In Moscow all dreams come true

Is Moscow the 2008 capital of pop? All signs point east.

First, Russia wins the Eurovision Song Contest. Okay, Dima Bilan's song "Believe" is a ridiculously dull ballad that was only redeemed by a staging that included tight white pants and ice-skating. Still, a win's a win. (Eurovision freaks all know that runner-up "Shady Lady", by Ukrainian star Ani Lorak, deserved to triumph.)

Second: You and I, a movie in which t.A.T.u plays a large part, is about to hit the screens—even though it's likely to be the small screens as it has "straight to DVD" written all over it. Based on this trailer, however, it also has "straight to the top of the Dilettante's Netflix queue" written all over it: bad Russian accents, lesbionic (sub)text and pop music are three of my main requirements for a movie. Oh, and Mischa Barton too. How did Roland Joffe know?

Of course this is a bad fit for the director of such un-pop movies as The Killing Fields and The Mission, but it's also exactly why You and I looks powerfully alluring. Plus, who would have thought the auteur of Total Recall and RoboCop would deliver Showgirls? Joffe is no Verhoeven, but I'll be pretty happy if You and I merely is a tenth as good as Showgirls.