intuitive to me, but who knows what the reasoning was. The point is that ever since popular culture arose, the younger generation has gotten into the new stuff while the older generation turns its nose at it. There was one scene in "Hipsters" that reminded me of the scene in "A Hard Day's Night" where the Beatles get into an argument with a man on a train and Ringo* has a snarky comment.Anyway, really fun movie. And remember, he doesn't need an American wife! *Today is in fact Ringo's birthday.

Eugene Ainur I loved this musical for its dream-team of actors, who performed quite up to the expectations. And I loved it for its simple and at the same time heart-touching humor. When Katya casually performed her "from saxophone to knife" gag, I was laughing out loud. And there are quite a few of such moments.I find the plot painfully believable. It is definitely not one of those movies where they give you fun visuals while the actors are doing completely random things. All the actions are well motivated here. Although the scene before maternity hospital seemed a little doubtful to me at first, but after recalling the father's past and consulting with some friends of mine I agreed with them in that it's quite believable. One would normally expect more grotesque and arbitrariness in a musical, but somehow the screen writers decided to stay down to earth.The music and songs are scrupulously arranged by Meladze. Although I appreciate his hard work, I cannot agree with some of the decisions made. Anyone knows this feeling, when you listen to a remix of a well-known melody – it's almost the same, but somehow it's not the same. Here we have even some of the lyrics changed. I think that most of the songs turned for the worst, some stayed quite OK, and few of them… Well, it was like finding a new dimension to a place you thought you knew very well for years.I'll take one star off this film for the reason of music. And I'll take one star off because of the plot. I wish it were more fairy-tale, as I am somewhat tired of this painful tragicomedy. I also know that some the film's logic is inevitably lost when watched by a foreigner, but I am not going to take off any stars for this reason. After all, this is not a detective story, and the logic may not be so important here. We usually watch musicals just for the sake of emotions, and the "Hipsters" will give you a whole lot of deep, sincere and beautiful feelings.

Marilyn Larson This film was such fun! In addition to being a most entertaining film it was so creatively filmed. The colors are wonderful, the locations believable, the music was hip and the dancing spectacular. The director was present at this Seattle Film Festival screening and took questions from the audience which made it even more interesting. I have never seen a Russian film so to hear the language and see the talented cast, it was amazing. I hope it is distributed widely and soon in the USA. I think it's time we as Americans see something other than ballet and classical music from Russia. I wouldn't be surprised to find young people in the USA emulating the "Hipsters" style of dress, Goth and Punk are so yesterday and I'm so tired of seeing everyone in jeans, t-shirts and sweat shirts!