Function Magazine

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions are upsetting many inside the country as well as outside. His annexation Crimea, a part of Ukraine rattled the whole world and his continued support for Eastern Ukraine separatists are bringing in additional sanctions on the country. It is no wonder why Pussy Riot is still making music criticizing President Putin.

Pussy Riot, the Russian punk rock protest group is based in Moscow and well known for staging unauthorized and provocative acts. Group was formed in 2011 and consists of several women and men ages 20 to 33. They are known for promoting LGBT rights, feminism, and opposition to President Putin for his dictatorial actions and connection to the Russian Orthodox Church. The Russian punk rock band Pussy Riot were arrested in 2012 and sent to prison for nearly two years for protesting President Putin’s actions of gay rights. Their surprise performance at a church brought in additional legal actions on three main female performers of the group.

Pussy Riot will appear in episode 2 of Season 3, House of Cards. They are engaged in speaking parts and the episode will air some footage from a Pussy Riot concert. They include the group’s writing against a fictional character that is trying to militarize their country.

Bill Cosby is making headlines these days not for his brilliant and most watched show but for other reasons. Do you know that Cosby Show falls into one of the most watch TV finales? It had 44.4 million viewers on the day of the finale on April 30, 1992. That equals to 28 percent of American households.

The American television sitcom with Bill Cosby as Dr. Cliff Huxtable, the patriarch character of the show first aired on NBC on September 20, 1984 and continued each week during each season until April 30, 1992. The show was the biggest hit on television during 1980s. The show focused on an upper middle-class African-American Huxtable family that lived in 10 Stigwood Avenue, Brooklyn Heights, New York City, New York. Cliff’s wife, an attorney, Clair Huxtable nee Hanks and their five children lived at home. Four daughters, Sondra, Denise, Vanessa and Rudy and one son, Theodore or Theo for short were played by an excellent cast. Besides comedic portrayals of daily life in a upper middle-class African-American home, the show carried serious discussions on dyslexia, teenage pregnancy and many others. They represented some of the issues faced by the members of the entire cast.

Imagine an award that rewards a bad movie of the year. That is exactly what the Golden Raspberry Awards or commonly called Razzies is all about. It recognizes worst movies of the year. Founded in 1980, the annual Razzies are held in Los Angeles usually a day before the Academy Awards. The award which is about the size of a raspberry that sits on a super 8mm film and spray painted with gold color. The first award ceremony was held on March 31, 1981 in the living room of the founder John J. B. Wilson and will hold its 35th ceremony on February 21, 2015.

The 2015 Golden Raspberry Award nominees include Transformers: Age of Extinction, Saving Christmas by Kirk Cameron, and The Legend of Hercules. In addition to the Worst Picture, the Razzies are also awarded for the Worst Actor, Worst Actress, Worst Supporting Actor, Worst Supporting Actress, Worst Screen Combo, Worst Screenplay, Worst Director and Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel. From time to time other awards such as Worst Career Award were also given. Some of the criticism of the award includes that members of the selection committee are not required to watch any of the nominations and anyone can join the Golden Raspberry Foundation.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a comedy film that is an American, German and British collaboration directed by veteran movie director Wes Anderson. He does not direct movies like many others. Set in a luxury spa where the concierge who believes in etiquette helps to define the civilization at a time that the world is engulfed in war. The movie recounts the adventures of Gustav H played by Ralph Fiennes as the concierge who teams up an employee played by Tony Revolori to prove that he is not the murderer as suspected by many. The drama and comedy is rated R due to some sexual content and violence. The one hour 39 minutes long movie came out on DVD on June 17, 2014.

In February 2014, the movie opened the 64th Berlin International Film Festival and released on a limited basis on March 7, 2014. It won Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival. The movie has been nominated for nine Academy Awards including the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Production Design, Best Original Score and Best Costume Design. Its worldwide gross exceeded more than $174 million on a less than $27 million total budget.