|
Russian Mafia In Popular Culture
The Russian mafia has frequently been a subject of works in popular culture. Anime and manga * The Japanese manga and anime series ''Black Lagoon'' prominently features the Hotel Moscow which is a branch of the Russian mafia that operates in the fictional Thailand city of Roanapur. * Two characters in the Japanese light novel series ''Durarara!!'', Simon Brezhnev and Dennis, are former Russian mafia members who run a sushi shop in Tokyo. * The Russian mafia appears as a rival to the Yakuza in the manga ''Sanctuary''. Comics * A Russian crime syndicate known as the Tracksuit Mafia appears in '' Hawkeye'' and ''The Superior Spider-Man'' comic books. * Russian mafioso are frequent antagonists in ''The Punisher''. * The Russian mafia play a large part in ''The Winter Men''. Film * The main plotline in '' Assa'' (1988) takes place in Yalta during the winter of 1980 and follows a crime boss' young mistress who falls in love with an underground rock musician. * In the joint Russia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russian Mafia
Russian organized crime or Russian mafia (, ), otherwise known as Bratva (), is a collective of various organized crime elements originating in the former Soviet Union. The initialism OPG is Organized Criminal (''prestupnaya'' in Russian) Group, used to refer to any of the Russian mafia groups, sometimes modified with a specific name, e.g. Orekhovskaya OPG. Sometimes the initialism is translated and OCG is used. Organized crime in Russia began in the Russian Empire, but it was not until the Soviet era that '' vory v zakone'' ("thieves-in-law") emerged as leaders of prison groups in forced labor camps, and their honor code became more defined. With the end of World War II, the death of Joseph Stalin, and the fall of the Soviet Union, more gangs emerged in a flourishing black market, exploiting the unstable governments of the former Republics. Louis Freeh, former director of the FBI, said that the Russian mafia posed the greatest threat to U.S. national security in the mid- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GoldenEye
''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Martin Campbell, it was the first in the series not to utilize any story elements from the works of novelist Ian Fleming. It was also the first ''James Bond'' film not produced by Albert R. Broccoli, following his stepping down from Eon Productions and replacement by his daughter, Barbara Broccoli (along with Michael G. Wilson, although Albert was still involved as a consultant producer; it was his final film project before his death in 1996). The story was conceived and written by Michael France, with later collaboration by other writers. In the film, Bond fights to prevent a rogue ex-MI6 agent (Sean Bean) from using a satellite weapon against London to cause a global financial meltdown. The film was released after a six-year hiatus in the series caused by legal disputes, during w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rounders (film)
''Rounders'' is a 1998 American drama film about the underground world of high-stakes poker, directed by John Dahl and starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton. The story follows two friends who need to win at high-stakes poker to quickly pay off a large debt. The term ''rounder'' refers to a person traveling around from city to city seeking high-stakes card games. ''Rounders'' opened to mixed reviews and was moderately successful at the box office. Following the poker boom in the early 2000s, the film became a cult hit. Plot New York City law student and gifted poker player Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) dreams of winning the World Series of Poker. At an underground Texas hold 'em game run by Russian mobster Teddy "KGB" (John Malkovich), an overconfident Mike loses his entire $30,000 bankroll in a single hand. Shaken, he promises his girlfriend and fellow student Jo (Gretchen Mol) he has quit poker, and concentrates on law school. His mentor Joey Knish (John Turturro) offers to st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic free from British rule. The original Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), often now referred to as the "old IRA", was raised in 1917 from members of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army later reinforced by Irishmen formerly in the British Army in World War I, who returned to Ireland to fight against Britain in the Irish War of Independence. In Irish law, this IRA was the army of the revolutionary Irish Republic as declared by its parliament, Dáil Éireann, in 1919. In the century that followed, the original IRA was reorganised, changed and split on multiple occasions, to such a degree that many subsequent paramilitary organisations have been known by that title – most not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronin (film)
''Ronin'' is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer and written by John David Zeik and David Mamet, under the pseudonym Richard Weisz. It stars Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård, Sean Bean, and Jonathan Pryce. The film is about a team of former special operatives hired to steal a mysterious, heavily guarded briefcase while navigating a maze of shifting loyalties. The film was praised for its realistic car chases in Nice and Paris. Frankenheimer signed to direct Zeik's screenplay, which Mamet rewrote to expand De Niro's role and develop plot details, in 1997. The film was photographed by Robert Fraisse in his native France from November 3, 1997, to March 3, 1998. Professional racing car drivers coordinated and performed the vehicle stunts, and Elia Cmiral scored the film, his first for a major studio. ''Ronin'' premiered at the 1998 Venice Film Festival before its general release on September 25. Critics were generall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Jackal (1997 Film)
''The Jackal'' is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Michael Caton-Jones, and starring Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, and Sidney Poitier in his final film role. The film involves the hunt for a paid assassin. It is a loose remake of the 1973 film ''The Day of the Jackal'', which starred Edward Fox, and was based on the 1971 novel of the same name by Frederick Forsyth. Although the film earned mostly negative reviews from critics, it was a commercial success and grossed $159.3 million worldwide against a $60 million budget. Plot A joint operation between the FBI and the MVD in Moscow leads to the killing of the younger brother of the Azerbaijani mafia leader Terek Murad. In retaliation, Murad hires an international hitman, operating under the codename "the Jackal", to assassinate an unidentified prominent American for $70 million. Two weeks later, the MVD capture and interrogate one of Murad's henchmen, Viktor Politovsky in Porvoo, Finland, and discover the assassina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Ogden Stiers
David Allen Ogden Stiers ( ; October 31, 1942 – March 3, 2018) was an American actor and conductor. He appeared in numerous productions on Broadway, and originated the role of Feldman in ''The Magic Show'', in which he appeared for four years between 1974 and 1978. In 1977, he was cast as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, M.D., on the television series ''M*A*S*H'', a role he portrayed until the series' conclusion in 1983, and which earned him two Emmy Award nominations. He appeared prominently in the 1980s in the role of District Attorney Michael Reston in several ''Perry Mason'' television films, and voiced a number of Disney characters during the 1990s and 2000s, most notably Cogsworth in 1991's ''Beauty and the Beast'', Governor Ratcliffe and Wiggins in 1995's ''Pocahontas'', Kamaji in 2001's ''Spirited Away'', and Dr. Jumba Jookiba in the ''Lilo & Stitch'' franchise. He appeared in television again on the supernatural drama series '' The Dead Zone'' as Reverend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jungle 2 Jungle
''Jungle 2 Jungle'' is a 1997 comedy film directed by John Pasquin, produced by Walt Disney Pictures and TF1 Films Productions, and starring Tim Allen, Martin Short, Lolita Davidovich, David Ogden Stiers, JoBeth Williams, and introducing Sam Huntington in his film debut as Mimi-Siku. It is an American remake of the 1994 French film ''Un indien dans la ville'' (also known as ''Little Indian, Big City''). Its plot follows that of the original film fairly closely, with the biggest difference being the change in location from Paris to New York City. Plot Michael Cromwell is a self-absorbed commodities broker living in New York City. Wanting to marry his new fiancée, Charlotte, he needs to obtain a divorce from his first wife, Patricia, who left him some years earlier. She now lives with a semi-Westernized tribe in Canaima National Park, Venezuela. He travels there to get her signature on the divorce papers. Upon arriving, she reveals that they had a son together, who is now 13 years ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brother (1997 Film)
''Brother'' (russian: Брат, Transliteration, translit. ''Brat'') is a 1997 Russian neo-noir Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama film written and directed by Aleksei Balabanov. The film stars Sergei Bodrov Jr. as Danila Bagrov, a young ex-conscript who becomes embroiled with the Saint Petersburg mob through his criminal older brother. It appeared in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. After its release on VHS in June 1997, ''Brother'' unexpectedly became one of the most commercially successful Cinema of Russia, Russian films of the 1990s and quickly rose to cult film status throughout Russia. Due to the film's popularity and fan demand, a sequel, ''Brother 2'', was released in 2000. Plot After Danila Bagrov (Sergei Bodrov Jr.), a recently discharged First Chechen War, Chechen War veteran, gets into a fight with security guards, his mother insists he travels to Saint Petersburg to seek out his successful older brother Viktor, whom his mother i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
