Culture Is Back in 2021 (Whether the Pandemic Is Over or Not)

In this week's Odder News, museums reopen with some strange offerings, the organizing game Tetris is coming to the big screen, and we are thrilled that Russians love the Home Alone franchise as much as we do.


• Most museums have reopened, though the pandemic is ongoing, and it seems a bit distasteful to reopen with an exhibit of objects associated with death. Visitors to the Kremlin's Armory museum can see caskets, snuff boxes, and urns for humans carved from the bone and ivory of animals who died two to three centuries ago.

• The Tretyakov Gallery of Russian art in Moscow just reopened with seven exhibits at once on top of its extensive permanent collection. One, "Laboratory of the Future," is about the illusion of movement – something with which we are all familiar this year. It feels like this "kinetic art" is mocking us. Visitors are encouraged to touch some of the artwork – a fabulous idea at the moment.
• In January, the most-watched films in Russia, beyond a handful of Russian-made flicks, were Home Alone (1 and 2), The Gentlemen, Palm Springs, and the Harry Potter franchise. Russians are replaying that clip of Kevin and Trump at The Plaza as much as we are.

Hollywood is working on a film about the Soviet creation of the falling tile video game Tetris, starring Russian actors Nikita Yefremov and Sofya Lebedeva alongside Taron Egerton. Be sure to move the film into your must-watch queue when it drops. Hopefully, the film will end better than the game does.